Charmed - Series 4 [DVD]

Well it's all change in the 'Charmed' world now. I admit to not having high hopes after such a big character change, the top billed star leaving - how can you make up for that?
I'm happy to admit I was wrong. As much as I love Shannen Doherty, new cast member Rose McGowan is kick-ass. The younger half-sister is the daughter of a witch and White-lighter, so her power is a mix of Prue's and the 'orbing' abilities of a White-lighter.
Also the main men Leo and Cole are given bigger roles so there is a huge character growth all round for everyone.
I've tried to keep the more personal aspects out of the episode summaries.

Charmed Again (Part 1)
Charmed Again (Part 2)
After Prue's funeral Piper and Phoebe get the shock of their lives when they find out they have a younger sister Paige, the daughter of their Witch mother and her White-lighter lover. But what will Paige think of the Halliwell's danger filled world?

Hell Hath No Fury
Paige, fascinated by her new found magical powers, takes the Book of Shadows to work with her, much to the distress of Piper, who is also suppressing her feelings over Prue's death. All of Piper's hidden anger attracts a group of furies, who turn her into one of their own.

Enter The Demon
Still trying to get a handle on her powers Paige accidentally swaps bodies with Phoebe while making a potion. Meanwhile an apprentice Ninja kills his master, and it's up to our confused trio to vanquish him.

Size Matters
The demon Gamil shrinks his victims and makes them into figurines. The sisters walk right into his lair, and are shrunk to 5". Will they escape, or will they be baked in the kiln?

A Knight To Remember
While telling a story Paige summons a medical knight. Unfortunately he is followed by an evil sorceress intents on tricking him into marriage.

Brain Drain
Piper falls into a coma, and enters an alternate reality where the source convinces her she is crazy, and attempts to trick her into giving up her powers.

Black As Cole
A demon is accused of murdering witches who belong to the same coven. But the murderer is much closer to the Halliwell's. Is redemption for past sins possible?

Muse To My Ears
The sisters attempt to rescue kidnapped Muses.

A Paige From The Past
Still harbouring guilt over the accident that killed her adoptive parents Paige returns to the past with Leo. Back in the present two murderous ghosts process Phoebe and Cole, leaving Piper to separate them.

Trial By Magic
Serving jury duty, Phoebe has a premonition which reveals the accused is innocent, and a demon is guilty. Can the sisters find the demon, and can Phoebe convince the rest of the jury that the man is innocent?

Lost And Bound
A demon tries to deliver a 10 year old fire-starting orphan to the Source, to use his powers for evil. Piper and Leo fight to protect the child.

Charmed And Dangerous
There exists a semi truce between good and evil who band together to guard a mysterious entity known as the Hollow. That truce is broken when the Source releases the Hollow, which wastes to time in absorbing Piper's and Paige's powers. Two down, one to go...

The Three Faces Of Phoebe
Phoebe has cold feet over marrying Cole, so casts a spell, thus releasing a younger Phoebe, and a older Phoebe to help her make a decision.

Marry-Go-Round
The sisters' prepare for Phoebe's wedding, while the new source and the seer plan their own version of the wedding.

The Fifth Halliwell
With Piper and Leo, with newlywed Phoebe and Cole Paige feels like even more of an outsider. Plus she is the only one who can see something wrong with Cole.

Saving Private Leo
Two vengeful ghosts return from Leo's past endangering Piper's life.

Bite Me
Paige is bitten by a vampire and begins to turn. The vampire queen attempts to de-throne the new source.

We're Off To See The Wizard
Piper and Paige work with a wizard to try and stop the coronation of the new source.

Long Live The Queen
The new source now has his new Queen, while Piper appears ready to give up as new threats continually rain down on her destroyed family.

Womb Raider
The seers plan to steal the newly pregnant Queen's unborn baby, so she can raise it to be the next Source.

Witch Way Now?
The Angel of Destiny offers the sisters a chance to relinquish their powers and lead normal lives as a reward for their selfless sacrifices.

This show based on the adventures of three sisterly witches has now become the longest-running series featuring a female ensemble cast in the history of television and its not hard to understand the appeal of a show that seems like a cross between BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and GILMORE GIELS.
For the first three seasons the show starred Shannon Doherty, Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano. But following friction between Shannon and Alyssa the producers decided not to bring back Doherty for the fourth season and decided to keep her character Pru dead as she was at the close of the previous season. Apparently Doherty heard the news as she was on vacation.
Also gone was the creator of the show Constance M. Burge so one might be forgiven for thinking in the summer of 2001 that the show was in trouble. Think what you might of Doherty (and she has her share of fans and detractors) but the dynamic between the sisters had been interesting and become well developed.
How would the show bounce back?
Quite easily actually, for they were very fortunate to come across Rose McGowan, who was probably best known at that point for a supporting role in one of the SCREAM movies.
The season opens with Piper (played by Combs) mourning the death of Pru and lashing out at whitelighter (a magical being with the ability to heal) Leo for "saving the wrong sister." Desperate Piper casts a lost witch spell, which has unforseen consequences. Suddenly McGowan's character named Paige (get it, another girls name starting with the letter P) feels drawn to the remaining Halliwell sisters. Little does she know or suspect that they share the same mother.
That's right, how do you reconstitute the Power of Three with only two sisters, by creating a third half sister of course and it is this plot device that not only saved the show but added new life into it as it entered the Fall 2001 line-up on the WB.
Another major change for the show was the introduction of a season-long story arc. For the previous years we had become accustomed to featuring a diet of a demon-a-week, but with season four the sisters battle a number of minor demons while preparing to face The Source (of all evil). There is also a season-long subplot involving Phoebe (Milano) and her demon lover Cole (played by future Nip-Tuck star Julian McMahon) which takes an umber of twists and turns, not helped by a suspicious Paige.
My favorite episodes are actually episodes 13 and 14. The first of these includes the magic community being placed in danger when the Source releases the power of the Hollow and the second involves Phoebe attempting to make up her mind about Cole by conjuring up her younger and older self. Finally in the last episode of the season the sisters are finally offered a chance to live a normal life, something they have craved.
The episodes included in this season are:
1. Charmed Again Part 1
2. Charmed Again Part 2
3. Hell Hath No
4. Enter The Demon
5. Size Matters
6. A Knight To Remember
7. Brain Drain
8. Black As Cole
9. Muse To My Ears
10. A Paige From The Past
11. Trial By Magic
12. Lost And Bound
13. Charmed And Dangerous
14. The Three Faces Of Phoebe
15. Marry-Go-Round
16. The Fifth Halliwheel
17. Saving Private Leo
18. Bite Me
19. We're Off To See The Wizard
20. Long Live The Queen
21. Womb Raider
22. Witch Way Now?

Hopefully, one of these days we will get seasons of CHARMED with some specual features included, but until then at least we have the episodes themselves on DVD.

Keep the box sets rolling, we've been waiting long enough!!! Now don't get me wrong I loved Shannen Doherty's character Prue, the older sister always on the lookout for Piper and Phoebe's wellbeing, but I love Rose McGowan as Paige. She brings a new lease of life to the Charmed series as Piper and Phoebe's younger halfsister from their moms affair with her whitelighter! Its sorta like watching the first series again with Paige adapting to become a witch, managing her power of telekinesis(orbing objects and herslf none the less as oppossed to Prues squinting eyes and wave of the hand), and also to having a new family. Its fun to see the way Piper and Phoebe have to play different family roles, Piper now as the big sister having to be the responsible one instead of the mediator between Prue and Phoebe, and Phoebe having to be the middle sister mediating between Piper and Paige instead of being the rebelious younger sister. My fave episodes from the series have to be both parts of Charmed Again where Piper and Phoebe find out that they have a younger sister Paige who can help them form the Charmed Ones once again, Hell Hath No Fury where Piper becomes a Fury demon, A Paige From The Past where Paige and Leo revisit her teens to relive the day that Paiges adoptive parents were killed and Womb Raider where Phoebes unborn child plays havoc with her body. Here's a list of this seasons epidsodes:
Charmed Again (part 1 and 2)
Hell Hath No Fury
Enter The Demon
Size Matters
A Knight To Remember
Brain Drain
Black As Cole
Muse To My Ears
A Paige From The Past
Trial By Magic
Lost And Bound
Charmed And Dangerous
The Three Faces Of Phoebe
Marry-Go Round
The Fifth Halliwell
Saving Private Leo
Bite Me
We're Off To See The Wizard
Long Live The Queen
Womb Raider
Witch Way Now