Charmed Season 7

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2000's, Alyssa Milano, Billy Zane, Brian Krause, Charisma Carpenter, Charmed, Charmed Season 7, Dorian Gregory, Holly Marie Combs, Jenya Lano, Kerr Smith, Oded Fehr, Rose McGowan

Although Season 6 was marked by a return to the goofball elements of comedy, it was redeemed by an emotional and dark finale. Thankfully Season 7 of Charmed continues the darker vein and gets the stories back on track with seriousness and depth. Spoilers will follow in this review of the penultimate season.

Everyone is reeling from Gideon’s betrayal and attempt to kill baby Wyatt in the finale of last season. Piper is concerned about keeping baby Chris safe, while Leo(Brian Krause) is consumed by anger and goes on a demon hunting spree to purge his hate. In his confusion he accidentally kills another Elder, which leaves his ridden with guilt. He is further haunted by strange whispers and faces. These are later revealed to be the Avatars( who were glimpsed in Season 5), beings who want to create a Utopia where good and evil are no more. Elsewhere, Phoebe(Alyssa Milano) feels a lack of direction without her active powers and takes a break from her professional work. Her desire and purpose eventually flood back when she rediscovers her selflessness again and her powers are restored. She has a little dalliance with her handsome ghost writer at the paper Leslie, but her constant absences and family emergencies make sure it isn’t a full-blown union. Yet while she believes that she won’t find love she gets some guidance from an unlikely source. Paige(Rose McGowan) fights for Magic School to stay open and becomes the headmistress, meaning she can at least have a job where she doesn’t have to hide the fact that she’s a witch. She also becomes involved with Agent Brody(Kerr Smith), a federal agent who knows about the Avatars and wants to stop them. Leo eventually becomes one of them and convinces Piper, Phoebe and Paige to agree to this new world. Brody tries to avert this but is killed in the process, which leaves Paige emotionally distraught. Yet after everything has been changed, Leo sees that the Avatars erase people from this world that create conflict. The sisters come to an agreement with the Avatars to change the world back to what it once was, because the world needs both good and evil to keep the cosmic balance. The girls also have Inspector Sheridan(Jenya Lano) on their backs, who suspects that the girls are up to something bad, despite the warnings from Darryl(Dorian Gregory) that they are good people. Darryl, who hasn’t really seen eye to eye with the sisters, begins to help them again to avoid suspicion. But this becomes the least of the girls worries as a new threat rears its head and comes after the girls. This time evil is the very powerful Zankou(Oded Fehr), who will stop at nothing to kill them and mounts a full-scale war that may well have fatal consequences for the sisters.

A lot of the success of Season 7 is the return of consistency and a grander set of events. There is scope to this season and I’ve always felt it was split into halves.In the first half, we have the Avatars posing ambiguous questions and challenging the natural order. They do have the sisters question the world In the second half, we have the ruthless Zankou and his attempts to kill the sisters, which pushes them harder than ever before. Both halves are excellently observed as we are given two threats one after the other. The two halves do overlap occasionally but they flow well together. And excusing the occasional dull episode, Season 7 regains control of the structure and makes us invested as well as entertained. The humour is still there but kept to controlled level rather than overload, so that it ties nicely in with the darkness. A certain feeling of epic battle looms large and leads to an explosive and interesting finale with Zankou hungry for power and death. It’s clear that the producers are gearing up for the last season with this finale.

Another driving force of Season 7 is Piper and Leo’s relationship being tested once more. Leo, after being tried by the Elders for turning to the Avatars and also killing a fellow Elder, and sent on a quest where he has no memory manages to make his way to her again as proof that they are meant to be together. Leo may be stripped of his powers as an Elder and a Whitelighter, but he is relieved as it won’t tear him away from his family. Once again, the love shared by Piper and Leo shines through the adversity as they officially get back together as a married couple in moving fashion. The amount of personal emotion in Season 7 is very much evident here as well as Phoebe regaining her faith in love after listening to Drake( Billy Zane), a former demon now turned good who makes her see that someday she will find the one she has been looking for. Charmed’s main heart has always been emotional ties and family and this season definitely taps into them more than ever. Season 3 and Season 4 may be my favourites, but the excellence of Season 7 places it just behind them because of its greatness and depth. There are only two flaws in the season and both revolve around two newer characters. The first is Leslie, Phoebe’s brief beau who is also her ghost writer while she takes a break. I just never felt any connection between the two. I can get that they wanted to have him as a hunky love interest, but it never worked out that well. The other is Inspector Sheridan, who was introduced in the closing half of Season 6. I just don’t like her character, she doesn’t really contribute anything to the story except hassle the girls. None of this is the fault of Jenya Lano, but the character just seems so bland. Plus we’ve already had the girls under surveillance story been done before and far more effectively.

I must give special mention to some wonderful highlights of this season, which overflows with greatness. The girls morphing into vicious beasts because of the blue moon. Paige and Kyle being sucked into a detective novel and embracing the allure of Noir. That episode is one of the finest hours of the show, with the black and white cloaking events in that old-fashioned celluloid glow and Paige looking sensational as a femme fatale. The sisters protecting a Seer( a wonderful Charisma Carpenter) from evil forces. Kyle’s death and Paige’s reaction are sad scenes that really deliver the emotional grip. The girls seeing that the new Utopia is not as perfect as it appears brilliantly shows that there are grey areas of existence that are hard to let go of. The touching scene of Kyle, who has been made a Whitelighter following his death, bidding goodbye to Paige is heart-wrenching. Piper slipping into a coma and being greeted by someone she never thought she’d see again. The assortment of supporting characters is excellent, with Billy Zane, Charisma Carpenter and Kerr Smith standing out in their respective roles. And not forgetting the climactic battle with the devious Zankou that gets explosive and deadly.

The wonderful cast brings their A-game to this season and turn in excellent work. Holly Marie Combs excels at playing Piper as the resourceful and responsible oldest sister, trying to keep everything under control and attempting to stay strong in dire circumstances. An added plus is the convincing chemistry and personal emotion with Brian Krause, who plays Leo as tormented and frightened, yet brought back to his senses by his wife. Leo may be a mortal when he falls from his grace, but it brings him closer than ever before with the women he loves above anything else. Alyssa Milano is effervescent yet driven as Phoebe, discovering that while love hasn’t always treated her right, there is still hope out there in time. Phoebe seems more at ease this season, having seen that her selflessness is what drives her on and her bond with her family is most important. Rose McGowan rounds out the trio as the wilful Paige, experiencing deep love and sorrow but managing to make her way through it. Her romance with Kyle may have been brief, but it was observed so greatly that it was moving. It gave Paige extra defiance and opinions than ever before, and that is what I’ve always liked about her so to see it expanded on was a big plus. McGowan has clearly grown in the role of Paige, charting her venture from reluctant sister to dedicated and passionate woman. As the vicious demon Zankou, Oded Fehr exudes a sly and ruthless aura that is very disquieting and makes him one of the best foes that the sisters have faced. And this season we bid farewell to Dorian Gregory as Darryl. His mix of bewildered emotions and honesty over the years will be missed but he ensures that he won’t be forgotten in the Charmed universe.

1. A Call to Arms – B
2. The Bare Witch Project – C+
3. Cheaper by the Coven – B+
4. Charrrmed! – C
5. Styx Feet Under – B
6. Once in a Blue Moon – B
7. Someone to Witch Over Me – C
8. Charmed Noir – A+
9. There’s Something About Leo – B
10. Witchness Protection – A
11. Ordinary Witches – C-
12. Extreme Makeover: World Edition – A
13. Charmageddon – A+
14. Carpe Demon – D
15. Show Ghouls – C
16. The Seven Year Witch – A
17. Scry Hard – B
18. Little Box of Horrors – B
19. Freaky Phoebe – D-
20. Imaginary Fiends – B
21. Death Becomes Them – A
22. Something Wicca This Way Goes – A

Charmed Season 7 makes for eventful and emotional viewing that takes its place as another excellent season of supernatural battles and drama.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 3

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1990's, Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Stewart Head, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 3, Charisma Carpenter, David Boreanaz, Eliza Dushku, Emma Caulfield, Nicholas Brendon, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Seth Green

Following on from the shocking and heartbreaking finale of Season 2, Buffy Season 3 swings into gears as our fierce warrior battles all things that the darkness has to offer and survive high school at the same time. Spoilers will follow in this review.

After sending Angel(David Boreanaz) back to hell, Buffy(Sarah Michelle Gellar) has fled Sunnydale. When we catch up with her, she is working in a dodgy part of Los Angeles, using her middle name of Anne. She is plagued by dreams of the lover she had to sacrifice and can’t come to terms with it no matter how hard she tries. She is brought back to her senses after an encounter with a demon and decides to head back to Sunnydale, to face her responsibilities. At first, reconciling with Xander(Nicholas Brendon), Willow(Alyson Hannigan), Cordelia(Charisma Carpenter), Oz(Seth Green) and her watcher Giles(Anthony Stewart Head) is hard, but it eventually gets easier. Trouble is always round the corner for this slayer and the dramas keep on coming. Cordelia and Xander’s relationship is changed after he and Willow share a passionate kiss. Rejecting the gang, Cordelia heads back to her bitchy self and her shallow friends, yet still can’t shake off the memory of her relationship with Xander. Oz on the other hand, eventually forgives Willow. A new slayer, Faith(Eliza Dushku), arrives in town. She is a charismatic and loose living girl with internal emotional scars whose friendship with Buffy begins to disintegrate after Faith kills a human, which is against the rules of  being a slayer and shows no regret for her actions. There is also the matter of the Mayor, this season’s Big Bad. To everyone else he is a chipper guy, but he is in fact involved with the underground demons and plans on becoming a demon once it’s graduation day and he can ascend to becoming a stronger power than he already is. And to top all that off, Angel is back from hell, leading Buffy to question their relationship with one another. For my money season three is one of the best season’s in the whole Buffy saga.

The scripts are as sharp and witty as ever, whilst effectively conveying the pains of becoming adults faced with a very literal hell.  The characters are really starting to grow and you feel genuine sympathy for them in their adventures, especially Buffy who must deal with what life throws at her as well as dark forces closing in. This season gets an extra dynamic through the introduction of Faith, who is played with tough yet vulnerable strength by Eliza Dushku. She’s such an interesting character to watch and in a sense we see that Faith is how Buffy may have ended up if she had grown up neglected and alone in the world. When Buffy becomes friendly with Faith, she flirts with the idea of being a bad girl. She is then brought to her senses by witnessing Faith kill a human and must therefore sever ties with her. All of this leads to some feisty action sequences between the two as the clash of personalities stokes the flames of an already burning fire.  Season 3 also introduces the character of Anya(Emma Caulfield), a former vengeance demon now stripped of her power who must live a human life. She will later become a very prominent character in Buffy and Emma Caulfield is really funny in her early episodes. Also giving Season 3 an edge is the villain in the form of Mayor Richard Wilkins. He is such a creepy yet darkly funny guy who is treacherous to say the least but the kind of the person you just love to hate. Some of the lines he gets to deliver are so strangely funny and ironic such as “Who’s up for a root beer?” after killing an employer who disobeyed him.

The love between Angel and Buffy reaches its end as he struggles to think of a future for Buffy that won’t bring her harm. Their relationship is so emotionally moving and tragic in that they both love one another but are torn apart by all the hell breaking loose around them. It’s sad to see Angel go and he is certainly a missed character in the show. Another point of praise is the exploration of Buffy’s relationship with her mother Joyce. Having been forced to tell her mum of her duty, Joyce has taken time to get her head around it. They may come to blows, but we see how each would do anything to protect the other from harm. This season contains some of the most emotional in the season. The crowning one for me is when Buffy is awarded Class Protector at the prom. Initially believing that no one realises that she saves their lives on a regular basis, she is shocked but very happy to receive the award as the entire student body applauds her bravery and her beaming smile tells a thousand words. If this moment doesn’t get you tearing up, then I don’t know what will.

Our splendid cast delivers amazing work throughout Season 3. Sarah Michelle Gellar adds maturity and strength to Buffy as her life as the slayer continues. We are also shown the vulnerable side to her that wants to just be a teenage girl and isn’t immune to weakness. In other words, Gellar is phenomenal in her portrayal of a girl growing up fast. David Boreanaz bows out of Buffy in style as Angel, imbuing him with sensitivity, danger and melancholy as his doomed relationship comes to an end. Nicholas Brendon is ever reliable as Xander, who provides moral support and jokes, while Alyson Hannigan is luminous as Willow, who this season begins to hone her gift for magic. Charisma Carpenter also bows out of Buffy, and she provides Cordelia with enough barbs and humour to make sure she is a well-remembered character. Seth Green adds mordant and ironic humour to the role of Oz, while Anthony Stewart Head touchingly portrays the way Giles cares for Buffy in a father-daughter way.

Easily one of the show’s best seasons, Buffy Season 3 is not to be missed.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2

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1990's, Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Stewart Head, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2, Charisma Carpenter, David Boreanaz, James Marsters, Juliet Landau, Nicholas Brendon, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Seth Green

Season 2 of Buffy expands on the greatness of the short  Season 1 with interesting character arcs and writing. This is when the show really begins to hit its stride and capture the interest of viewers. Spoilers will follow in this review. 

After dying at the hands of the Master and then being revived at the end of Season 1, Buffy(Sarah Michelle Gellar) returns to Sunnydale, feeling distant and alienated. It seems that the deadly experience between her and the Master has had a deep effect on her. Willow(Alyson Hannigan),Xander(Nicholas Brendon) and Cordelia(Charisma Carpenter) are concerned for their friend and try to help her snap out of this state. It’s only after they are kidnapped along with Giles(Anthony Stewart Head) in an attempt to resurrect the Master, that Buffy manages to snap out of it and rescue them from danger. Other characters arcs are Xander and Cordelia dating despite the social difference, Giles beginning to find happiness with Jenny and Willow entering into a relationship with Oz(Seth Green), who just happens to be a werewolf.  But darkness is just around the corner with the arrival of the sadistic vampires Spike(James Marsters) and Drusilla(Juliet Landau) who become the main antagonists for this season. To add to this, Buffy’s relationship with Angel(David Boreanaz) deepens. After declaring their love for one another and sleeping together, Angel loses his soul because he has experienced true happiness. The downside to this is that he now reverts back to the bloodthirsty Angelus and soon begins to torment Buffy and those closest to her. In the end Buffy must decide whether to follow her duty as slayer and kill Angel or attempt to change him back. As passions collide and blood is spilled, who will prosper in this eventful season?

As I previously mentioned, this season expands on the first in many excellent ways. The writing is as fresh and witty as ever, but the tone is more serious. This season shows maturity as Buffy experiences the tragic effects of falling in love with Angel and the consequences of it. The darkness of the season is also embodied in the characters of Spike and Drusilla. Their relationship is a twisted and perverse one that makes for a creepy watch. Spike is hotheaded and violent, Drusilla is childlike and doleful with a sinister streak. Their relationship calls to mind Bonnie and Clyde, in a dangerous vampire form. James Marsters and Juliet Landau make for inspired casting and imbue their roles with menace, dark humour and chills. Marsters makes Spike a dangerous enemy whilst imbuing him with a very dark sense of humour. Juliet Landau is perfectly cast as the fawning Drusilla, whose babbling and nursery rhymes belie her sadistic and twisted mind. This season has a dark and romantic atmosphere that keeps you hooked as each episode goes on, causing a correlation between the themes of love and death. The characters are growing up and we see the changes in them as they go through what life throws at them, with extra helpings of evil demons and fiends thrown in for good measure. Spike, Drusilla and Angel may take the honours of being the best villains, but there are plenty more foes that Buffy faces that are worth a mention. These include a robot disguised as a businessman who take a shine to Buffy’s mother, a terrifying demon that can only be seen by children and The Judge, a supposedly indestructible force that Buffy takes down with a rocket launcher in kick ass fashion. Emotions run high throughout Season 2 with Angel killing Jenny a particularly shocking and unexpected moment that has a grave outcome for an emotionally shattered Giles.

As with the last season, the acting is of the highest order. As Buffy, Sarah Michelle Gellar exudes maturity, strength and intensity that aid her in her battles against demons and her protection of her family and friends. She shows how Buffy is learning about life and the wounds it can inflict on you, especially when it comes to love. David Boreanaz nails the role of Angel, who reverts back to his menacing old self and wrecks havoc on Buffy and her friends. Gellar and Boreanaz have great chemistry together and their scenes together are filled with passion, devastation and connection.Alyson Hannigan subtly portrays Willow’s blossoming confidence and resourcefulness as she begins a relationship with Oz, who is played with easy-going charm by Seth Green. Nicholas Brendon continues to play Xander with lovable wit whilst also revealing the hidden depths to his character and how much his friends mean to him. Charisma Carpenter manages to give Cordelia an ever-growing sympathy as she joins the gang in their tasks. Her relationship with Xander proves interesting because of the way Cordelia shrugs off popularity to be with him. Sure Cordelia still retains some of her vanity, but she’s definitely more relatable this season. Anthony Stewart Head carries on his impressive role as Giles, who develops a close bond with fellow teacher Jenny, only to have it tragically taken away from him. I liked how this season expanded on the character of Giles and showed various incidents that happened in his past that have made him the way he is now.

Darkly romantic, dramatic and witty, Buffy Season 2 delivers the goods that really have me wanting to watch Season 3 as soon as possible.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1

Tags

1990's, Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Stewart Head, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 1, Charisma Carpenter, David Boreanaz, Nicholas Brendon, Sarah Michelle Gellar

After the success of my Lost reviews, I decided to turn my attentions to another one of my favourite TV shows. This time it is the iconic Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. Created by Joss Whedon, Buffy went on to become a cult hit with its mix of humour, horror and action. Even now, Buffy ranks as one of the top TV shows I’ve ever seen, it just never seems to get old and I always find something new when I watch it again. I hope these reviews go down well with everyone. Be warned, spoilers will follow in this review.

Buffy Summers(Sarah Michelle Gellar) just wants to be a normal teenager. Kicked out of her old school in Los Angeles, she moves to the Californian town of Sunnydale to make a fresh start. There’s just one major hitch with Buffy, she is the Slayer. According to the prophecy “In every generation, there is a chosen one. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.” Buffy is well aware of this and wants to escape it, but it just so happens that Sunnydale is located on the Hellmouth, which means that all things evil are drawn to it. Try as she might, there is no escaping the prophecy. With help from new friends, the goofy but lovable Xander Harris(Nicholas Brendon) and sweet and shy computer geek Willow Rosenberg(Alyson Hannigan), Buffy reluctantly chooses to accept her duty and take down the forces of evil that threaten Sunnydale, all while surviving the traumas and dramas of high school, mainly by popular fashion plate Cordelia(Charisma Carpenter). Also aiding Buffy is Giles(Anthony Stewart Head), the stuffy Watcher and school librarian who trains Buffy and keeps an eye on her. Adding to the confusion in her life is the mysterious figure of Angel(David Boreanaz), who she falls for but realises his dark secret. Witty lines and scary thrills follow as the strong and lethal Buffy fights against the dark forces of vampires and demons, headed this season by an ancient vampire known as the Master, who wants to rise from the underground and feed on humans. This leads to a kick ass showdown between him and Buffy.

Basing a TV show off a movie that didn’t do that well was risky business, but Joss Whedon pulls it off amazingly with Buffy. He has crafted relatable characters, menacing villains and kick ass action that would lead the show to reaching seven seasons. Praise should be given to the sparky dialogue that populates this season. Taking aim at high school conventions and life or death moments, Buffy will have you laughing as well as frightened in equally effective measure. The mixing of high school drama and supernatural horror is an acutely observed one that complement one another. I mean as many people say, high school can be horror in more ways than one. This is certainly the case for the gorgeous Buffy and pals. Also the supernatural forces that threaten Buffy are fun to watch, especially the creepy Master who sends shivers down the spine. I mean just listing some of the evils faced is enough to make you want to watch the show, such as savage students possessed by demonic hyenas, a demon who filters his way through the computer system and a seductive teacher who is actually a deadly Praying Mantis in disguise.

The acting in this show is definitely in need of praise. I can’t think of another actress to play Buffy except Sarah Michelle Gellar because of how great she is in the role. She encapsulates the sarcastic and self-assured persona of a teenage girl having to fight the forces of darkness whilst navigating her way through high school. Kick ass, sexy and feisty, she is an all out heroine who you really don’t want to mess with. Gellar also shows depths to Buffy, and the way in which she has to obey the prophecy but at the same time just wants to live a normal life which in her case seems to be intangible due to her circumstances. Nicholas Brendon adds goofy charm to the role of Xander, who is often bumbling his way into disaster whilst trying to attract Buffy’s attention. Alyson Hannigan provides warmth and humour as the clever Willow, whose computer skills and knowledge often come in very handy when finding out who the enemy is. In the role of Giles, Anthony Stewart Head exudes authority and stuffy conservatism all whilst trying to help Buffy survive. He really does have some excellent scenes in which he disagrees with Buffy’s tactics for taking out the enemy or commenting on her sarcasm towards him. Charisma Carpenter is great as the shallow Cordelia, who takes aim at Buffy and her friends but soon finds herself drawn to the group because of the strange occurrences in Sunnydale. David Boreanaz is effectively used as Angel, who becomes Buffy’s love interest. The twist of this romance is the fact that Angel is in fact a vampire, but also is cursed with a soul. This device is used well as we watch Buffy wrestle with her feelings for him, whilst knowing that he possesses great danger to others. This romance will later have a profound effect on the seasons after.

Buffy Season 1 may only be short, but it’s well worth the watch because of great performances, witty dialogue and chills a plenty. Watching this season again has got me super excited for season 2.