Charmed Re-Watch: Something Wicca This Way Comes (Season 1 Episode 1)

The Charmed Ones must have cast a spell on us viewers because the hit series Charmed made its small screen debut 20 whole years ago, but it feels like just yesterday.

While there are fewer tube tops and infinitely more cell phones than in 2018, the need for witty and witchy female-led programming hasn’t changed!

The occult series is getting a re-boot featuring a diverse coven. The stars and moons have aligned and it is the perfect time for a re-watch!

We will be starting with the pilot episode, Charmed Season 1 Episode 1, “Something Wicca This Way Comes,” and continue with another episode of the original Charmed series each week.

In the wake of the success of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on the small screen and The Craft on the big screen, an occult-focused show with a modern feminist twist was a perfect fit for The WB. Charmed is, at its heart, a story of three sisters who fight to protect each other and their claims to their identities in the face of their powers dictating who they can be.

“Something Wicca This Way Comes,” is a powerful, well-executed, and sexy pilot that manages to hold up when watched 20 years later. Sure, the special effects are cheesy-tastic, but the witches origin story is as fun and addicting as ever.

It’s like Charmed takes the best parts of The Craft, adds some Buffy snark, and multiplies that times three. A wonderful equation!

There is much to love about “Something Wicca This Way Comes,” but my absolute favorite part is each of the three sisters discovering their powers and then having those powers pop up in their day unexpectedly.

Truly, I could watch Prue’s anger bring those pill bottles off the shelves all day.

And Piper’s surprise at her ability to freeze the room, only to use it to her advantage to nail her cooking trial, is out of this realm fun. The intentional focus on the sisters’ careers and identities are actually more striking than I expected.

Unlike in The Craft, the witches aren’t concerned at all with how their powers can impact their love life or popularity. It is a refreshing quality to the late ’90s pilot that I admit to not noticing the first time I watched.

Phoebe is, arguably, the most enticing character sans powers, so she gets a bit balanced out by the relative lameness of her power of premonition.

Although, it is anything but lame to hear Prue make a foreshadowing dig at her little sister:

That girl has no vision. No sense of the future!

I will admit the sequences where Phoebe sees the future are a bit hum-drum. But, Phoebe’s visions ultimately help the sisters prepare for Piper’s date-gone-demon, and the power adds some irony to the character’s impulsive nature.

Overall the division of powers is really fun and exciting way to meet the sisters and start the show off with a bang.

When the sisters come to accept that they are witches, the episode doesn’t keep it all light and flouncy. Prue’s powers are activated by anger after all, and, in typical care-taker mode, she wrestles with what the new normal is going to mean for her family:

Prue: Look, I have just found out that I am a witch, that my sisters are witches and we have powers that will apparently unleash all forms of evil. Evil that is apparently going to come looking for us. So, excuse me Phoebe, but I’m not exactly in a homeopathic mood right now.

The mix of sarcastic banter with heartfelt concern and quite a bit of sex appeal continues throughout the first episode.

One of the most magical things about a re-watch is getting to ship a couple as if it was the first time. I had completely forgotten about Andy and Prue!

And I had never noticed how much Andy looks like a young Jack Nicholson. What a handsome guy!

Even though the scenes feel familiar, I don’t remember what is going to happen next. This is the ideal situation for a couple you’ve shipped in the past. The chemistry between Prue and Andy is electric right from the start.

I am so excited to re-see where this couple is headed, even if that pussycat is going to get in the way a few more times.

I Love The ’90s

“Something Wicca This Way Comes” ushered in the end of the ’90s. It was a time of transition from grunge to boy bands, from Metallic to No Doubt, and from flannel to pixie cuts.

The episode delightfully references the angst and the flirtiness of this point in time.

I didn’t even realize how much I missed the crop top. The bellies are out on these young adults, and I am loving it. Each sister is fashionable and edgy in her own way.

My favorite ’90s look of the whole episode is actually Phoebe’s ouija board pajamas.

She’s got the mix of a masculine flannel pajama pant with a pretty crop top baby tee. It manages to indicate her youth, her rebellion, and her down-to-earth nature in one totally ’90s outfit.

The special effects are also wonderfully nostalgic.

Fog machine delights and gruesome monster faces add to the entertainment value and never go so overboard that the ultimate message is diluted.

I love that Piper’s boyfriend turns out to be a warlock and that she immediately accepts this fact. He throws the word “bitch” at her twice, which surprises me.

But then, I recall that during the late ’90s the word “bitch” was being reclaimed by women and was worn like a badge of honor.

How great that these powerful sisters, who we see from the very first moments with them, are impervious to any one label, especially a derogatory one enforced by some man-demon, are able to use their trust in each other to blow up that dude?

That’s some Charmed justice right there.

By the closing of the episode when Prue triumphantly and rebelliously closes the front door with her mind, it is clear that the relationship between the three main characters is its superpower.

“The power of three” is an incredible force, indeed.

What did you think of this episode of Charmed? Will you be joining us in our re-watch? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Make sure to check back next week for our re-watch of Charmed Season 1 Episode 2, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.”

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