Post by vandergraafk on Nov 30, 2006 19:05:06 GMT -5
A smashing way to end Season 1, even if it meant the character of Andy Trudeau would have to die. The closing of the Andy Trudeau story arc left fans wondering where the series would go from here. Yes, the sisters would probably learn more about their powers and face still more powerful demons. But the loss of a major character had to create a void.
Inspector Rodriguez is the Source's great hope for vanquishing the sisters by season's end. The Source even calls upon the powers of Tempus, a powerful upper level demon who can reset time and allow a scenario to play out differently than it had previously. Indeed, Inspector Rodriguez benefits from Tempus resetting time twice in order to improve his kill ratio. The first to fall is Phoebe. In the replayed scenario, both Phoebe and Piper die. In the third, interrupted scenario, Andy Trudeau intervenes and ultimately pays the supreme price. He dies as Prue refuses to vanquish Rodriguez and cause Tempus to once again reset time.
Yet, there is also something deeply dissatisfying in this episode. Again, the outcome is dictated by the necessity to write out the character of an actor who was leaving the Charmed family. One could just have easily hoped that the sisters would once again vanquish Rodriguez and play out the scenario a third time, since, as Phoebe noted, she was understanding more and more of the replayed day with ever repeated version. Put simply, the Charmed Ones could have turned this struggle into a battle of wits between an improving Rodriguez and a more quickly understanding Phoebe. Shouldn't the Charmed Ones have triumphed simply because they would have outwitted Inspector Rodriguez. Andy would have lived and the Charmed Ones would have survived.
Alas, TV serials are not just the product of plot and the unfolding of events in a logical and consistent manner. Sometimes things happen because outside forces conspire to make them turn out so. Thus, instead of an epic battle between good and evil, we have a dirty compromise as evil triumphs to the extent that Andy dies and good lives on as the Charmed Ones survive.
Still, this is an exciting episode. The acting of David Carradine is a bit wooden (when isn't it?) and cliche (he was Kung Fu fighting!), but still the pace is frenetic and the dialogue spiked with humor, especially when Andy Trudeau suggests to Rodriguez that maybe he (Trudeau) should call the commissioner and signal for Batman!
Inspector Rodriguez is the Source's great hope for vanquishing the sisters by season's end. The Source even calls upon the powers of Tempus, a powerful upper level demon who can reset time and allow a scenario to play out differently than it had previously. Indeed, Inspector Rodriguez benefits from Tempus resetting time twice in order to improve his kill ratio. The first to fall is Phoebe. In the replayed scenario, both Phoebe and Piper die. In the third, interrupted scenario, Andy Trudeau intervenes and ultimately pays the supreme price. He dies as Prue refuses to vanquish Rodriguez and cause Tempus to once again reset time.
Yet, there is also something deeply dissatisfying in this episode. Again, the outcome is dictated by the necessity to write out the character of an actor who was leaving the Charmed family. One could just have easily hoped that the sisters would once again vanquish Rodriguez and play out the scenario a third time, since, as Phoebe noted, she was understanding more and more of the replayed day with ever repeated version. Put simply, the Charmed Ones could have turned this struggle into a battle of wits between an improving Rodriguez and a more quickly understanding Phoebe. Shouldn't the Charmed Ones have triumphed simply because they would have outwitted Inspector Rodriguez. Andy would have lived and the Charmed Ones would have survived.
Alas, TV serials are not just the product of plot and the unfolding of events in a logical and consistent manner. Sometimes things happen because outside forces conspire to make them turn out so. Thus, instead of an epic battle between good and evil, we have a dirty compromise as evil triumphs to the extent that Andy dies and good lives on as the Charmed Ones survive.
Still, this is an exciting episode. The acting of David Carradine is a bit wooden (when isn't it?) and cliche (he was Kung Fu fighting!), but still the pace is frenetic and the dialogue spiked with humor, especially when Andy Trudeau suggests to Rodriguez that maybe he (Trudeau) should call the commissioner and signal for Batman!