Though there’s no denying that ‘Centennial Charmed’ is one of the show’s more memorable offerings, there are certain aspects of it that feel a little anti-climactic after half a season of build up to this big finish for Cole.
Charmed reaches its first milestone in ‘Centennial Charmed’ when Cole alters reality so Phoebe and Piper never met Paige. When she slips through the cracks, Paige searches for a way to turn everything back to normal by reuniting her sisters and the power of three.
As a hundredth episode, something needs to be done that is either a celebration of the series itself, or feature some sort of pivotal event to mark the occasion. Taking the latter option, ‘Centennial Charmed’ is the big curtain call for Cole, who is finally put out of his misery. His character has been tampered with a little too much this season, but for the place he ended up, this episode managed to give him an end that was both heart-breaking, and well-deserved.
The episode boasts some wonderful direction and some clever imagery to boot. Phoebe’s closed off state of mind is evoked by the manor itself, which has become a built up, impenetrable fortress. Piper’s rage at her sister’s death is obviously reflected in her ridiculously awesome new get-up and their lives, just like San Francisco, are in ruins. I liked the re-emergence of people like the seer to help give the episode the feeling that we’re celebrating all that had happened till this point.
Cole was really misunderstood this season. Like I’ve said already, I never got Phoebe’s treatment of him. He fought so hard for her love that it was a bit of a let-down that he never got it in the end. I felt a little cheated that in the end it was alternate reality Phoebe who vanquishes Cole, not the Phoebe we know who had to endure the constant attempts to win her back all season, though alterna-Phoebe had endured much worse, obviously. Even though his big vanquish was a slight let-down, with only one character retaining the memory of his demise, it was still a big moment that changed the series in a major way.
It didn’t feel like the right ending to all that had happened. Like I’ve already mentioned before ‘Long Live the Queen’ was the most fitting end to his character, and though some of the episodes this season utilised him well, for the most part it was largely unnecessary. What ‘Centennial Charmed’ did right though, was putting an end to his suffering in a way that was fitting (he was stopped by the woman he had hurt most) and heart-breaking (the woman he hurt most just so happened to be the one he loved more than anything).
While a lot of this episode was spent on finishing Cole’s journey, episode time was still devoted to the sisterly bond that made this series such a wonderful one in the first place. From Paige being the one to bring them back together, just as she had before, to Phoebe and Piper’s wonderful, but all too short, reunion before the final confrontation there was a constant reference back to the foundations of ‘Charmed’ throughout.
It wasn’t what it should have been, but Charmed’s 100th episode still proved to be one of the better moments of the fifth season. Though, I can’t help but think that something along the lines of ‘Pre-Witched’ would have been more suitable, with Cole’s demise preceding it, I’m still happy with the final product. Julian's presence will be gravely missed after this, but his time had run out, and I'm glad his talents weren't abused quite as much as Holly's are by the utter nonsense she's subjected to later on.
8.5/10
Great review, and you're right that Julian made just the right time to jump ship. I get what you're saying about Cole's characterization, but I think my interest sort of peaked long before this episode, so it didn't really bother me that he didn't get a huge amount of sympathy. I'm sure in the hands of better writers his potential could have been realized, though.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, I watched The Seven Year Witch a while back, and I actually liked Cole's exit in that episode. It was a return to his more human side, not the machiavellian badass he was portrayed as in Centennial Charmed. I'm interested to hear your comments on that when the time comes.