When it comes to Charmed’s second season, I am in two minds about it. On one hand, it really showed how comfortable the writers were with themselves, and it featured some truly amazing moments. On the other, it painted such a horrible picture of a couple of characters that it made if kind of hard to like them by season’s end. Taking away the annoying characters though, and you’ve got a pretty great collection of episodes.
If season one dealt with the set up, then season 2 was the show got the chance to forget about the introductions and get on with the good stuff. From the start, the season was pretty much spot on with regards to its magical element. The girls were comfortable enough being witches now that they could start to have fun. ‘Witch Trial’ showed, that despite their huge loss at the end of Season One, they were ready to make magic a part of their lives.
The sisters in this season seemed to change somewhat. Prue, while still the family leader, started to have a bit more fun, and follow her dreams of becoming a photographer. Phoebe started to show a little responsibility and returned to school, but still managed to fill her role of baby sister pretty well getting into the odd predicament. Piper was the main problem here. She went from the likeable, quirky middle sister to an intolerable, moaning cow. She treated not only Dan, but Leo like absolute garbage, and she spent almost the entire season giving out that it was hard to feel any sympathy at all toward her.
Despite the fact that he was universally hated by almost all other fans, I really found myself feeling sorry for Dan, even though he was introduced for the love triangle and nothing else. He was always on the outside, constantly fending off Piper’s ex love who was ALWAYS around. He treated Piper a lot better than she deserved. Though he wasn’t without his flaws (he was pretty one dimensional), it was hard not to feel sorry for him, which is why I found the love triangle that enveloped this season so annoying and the main problem with it. This is all coming from someone who was a fan of Piper and Leo from the beginning.
The episodes, on the other hand, were pretty fantastic. This season was far more consistent than the last, and showed just how much the show had grown into its own. This is most evident in episodes like ‘Ms Hellfire’ and ‘Chick Flick’, where the show managed to make a joke of its own genre, but in such a way that it resulted in an episode that to this day is one of the series’ shining moments and one that remains a favourite with fans. Thankfully the sisterly bond that was so prominent in the first season is in full swing in the second.
This season featured one of the series’ few flawless episodes. Following on from the success of the previous time travelling in ‘That 70’s Episode’, ‘Morality Bites’ saw the sisters travelling into the future to stop Phoebe burning at the stake. We saw them learn a major lesson, and gave us one of the most fabulous lines the show has ever had. Other lessons were learned too, like in ‘Apocalypse Not’, when they have to deal with the fact that they themselves are not more important than the world.
Charmed’s second season had its flaws, but its strong episodes made it even better than the show’s first.
Best Episode: ‘Morality Bites’. Between the writing, the acting and the imagery, this is the closest thing to a masterpiece the show ever had.
Worst Episode: Surprisingly, this season never actually had a 'bad' episode. But the weakest is probably ‘Heartbreak City’
Best Character: Prue was great this season. I loved watching her go from a complet stick in the mud, to fun and ambitious.
Worst Character: Piper spent the whole season whinging. It was very hard to like her. Thankfully she’s far more likeable after this season.
8/10
Again, I agree with just about everything you said. I particularly love your title - it fits Prue & Phoebe and Piper perfectly!
ReplyDeleteAbout the only thing I disagree with is the triangle, but I'll leave that for my review.
I particularly love what you said about Morality Bites since it's my all-time favorite episode.
I'll disagree that there weren't a few clunkers, but, well, you'll see in my review...
"SEASON TWO: Living their Destiny
This is my favorite season of Charmed. Unlike so many other fans, I liked the "Demon of the Week" format because it allowed the show to concentrate on relationships, much more important to me than the next demon.
I loved the fact that Prue continued to mourn Andy and the fact that she found someone she could just have fun with--I got a kick out of Jack. No other Charmed One has grieved for the one who was supposed to be *her* guy beyond the episode following that one's death. Prue was still mourning Andy halfway through the season in "Murphy's Luck". Of course part of that was because she felt guilty, but so should've her sisters and they didn't.
As cliched as it was, I loved the whole bit of Piper choosing between Leo & Dan. Although I rooted for Leo the first time I watched the series (from the moment Leo is introduced to the moment they get married, their love story is my favorite storyline on the show - afterwards it becomes one of my least-favorite - watching Piper emasculate Leo and turn our angel into her own little errand boy was painful), I now wish she'd chosen Dan, especially if Leo could've learned to love Paige when she was introduced. To me, Dan represented the normal life Piper craves so much. Leo represented the wicca life that Piper doesn't want. For the one who wants to be a witch the least to end up with a magical guy and have magical kids just doesn't make sense.
Unfortunately, Dan ended up being a creep, but only after "Awakened", when he discovered Piper's true feelings, even before Piper did. And unfortunately Piper & Leo *are* soulmates, no matter if they should be or not!
I loved Phoebe going back to school and the way she cared about the innocents and her sisters *so* much. She was still a bit of a PhoeME, but in a loveable way, since she's the baby, a way that didn't translate once she was forced to become the middle sister. And she definitely wasn't Freebie. I still wish she had ended up with either Cupid or Billy - with them (and later with Drake) is when I loved her the best.
We also discovered that her own soulmate is a demon--Anton. No wonder she was attracted to Cole - He reminded me *so* much of Anton. After running into Anton, most of Phoebe's guys were tall, dark and dangerous-looking--just like her soulmate, Anton.
Some of my favorite innocents were part of this season and so were some of my favorite demons. And my all-time favorite eppi, "Morality Bites", was part of it. Each time the sisters (or Piper's younger son) forget that Wrong Things Done for the Right Reason are still Wrong, and We're Supposed to Protect the Innocent, Not Punish the Guilty, I cringe!
There were a few eppis that were very simply bad, but even they always helped push the season along, like "Animal Pragmatism" (I LOVED Leo's Valentine for Piper!) and "How to Make an American out of a Quilt"--Piper first making it clear how little she wanted to be a witch and why she should've chosen Dan and not Leo.
A+/ 10 out of 10 stars/ EXCELLENT!"