DID PHOEBE'S DECEIT DRIVE JASON AWAY?

[Scott]

Jason Dean unfortunately discovered the Charmed Ones secret, a fact that Phoebe had withheld from him for over a year via a series of deceptions. Once Jason discovered that Phoebe and her sisters were witches, he backed out of his relationship with Phoebe and once again left Phoebe feeling wretched. Was Phoebe the architect of her own misery? Or, is there more than meets the eye?

[Scott]

Ljones in the Charmed Cafe stated clearly a view perhaps shared by many in the world of Charmed that Phoebe made a mess of things with Jason. She wrote:

I believe that she could have worked at a relationship with Jason Dean. But Phoebe screwed that up by lying to him for nearly a year.

However, vandergraafk replied that characterizing Phoebe's behavior as lying is perhaps a bit too strong. I wrote:

Lying is a bit strong, don't you think? Yes, she did not reveal her secret life to Jason for a year. However, how on Earth would she have been able to accomplish this, given Jason Dean's generally business-like personality? I think he would have reacted in exactly the same way he did act when the truth was revealed finally. He couldn't handle it! Phoebe's deception only made matters worse.

Henry, on the other hand, was receptive to the possiblity of Paige being "special", even if he didn't understand what the nature of her specialness was. When Paige mustered the courage to out herself, Henry reacted as any open-minded and caring person might have. He had empathy and even found it attractive, even though there was a bit of peril associated with Paige's witchy/whitelighter essence.

Of course, ljones wasn't buying this explanation when she wrote:

What is this supposed to be? An excuse? Sorry, I'm not buying it.

She answered her own rhetorical question with an additional comment:

It's an excuse. It doesn't matter how Jason would have reacted. Phoebe became seriously involved with a man for NEARLY A YEAR. I can understand her keeping her secret for one or two months. But once her relationship with Jason became truly serious, she CONTINUED TO LIE to him. Even the show's writers pointed out that what Phoebe was doing was WRONG

[Scott]

Assassin Witch jumped aboard and offered her thoughts on Jason and Phoebe's relationship.

Okay, Jason. I really thought they had a lot of chemistry, and Redowl, you aren't making any sense. What's with this month or two thing you keep talking about? A year is twelve months. No one said she had to tell him two months in, but she should have told him...oh, when they started LIVING together in Season 6. (They started dating in S5.) I don't think he would have reacted the same. He walked into the kitchen and saw the girls orb back in. Um...her telling him the truth would have been easier to believe than seeing someone appear out of lights.

Again, the blame for the demise of the relationship is placed squarely at Phoebe's feet. Neither redowl nor vandergraafk could accept such a conclusion. Again, vandergraafk begged for a broader understanding of the issue:

I don't think anyone is justifying Phoebe's deception. Certainly, her inability to come clean compounded the reaction that Jason eventually had. However, I do think we have to consider the other side of the coin. If Phoebe had found a way to come clean, would it have made a difference? My contention is that it would not have. Jason was an alpha male absolutely at ease in a high power media world. The very idea that there existed a parallel and potentially more powerful world woven intricately into the world that he knew and had mastered was beyond his comprehension.

Imagine the shock to his system when suddenly he must surely have realized that he was in control of nothing, that no matter how much capital he had managed to assemble or how many conglomerations he might have created out of merger talks, there existed a demonic underworld which could have subverted any and every thing in an instant! Talk about emasculation. He would have dumped Phoebe like a hot potato under the best of circumstances.

To illustrate the point further: consider how Henry reacted to Paige coming clean. Why did he accept it without much ado? I suspect Henry was well aware that neither he nor his parolees were in control of their fates. Life, for Henry, was a matter of luck in some respect. And, it's unfair too. Some people get dealt a raw deal just as Henry had when he grew up in an orphanage. Yet, Henry believed that choices could be made, that an individual's efforts could alter what fate has in store. That Paige was a good witch who could pull a few strings to tip the balance in the favor of a good outcome, I believe, was eminently appealing to Henry.

So before continuing the Phoebe jihad, let's try to look at this issue from a broader perspective. I know Phoebe has her faults, especially when she's like totally PhoeME, but any witch would have had a problem with Jason! Phoebe may have compounded a problem, but she wasn't the sole reason the problem existed in the first place.