All of the finales we’ve had so far stood for something. Each represented the end of a journey, and while some were more exciting than others, all of their events felt real, and more importantly right. As of next season, Charmed’s rules and dynamics are smashed to pieces, and this finale sort of heralded that tragic change in direction as things we once thought were important are tampered with, all in the name of a flimsy plot. Part 1 of our finale tried its hardest to build up some amount of excitement, with the arrival of the Titans and future Chris, and while it falls short of a big event, the finale does have a few wonderful moments.
In the first part of the fifth season finale ‘Oh My Goddess!’ Paige begins to have feelings of dread that something big is about to happen. After they discover that the Greek Titans are behind it, they try to stop them. A mysterious whitelighter from the future named Chris Perry arrives to help them.
On paper, the Titans sound like the greatest idea ever, right? It’s no secret that a lot of the creatures we’ve met this season have been far from acceptable, but these infamous, formidable opponents seemed like they could finally bring about some sort of threat, something that had been lost recently. Thanks to some woeful guest casting (double casting alert!), and tragic script they sort of fell short of any sort of menace, but despite that, the episode’s events built up the impending thought of a big battle in a vaguely interesting way, with Paige’s run in with Meta and the death of the Elders. Leo's breakdown didn't feel as powerful as it should have, mostly because they Elders had barely been on-screen before they bit it, but I understood what it stood for.
One of the most controversial parts of ‘Oh My Goddess’ is its introduction of one of the biggest mistakes in Charmed history; Chris. Now, I think a lot of my distaste for his character rests on the fact that Drew Fuller is one of the flattest performers I’ve ever seen, but it was predominantly the sloppy writing and inconsistencies that made his presence so unbearable (more on that later). Despite a trademark performance, he brings with him a small amount of intrigue and mystery here, getting us guessing as to what his motives are, and what he could want 20 years in the past. I honestly can’t tell if the writers thought he was evil or good here, my guess is they didn’t have a clue, but if they did they hid it quite well.
I hated the majority of them, but the return of some of the creatures we’ve met this season was a nice way of getting this episode to seem like an end to the year’s stories. There isn’t anything of interest in part 1 really, but as a set-up episode it did its job, I guess.
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