Similarly to Womb Raider, this is another flat episode, made even more glaring by the fact that it's the season finale. At the heart of the episode is the Angel of Destiny's offer to grant the sisters an ordinary life. While there are parts of the story that work (notably Paige's "Will we remember?"), the whole idea is too illogical to realistically work. So somebody out there has the power to entirely brainwash all of good and evil into forgetting the existence of the Charmed Ones? Who's going to protect innocents from now on? Huh? It's another example of Charmed mythology that entirely falls apart when you think about it.Meanwhile, Cole continues to exist, and it's a decision which is entirely weak. I like some of the things the show did with Cole in season five, but his demise in Long Live the Queen would have been a really fitting finale for his character. Instead we get another run of episodes where he's insisting that he isn't evil, while Phoebe whines about him. It's at this point that the character became tired, the show unnecessarily dragging the story out far longer than it needed to be.
Bruce Campbell's antagonist subplot at least attempts to have a mid-way twist, but it's ridiculously predictable nonetheless. And, again, we've seen this story depicted too many times already, detectives investigating the Halliwells. Witch Way Now? does try something fresh, but it doesn't cover up the weakness of the story, especially for a fourth season finale and after an episode like All Hell Breaks Loose, which did the whole 'exposure of the Halliwells' thing with flying colors.
My opinion of season four as a whole sort of changed during this re-watch. There was way too much coasting, and a strong Seer/evil Phoebe arc ended up pretty underwhelming. However, I do give the show credit for introducing Paige so successfully, and for the writers at least having the guts to explore serialized storytelling, instead of just random standalone stories each week. Guess which road they went down from here on out, though. C-
Crimes of Fashion Paige's entire ensemble in the last scene is horrifying, but it's her Minnie Mouse hair and shit-brown lipstick that truly make her look like a junkie prostitute. It's hilariously awful.
Credits
Guest stars Dakin Matthews (The Angel of Destiny); Leslie Grossman (Phoebe's Assistant); Bruce Campbell (Agent Jackman)
Writer Brad Kern Director Brad Kern
Didn't this episode always feel like the weirdest thing on earth to you? It's so misplaced and weird and disconnected from the rest of the season. I just never understood it. They could have just held it off till another time, it definitely was NOT finale material or at-least for this season that was so serialized!
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, it's alright as a standalone I guess. I enjoyed the actually long fight scene wit Phoebe and Bruce Campbell although she looke like an old bag lady in this ep. The demonic wasteland effects however always made me cringe though! Atrocious!
I agree, but it felt like most of Charmed's season finales were self-contained stories. It was weird though, especially when you have seasons that build a lot of momentum over time (like season four), only to have the various arcs end in the penultimate episode...
ReplyDeleteAw, I really liked this one. I think that the past few episodes did a thrilling job with the big arc, and a nice quiet finale like this one was perfect. It was a nice time to stop and analyse where the series was, especially after all the big events of the season and take note of how strong Paige's role in the series had become, and how much of an integral part of the story she was.
ReplyDeleteYou know where I stand on the whole Cole debacle though. I didn't mid it so much here, because Phoebe wasn't the whiny cow she is during season 5.
Great review though, not that I'd expect anything less =)
That's actually a good perspective on the finale: sitting back and analyzing where they're at.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm too harsh, heh. But, yeah, it doesn't entirely work for me.
please. the crime of fashion is alyssa milano's terrible weird bangs haircut. I truly hate it
ReplyDeleteDid phoebe tell Cole about the child is not their that reveal it was the seer feom the start.
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