Well, this is a massive update. I’m saving it for Saturday morning (I’ll watch all of them at once), but the title card seems to indicate that you’re done with this series. Is that the case?
Also, it’s a nice touch that you’re drawn there wearing the most awesomest sweater I’ve ever seen in an internet video.
You have no idea how much these videos make my day. These videos are in-depth and enjoyable to the point where I’m sucked in, and I can forget about the quagmire of depression I was in moments beforehand. I’m sad to see the Charmed reviews end, but I look forward to whatever huge undertaking you go for next.
Life handed me a shitton of lemons today, and what’s a great way to recover from being kicked to the curb? Kick something that sucks to the curb!
I never watched this show, but my best friend at the time was obsessed with it because he was really into Wicca and the occult. It seemed decent when it first came out, but oh god, it lasted 8 SEASONS?? Ewwww. And oh god, the self-insert fanfic episodes… whyyyy… yesss, tear it to shreds! Point out all the flaws! So satisfying.
Again, I didn’t watch anything from season 8, but I think I would’ve liked Billie. She didn’t seem like a Mary Sue, which earns bonus points in my book compared to the other main characters. Then again, if I’d been watching since day one and suddenly a Scrappy came in, I’d probably get pissed, too.
OH WELL. I don’t care. 2+ hours of frustration outlet. Thank you for your entire recap. Such a good watch. 🙂
Well to be honest Billie is actually a Mary-Sue. She could already do GPS scrying, which is shown to be more of an advanced version of scrying. If that’s the case why do the sisters need to train her anyway? Her backstory just amounts to “She lost her sister when she was younger” . She can Christy both are stronger than the Charmed Ones when combined. Â She isn’t as much of a Mary-Sue as Piper or Phoebe, but she was one.
And I am a fan of Charmed. Well Seasons 1-4 anyway, and I do like it regardless of its script flaws however Lupa did make a lot of mistakes in her reviews. They don’t overshadow her main points or anything but still.Â
Its finally over, Great job Lupa! I never really watched the show when it was on, i caught maybe a few episodes here and there because frankly there was nothing else on tv, what ill miss the most from this is the screen shot of there face in a stupid look with your voice over, made me laugh every time 🙂
Oh well we still have 11 seasons of MITCH VON MALIBU!!! Ba Dum Ba Dum Ba Dum Ba Dum. DUUU!!
i’m fairly certain the last season of Charmed was on the WB? it was one of the show that died at the same time they switched? I could be misremembering.
Also you are so strong. and so dangerous. too dangerous. you made it through all 8 seasons!
and you obviously already know about the first part of my comment since you used some of the commercials in your video so just forget i ever said anything lol.
Not gonna lie, now that i only have one part left i’m a little sad it’s nearly over.
Not to say your suffering causes me joy, but it kinda does.
Anyway, i’m looking forward to checking out more of your stuff after this though.
now i kinda hope you do Charmed season 9 eventually.
I was curious and wanted to pick it up but i’m afraid it’ll be as insufferable as the last few seasons. Though without the actors’ egos in the way it could have gotten better, who knows.
Well being a fan of Charmed Seasons 1-4 were decent. (Even Lupa admits that) Everything after that? Pretty much insufferable. (minus a rare amount of positives.)
I thought about picking it up but i was scared it would be more of the same. Though if we’re lucky, without the actors’ ego the characters would be better. Maybe not too.
I just marathon watched the entire review of this show having never even heard of this show before and my God, Lupa is strong to sit through this utter trash. When the main characters make Sabrina the Teenage Witch seem like a better crime fighter, you know you done screwed up.
I have never seen such selfish, whiny sexist protagonists in my whole life. They couldn’t possibly be more miserable no matter what choice they make, whether to help people or live a so-called normal existence. When you root for the villains across 5 years and especially in the finale (where they don’t really do much), you know they created horrific monsters walking around in human skin.
Bottom line: This show sucks and I’m glad Lupa exposed it for everything it was and I will never watch an episode ever. God bless Lupa.
…Oh my. I caught a few Charmed-esque quotes from Arrow and feared they might suffer the same fate. Laurel has her Phoebe-migraine-inducing moments while I’m trying to like her character. “Hey Laurel, my sister is in the hospital and in bad shape.” “Fuck Oliver problems, let’s focus on my rage and self righteousness over not telling me about something that isn’t as important as what’s going on two feet away in your sister’s hospital room.” Is it really that difficult to write women that aren’t terrible people or whom the show bends over backwards to speak in awe about how amazing they are for doing non-amazing or “brave” things simply because they have boobs? (I rolled my eyes so hard at the “come out and fight me like a man” “no, I’ll fight you as a woman” line that I think I went temporarily blind. That didn’t appeal to me as a woman, it just sounded like they wanted “and then go shopping afterwards” to make it super lady friendly.)
I think I watched Charmed for the first four or five seasons. I wish they ended it with Billy binding their powers. Ending it as an example of how to balance things, what not to do, and turning all their mistakes into a lesson Billy’s teaching everyone at generic Magic School would have been nice. Bittersweet, with them realizing after all the whining about who they were they really did miss the magical world. Maybe with a hopeful twinkle of new powers or a change of mind because hey… they get it now. I wish just once they would have turned to each other and thought about Billy looking for/saving her sister compared to all the times they’ve done whatever it takes for their own with a little empathy. That seems to be thinking way too highly of them
That’s why Sara is one of the best characters. Not only did she never have that problem… She was interesting, likeable, and no one is surprised that a woman can fight! (Surprised that she could fight, but not because she was a woman) She was just awesome in every scene she’s in. Kicking ass, taking names, yet when she isn’t, being a lovely person who you want to succeed.
THAT’S HOW YOU WRITE A GOOD FEMALE CHARACTER!
Also, Screw Laurel. She’s probably one of the Charmed Ones fangirls.
I remember watching the first… 3-4 seasons I think… back in the days. Mostly because at the times I was hitting puberty and the skimpy-outfits mania of the show caught my attention. My God this thing went aaaall downhill overtime. Even more so than Supernatural I’d dare to say… that series at least comes to one or two very good conclusive moments where you can say “okay, I want to leave the characters here, it’s a good place to end their story”… Charmed instead looks like you’re basically waiting for some wrap-up or turning point that never ever comes.
Great job with these reviews, they were alot of fun to go through, and you didn’t let your obvious and understandable unsimpathy for the main characters to get in the way of a balanced review, turning it instead into a huge source of funny gags. All the thumbs up!
Some of these comments are recent and talking about the videos. Did you just take them all down in the last week or something? I love these reviews, why did you take them down?
It seems she took them off YouTube but reuploaded them on DailyMotion. I’ve been rewatching them for the past week and when I came back on today, it said the videos were taken down. But I refreshed, and now they’re back as DM videos. I’m guessing it has something to do with YouTube getting a little crazy with copyright stuff right now.
I really hate it when main characters in fantasy shows and books spend a bunch of time bitching about how they can’t have normal lives, especially when they don’t HAVE to be involved in magical stuff. Most of the time, that level of complaining isn’t warranted.
Season 7 was clearly intended to be the finale, but it still set up an interesting plot they could’ve used for season 8. Maybe they could’ve made something half-decent if they went that way. It’s pretty common for these types of stories (where a character is thrown into some kind of magical destiny and has to learn things) to eventually have the student become a teacher. It represents the growth and progress the character has made, and it gives something new to do. If the show had to introduce new characters, it’s a good way to do so.
Now I’ve got this idea in my head of writing Charmed: The Good Version. I do that sometimes, I can’t help but imagine what a bad book/show (especially if it had good ideas) would be like if it was good.
Oh man, I have the same problem. I keep on thinking ‘You know, if you tweak some things’ kind of easy stuff. Like make the Charmed ones have flaws, keep Cole alive, and make Darryl a REAL main character.
These were great series of reviews. Being a dedicated fan of Charmed (yes I admittedly still do like it) I can agree wholeheartedly with these reviews about the shows faults in general. I’m mostly a fan of seasons 1-4 though, since those are the seasons people can agree on as being the only saving grace of the show. The show didn’t do anything insufferable or intolerable in its first 4 seasons (outside of Phoebe’s characterization in season 3 onward) Â In fact Phoebe Halliwell is my most hated character in fiction.
I honestly won’t make claims based on what I haven’t seen either. However despite my agreement with Lupa’s criticisms I do feel she exaggerated some points or didn’t pay enough attention to some detail that Lupa missed a lot of stuff out that she thinks are unexplained, but the episodes themselves do explain and or show them. Yes they’re stupid, but they’re there. (This was for every season btw) In season 8 as a whole I agree it and Season 6 are easily the worst seasons of the show, but I feel the criticism toward Paige in season 8 were a bit too much exaggerated. I’ll admit Paige here in comparison to how she was before is bad, considering she was the only likable main character left besides Leo.
I feel like I must defend Paige’s actions to some degree, in her defense she was way better than Phoebe and Piper were. I wouldn’t call Paige a banshee status here, just more of a inconsistent/selfish person. Honestly Paige was only bad during the first few episodes of the season where she was on the “let’s be selfish train” my only issue with Paige was the massive flip-flopping being center focus. Plus her interactions with Billie got better, take example the bank episode “Payback’s a Witch” where Henry gets shot. Paige and Billie form a good team there, compare this to Piper who just bitches at Billie for getting in the way of getting Leo back or Phoebe’s hypocriticalness.
This is more apparent in the episode “The Jung and the Restless” where Billie used the potion to enter their dreams to see what their main focuses were. Billie lets Paige go when she realize Paige wanted to save her charge after she was trying to find her identity. In Comparison to Piper and Phoebe who focused only on themselves. Also it’s that same episode where Phoebe wanted to settle down and talk to Billie, Paige only complain about being busy o see Henry once, and it was more of a throw away line. She spent that whole episode worrying about her charge. She only wanted Phoebe and Piper to stop because of the arguing. As for the ordering magical beings around, Um Paige does that because she wanted to help Henry out. Henry was having a bad day so she asked a couple of magical beings to help his luck go better. Once only did she pull the “You Owe use card” she didn’t spend the whole season doing it as Allison implied.
Despite this long novel of a comment I agree overall that this show got so awful and turned the characters into unforgivably, terrible and sadistic human beings. They are easily contenders for some of the worse made characters. However I’m only counting seasons 5-8. But in Phoebe’s case its seasons 3-8. Since Season 3 started Phoebe’s downfall. I’m also one of the few fans who actually liked Billie and I must agree with everything. The Charmed Ones using her was so horrible! I hated how they all became massive Designated Heroes who are seen in the right for their terrible actions.
You did such a great job critiquing this entire series, and it was so good I sat and watched it for an entire day. Â This sort of binge-watching, I can dig. Â And I always wondered if I was the only one who referred to Coop as Poop. Â I also found Evil Leo’s look from Season 6 most amusing. Â His head reminded me of a Steamy Ball.
P.S., I really love your Radu impression.
I will state that yes, I’m a dedicated Charmed fan. In fact I still love the series to this day. However after watching some episodes recently i do also want to say Lupa did make a lot of mistakes in some of her points of the show. Particularly the earlier Seasons. For example in this Season those guys who summoned “French Stewart Genie” were not the Triad, they were another group called “The Infernal Council” look it up on the Charmed Wiki. And the episode is the Season finale Be Careful what you Witch For The Infernal Council is very similar to and sometimes confused with the Triad, who were introduced in the following season. It is unknown what became of the five members of the Council. Another Council appeared near the end of Season 4 during Cole Turner’s coronation as the Source of All Evil and during the coronation of the Seer. Many demon councils and their leaders were present for the latter, possibly including the Infernal Council. All these demons were vanquished along with the Seer. I just watched her review on season 1 and there she just seems to search for things to complain about and ignores things that were explained clearly. She makes a point about the witch/warlock thing being confusing, but then fails to recognize the difference between warlocks and demons… Also, she discards all references to the Source, for example thinking that Hannah Webster just died for no reason. (Hannah’s dialogue even implies the Source was punishing her for failing, it’s a makes it easy moment sure, but there is evidence she was punished from an outside source, not vanquished out of thin air.)Also Prue does show remorse over Andy’s death. In the Season opener of Season 2 called “Witch Trial” the whole episode is about Prue holding back in fighting a demon called “Abraxas” who stole the Book of Shadows from another plane. It explains it’s been a couple of months sense Andy’s death and Prue spends the episode grieving over Andy, she even has a scene where she’s crying because she couldn’t save Andy. But yeah, she does miss some things, like when she didn’t know why the enemy in Battle of the Hexes exploded when she put the belt on, even though it was explained in the episode. Again with season 3; She neglects the fact that “The Good, The Bad and The Cursed takes place in a time loop, not the actual past.Also that episode where the girls lost their powers because they used them on each other wasn’t a contradiction either. They lost them because their bond as sisters were broken, they used their powers out of anger on each there because a rage demon amplified their frustrations toward each other. And since their powers and BOS are connected to their bond as sisters it broke that. *She also neglects the fact that Prue fought and vanquished Vinceres while her powers were augmented by her empathy. The reason Prue’s Astra Self was able to destroy that one demon “Vinceres” in “Primrose Empath” was because she was amplified by empathy, plus it’s how she was able to do that Matrix style scene too.
There’s also Paige’s actions in Season 8. While I’ll admit Paige was worse in Season 8 compared to her in the previous 4 Seasons where she’s the only decent Charmed One besides Prue who was decent. For example, Paige is only a shrew to Billie in the first few episodes. And even thing Paige was the only one activity doing anything with Billie at all, her interactions with Billie do get better take that episode “Payback’s a Witch” where Paige, Billie and Henry get held at the bank. (Which I found to be the best episode of the Season) Also Paige does not spend the entire season asking magical creatures to do things for her, that only happened in 1 episode and the reason she did that was to hep out Henry so she could be better prepared to tell him she’s a witch. And even then it was only a Muse and a Leprechaun. And the “You owe me card” was more of a joke.
Also when the girls are in their dreams to see their greatest desire. While Paige does want to find her identity she remembers her charge being in trouble and has Billie get her out of there. Billie lets Paige go when she realized Paige cared for her charge. Paige also doesn’t complain about not being with Henry during Piper and Phoebe’s argument either, Paige only complains about it once and it was a throw away line. I will admit In Lupa’s defence, her mistakes are fairly minor and don’t impart on her main criticisms. But they can get out of hand. For instance, she actually thought Chris slept with one of the Stillman Sisters and goes on for a whole minute about how he supposedly slept with what he thought was his aunt when really that was just a trick Chris did too fool the sisters into turning against each other. I also agree the sisters’ resistance to actually wanting to save innocents becomes a pretty regular occurrence in the show. Though, show still manages to be enjoyable, that is when the sisters are actually doing something. I love the show but she does bring up some very valid issues. Seeing a few videos makes me see Christy’s whole reasoning about the sisters being selfish in a new light. Being a fan of Charmed (and still am) I can easily agree with the views of the later seasons. (Especially season 8 where I hated the Charmed Ones more than Billie) While Seasons 1-4 had problems too, it could still be considered a good or decent watch. The most frustration you’d get is Phoebe in Seasons 3 and 4. Honestly I hated Phoebe in Season 3 onward, she’s as bad there as she was in the last 3rd of Season 4 and first half of Season 5 with Cole. And even though the good ideas Charmed had were used in bad execution, lots of shows can have cheesy or even over the top cringeworthy plots, but still have other elements to be likable or even good show.. And that’s what I see in the earlier seasons of Charmed. As well as a sense of humor in most areas. It helped it get through the bad writing. However I will not excuse the later Seasons whatsoever. And I’m mostly a fan in regarding Seasons 1-4. And even Lupa mentions these seasons were at least decent in her Season 8 review.
I will state that yes, I’m a dedicated Charmed fan. In fact I still love the series to this day. However after watching some episodes recently i do also want to say Lupa did make a lot of mistakes in some of her points of the show. Particularly the earlier Seasons. For example in this Season those guys who summoned “French Stewart Genie” were not the Triad, they were another group called “The Infernal Council” look it up on the Charmed Wiki. And the episode is the Season finale Be Careful what you Witch For The Infernal Council is very similar to and sometimes confused with the Triad, who were introduced in the following season. It is unknown what became of the five members of the Council. Another Council appeared near the end of Season 4 during Cole Turner’s coronation as the Source of All Evil and during the coronation of the Seer. Many demon councils and their leaders were present for the latter, possibly including the Infernal Council. All these demons were vanquished along with the Seer. I just watched her review on season 1 and there she just seems to search for things to complain about and ignores things that were explained clearly. She makes a point about the witch/warlock thing being confusing, but then fails to recognize the difference between warlocks and demons… Also, she discards all references to the Source, for example thinking that Hannah Webster just died for no reason. (Hannah’s dialogue even implies the Source was punishing her for failing, it’s a makes it easy moment sure, but there is evidence she was punished from an outside source, not vanquished out of thin air.)Also Prue does show remorse over Andy’s death. In the Season opener of Season 2 called “Witch Trial” the whole episode is about Prue holding back in fighting a demon called “Abraxas” who stole the Book of Shadows from another plane. It explains it’s been a couple of months sense Andy’s death and Prue spends the episode grieving over Andy, she even has a scene where she’s crying because she couldn’t save Andy. But yeah, she does miss some things, like when she didn’t know why the enemy in Battle of the Hexes exploded when she put the belt on, even though it was explained in the episode. Again with season 3; She neglects the fact that “The Good, The Bad and The Cursed takes place in a time loop, not the actual past.Also that episode where the girls lost their powers because they used them on each other wasn’t a contradiction either. They lost them because their bond as sisters were broken, they used their powers out of anger on each there because a rage demon amplified their frustrations toward each other. And since their powers and BOS are connected to their bond as sisters it broke that. *She also neglects the fact that Prue fought and vanquished Vinceres while her powers were augmented by her empathy. The reason Prue’s Astra Self was able to destroy that one demon “Vinceres” in “Primrose Empath” was because she was amplified by empathy, plus it’s how she was able to do that Matrix style scene too.There’s also Paige’s actions in Season 8. While I’ll admit Paige was worse in Season 8 compared to her in the previous 4 Seasons where she’s the only decent Charmed One besides Prue who was decent. For example, Paige is only a shrew to Billie in the first few episodes. And even thing Paige was the only one activity doing anything with Billie at all, her interactions with Billie do get better take that episode “Payback’s a Witch” where Paige, Billie and Henry get held at the bank. (Which I found to be the best episode of the Season) Also Paige does not spend the entire season asking magical creatures to do things for her, that only happened in 1 episode and the reason she did that was to hep out Henry so she could be better prepared to tell him she’s a witch. And even then it was only a Muse and a Leprechaun. And the “You owe me card” was more of a joke. Also when the girls are in their dreams to see their greatest desire. While Paige does want to find her identity she remembers her charge being in trouble and has Billie get her out of there. Billie lets Paige go when she realized Paige cared for her charge. Paige also doesn’t complain about not being with Henry during Piper and Phoebe’s argument either, Paige only complains about it once and it was a throw away line. I will admit In Lupa’s defence, her mistakes are fairly minor and don’t impart on her main criticisms. But they can get out of hand. For instance, she actually thought Chris slept with one of the Stillman Sisters and goes on for a whole minute about how he supposedly slept with what he thought was his aunt when really that was just a trick Chris did too fool the sisters into turning against each other. I also agree the sisters’ resistance to actually wanting to save innocents becomes a pretty regular occurrence in the show. Though, show still manages to be enjoyable, that is when the sisters are actually doing something. I love the show but she does bring up some very valid issues. Seeing a few videos makes me see Christy’s whole reasoning about the sisters being selfish in a new light. Being a fan of Charmed (and still am) I can easily agree with the views of the later seasons. (Especially season 8 where I hated the Charmed Ones more than Billie) While Seasons 1-4 had problems too, it could still be considered a good or decent watch. The most frustration you’d get is Phoebe in Seasons 3 and 4. Honestly I hated Phoebe in Season 3 onward, she’s as bad there as she was in the last 3rd of Season 4 and first half of Season 5 with Cole. And even though the good ideas Charmed had were used in bad execution, lots of shows can have cheesy or even over the top cringeworthy plots, but still have other elements to be likable or even good show.. And that’s what I see in the earlier seasons of Charmed. As well as a sense of humor in most areas. It helped it get through the bad writing. However I will not excuse the later Seasons whatsoever. And I’m mostly a fan in regarding Seasons 1-4. And even Lupa mentions these seasons were at least decent in her Season 8 review.
Honestly there were some exaggerations in these reviews. In Season 8 Â they Mostly regard Paige. I’m not just saying this because I am a fan of Charmed (also don’t go and just agree with someone on the spot), but because in some parts in her reviews she seemed to pick and choose something to complain about while completely ignoring things already explained in the episode itself. In Lupa’s defense her mistakes are minor and don’t impart on her main criticism, but in some areas they were legit exaggerations.
For example the whole thing with Billie caring for innocents again was only a staple in the first few episodes. Because after Leo dies in the 10th episode “Vaya Cons Leos” there is so innocents being in danger or anybody having to be saved, it’s mostly just building Billie saving Christy, and the Charmed Ones being selfish. Now I will say anything regarding Phoebe and Piper in are completely valid, I won’t argue against that. Because after watching through Charmed (yes I also hate Seasons 6 and 8 btw) I can agree how much of a tedious chore Seasons 5-8 are. I also will say it doesn’t disregard the Charmed Ones not helping innocents either.
Piper does make it clear that saving Leo is all she cares about (even having her and Phoebe go as far as to regard saving or using Christy or anything as an excuse to save him)
Also I find Phoebe changing to be debatable. She really only decides to fight evil because it was just regarded as a second priority because she couldn’t “find the right man with her Premonitions” not to mention she goes about treating Billie like crap anyway.
Anyways in regarding Paige outside of the Flip-Flopping Paige didn’t do half of those things stated for reasons Lupa stated. For example she’s only a Banshee to Billie in the first few episodes and even then she flip-flops. After the first 10 episodes her interactions with Billie get better like in the episode “Payback’s a Witch” where Paige, Billie and Henry were being held hostage at the bank. It was the best episode of the season honestly. Despite how much I dislike this season.
Paige doesn’t spend the entire season having magical beings to do things for her, that was only in 1 episode “Repo Manner” Paige does this so that Henry can have a good day and things won’t turn out poorly when she wants to tell him she’s a witch. She did that to help out Henry’s luck. It was 1 episode not the entire season. Also the “You Owe us” card was only a joke Paige mentioned to the Leprechaun.
Also the episode where Billie puts the sisters to sleep to see their greatest desires “The Jung and the Restless” While Paige does search for her identity, afterwards Paige remembers she has to save her charge and demands for Billie to let her out so she could save her. Which still shows Paige has more moral compass than Piper and Phoebe.
In that same episode Paige only bitches about being a white lighter and can’t be with her husband once and it was used in a throwaway joke. In the actual scene Paige was trying to get Piper and Phoebe not to argue, she more or less complains about her charge being difficult if anything.
Regardless of those for Season 8 I do agree with Lupa’s reviews as a whole. (Especially Phoebe who’s my most hated character in fiction)
Just not every point she made was completely accurate. These were also funny and entertaining as well. Being a fan of Charmed I enjoy Seasons 1-4 despite the cheesy and badly executed plots and since I never took it seriously I just get some fun out of the earlier seasons. So I still remain a fan for the sense of humor factor.
These reviews were incredibly satisfying, and that’s coming from a longstanding fan of the show. I still enjoy much of the content they put forth, even some of the later seasons, but much of the latter half is due to the camp factor more than anything. Or maybe I still don’t quite know what camp is; I tend to get it mixed up quite a bit. Needless to say, I enjoy Charmed as a whole, but the entertaining way Lupa’s brought up the glaring problems with the program leaves little to argue about while I’m laughing in my seat. At this point, I should definitely point out that I’m not exactly in a place where I can argue, given that I haven’t watched an episode of the show in a few years and forget many details other than overall plot points, and take everything with a grain of salt while giddily eating up the exaggerated voices used for the girls. I do hope she tackles seasons nine and ten in the future, especially one specific issue which I won’t spoil but tries to give a better ending to a character that the show’s writers did wrong.
Brad Kern said in an interview for the tenth anniversary that he wanted to show a picture of Prue during the ending montage when old Piper and Leo are ascending the stairs. According to him, he was informed at the time that it would cost them a large amount of money to use her likeness, and it was only after the episode had aired that he realized it wasn’t the case.
31 Comments Comments RSS
Well, this is a massive update. I’m saving it for Saturday morning (I’ll watch all of them at once), but the title card seems to indicate that you’re done with this series. Is that the case?
Also, it’s a nice touch that you’re drawn there wearing the most awesomest sweater I’ve ever seen in an internet video.
You have no idea how much these videos make my day. These videos are in-depth and enjoyable to the point where I’m sucked in, and I can forget about the quagmire of depression I was in moments beforehand. I’m sad to see the Charmed reviews end, but I look forward to whatever huge undertaking you go for next.
Life handed me a shitton of lemons today, and what’s a great way to recover from being kicked to the curb? Kick something that sucks to the curb!
I never watched this show, but my best friend at the time was obsessed with it because he was really into Wicca and the occult. It seemed decent when it first came out, but oh god, it lasted 8 SEASONS?? Ewwww. And oh god, the self-insert fanfic episodes… whyyyy… yesss, tear it to shreds! Point out all the flaws! So satisfying.
Again, I didn’t watch anything from season 8, but I think I would’ve liked Billie. She didn’t seem like a Mary Sue, which earns bonus points in my book compared to the other main characters. Then again, if I’d been watching since day one and suddenly a Scrappy came in, I’d probably get pissed, too.
OH WELL. I don’t care. 2+ hours of frustration outlet. Thank you for your entire recap. Such a good watch. 🙂
Well to be honest Billie is actually a Mary-Sue. She could already do GPS scrying, which is shown to be more of an advanced version of scrying. If that’s the case why do the sisters need to train her anyway? Her backstory just amounts to “She lost her sister when she was younger” . She can Christy both are stronger than the Charmed Ones when combined. Â She isn’t as much of a Mary-Sue as Piper or Phoebe, but she was one.
And I am a fan of Charmed. Well Seasons 1-4 anyway, and I do like it regardless of its script flaws however Lupa did make a lot of mistakes in her reviews. They don’t overshadow her main points or anything but still.Â
Its finally over, Great job Lupa! I never really watched the show when it was on, i caught maybe a few episodes here and there because frankly there was nothing else on tv, what ill miss the most from this is the screen shot of there face in a stupid look with your voice over, made me laugh every time 🙂
Oh well we still have 11 seasons of MITCH VON MALIBU!!! Ba Dum Ba Dum Ba Dum Ba Dum. DUUU!!
I watched one of these every few days, and forgot about these entirely for over a week, but I finally saw them all! AAAUUGH
i’m fairly certain the last season of Charmed was on the WB? it was one of the show that died at the same time they switched? I could be misremembering.
Also you are so strong. and so dangerous. too dangerous. you made it through all 8 seasons!
and you obviously already know about the first part of my comment since you used some of the commercials in your video so just forget i ever said anything lol.
Not gonna lie, now that i only have one part left i’m a little sad it’s nearly over.
Not to say your suffering causes me joy, but it kinda does.
Anyway, i’m looking forward to checking out more of your stuff after this though.
now i kinda hope you do Charmed season 9 eventually.
I was curious and wanted to pick it up but i’m afraid it’ll be as insufferable as the last few seasons. Though without the actors’ egos in the way it could have gotten better, who knows.
Well being a fan of Charmed Seasons 1-4 were decent. (Even Lupa admits that) Everything after that? Pretty much insufferable. (minus a rare amount of positives.)
i really hope you eventually review season 9.
I thought about picking it up but i was scared it would be more of the same. Though if we’re lucky, without the actors’ ego the characters would be better. Maybe not too.
I just marathon watched the entire review of this show having never even heard of this show before and my God, Lupa is strong to sit through this utter trash. When the main characters make Sabrina the Teenage Witch seem like a better crime fighter, you know you done screwed up.
I have never seen such selfish, whiny sexist protagonists in my whole life. They couldn’t possibly be more miserable no matter what choice they make, whether to help people or live a so-called normal existence. When you root for the villains across 5 years and especially in the finale (where they don’t really do much), you know they created horrific monsters walking around in human skin.
Bottom line: This show sucks and I’m glad Lupa exposed it for everything it was and I will never watch an episode ever. God bless Lupa.
It is the worst show I have ever seen… It was truly astonishing how irredeemably fucking horrible the characters, story, writing… everything were.
My god… Only some of the worst comics Linkara has reviewed come close to how bad of a show Charmed was. But what do I know… I am only a writer. XD
…Oh my. I caught a few Charmed-esque quotes from Arrow and feared they might suffer the same fate. Laurel has her Phoebe-migraine-inducing moments while I’m trying to like her character. “Hey Laurel, my sister is in the hospital and in bad shape.” “Fuck Oliver problems, let’s focus on my rage and self righteousness over not telling me about something that isn’t as important as what’s going on two feet away in your sister’s hospital room.” Is it really that difficult to write women that aren’t terrible people or whom the show bends over backwards to speak in awe about how amazing they are for doing non-amazing or “brave” things simply because they have boobs? (I rolled my eyes so hard at the “come out and fight me like a man” “no, I’ll fight you as a woman” line that I think I went temporarily blind. That didn’t appeal to me as a woman, it just sounded like they wanted “and then go shopping afterwards” to make it super lady friendly.)
I think I watched Charmed for the first four or five seasons. I wish they ended it with Billy binding their powers. Ending it as an example of how to balance things, what not to do, and turning all their mistakes into a lesson Billy’s teaching everyone at generic Magic School would have been nice. Bittersweet, with them realizing after all the whining about who they were they really did miss the magical world. Maybe with a hopeful twinkle of new powers or a change of mind because hey… they get it now. I wish just once they would have turned to each other and thought about Billy looking for/saving her sister compared to all the times they’ve done whatever it takes for their own with a little empathy. That seems to be thinking way too highly of them
That’s why Sara is one of the best characters. Not only did she never have that problem… She was interesting, likeable, and no one is surprised that a woman can fight! (Surprised that she could fight, but not because she was a woman) She was just awesome in every scene she’s in. Kicking ass, taking names, yet when she isn’t, being a lovely person who you want to succeed.
THAT’S HOW YOU WRITE A GOOD FEMALE CHARACTER!
Also, Screw Laurel. She’s probably one of the Charmed Ones fangirls.
I remember watching the first… 3-4 seasons I think… back in the days. Mostly because at the times I was hitting puberty and the skimpy-outfits mania of the show caught my attention. My God this thing went aaaall downhill overtime. Even more so than Supernatural I’d dare to say… that series at least comes to one or two very good conclusive moments where you can say “okay, I want to leave the characters here, it’s a good place to end their story”… Charmed instead looks like you’re basically waiting for some wrap-up or turning point that never ever comes.
Great job with these reviews, they were alot of fun to go through, and you didn’t let your obvious and understandable unsimpathy for the main characters to get in the way of a balanced review, turning it instead into a huge source of funny gags. All the thumbs up!
Some of these comments are recent and talking about the videos. Did you just take them all down in the last week or something? I love these reviews, why did you take them down?
It seems she took them off YouTube but reuploaded them on DailyMotion. I’ve been rewatching them for the past week and when I came back on today, it said the videos were taken down. But I refreshed, and now they’re back as DM videos. I’m guessing it has something to do with YouTube getting a little crazy with copyright stuff right now.
I really hate it when main characters in fantasy shows and books spend a bunch of time bitching about how they can’t have normal lives, especially when they don’t HAVE to be involved in magical stuff. Most of the time, that level of complaining isn’t warranted.
Season 7 was clearly intended to be the finale, but it still set up an interesting plot they could’ve used for season 8. Maybe they could’ve made something half-decent if they went that way. It’s pretty common for these types of stories (where a character is thrown into some kind of magical destiny and has to learn things) to eventually have the student become a teacher. It represents the growth and progress the character has made, and it gives something new to do. If the show had to introduce new characters, it’s a good way to do so.
Now I’ve got this idea in my head of writing Charmed: The Good Version. I do that sometimes, I can’t help but imagine what a bad book/show (especially if it had good ideas) would be like if it was good.
Oh man, I have the same problem. I keep on thinking ‘You know, if you tweak some things’ kind of easy stuff. Like make the Charmed ones have flaws, keep Cole alive, and make Darryl a REAL main character.
These were great series of reviews. Being a dedicated fan of Charmed (yes I admittedly still do like it) I can agree wholeheartedly with these reviews about the shows faults in general. I’m mostly a fan of seasons 1-4 though, since those are the seasons people can agree on as being the only saving grace of the show. The show didn’t do anything insufferable or intolerable in its first 4 seasons (outside of Phoebe’s characterization in season 3 onward) Â In fact Phoebe Halliwell is my most hated character in fiction.
I honestly won’t make claims based on what I haven’t seen either. However despite my agreement with Lupa’s criticisms I do feel she exaggerated some points or didn’t pay enough attention to some detail that Lupa missed a lot of stuff out that she thinks are unexplained, but the episodes themselves do explain and or show them. Yes they’re stupid, but they’re there. (This was for every season btw) In season 8 as a whole I agree it and Season 6 are easily the worst seasons of the show, but I feel the criticism toward Paige in season 8 were a bit too much exaggerated. I’ll admit Paige here in comparison to how she was before is bad, considering she was the only likable main character left besides Leo.
I feel like I must defend Paige’s actions to some degree, in her defense she was way better than Phoebe and Piper were. I wouldn’t call Paige a banshee status here, just more of a inconsistent/selfish person. Honestly Paige was only bad during the first few episodes of the season where she was on the “let’s be selfish train” my only issue with Paige was the massive flip-flopping being center focus. Plus her interactions with Billie got better, take example the bank episode “Payback’s a Witch” where Henry gets shot. Paige and Billie form a good team there, compare this to Piper who just bitches at Billie for getting in the way of getting Leo back or Phoebe’s hypocriticalness.
This is more apparent in the episode “The Jung and the Restless” where Billie used the potion to enter their dreams to see what their main focuses were. Billie lets Paige go when she realize Paige wanted to save her charge after she was trying to find her identity. In Comparison to Piper and Phoebe who focused only on themselves. Also it’s that same episode where Phoebe wanted to settle down and talk to Billie, Paige only complain about being busy o see Henry once, and it was more of a throw away line. She spent that whole episode worrying about her charge. She only wanted Phoebe and Piper to stop because of the arguing. As for the ordering magical beings around, Um Paige does that because she wanted to help Henry out. Henry was having a bad day so she asked a couple of magical beings to help his luck go better. Once only did she pull the “You Owe use card” she didn’t spend the whole season doing it as Allison implied.
Despite this long novel of a comment I agree overall that this show got so awful and turned the characters into unforgivably, terrible and sadistic human beings. They are easily contenders for some of the worse made characters. However I’m only counting seasons 5-8. But in Phoebe’s case its seasons 3-8. Since Season 3 started Phoebe’s downfall. I’m also one of the few fans who actually liked Billie and I must agree with everything. The Charmed Ones using her was so horrible! I hated how they all became massive Designated Heroes who are seen in the right for their terrible actions.
You’re making a Charmed fan fics with its flaws evened out? Sounds interesting.
By the time this series was done Paige and Prue remained the only two decent Charmed sisters. Prue was actually my favorite character.
You did such a great job critiquing this entire series, and it was so good I sat and watched it for an entire day. Â This sort of binge-watching, I can dig. Â And I always wondered if I was the only one who referred to Coop as Poop. Â I also found Evil Leo’s look from Season 6 most amusing. Â His head reminded me of a Steamy Ball.
P.S., I really love your Radu impression.
I will state that yes, I’m a dedicated Charmed fan. In fact I still love the series to this day. However after watching some episodes recently i do also want to say Lupa did make a lot of mistakes in some of her points of the show. Particularly the earlier Seasons. For example in this Season those guys who summoned “French Stewart Genie” were not the Triad, they were another group called “The Infernal Council” look it up on the Charmed Wiki. And the episode is the Season finale Be Careful what you Witch For The Infernal Council is very similar to and sometimes confused with the Triad, who were introduced in the following season. It is unknown what became of the five members of the Council. Another Council appeared near the end of Season 4 during Cole Turner’s coronation as the Source of All Evil and during the coronation of the Seer. Many demon councils and their leaders were present for the latter, possibly including the Infernal Council. All these demons were vanquished along with the Seer. I just watched her review on season 1 and there she just seems to search for things to complain about and ignores things that were explained clearly. She makes a point about the witch/warlock thing being confusing, but then fails to recognize the difference between warlocks and demons… Also, she discards all references to the Source, for example thinking that Hannah Webster just died for no reason. (Hannah’s dialogue even implies the Source was punishing her for failing, it’s a makes it easy moment sure, but there is evidence she was punished from an outside source, not vanquished out of thin air.) Also Prue does show remorse over Andy’s death. In the Season opener of Season 2 called “Witch Trial” the whole episode is about Prue holding back in fighting a demon called “Abraxas” who stole the Book of Shadows from another plane. It explains it’s been a couple of months sense Andy’s death and Prue spends the episode grieving over Andy, she even has a scene where she’s crying because she couldn’t save Andy. But yeah, she does miss some things, like when she didn’t know why the enemy in Battle of the Hexes exploded when she put the belt on, even though it was explained in the episode. Again with season 3; She neglects the fact that “The Good, The Bad and The Cursed takes place in a time loop, not the actual past. Also that episode where the girls lost their powers because they used them on each other wasn’t a contradiction either. They lost them because their bond as sisters were broken, they used their powers out of anger on each there because a rage demon amplified their frustrations toward each other. And since their powers and BOS are connected to their bond as sisters it broke that. *She also neglects the fact that Prue fought and vanquished Vinceres while her powers were augmented by her empathy. The reason Prue’s Astra Self was able to destroy that one demon “Vinceres” in “Primrose Empath” was because she was amplified by empathy, plus it’s how she was able to do that Matrix style scene too.
There’s also Paige’s actions in Season 8. While I’ll admit Paige was worse in Season 8 compared to her in the previous 4 Seasons where she’s the only decent Charmed One besides Prue who was decent. For example, Paige is only a shrew to Billie in the first few episodes. And even thing Paige was the only one activity doing anything with Billie at all, her interactions with Billie do get better take that episode “Payback’s a Witch” where Paige, Billie and Henry get held at the bank. (Which I found to be the best episode of the Season) Also Paige does not spend the entire season asking magical creatures to do things for her, that only happened in 1 episode and the reason she did that was to hep out Henry so she could be better prepared to tell him she’s a witch. And even then it was only a Muse and a Leprechaun. And the “You owe me card” was more of a joke.
Also when the girls are in their dreams to see their greatest desire. While Paige does want to find her identity she remembers her charge being in trouble and has Billie get her out of there. Billie lets Paige go when she realized Paige cared for her charge. Paige also doesn’t complain about not being with Henry during Piper and Phoebe’s argument either, Paige only complains about it once and it was a throw away line. I will admit In Lupa’s defence, her mistakes are fairly minor and don’t impart on her main criticisms. But they can get out of hand. For instance, she actually thought Chris slept with one of the Stillman Sisters and goes on for a whole minute about how he supposedly slept with what he thought was his aunt when really that was just a trick Chris did too fool the sisters into turning against each other. I also agree the sisters’ resistance to actually wanting to save innocents becomes a pretty regular occurrence in the show. Though, show still manages to be enjoyable, that is when the sisters are actually doing something. I love the show but she does bring up some very valid issues. Seeing a few videos makes me see Christy’s whole reasoning about the sisters being selfish in a new light. Being a fan of Charmed (and still am) I can easily agree with the views of the later seasons. (Especially season 8 where I hated the Charmed Ones more than Billie) While Seasons 1-4 had problems too, it could still be considered a good or decent watch. The most frustration you’d get is Phoebe in Seasons 3 and 4. Honestly I hated Phoebe in Season 3 onward, she’s as bad there as she was in the last 3rd of Season 4 and first half of Season 5 with Cole. And even though the good ideas Charmed had were used in bad execution, lots of shows can have cheesy or even over the top cringeworthy plots, but still have other elements to be likable or even good show.. And that’s what I see in the earlier seasons of Charmed. As well as a sense of humor in most areas. It helped it get through the bad writing. However I will not excuse the later Seasons whatsoever. And I’m mostly a fan in regarding Seasons 1-4. And even Lupa mentions these seasons were at least decent in her Season 8 review.
I will state that yes, I’m a dedicated Charmed fan. In fact I still love the series to this day. However after watching some episodes recently i do also want to say Lupa did make a lot of mistakes in some of her points of the show. Particularly the earlier Seasons. For example in this Season those guys who summoned “French Stewart Genie” were not the Triad, they were another group called “The Infernal Council” look it up on the Charmed Wiki. And the episode is the Season finale Be Careful what you Witch For The Infernal Council is very similar to and sometimes confused with the Triad, who were introduced in the following season. It is unknown what became of the five members of the Council. Another Council appeared near the end of Season 4 during Cole Turner’s coronation as the Source of All Evil and during the coronation of the Seer. Many demon councils and their leaders were present for the latter, possibly including the Infernal Council. All these demons were vanquished along with the Seer. I just watched her review on season 1 and there she just seems to search for things to complain about and ignores things that were explained clearly. She makes a point about the witch/warlock thing being confusing, but then fails to recognize the difference between warlocks and demons… Also, she discards all references to the Source, for example thinking that Hannah Webster just died for no reason. (Hannah’s dialogue even implies the Source was punishing her for failing, it’s a makes it easy moment sure, but there is evidence she was punished from an outside source, not vanquished out of thin air.) Also Prue does show remorse over Andy’s death. In the Season opener of Season 2 called “Witch Trial” the whole episode is about Prue holding back in fighting a demon called “Abraxas” who stole the Book of Shadows from another plane. It explains it’s been a couple of months sense Andy’s death and Prue spends the episode grieving over Andy, she even has a scene where she’s crying because she couldn’t save Andy. But yeah, she does miss some things, like when she didn’t know why the enemy in Battle of the Hexes exploded when she put the belt on, even though it was explained in the episode. Again with season 3; She neglects the fact that “The Good, The Bad and The Cursed takes place in a time loop, not the actual past. Also that episode where the girls lost their powers because they used them on each other wasn’t a contradiction either. They lost them because their bond as sisters were broken, they used their powers out of anger on each there because a rage demon amplified their frustrations toward each other. And since their powers and BOS are connected to their bond as sisters it broke that. *She also neglects the fact that Prue fought and vanquished Vinceres while her powers were augmented by her empathy. The reason Prue’s Astra Self was able to destroy that one demon “Vinceres” in “Primrose Empath” was because she was amplified by empathy, plus it’s how she was able to do that Matrix style scene too.There’s also Paige’s actions in Season 8. While I’ll admit Paige was worse in Season 8 compared to her in the previous 4 Seasons where she’s the only decent Charmed One besides Prue who was decent. For example, Paige is only a shrew to Billie in the first few episodes. And even thing Paige was the only one activity doing anything with Billie at all, her interactions with Billie do get better take that episode “Payback’s a Witch” where Paige, Billie and Henry get held at the bank. (Which I found to be the best episode of the Season) Also Paige does not spend the entire season asking magical creatures to do things for her, that only happened in 1 episode and the reason she did that was to hep out Henry so she could be better prepared to tell him she’s a witch. And even then it was only a Muse and a Leprechaun. And the “You owe me card” was more of a joke. Also when the girls are in their dreams to see their greatest desire. While Paige does want to find her identity she remembers her charge being in trouble and has Billie get her out of there. Billie lets Paige go when she realized Paige cared for her charge. Paige also doesn’t complain about not being with Henry during Piper and Phoebe’s argument either, Paige only complains about it once and it was a throw away line. I will admit In Lupa’s defence, her mistakes are fairly minor and don’t impart on her main criticisms. But they can get out of hand. For instance, she actually thought Chris slept with one of the Stillman Sisters and goes on for a whole minute about how he supposedly slept with what he thought was his aunt when really that was just a trick Chris did too fool the sisters into turning against each other. I also agree the sisters’ resistance to actually wanting to save innocents becomes a pretty regular occurrence in the show. Though, show still manages to be enjoyable, that is when the sisters are actually doing something. I love the show but she does bring up some very valid issues. Seeing a few videos makes me see Christy’s whole reasoning about the sisters being selfish in a new light. Being a fan of Charmed (and still am) I can easily agree with the views of the later seasons. (Especially season 8 where I hated the Charmed Ones more than Billie) While Seasons 1-4 had problems too, it could still be considered a good or decent watch. The most frustration you’d get is Phoebe in Seasons 3 and 4. Honestly I hated Phoebe in Season 3 onward, she’s as bad there as she was in the last 3rd of Season 4 and first half of Season 5 with Cole. And even though the good ideas Charmed had were used in bad execution, lots of shows can have cheesy or even over the top cringeworthy plots, but still have other elements to be likable or even good show.. And that’s what I see in the earlier seasons of Charmed. As well as a sense of humor in most areas. It helped it get through the bad writing. However I will not excuse the later Seasons whatsoever. And I’m mostly a fan in regarding Seasons 1-4. And even Lupa mentions these seasons were at least decent in her Season 8 review.
Honestly there were some exaggerations in these reviews. In Season 8 Â they Mostly regard Paige. I’m not just saying this because I am a fan of Charmed (also don’t go and just agree with someone on the spot), but because in some parts in her reviews she seemed to pick and choose something to complain about while completely ignoring things already explained in the episode itself. In Lupa’s defense her mistakes are minor and don’t impart on her main criticism, but in some areas they were legit exaggerations.
For example the whole thing with Billie caring for innocents again was only a staple in the first few episodes. Because after Leo dies in the 10th episode “Vaya Cons Leos” there is so innocents being in danger or anybody having to be saved, it’s mostly just building Billie saving Christy, and the Charmed Ones being selfish. Now I will say anything regarding Phoebe and Piper in are completely valid, I won’t argue against that. Because after watching through Charmed (yes I also hate Seasons 6 and 8 btw) I can agree how much of a tedious chore Seasons 5-8 are. I also will say it doesn’t disregard the Charmed Ones not helping innocents either.
Piper does make it clear that saving Leo is all she cares about (even having her and Phoebe go as far as to regard saving or using Christy or anything as an excuse to save him)
Also I find Phoebe changing to be debatable. She really only decides to fight evil because it was just regarded as a second priority because she couldn’t “find the right man with her Premonitions” not to mention she goes about treating Billie like crap anyway.
Anyways in regarding Paige outside of the Flip-Flopping Paige didn’t do half of those things stated for reasons Lupa stated. For example she’s only a Banshee to Billie in the first few episodes and even then she flip-flops. After the first 10 episodes her interactions with Billie get better like in the episode “Payback’s a Witch” where Paige, Billie and Henry were being held hostage at the bank. It was the best episode of the season honestly. Despite how much I dislike this season.
Paige doesn’t spend the entire season having magical beings to do things for her, that was only in 1 episode “Repo Manner” Paige does this so that Henry can have a good day and things won’t turn out poorly when she wants to tell him she’s a witch. She did that to help out Henry’s luck. It was 1 episode not the entire season. Also the “You Owe us” card was only a joke Paige mentioned to the Leprechaun.
Also the episode where Billie puts the sisters to sleep to see their greatest desires “The Jung and the Restless” While Paige does search for her identity, afterwards Paige remembers she has to save her charge and demands for Billie to let her out so she could save her. Which still shows Paige has more moral compass than Piper and Phoebe.
In that same episode Paige only bitches about being a white lighter and can’t be with her husband once and it was used in a throwaway joke. In the actual scene Paige was trying to get Piper and Phoebe not to argue, she more or less complains about her charge being difficult if anything.
Regardless of those for Season 8 I do agree with Lupa’s reviews as a whole. (Especially Phoebe who’s my most hated character in fiction)
Just not every point she made was completely accurate. These were also funny and entertaining as well. Being a fan of Charmed I enjoy Seasons 1-4 despite the cheesy and badly executed plots and since I never took it seriously I just get some fun out of the earlier seasons. So I still remain a fan for the sense of humor factor.
These reviews were incredibly satisfying, and that’s coming from a longstanding fan of the show. I still enjoy much of the content they put forth, even some of the later seasons, but much of the latter half is due to the camp factor more than anything. Or maybe I still don’t quite know what camp is; I tend to get it mixed up quite a bit. Needless to say, I enjoy Charmed as a whole, but the entertaining way Lupa’s brought up the glaring problems with the program leaves little to argue about while I’m laughing in my seat. At this point, I should definitely point out that I’m not exactly in a place where I can argue, given that I haven’t watched an episode of the show in a few years and forget many details other than overall plot points, and take everything with a grain of salt while giddily eating up the exaggerated voices used for the girls. I do hope she tackles seasons nine and ten in the future, especially one specific issue which I won’t spoil but tries to give a better ending to a character that the show’s writers did wrong.
Brad Kern said in an interview for the tenth anniversary that he wanted to show a picture of Prue during the ending montage when old Piper and Leo are ascending the stairs. According to him, he was informed at the time that it would cost them a large amount of money to use her likeness, and it was only after the episode had aired that he realized it wasn’t the case.
A show about two horrible catty bitches hijacking a show behind the scenes so that they could turn it into a Sex And the City personal fantasy… wow…
These actresses were playing themselves.
Talk about the comics! They have a season 10 and some kind of filler