Am I the only one who doesn't think Alyssa Milano's new haircut is that terrible? At least in its pre-valkyrie, less-butch state? With the curls and the shininess? It actually looks pretty great on her. The hair of the Pheebs is just one example of 'not as bad as I remembered', along with the rest of this episode. Valhalley of the Dolls Part 1 is still relentlessly goofy and sees the show once again morphing into some genre version of Charlie's Angels, but it's not entirely awful.The Valhalla hoodoo is a little nutty at this point, full of contrived posturing, lesbian undertones and campy acting. I adore Melissa George, but even she's a little hammy in this role. I seriously believe the show's directors asked all their guest stars to be as over-the-top as possible. And what's with all the Xena fashion on this show lately? First the Titans, and now the sisters as warrior women? Gah.
Phoebe's new power is pretty annoying, not only because the tinkly music gets old real fast, but because it allows Alyssa Milano to step all over everybody else's big acting moments. Piper's breakdown at the end really should have been Holly's showcase, but in comes Milano shrieking and hollering. Gah. It's interesting to note that, once again, Phoebe's powers don't really go anywhere after they're first introduced. Her premonitions rarely drive episodes anymore, and the whole levitation thing sort of petered out, too. Hmm.
For a review which opened with me saying how decent this episode was, I sure have spent a lot of time complaining. Heh. But Valhalley of the Dolls works in spite of all its faults, at least in a vacuous "I'm not entirely bored" kind of way. If you ignore the horny dog embarrassment. And the extraneous Smash Mouth appearance. And the sisters leaving Darryl's unconscious body to be torn apart by rats in some abandoned San Fran alleyway. Okay, maybe this was a sack of shit. C
Credits
Guest stars Melissa George (Freyja); Ivana Milicevic (Mist); Colleen Porch (Kara); Stephen Snedden (Chad Carson); Sandra Prosper (Sheila Morris); Smash Mouth (Themselves)
Writer Brad Kern Director James L. Conway
Hahah this review cracked me up! And you're right Alyssa looks good with the hair. And what was UP with the writers and her powers? She ended the show totally powerless. Never got a single premonition again, never threw a single punch again,and her levitation and empathy were never returned. It's like the writers treated her as a joke from every angle; as a horny manhunter AND as a witch.
ReplyDeleteGreat review!
ReplyDeleteI actually liked this one somewhat, if only for that intense scene at the end, which you discussed. I think Phoebe really adds to it, sends it over the edge in a way. I just looked at mine, and I discuss it so I'll leave it at that for now!
And I like Alyssa's hair too, I just didn't like how in between-ey it was at the end of this season.
Nadim I guess it was budget cuts. But she sure did seem pretty useless at the end, just standing around glowering a lot.
ReplyDeletePanda Can't wait to read it! And, yeah, it didn't look great when it grew out.
Another episode in which the Charmed Ones commit an atrocious act and is not really called out for it. Sigh.
ReplyDelete