[S5E12] Centennial Charmed

CHARMED: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASONReviewed by Gavin HetheringtonOn May 21, 2006, Charmed ended its spectacular eight-year run on The WB, and for fans of the show, it's been an agonising ten years since this magical show died. Relive all eight seasons every Saturday on SpoilerTV in the run-up to the 10-year anniversary of the series finale.SEASON ONE SEASON TWO SEASON THREE SEASON FOURSEASON FIVE SEASON SIX SEASON SEVEN SEASON EIGHTSeason five - the season of magic. Whether you hate or love this season, there is no denying how infused with magic this body of 23 episodes is. We have mermaids, dwarves, nymphs, leprechauns, superheroes, goddesses... just lots and lots of creatures. It's almost a little too much. However, I love this season. I appreciate the light compared to the dark of the past two seasons, and how much joy is brought to the lives of the Charmed Ones. There's still sorrow - such as Cole's ultimate vanquish, and Leo staying with the Elders at the end, but I like to focus on the highlights of the season.One of the main highlights is the birth of Wyatt. We all thought Piper was going to give birth to a girl, so it was quite the shock to have a boy child. He ultimately changed the show from that moment - the Charmed Ones had more at stake with a baby now in the mix. We finally have an extension of family and the generational context, and after all the crap the girls have been through, it was a very welcome addition. He's so cute.And of course, we reach a huge milestone - the 100th episode. It was a thoroughly entertaining episode, one that explored a world without Paige, and how the girls coped after Prue's death without her. It just shows how important she is to the show, and it offered us one of the best vanquishes of the show - Cole. Cole went on a downward spiral this season and I was just waiting for him to be vanquished just to put him out of his misery. It makes me sad to see Cole become that way. More on that in my review, but anyway, I hope I make it clear that I do love this season, and I welcome all who disagree with me to leave their thoughts.EPISODE GUIDESEPTEMBER 22, 2002 - MAY 11, 200323 EPISODESLove the footage used for each actress, so brand new and fresh.5.01 - "A WITCH'S TAIL, PART ONE"Original airdate: September 22, 2002Just for sheer fun, I ended up loving the Mermaid saga. It helps that The Little Mermaid is my favourite Disney film, and Alyssa Milano was the character model of Ariel, so I love that tie-in. It was such a magic-filled premiere, and while it cannot hold up to some premieres before it, it definitely sets the tone for the rest of the season as one of fantasy. If this season does anything well, it takes fantasy and heightens it tenfold. I enjoyed the Sea Hag as a villain too, and she reminds me of Ursula when she wants to steal Mylie's immortality in exchange for giving her legs to pursue mortal love. Major shout out to Little Mermaid. I liked when the Sea Hag used her power on Paige, but ultimate moment of the episode goes to the spell Paige made going awry, causing Phoebe to gain fins. Was a shame the Sea Hag vanquished in part one, but it leads nicely into part two. Only thing I find annoying is Cole and his puppy-dog obsession with Phoebe, turning Darryl into a water cooler. Not the way to go to win someone's heart, Cole!Winner of the Charmed One Award: Phoebe.Powers of the witches rise,Find the Hag who speaks in lies.Balance Chakra, focus Chi,Lead us through the cruel, cruel sea.5.02 - "A WITCH'S TAIL, PART TWO"Original airdate: September 22, 2002With the Sea Hag vanquished, what could this episode possibly do? Oh yeah, Phoebe wants to remain a Mermaid. Way to put a spanner in the works Phoebs. We also have Necron, a rather intimidating looking demon, and probably a tougher foe than the Sea Hag. So much danger with the sea. I love the scenes of Phoebe exploring the ocean before she's captured by fishermen, but moment of the episode goes to Patty saving Piper from the water - so much like Prue in season one. Piper is also in a panic, so she casts one of my all-time favourite spells - the Fearless Spell. I love when she is tied up in the Sea Hag's cave and Necron keeps shocking her with electric eels. Brutal. I did like when Phoebe revealed to Cole how she truly felt, and I was hoping Cole would take solace in that and move on. They end the episode so well though, as I love the song 'Blame It On the Weatherman' by B*Witched, and to have it play while Phoebe is signing divorce papers, Paige quits her job at social services, and Piper looks at the baby book that has a magical note written in by her mother. Love it so much.Winner of the Charmed One Award: Piper.Locked in,Boxed in.Full of fear,My panic grows manic 'til I can't hear.In need of reprieve,So that I can breathe,Remove my fear,Please make it leave.5.03 - "HAPPILY EVER AFTER"Original airdate: September 29, 2002Now I love the way Charmed brought fairy tales to television. Way before Once Upon a Time, I feel like this episode wasn't just fun, but informative. The way they weaved it into the narrative was rather entertaining to watch, and it's a very light episode to continue the season 5 trend. I loved Cole in this episode, and how he tried to help Phoebe trust others again. Very noble, but this is one of the only episodes I like him. Loved how the seven dwarves came for Paige when she ate the apple, those dwarves are funny! Moment of the episode is when all the girls know they're f*cked - Piper eaten by the wolf, Phoebe is thrown into the carriage and Paige is in a coma. Loved Penny's incorporation in the episode and how she becomes the Big Bad Wolf - and then how Piper blows the wolf up from the inside. Another reminder of Prue from season three. Also like how the Evil Witch melts like the Wicked Witch of the West. I kind of wish there was more to this episode, but what we have, I really liked.Winner of the Charmed One Award: Piper.Hear our call,For those who fall.Purge her to awaken,From this toxic taken.5.04 - "SIREN'S SONG"Original airdate: October 6, 2002I love Melinda Clarke - I find her absolutely fabulous in everything she does, especially CSI as Lady Heather, and the Siren kind of reminds me of her. This isn't a favourite episode of mine, but there's a lot I enjoy from this episode. The Siren isn't a great villain and I find her reasoning rather flawed, and anyone remember the Succubus episode from season 2? I do like how Wyatt starts interfering with Piper's powers (turning her explosive power into flower materialisation), and swapping Piper and Leo so it's Leo who has pregnancy symptoms. Good scenes from that - "I just thought that was an excuse". Oh Leo. But it helps the couple each other's issues, so that's important. Cole is easily seduced by the Siren, which further shows why he shouldn't be with Phoebe and starts working my nerves. Moment of the episode will be Piper telling the Siren to "kiss this bitch".Winner of the Charmed One Award: Piper.Oh singing lady of the dusk,Who preys on men,Turns love to lust.We harken ye into presence,To vanquish thee evil essence.5.05 - "WITCHES IN TIGHTS"Original airdate: October 13, 2002It's quite a bit much, this episode, a bit too soon in the season. When you realise that season five is filled with these kind of episodes, you'd hope they'd have spaced them out a bit so it isn't too much at once. Having said that, I enjoy watching the girls as superheroes. It's so much fun to see their sense of humour really shine through their costumes, as well as their cool new superpowers. This was before Marvel really took over the cinematic universe, so I can see the true potential this kind of episode could have had. I love when they transform into the superheroes and they really go for it, and moment of the episode will be the fight with the Aggressor. I love the idea of the thought projection power too, and it's something that comes up later. The side-storyline with the Elder passing his powers on ended on a nice surprise of entering the innocent, Kevin. A good episode but it came too soon in the season, like having too much cake at once.Winner of the Charmed One Award: Paige.Paige: "Head rush... let's do it again!"5.06 - "THE EYES HAVE IT"Original airdate: October 20, 2002I can't fully appreciate this episode because it's amongst more fast-paced, memorable episodes. It's one of the less in-your-face episodes, and I love the gypsy story and family heritage, and how alike it is to witches. I love Emmanuelle Vaugier and she does a great job at portraying Ava, and she was an innocent I was rooting for. Loved her interactions with Paige, and that they kind of changed the To Call Upon Our Ancestors spell to fit her gypsy family. The spell isn't great the way it sounds, to be honest, but it was creative. Orin is rather scary too, stealing gypsy eyes, though it does lead to Phoebe's first Astral Premonition, which I wish we saw way more of. Also, I love when Piper and Leo watch the birthing video - it's so Friends.Winner of the Charmed One Award: Paige.Piper: "Okay, see, I need an epidural just to watch this!"5.07 - "SYMPATHY FOR THE DEMON"Original airdate: November 3, 2002Whenever I reflect back on this episode, I always think "Poor Paige". Moment of the episode is indeed when Barbas makes Phoebe think that Paige is him, so Phoebe attacks Paige and ends up killing her, which is so shocking but brilliantly dramatic - I love it! I think it's the first time Paige "dies" on the show. Barbas does get annoying the amount of times he comes back, but he's rather different in this episode. He doesn't just randomly appear for no reason, but he causes huge dilemmas for the girls upon the acquisition of Cole's powers. Again, I love the use of the girls' fears against them - Paige and her claustrophobia, Piper of never being happy and losing her baby, and Phoebe always falling in love with evil. What makes this different from the Barbas episode of season one is that the stakes are way higher, and I really enjoy how powerful Barbas can be. He just always underestimates the power of the Charmed Ones. I also love how Paige feels inferior to Prue and feels the need to prove herself, and by the end of the episode, she proves to herself that she's just as powerful a witch as Prue was. Great character development. Really like this episode, and I like how there aren't any "gimmicks".Winner of the Charmed One Award: Paige.Paige: "Prue was this awesome witch with a full-time job, and I quit my job to be a full-time witch, and I still haven't reached her level yet, which makes me feel incredibly frustrated and lame."5.08 - "A WITCH IN TIME"Original airdate: November 10, 2002Despite this not being a favourite of mine, it's an episode that I kind of always remember. Its plot of Phoebe's boyfriend repeatedly dying but she always manages to save him due to her premonitions is such a good story. And it really works. It sets up great conflict that features Cole in a less-annoying-than-usual way this season. I always remember the moment he gets shot in the alleyway and this time Phoebe can't save him, because Cole has convinced Piper that if Phoebe keeps saving him, she'll die. It's such an awful way of learning that they cannot save every innocent. Moment of the episode does go to when Phoebe loses Miles. So sad yet so necessary. I love when present Piper tells past Piper to make Phoebe get lost in order to save her life. It's such a bizarre, funny, serious moment. And Bacarra, the warlock from the future, is a rather nasty fellow, and Paige dies a second time in 2 episodes! Good episode.Winner of the Charmed One Award: Phoebe.Bacarra: "I'm Bacarra, I've come here from the future."Cole: "Well, I can't say I've heard that before."5.09 - "SAM, I AM"Original airdate: November 17, 2002I love when plot points connect in unintentional ways, like the whole Paige half-sister from the love affair between Patty and Sam. It further proves how important P3 H2O of season 2 is. I bet they look back on that episode and think "we did good". I love more family context to Paige and getting a deeper look into what makes her who she is, and it's good to see that, like Prue did in season one, she has daddy issues. A recurring theme is that fathers on this show take a while to prove themselves, but it's so heartwarming when Sam proves himself to Paige.Moment of the episode goes to when he finally taps into his whitelighter side and heals his daughter. I also love when the Darklighter arrow hits Paige and Leo, and bounces off Piper due to Wyatt's forcefield. That was such a horrifying yet cool moment. This is more a family drama episode, so not one of the best of the season, but a decent episode nonetheless.Winner of the Charmed One Award: Paige.Sam: "They made me a Whitelighter again. And I screwed up again. I guess I never got over..."Piper: "Losing your daughter? Yeah, that's the one."5.10 - "Y TU MUMMY TAMBIEN"Original airdate: January 5, 2003Ever since school, I've been fascinated with Egyptians. Ever since the 1999 film The Mummy, I've loved anything to do with mummies. This isn't a great episode, but I find it to be a good, enjoyable episode. Jeric is on the prowl for a perfect host body for his love, Isis. Good enough plot, and of course Phoebe is the perfect candidate. It's a rather intense moment when Piper is forced to choose to save a mummified Phoebe, or a possessed Paige. The moment of the episode will go to when Piper tricks Jeric into thinking she's given Paige's body to Isis, only to have Paige reveal Isis is gone, and she knows the spell to demummify Phoebe. Those girls are smarter than we give them credit for, especially Piper. Phoebe is awesome as Isis too, so majestic and sexy. Cole goes back to annoying me in this episode too. He's one rollercoaster ride this season. Good episode, but so much wasted potential for an episode about mummies.Winner of the Charmed One Award: Phoebe. (or Paige)Two warring souls now burn inside,Where only one can reside.I call upon the Power of Three,To save her body and set her free.5.11 - "THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING PHOEBE"Original airdate: January 12, 2003I find this episode a little creepy, or should I say I find Cole getting a shapeshifter to turn into Phoebe for him creepy. It's like the writers just didn't want him to have any redeeming qualities about him before they offed him off in the next episode. This is a largely forgettable episode too, but the part I remember most, and the moment of the episode, is the fight Phoebe has with the shapeshifter, so it appears she is fighting herself. Good metaphor. The problem this week is that the girls are having some bad luck with the law - Piper with P3 and health and safety, Phoebe with a woman suing her and the paper, and Paige with a car crash that looks like her fault. I like the idea of using mortal law to take down the girls though, that's a new one. The ending, with Cole stabbing the new shapeshifter who turns into Phoebe, is rather scary. It's not a bad episode but it's not one that screams "watch me again".Winner of the Charmed One Award: Phoebe.This Witch's power can not fight,The lure of Evil's magic might.Before misuses lands her in hell,Remove the powers of Phoebe Halliwell.5.12 - "CENTENNIAL CHARMED"Original airdate: January 19, 2003The 100th episode - what a milestone. It's a show that deserved to reach the big 1-0-0, and they pulled off a great episode with this one. Cole, up to his annoying self again, erases Paige from existence and shows us a reality in which Prue died, but the power of three was never reconstituted. Dark days, and I love seeing how differently things could have turned out. Piper, who isn't pregnant, is a bad-ass demon hunter trying to avenge Prue, and Phoebe is in a loveless marriage with Cole. Oh, and Paige is dead, but fortunately she sneezes at just the right time to get in on the action and save herself. It's hard work, but she manages to convince Piper and Phoebe that she is their sister, and the moment of the episode goes to Cole's vanquish. The "Happy Birthday, Cole" from Paige was rather harsh, but understandable considering all the crap he did to her, including her current situation, which was wipe her from existence. I would have been heartbroken if his vanquish came in season 4 (which it did, if he had of stayed dead, then his decline in season 5 wouldn't have happened), but I was just relieved he was put out of his misery. His vanquish here is more spectacular and such a huge moment for Phoebe. But all 3 girls were amazing in this, special shout-out to Paige though, so I can say the 100th episode of Charmed was extremely well done.Winner of the Charmed One Award: A three-way tie for Piper, Phoebe and Paige.Paige: "Happy birthday, Cole."5.13 - "HOUSE CALL"Original airdate: February 2, 2003The dawn of the Cole-less season 5. Not a bad first episode to get on that track, and the plot of Witch Doctors rather piqued my interest. The episode starts really good, with the phantasm lifting Phoebe up, and the girls realising their house has way too much demonic energy leftovers. Not surprising when more people have died in that house than any other I can think of. The Witch Doctor puts a hex on the girls and it makes them do different, bizarre things. I was really rooting for Paige and Glenn too, who I forgot about until now, but she was such a tough cookie for grinning and baring it by the end. Hilarious when she glamoured to pretend to be his fiancé. Another good moment was when Piper, who has become obsessed with cleaning, makes the Manor disappear so she doesn't have to clean it - if only! - and that's my moment of the episode. As a side note, love that Phoebe did a photoshoot for 415 Magazine - the one Prue worked for. Good episode.Winner of the Charmed One Award: Paige.Let the object of objection return,So that its existence may be reaffirmed.5.14 - "SAND FRANCISCO DREAMIN'"Original airdate: February 9, 2003This is like a Barbas episode without Barbas, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. I will always remember when Phoebe is chased by the Jason-look-a-like, who is her nightmare come to life. Reminded me of Chick Flick and I am always a fan of a good chase scene. I was rather taken back by Piper's dreams - of a sexy, unknown man that she's having a love affair with. I still don't fully understand how he t