Charmed 5.23 'Oh My Goddess!: Part 2'

Speaking as a long time fan of the show, and of Piper and Leo, this ending is a cold slap in the face. Like I’ve already discussed, this finale never felt right, just contrived and forced. This sort of behavior continues well into season 6, but its here where the writers made one of their biggest mistakes, and it'll cost the series a significant amount of respectability later on.

Charmed 5.22 'Oh My Goddess!: Part 1'

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.

Charmed 5.21 'Necromancing the Stone'

‘Necromancing...’ is an episode that tries to tackle a deeper issue, but the execution of said issue meant that it fell short of giving it the right amount of power it needed to work. There are a few ideas here that did work, though, not the least of which was giving Penny Halliwell the chance to come out and play.

Charmed 5.20 'Sense and Sense Ability'

What made the later seasons of Charmed such a disaster was the writers’ inability to handle a straight up comedic episode, something that shows like Buffy and Supernatural were/are able to handle regularly, while still being able to put some sort of dramatic spin on it. So far, Charmed’s efforts have been an embarrassment (See ‘Lucky Charmed’ and ‘Nymphs...’) but ‘Sense and Sense Ability’ is one of those rare Charmed episodes that actually tackled something with such an easy light script while still establishing the villains involved as credible threats, the first episode of this kind that paralells season 3’s ‘Sin Francisco’. It's one of the few examples that prove that if Charmed had been run with writers that actually had a clue, then the "lighter" seasons could have actually been something pretty great...

Charmed 5.19 'Nymphs Just Wanna Have Fun'

Bordering on ridiculous, ‘Nymphs Just Wanna Have Fun’ continues ‘Charmed’s downward trajectory into pure cheese. Though it’s got a slight lead on ‘Lucky Charmed’, the utter mess of the script ensures it will forever retain a spot on ‘Charmed’s wall of shame.

Charmed 5.18 'Cat House'

Given that ‘Cat House’ was the result of a last minute addition to the episode order, it turned out quite nicely. Exploring Piper and Leo’s past romance, 'Cat House' also gives the newest sister the chance to experience a part of what she missed. Flashback episodes of this type can be pretty dull, but 'Charmed’s take is actually refreshing.

Charmed 5.17 'Lucky Charmed'

GAG. ‘Lucky Charmed’ is the perfect example of all that had gone wrong in the ‘Charmed’ universe. From the offensively written leprechauns to Phoebe’s irritating rage towards Jason, there are very few redeemable qualities to this one.

Charmed 5.16 'Baby's First Demon'

This was expected. After Wyatt’s birth, the series felt quite lost since both Piper’s pregnancy, and Cole’s descent into evil were both finished with. There wasn’t a sense of a major story for the series to hold onto at this point but I’m not one who was too disappointed with this attempt though, since a lot the typical post pregnancy stories, particularly with Piper, work.

Charmed 5.15 'The Day the Magic Died'

This is the episode that a lot of the fifth season had been building to. There are some fantastic ideas at work here, and a lot of it pays off, but with so much going on the episode loses some of its power half way through.

Charmed 5.14 'Sand Francisco Dreamin'

I’ve always felt like ‘Sand Francisco Dreamin’ is an episode that repackaged an old idea, and got away with it. Another magical creature is brought into the series and despite being a little less silly that some of the others, it still didn’t work out as well as it should have.

Charmed 5.13 'House Call'

The first of ‘Charmed’s post-Cole episodes ‘House Call’ is a preview of the half-assed embarrassment that we will come to know over the next few seasons. After the big ending to Cole’s arc, this episode opts for a lighter story but, like a lot of other episodes of this kind will, it falls on its ass completely.

Charmed 5.12 'Centennial Charmed'

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 5.11 'The Importance of Being Phoebe'

An episode I really should hate, ‘The Importance of Being Phoebe’ is actually lots of fun, although the girls have to be pretty moronic not to notice a Phoebe imposter at this stage. The Cole arc is about to reach its climax, and this episode is all about preparing us for his inevitable exit from the Charmed Ones’ lives.

Charmed 5.10 'Y Tu Mummy También'

Initially my enjoyment of this episode was fairly limited, but on second look there’s quite a lot going on here. Cole’s going bonkers; Phoebe is desperate to avoid him; Piper is fighting her pregnancy and something very taboo gets faced head on.

Charmed 5.09 'Sam I Am'

Sam’s re-appearance was inevitable. Even though he was given a sound goodbye, he had to be brought back after the major revelation at the beginning of season 4 out of necessity. Though the episode had its problems I always felt like it was one that was needed.

Charmed 5.08 'A Witch in Time'

This is one of my favourite ‘Charmed’ episodes. While we’re presented with clever use of time travelling to tell a story in a new and entertaining way, this episode also deals with the unavoidability of death and with some crazily fun twists it’s easily one of the best of the season.

Charmed 5.07 'Sympathy for the Demon'

Barbas, for me, wasn’t really the best villain deserving of the majority of returns he made during the shows run but the writers meddle with him enough to make it somewhat plausible, starting with this season’s re-emergence. Though seeing the girls face their fears (again) was slightly stretched, there are quite a few strong moments thrown in, and the interesting character development made this episode another hit.

Charmed 5.06 'The Eyes Have it'

Gypsies are introduced to the Charmed universe. ‘The Eyes have it’ finally returns to the idea of the sisters’ emotions controlling their powers, which has been largely ignored since the beginning of the series. This episode could have so easily been disastrous, but the writers tackle it quite skilfully, despite a few minor flaws.

Charmed 5.05 'Witches in Tights'

'Charmed's take on superheroes is something I really could have lived without. Despite Mark A. Sheppard’s presence, this episode is one of the lesser ones of the season. The weakness of the story this week was covered up with total idiocy, but despite most of the episodes outright terribleness, there are a few important things happening.

Charmed 5.04 'Siren Song'

In ‘Siren Song’ we see how much of a struggle Cole goes through to get Phoebe back, with his demonic powers pushing Phoebe even further away. Also, Leo gets pregnant! This episode is actually far cleverer than I used to give it credit for and it surprisingly argues Phoebe’s case against Cole in a way we’ve not seen so far this season.