Charmed
I’ve been recording Buffy and Charmed to the media center. Those two shows were on in the late 90s, but I was busy working and going to school. So I didn’t get to see much of them then. I’ve only gotten to watch them in reruns the past few years. I became a fan of Charmed when it reran on TNT while I was still living in Greensboro. Buffy has been mostly a DVD thing. In any case, it has been fun to get into them. Even my daughter Anastasia has grown to enjoy Buffy and Charmed. Though only 7 years old, she says Charmed is now her favorite show!
I noticed that the logo of Charmed is a Triqueta. Though often associated with Celtic Symbolism and design it is also a Christian Symbol. This is very much like Charmed itself. Though it is a show about Wicca and Witches, it borrows heavily from Christianity. In the end it is Good Vs Evil and Angles Vs Demons. The Triqueta also tied together the theme of the number three. There are three sisters always because they are representative of the triple Goddess and the Holy Trinity. The number three is also strongly connected with the cycle of life—birth, death and rebirth.
Charmed is more Gnostic than straightforward Christian or Pagan. Though it had a knack for soap opera melodrama it also dealt with some philosophical issues as well. The monster of the week got boring, but the focus on vanquishing to source kept me glued to the TV. I know that sometimes the special effects were cheesy and the story lines pretty unbelievable, but the relationship between the three sister and their love for one another would always keep me coming back again week after week.
Anyway, I think my favorite story arch dealt with Phoebe and the love for her half-human and half-demon love Cole. Watching her find out what he was and still choosing to love him really resonated with me. Then when Phoebe became Queen of the Underworld, I applauded that the writers blurred the lines between good and evil. They showed that good people have the potential to be bad and bad people have the potential to be good. Phoebe could slip over to the dark side as easily as Cole could slip over to the good. This made them both more human and less of a one dimensional character or stereotype.
As I re-watch I am amused at some of the guest stars I overlooked the first time around. Melissa George who has stared in shows such as Thieves, Alias and In Treatment, showed up as a sexy kick ass Valkyrie. And who would have thought Phoebe’s love interest Jason Dean (played Eric Dane) would go on to be known as McSteamy on Grey’s Anatomy! Not to mention Amy Adams (Enchanted), Balthazar Getty (Alias, Brothers and Sisters), Bruce Campbell, Daniel Dae Kim (Lost), Zachary Quinto (Heroes), TJ Thyne (Bones), Kevin Wiesman (Alias), John Cho (Flashforward) and Jennie McCarthy just to name a few!
Whatever you liked or disliked about the show, you have to admit that it was entertaining and spoke to the ever-growing numbers of people interested in the modern day Witchcraft or Wicca. I know it spoke to me.
carilynn27 