This and That #3

[Esmeralda]

I did not know that that was Alyssa! I had thought that it was the gal who played Melinda because they said that she looked like Patty. I thought I read somewhere that the mermaid episodes were hard for Alyssa because she was afraid of the water. If that's true, imagine what it would've been like doing From Fear to Eternity??

But I agree with you totally re: Finola, although it would've been interesting watching Alyssa play both Phoebe and Patty!

Oh, definitely Paige as a full-time social worker! She became a much worse person once she met the Halliwells!

Along that line--Paige as a whitelighter while she was still alive or Paige not a whitelighter until after she dies and earns her wings?

[Lexi]

I did wonder whether Alyssa was in the water for From Fear to Eternity, since they could have gotten away with filming it and then use CGI to make it look like she was in the water because yes, I heard the same thing that Alyssa has a fear of the water. Did you know it was also in her contract for the first few years that she wouldn't have to go into elevators because she's scared of them too?

Anyway, in answer...Paige not becoming a Whitelighter until she earnt her wings after death. Sometimes I think it can be a good idea to have a hybrid but she was meant to be a Charmed One. It wasn't fair on her that the Elders put so much pressure on her and what didn't make sense was that she could be a WHitelighter while the Elders didn't know if she was alive in S8! How would the Elders know who she was?

Ok...Mark the Ghost as an innocent or Aviva?

[Esmeralda]

Oh! You're right about CGIs! I'll bet that is how they did her in the water in FFTE. But if so, they did a fantastic job!

No, I hadn't heard about Alyssa and the elevators. That gal has quite a few phobias that would make it interesting on a writer/director! Why am I *not* surprised that she had that in her contract when Connie was in charge, but not when Kern was??

You're absolutely right about the Elders making Paige a full whitelighter when they weren't supposed to know she was alive! LOL, makes me wonder if those glamours were really as good as the sisters thought they were! Although I'll admit that the witch/whitelighters hybrids having whitelighter powers makes writing fics (and scripts) a lot easier (especially with orbing!), letting her have charges (Chris, too!) never made a lot of sense to me. A bad way to bring in Billie! Especially because once they brought her in, Paige totally forgot that Billie was her charge--she seemed more like Phoebe's than Paige's!

*shakes head* You're back to giving me tough choices again because both of those two were among my favorite innocents! As innocents, I think I'll take Aviva due to the way her life had gone and how easily she was led astray. She really needed The Charmed Ones more than Mark needed someone to avenge his death. But I'll ALWAYS wish Piper had ended up marrying a ghost rather than an angel! We don't know what Kern would've done to his character, of course, but if Piper had to marry a supernatural man, Mark was PERFECT for her!

As innocents: Charlene (the ghost in Ex Libris) or Maggie Murphy (Murphy's Luck?)?

[Lexi]

I wasn't the biggest fan on either of the innocents, but I was a big fan on the storylines. Both showed the sisters really protecting innocents! I think, in the end, Charlene wins because afterwards, when she realised that she couldn't move on, she helped the father who needed closure about his daughter that had been murdered. She didn't have to, she could have just continued to walk the Earth as a ghost, but she did it out of kindness and knew that she *had* to move on in the end.

So....demons: Nomed (S8, who told the sisters to use the Hollow) or Hecate (S1, who put a spell on the man to marry her)

[Esmeralda]

Actually Maggie and Charlene were my two favorite innocents, the reason why I chose them, but you're right--it's mainly their stories that makes me like them so much (well, that and Amy Adams playing Maggie.)

Hecate. I found her a lot scarier and I loved the way she could morph from a beautiful bride into her ugly self! (Ditto for her "friends"!)

Mr. Cowan (Paige's boss) or Elise (Phoebe's boss)?

[Lexi]

oo, now you see this is hard for me because we just didn't get to see much of Mr Cowan. I think I'll have to go with Elise since we saw so many different sides to that woman and the way she worried that Phoebe would become married to her work like she was, was very touching and it showed she cared about the people that worked for her.

Pardon My Past or A Knight to Remember?

[Esmeralda]

Yup, I agree re: Elise. Wish we'd seen more of Mr. Cowan...

Oh, another toughie. Which past life did I like better? That's REALLY tough, because I liked Past Paige better than Past Phoebe, but I REALLY liked Anton better than the whimpy knight, and his girl was worse! Definitely liked Past Prue and Past Piper (and Past Dan and Past Leo and little Christina) better than them! So I think Past Phoebe wins.

Mark the Ghost or Billy the Illusion?

[Lexi]

I loved them both but I loved the interaction between Piper and Mark, and he was a true innocent that needed to be saved, so it has to be Mark.

Best demons....

Cole or Drake?

[Esmeralda]

WHOA! That has to be the choice to end all choices, because I love both of them.

I think, tho, I'll chose Drake. I love Phoebe as she was with Drake a lot more than what she was with Cole. Her relationship with Cole is what turned her into Freebie/PhoeME, while for the briefest of times, Drake turned her back to my Phoebs! Of course, as soon as Drake died, Freebie/PhoeME returned... Also, I think Drake truly loved Phoebe as she was, while Cole was as obsessed with her as she was with him, which definitely is *not* love!

Hmmm....Patty or Penny?

[Lexi]

Oh this is extremely difficult. Over it all though, I think I'm going to say Penny. I love Grams' character to bit and I was so glad that they didn't completely ruin her character while she was on teh show (although they did keep forgetting how many ex-husbands she had). Her outlook on life and her sarcastic and confident behaviour really made me smile and chuckle, if I were the sisters I would be proud to call her my Grams.

So then, Something Wicca This Way Comes or Something Wicca This way Goes?

[Esmeralda]

Even tho Patty was my favorite character on Charmed until I found out that Kern set it up so that Patty was screwing her whitelighter while still married to Victor, I'll agree with everything you said about Penny. And actually, Penny does remind me a bit of my own mom's mom--if Grandma was a witch, I have a hunch she'd be just like Grams! The only difference is Grandma and Grandpa loved each other from the day they met until the day they died, and Grandpa lived 12 years after Grandma died, and both always thought Dad was perfect for my mom.

Oh, most definitely Something Wicca This Way Comes. I hate Something Wicca This Way Goes--having the sisters act as if they're going to die and then let it be shown that they're cheating by using Prue's powers, something that can NOT be learned, to just walk away from Piper and Leo's sons and their destiny while hanging onto their powers made me absolutely sick to my stomach! Had that been the actual ending to the series, the way it originally was supposed to be would've been even more sucky than Forever Charmed.

Hmmm, let me see.... All Hell Breaks Loose as the ending to the series or Witch Way Now? s the ending to the series?

[Lexi]

Its got to be All Hell Breaks Loose, purely and simply because of the acting from Shannen Doherty. She made that episode, and you could really tell that the tears were real. She knew that this was going to be her last episode working with Holly, I think that upset her more than anything else since she was the one that wanted Holly on the show in the first place. Witch Way Now was great in the way the sisters learnt a lesson about saving an innocent - its just a shame that they never remembered that! but AHBL will always be my favourite episode of all time!

Now then...S2 opening episode or S3 opening episode? I can't remember the titles though off the top of my head, sorry!

[Esmeralda]

You'll make Primrose_Empath very happy with your response! Here's what makes Shannen's acting even more amazing--she didn't know that that would be her last episode! She truly thought that she would be back for the fourth season and didn't know she wouldn't until she was in Toronto making a movie and her agent called to say that Kern had called to say that she was fired! Holly mourning the loss of Shannen when Piper was mourning Prue's death, yes; Shannen mourning the loss of Holly, no--that was pure acting!

S2's was "Witch Trial" and S3's was "The Honeymoon is Over". Although I liked both episodes as season openers, I'll take "Witch Trial"--I thought it was a cool way to "celebrate" their first year as witches--losing the Book to a dimensional demon who could bring back all of the bad guys they had vanquished in the first season and eventually take away their powers. I also liked the way Prue continued to mourn Andy and had a hard time using her powers--Shannen did such a great job with that scene!

Okay, the other way around, two of my least-favorite season-openers, which are also two of my least-favorite episodes. If they're not yours, please don't be afraid to say so:

Season 6 "Valkyrie of the Dolls" and Season 7 "Call of Arms"

[Lexi]

I'm having to think for an answer for the Wrong Answer Game, which is why I haven't replied yet but I can reply to this

As for Shannen's acting, I didn't realise it was pure acting in AHBLs so that just makes it my most favourite episode even more. She is an amazing actress!

Now then, I couldn't stand Valkyrie of the Dolls at all, it started off a storyline that I really didn't like for Leo and also started off the selfishness of the sisters. I would say its my least favourite episodes, but then again A Witches Tail is also down there too.

I'll have to say A Call of Arms, since I quite liked the idea of Piper wanting to protect her sons while Leo tried to vanquish Barbus after finding out he played a part in Gideon attacking his son. It just showed two protective parents with a magical side to it. If it wasn't for Piper and Leo being the centre of attention for so much of S6, 7 and 8, then I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

Now then, favourite time travel....

That Seventies Episode or Morality Bites? (The past or the future Charmed Ones?)

[Esmeralda]

YAY! Glad to hear that I gave you a Wrong Answer that made you have to think (a bit like a the last of three PMs, huh?? )

Yup, now reading it, I'll agree with you re: A Call to Arms. It was the change in the Manor (redecorating with a baby in the house?? No wonder Chris was so neurotic, the reason why Changed Future Chris should be *just* as neurotic.), the whole giant heads thing, just the whole thing that rubbed me the wrong way. I *did* consider "Witch's Tail", but since I *really* like that innocent, the mermaid, I decided against it.

Wow! What a choice. Future Charmed Ones or Past Charmed Ones, especially when I love both episodes so much. Episode-wise, "Morality Bites" will always be my favorite episode, although "That Seventies Episode" is one of my top ten and second-favorite of the first season, directly behind "Love Hurts". But you specifically said the past or future Charmed Ones, and in that it would have to be the little ones. The actresses playing them were so cute and did such a great job that I really hated seeing Grams decide to bind their powers. I also loved our Charmed Ones with them, and, of course, the relationship the little ones had with Patty and Grams. Best of all, I loved Little Prue, Little Piper and Fetus Phoebe being able to use The Power of Three to send our Charmed Ones back.

Hmmm, all of this reminds me of one of my favorite videos. If you have high-speed, you guys have got to check this out: Prue Sees Her Own Death

How 'bout Phoebe and a secret:

Secrets and Guys or The Legend of Sleepy Halliwell