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Alright. I guess I’ll do my thread on Charmed. I’m only going to give my overall thoughts on the show and opinions on the sisters. No shade in this thread, only my objective opinion.
Aite. For the show overall..I don’t think I really need to go in depth. We all know it suffered from inconsistency and more than occasional horrible writing. Season 5 and on weren’t their best and season 7 was probably the strongest of the 4. Although I enjoyed season 6.
Now for the sisters.
Prudence is a lot of people’s favorite sister. Between her magical prowess and leadership capabilities, she’s usually seen as the most powerful of the sisters. I think she’s one of the characters whose past was most linked to how she runs her present life, which leads to some
really good development in later seasons. With being said, I think in season 3, they weren’t quite sure what direction to take her. Yes, she had a successful career and was excelling in magic, but that seemed to be the extent of her storyline. They did do a good job of exploring
the fact that she was aware of this and making it a part of her story. I think had she lived, we would’ve seen a resolution to it and seen her have more balance. P3H2O and Death Takes a Halliwell were amazing episodes for her and really highlighted her ability to accept what was
and would be. I do feel that they did her a disservice by making her hyper talented in magic, physical prowess, fighting ability, etc. It set the bar extremely high and could’ve easily put her in extreme competition with herself and render her sister obsolete.
That would’ve been bad for the show because it takes away the balance of the sisters and stops them from being a team. They should’ve left the martial arts to Phoebe and let Prue gain more precision in her power. Her pride was the topic of an episode and was her ultimate undoing.
Overall, Prudence Elizabeth Aloysius Halliwell was a good character who suffered from being too perfect at times. I just wish people would stop invalidating her because she was killed. That doesn’t diminish her strength, only means that a mistake was made.
Piper is interesting for me. Growing up, she was my favorite because of her powers. And her sass in later seasons was funny as hell. I feel like a lot of people like her for those reasons though without really looking into why they should actually like her.
Season 4 Piper was probably my favorite version of her. Seeing her actively trying to be a big sister while dealing with her own grief was refreshing. Piper had never really faced much adversity besides her relationship with Leo. And when she did, she had Prue to lean on.
Seeing her have to take the helm was quite the journey. Enter the Demon is a really good example. Her sisters were wonky and she had to be the voice of reason and try to wrangle them. That, along with choosing to switch bodies with the Zen master really showed that she was trying
to live up to an impossible role. My issue is that after season 5, there wasn’t any real struggle with this anymore. They just sort of dropped that element. And to address the elephant in the room, Piper’s need for a normal life became so frustrating.
The times she saw what having a normal live would be like, there was usually something negative associated with it. She had the opportunity in Witch Way Now and changed her mind when she remembered that it felt good to save an innocent.
In My Three Witches, no magic puts Wyatt in danger. In Charmageddon, she lost Leo and realized the Avatars had taken away free will and were killing people. Do you see the theme here? When she gets what she desires, there are always magical ramifications.
Piper’s main story revolving around Leo, then Wyatt and Chris, was an interesting choice that made sense. She always seemed most likely to start a family first. I just wish they had expanded more on how/if Victor and Patty’s absence contributed to that.
Ultimately, I think Piper did grow. I don’t think the writers gave her more than being sassy and the “mean one”. Of course she was maternal and cared about her family. I just think that most of her growth came off as her being witty and ready to be done with magic.
Prior to Prue’s death, Piper had been meek and mild. She never (even in later seasons) really took charge. She relied more on the collective power than her own. Later seasons, she didn’t really change in that respect, but she was more magically independent.
Overall, she wasn’t a bad character. I think the constant need for a “normal life” was a little exaggerated at times, but she’s still the Piper we all know and love.
Phoebe. Phoebe. Phoebe. Where do I begin? Phoebe was the biggest victim of the show’s writing. They took a headstrong, independent character and turned her into someone willing to put her own happiness above others and constantly tied her happiness to a man.
Seasons 1 and 2 Phoebe were when she was at her best. Practicing magic, learning martial arts, saving innocents. She was the total package. And then season 3. I won’t get into it because I think we all know what happened. Season 3 Phoebe was self focused and selfish.
I think her season 4 transition to middle sister was interesting. She suddenly had a younger sister, when she had always been the youngest. She took on responsibility in training Paige and started to grow. She had a full time job, she became a wife. She should’ve blossomed.
The problem is that they ruin it by once again revolving her major decisions around Cole. The season prior, she blasted Piper for wanting to move out with her new husband. Then she turns around and does the same. And when given the chance, she did what she did before
and chose him over her sisters. The only difference this time was that she ultimately chose them. Season 6 Phoebe, outside of her sudden desire to have children, was the next best after 1 and 2 Phoebe. Her powers were amazing and she was in full control. She had a good man.
Everything was going good until that old need to put her happiness first cost her everything. From there, it’s like they didn’t quite know what to do with her. But truly, Phoebe was the one who was done dirty. They should’ve explored her need for love because of
not having Patty and Victor. There were so many things that could’ve been used to flesh her out. She never returned to form after 5, but they tried. It was nice in season 8 to see her sort of go back to the independent Phoebe we knew before. She had a good career and
was out on her own. This was the perfect time for the sisters to have their own lives. Phoebe’s story always relied on a man being somewhere around her and they constantly told us that she was the one most in love with love. I really wish they had addressed that with more
depth simply because it would’ve made her more relatable and likable. I don’t think she was horrible, she was just willing to put her happiness over others and I don’t think that’s fair to the character. And don’t even get me started on that “we sent Coop to you” story 
Overall, Phoebe wasn’t bad. She was just handled poorly. She had potential and they squandered it for the sake of story. I give her a hard time, but only because the potential for greatness was always there. She’s still our levitating love through thick and thin.
Time for Paige! She’s low key my favorite lol. Only because I identify so much with desire to help people. When Paige was introduced, I think they did as good a job as they could with what they had. Her backstory used the history of the show, which was a welcome addition.
Although Paige was written well in season 4, things went downhill a little from there. She was constantly being put against her sisters in 2 against 1. Which wasn’t fair for her. She was constantly reminded that she hadn’t been there as long and didn’t have as much knowledge.
But what she lacked in experience, she made up for in common sense and versatility. She was able to adjust to her new lifestyle and constantly prove that she deserved a spot there. She, much like Phoebe, suffered bouts of bad writing. We never hear her say anything about her
adopted family or really have any follow up to her losing her parents. She was just ok one day. Sam I Am was an amazing episode for her because we saw how she interacted with Sam and got a glimpse into what made Paige tick. Although, there was once again no real follow up.
The biggest disservice to Paige was her downgrade. She went from living on her own to basically being forced in the manor. She quit her job to be a witch, which just felt like lazy writing. It was like they couldn’t juggle 3 careers, so someone had to stay home all day.
She basically took over Phoebe’s old role in that respect. The only good thing about this was that we got to see more of independent Paige. We saw how being an only child made her frustrated with having to be in a group now. We saw her struggle with not being on her own.
Much like Prue, she was always willing to save an innocent and do what needed to be done. It was good to see a sister return to the old ways of saving innocents instead of having only demon battles. This was muddied, however, by her sisters constantly reprimanding her.
Paige was my definite favorites in season 4-6. She was focused on being the best witch she could and honing her craft. After that, she started focusing more on having charges and seemed to be getting worn out. By season 8, she seemed like she didn’t even want to be there.
Paige was, in my opinion, was unique because she had a completely different background. She grew up with parents, but lost them tragically. She had to process that as an older teenager, giving her time to work through her grief. Her sisters were children when Patty died,
which didn’t allow them to understand what happened or how it would affect them. When’s he became a witch, she had others that could guide her and help her (when they actually did). Her sisters basically had to figure it out as they went. Plus, she had the best fashions. Lol.
Overall, I loved Paige as a character. If we had to lose Prue, I’m glad we got her. She was a welcome addition. My little whitelighter/witch will always have a special place in my heart.
Btw, I welcome any and all comments! These are solely my thoughts and meant to open up a dialogue and get us talking.
