Charmed: Deja Vu All Over Again (1.22)

Time loop episodes are almost always guaranteed to be fun. Pretty much every fantasy series has played around with that formula, and this is one of the best variations on the idea. By turns, Deja Vu All Over Again is entertaining, enlightening and pretty darn heartbreaking. Plus it features the first use of that old Charmed stand-by: when in doubt, send characters flying into random glass objects located in the Manor. For real, they always do that.

Phoebe's ability to remember the varying time loops does admittedly cut corners a little (was her realization handled too abruptly?), but the story is undeniably fun. Carlos Gomez chews the scenery every time he goes backward in time, getting more and more enraged, while the late, great David Carradine is so imminently reliable in these kinds of things. Plus, he makes corny dialogue sound for once pretty legitimate.

As with every time loop episode of every show ever, the fun was in the subtle differences brought to each additional incarnation of the same scene: from Joanne's flouncy gestures to that great scene in the third loop where Prue's cutesy "don't make me use my magic on you" suddenly becomes serious, as if this version of Prue knows fully well the threat looming.

Andy's death doesn't come as a major surprise (he stopped being useful, oh, around episode two), but I admit that the funeral scene got me. Throw in any ol' Sarah McLachlan-esque ballad and it's guaranteed to bring out the waterworks. It's a little frustrating that Andy and Prue finally seemed to have chemistry just as he was getting written out, but he won't exactly be missed. It always felt like the writers struggled to write him into every episode. And didn't T.W. King and Shannen hate each other? Or maybe Shannen just hates everybody? Or maybe we all think Shannen hates everybody? Blah.

Charmed started pretty badly, but has grown with confidence over the last ten or so episodes. It's still flawed and somewhat manipulative in a lot of ways, but there's undeniably a sense of fun about the show. And those three ladies at the center of the series have serious chemistry with each other. They're just great to watch every week. And this was a great finale. A

Credits
Guest stars Carlos Gomez (Inspector Rodriguez); Wendy Benson (Joanne Hertz); David Carradine (Tempus)
Writers Brad Kern, Constance M. Burge Director Les Sheldon