Charmed Re-Watch: The Fourth Sister (Season 1 Episode 7)

Charmed Season 1 Episode 7, “The Fourth Sister,” explores how low self-esteem can be a portal for demonic influence and makes major missteps during Piper and Phoebe’s battle for Leo.

Witchcraft is featured front and center on the episode, and it reminds us that Charmed is strongest when its leads are casting spells while grappling with their charmed identities.

The sibling rivalry between Piper and Phoebe over Leo goes at least two notches too far — it’s more venom than necessary, without any sweetness to cut against it– but “The Fourth Sister” hits the right balance with showcasing the particular vulnerability of a marginalized teenager in emotional pain.

Charmed

The main plot on the episode is a young wannabe witch (think the girls on The Craft, freshman year) named Aviva, who is getting manipulated by a power-hungry nightgown-wearing demon in the mirror.

Young Aviva is attracted to the mirror demon’s seemingly benevolent (okay, she’s supposed to sound dreamy, but she’s always full-stop CREEPY) promises of inclusion in a family, the Halliwell family. Aviva’s mother is in rehab, and although her aunt has taken her in, Aviva feels stigmatized and unfairly judged by her.

Once you get past the rather choppy pace of the story and the light cultural appropriation (the eyeliner and dark lipstick mixed with the occult is a bit appropriative of Latinx/Chicano cultures), the pain and conflict at the center of the story are very relate-able.

Feeling misunderstood and rejected causes many people, but especially teens, to be vulnerable to false promises of love. Aviva presents just such a story on “The Fourth Story.”

Aviva wants to be a part of a family, but her circumstances won’t really allow it. Her self-esteem is at a low point and that is where the demon finds an opening into her life.

It is not just teens that find themselves drawn into darkness and hate by a string tied to their insecurities. On Charmed, Phoebe is likewise somewhat enticed by Aviva’s offers of enhancing her powers.

The reason this is at all successful is that Phoebe feels that her powers and strengths don’t live up to her sisters.

In the end, though, each of The Charmed Ones has strong enough confidence and sense of self to not be at real risk of falling into the same traps as Aviva. I like this message too.

“The Fourth Sister” gives us the message that when you get older you will find a stable sense of self, that is not perfect, but is strong enough to ward off evil.

As a woman in my thirties, I find that message both accurate and uplifting.

Nicely done, Charmed.

Chagrined

The entire fight over Leo between two close sisters is a distasteful aspect of the episode.

Most egregious is how each sister attempts to sabotage the other and make Leo disinterested in the other.

Piper lies to Leo, telling him that Phoebe is attending a Gay and Lesbian club event. This is a huge misstep, which is not surprising in the late nineties but needs to be called out as homophobia.

Charmed uses an LGBTQ identity as a clear mark against someone. It makes her undateable.

Yes, it is an indication that Leo might not be desired by Phoebe, but the assumptions that underlie Piper’s sabotage are that being gay is gross, taboo, shocking, and makes someone unlovable.

There is no need, plot or character development wise, for the show to utilize someone’s sexual orientation in a competition over a love interest. LGBTQ people are not a joke or accessories to be tried on for non-LGBTQ folks to reach their goals.

Piper’s comment also raised attention to the fact that there are no LGBTQ characters on Charmed so far. None on a show that is set in San Francisco, the epicenter of the Gay Rights Movement.

Phobe retaliates with an equally harmful sabotage. She says the Piper has to “take her pills,” indicating that she has a mental health issue requiring medication. This is said in an attempt to turn off Leo and make him not want to date Piper.

The assumption is that taking medications means a woman’s crazy, and men don’t want to date crazy.

Wow.

On an episode that includes a heartfelt speech about not stigmatizing a person’s alcoholism as “bad choices,” the move to have Phoebe lie about Piper’s mental health status to win a man is completely off key.

Mental health challenges and taking medication to address those challenges are heavily stigmatized in our society. The stigma is unfounded and mental health challenges do not make a person any less loveable than any other human being.

Charmed gets a bit of leeway because of the time when it was made, but it still needs to be pointed out that these types of tropes and biases exist in the writing and need to be eradicated in the future.

The new Charmed will be on the CW, alongside a show that brilliantly grapples with intersections of feminism and mental health, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Perhaps a cross-over is in their future!

Changed

Leo and Piper are such an established OTP in 2018 that I forgot about their earliest encounters. I am surprised to learn that on this round of watching Charmed, I don’t ship Piper and Leo right away!

Leo is the source of conflict and chagrin on “The Fourth Sister,” so it is difficult to see him through love goggles.

I actually like this fresh view of their love story because, although I know how it’s going to happen, I get to experience building an emotional attachment to this couple as if it were the first time.

Another thing that has changed on my re-watch is how deeply I appreciate the representation of how hard relationships are. Andy and Prue are in love and lust. They are on the same page as far as their feelings, but their jobs and family responsibilities keep them apart.

The episode doesn’t overly dramatize this difficulty, even though it could considering the thing keeping the schedules from meshing is witchcraft. Instead, the episode takes the time to show how much communication, patience, and passion is needed to make love work.

I didn’t even notice that message before, and I doubt if I had noticed I would have appreciated it.

Now, I appreciate it wholeheartedly. Almost as much as a good movie selection from Blockbuster.

What do you think of Charmed Season 1 Episode 7, “The Fourth Sister?” Join my re-watch and add your comments below!

The entire series of Charmed is available to stream now on Netflix.

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