Charmed Again (Part 1)

"Charmed Again (Part 1)"

Charmed Again is the first episode in season four of the The WB drama series, Charmed and is especially notable as the series cast and producers had to reinvent the series with the joint departure of creator Constance M. Burge and lead-celebrity starlett Shannen Doherty, both voluntarily to positions with other television series. The episode was originally suppose to air in September 2001, but because of 9/11, it was delayed until October.

Plot

Devastated about losing their sister Prue, Piper tries to bring her back using spells from the Book of Shadows. She casts a To Call A Lost Witch spell, but instead of bringing Prue back, it makes the newspaper with Prue's obituary appear in the office of Paige (Rose McGowan).

The Chandalier glows with an etheral bluish tinge as Piper, Phoebe, and Paige are first united and reconstitute a Power of Three in Charmed Again (Part 1).

Paige having some time back traced down her birth mother and knows the Halliwells are half-sisters connected to her and goes to the funeral where she shakes hands with Phoebe, triggering a premonition of Paige getting attacked by Shax, the demon that killed Prue. Piper is not in the mood to save any innocents and wants to quit being a Charmed One because of the price they paid by losing their sister. But Phoebe doesn't give up and she and Cole follow Paige to save her from the demon. Phoebe and Cole are on a rooftop when they notice Shax attacking Paige, but she somehow orbs out of the way, looking shocked. Phoebe returns home and asks Leo to check if the girl is a Whitelighter. Leo does research, but the Elders don't know anything about her.

Cole then returns to inform Piper and Phoebe that The Source believes Paige might be a Charmed One. Piper is enraged and summons Grams, who informs the girls that she can't say anything since she is sworn to secrecy. Then Patty appears to Piper and Phoebe to explain that Paige who is their long-lost half sister from her whitelighter Sam. Since the Elders are against unions between Whitelighters and witches, Patty and Sam had to give up the baby for her own protection. At the same time, Darryl and a new Inspector, who suspects that the girls are practicing magic, break in secretly. In the attic, they find the girls with Grams and Patty.

After teleporting the Inspector to a far off land, Piper agrees to save Paige, but not in any intention of reuniting the Power of Three. Paige receives her powers fully when she comes to their house and the three girls join together under one roof. The demon Shax attacks them immediately after and the girls run to the Book of Shadows while Leo holds Shax off. It is here that Paige finds out that the girls are witches and that she is also. She helps them vanquish the demon Shax by reciting a spell, but is shocked and terrified in the process, running away from the house and her newfound sisters.

Production

Transition to a new series format (which lasted five more seasons overall) and cast began in the last six or so episodes of the shows third season after Doherty accepted an offer to act in another series. Writing began to give Template:Chrmdchar and Template:Chrmdchar more prominence and a greater skill set, made them much more central to plot conflicts, and writers began easing Prue Halliwells superstar character into a more equitable relationship with her sisters when executive producer Brad Kern took over creative control of the series with Burge eased into a consulting role.

Holly Marie Combs threatened to resign her contract because she was so upset that her good friend Shannen Doherty had left the show, so she and executive producer Brad Kern sat down and set down some new production ground rules. One of the new 'writers rules' was that no co-star can "butt in" to another sister's personal life, unless asked for their opinion, or negotiated between co-stars and writers. Combs also wanted to become producer, so she would have more control but, Kern only promised her that for the beginning of Season 5. The last thing she wanted is for the opening credits to go "Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, and Holly Marie Combs as 'Piper' ", and her character's name has been in the credits ever since; As Kern agreed to all of her terms, she stayed with the series for its next very successful seasons and its final five years.

This was actress Rose McGowan's first episode in the series, and Rose is the first actress to play one of the Charmed Ones who actually had experience with sisters in real life. The timeline shown in the produced episode does not pick up where season three's cliffhanger finale left off, but begins a few days later, on the night before Prue's funeral where it is also revealed that Leo and Phoebe had escaped their durance-vile in the underworld when the source imprisoned Template:Chrmdchar-Belthazor. Piper having been wounded less grievously had been saved by Leo while Prue's much bloodier wound kept him from helping her or the innocent the sisters failed to protect from the demon-assassin Template:Chrmd. According to Template:Chrmd in this episode, Leo and Phoebe escaped while Cole was detained. Leo and Phoebe got to the manor in time to save Piper, but not Prue or Dr. Griffiths.