MovieChat Forums > Charmed (1998) Discussion > Season 2 is a mess

Season 2 is a mess

posted 4 years ago by Stratego (30075)
2 replies | jump to latest

First, the balance between suspense, comedy and drama is off compared to the first season. The humor gets way too goofy at times and the drama too sappy. It's filled with inconsistencies, both in the portrayal of the characters (Prue becomes way more ditzy and suddenly has a lifelong passion for photography instead of art, Piper becomes way more grumpy. Prue has trouble getting over Andy, then she's suddenly flirting with different guys. Prue was the one who couldn't show her true feelings, now Phoebe has a closed heart) as well as the mythology (especially the whitelighter and Elders nonsense). All this stuff gets introduced that either makes no sense or goes nowhere (Piper's club, Prue's career switch, Prue's astral projection, Jenny, Dan, Jack). Top that off with hideous fashion and hair styles and you've got a season that's just incredibly messy. Sometimes it really seems as if they were making things up as they went along and the actresses were just playing themselves. The scripts were so much more tight in the first season. There are still some good ideas, but I remember being so disappointed with this season back in the day.

[–] Indig0Mist (82) 3 years ago

I always got those impressions too, changing Prue so much is what hurt me the most and she was never the same Prue from season 1, I always see the first three seasons as if season 1 revolves around Prue, season 2 about Piper and season 3 about Phoebe (however the latter had too much spotlight in the upcoming seasons), but season 2 just feels all over the place with all those storylines going on so randomly, and the love triangle between Piper, Dan and Leo got boring fast, I just couldn't stand Dan and her niece, so annoying. Season 1 was the best and season 3 was a lot better than 2.

[–] Stratego (30075) 3 years ago

I thought the Cole story arc in season 3 had the potential to be really good, but I had a few issues with it. First, they played their cards way too soon. His storyline could easily have been been spread over 2 seasons. Once Cole returned halfway in the season, it seemed they weren't sure what to do with him. Also, Phoebe turned really unlikeable. She was obsessed and it was already bad enough she kept lying and hiding things from her sisters, but she also had a huge chip on her shoulder about it.