"Charmed" Death Becomes Them (2005)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

John T. Kretchmer

Writers:

Constance M. Burge (creator) and
Curtis Kheel (writer)

TV Series:

"Charmed" (1998)

Original Air Date:

15 May 2005 (Season 7, Episode 21)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Romance

Plot:

Zankou forces the sisters to face the innocents that they have not been able to save over the past seven years. |

Plot Keywords:

Wiccan | Sisters | Witchcraft | Demon | Power Of Three

Cast

Alyssa Milano	...	Phoebe Halliwell
Rose McGowan	...	Paige Matthews
Holly Marie Combs	...	Piper Halliwell
Brian Krause	...	Leo Wyatt
Dorian Gregory	...	Darryl Morris
Oded Fehr	...	Zankou
Jenya Lano	...	Inspector Sheridan
John Kassir	...	The Alchemist
Sandra Prosper	...	Sheila Morris
Keith Diamond	...	Inspector Reece Davidson
Colin Egglesfield	...	Tim Cross
Laura Regan	...	Joanna
Dax Griffin	...	Carl
Mercedes Connor	...	Kim

Runtime:

42 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Certification:

Mexico:B | USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Title is based upon the movie Death Becomes Her (1992).

Quotes:

Darryl Morris: It's a friendly warning. What they're doing... and what they're all about, it's above reproach. I wouldn't mess with them if I were you.

Movie Connections:

References Death Becomes Her (1992)

Soundtrack:

San Francisco

Most Haunted

The two-part season finale kicks in with this dark episode. Up to that point, Zankou has mostly been decimating his own ranks, so while we know that he is powerful, he doesn't seem that threatening. Indeed, Zankou's master-plan does not involve brute force, but cunning and a very good knowledge of his enemies. Actually, his idea is brilliant, and not only from a villain's point of view. It seems coherent that, figuratively speaking, the sisters would be haunted by the memory of all the innocents they haven't been able to save over the years. So having their past failures physically come back to blame them really illustrates what the Charmed Ones must be feeling -no to mention having to vanquish the poor victims themselves. It shakes them enough for Zankou to get a hold of the Book of Shadows. However, I feel that those haunts could have been chosen better. Of all the lot, only Davidson is really familiar (though only if you remember season 3). Using other victims from past episodes would have been much more dramatic.

Meanwhile, Sheridan is back with a vengeance. Oddly enough, she still hasn't recovered her memories, and she never will, so that particular threat remains unfulfilled. But it doesn't make her less dangerous, and now she's willing to fight dirty by involving Darryl's wife in it -putting him in such a quandary that his only way out is to leave. Poor Darryl.

So this is a very dark episode, in the image of the rest of the season but without any humour to compensate for the morbid atmosphere. The scene where Phoebe wakes up with Tim's reanimated corpse beside her is quite scary, and as I said Zankou's plan is psychologically devastating, which partly justifies the sisters' decision next episode. On the other hand, the episode suffers from the same problem that plagues most first parts : a slow development with little action.