‘Charmed’: 4 Things That Make No Sense About the Pilot
It’s been 22 years since the Halliwell sisters cast a spell on viewers with Charmed. The TV show about three sister witches — Prue (Shannen Doherty), Piper (Holly Marie Combs), and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) — who premiered on Oct. 7, 1998. In honor of the show’s anniversary, revisit the pilot and check out what didn’t make sense about the inaugural episode.
1.Piper, Phoebe, and Prue had no idea they descended from a long line of witches on ‘Charmed’
When Phoebe returned to San Francisco to live with her sisters she brought together the Charmed Ones. After a creepy incident with the family’s spirit board, she ventured to the Halliwell Manor’s attic where she read an incantation from a spellbook that gave her, Prue, and Piper their magical powers.
Explaining what she discovered in the attic, Phoebe’s sisters were skeptical. After all, they’d experienced nothing out of the ordinary in their lives to suggest magic existed.
What doesn’t make sense about their becoming witches is that Prue, Piper, and Phoebe had no idea they descended from a long line of witches dating back hundreds of years. As kids, they never put together the strange incidents they witnessed around the house when their mom or grandmother practiced magic or fought demons.
2. No one saw Prue move the glass of cream in the ‘Charmed’ pilot
Prue digested the news that she was a witch and could move things with her mind as she sat at a bar with Phoebe. Discussing their powers, Prue inadvertently made a glass of cream move toward her. She and Phoebe were wowed by the moment but what didn’t make sense is that no one else noticed it move.
3. Prue wrecked an aisle at a pharmacy without anyone noticing
A similar incident happened in a local pharmacy. Looking for something to alleviate her headache, Prue startsed searching the aisles. Meanwhile, Phoebe encourages her to embrace being a witch and come to grips with the new reality of their lives.
Realizing Prue uses her powers when she’s upset, Piper starts pushing her buttons until Prue makes every item fly off the shelves. They quickly leave the pharmacy but again, no one notices the incident. It’s just another one of the many moments where their magical powers go unseen.
4. Prue spontaneously quit her job in the first episode of ‘Charmed’
One of the non-magical aspects to Charmed Season 1 Episode 1: “Something Wicca This Way Comes,” is the fact that Prue quit her job without a backup plan.
The oldest of the three Halliwell sisters is known for being responsible — even her name, Prudence, means exercising caution — and this spur of the moment decision seemed completely out of character for Prue.
Yes, her boss was her ex-fiancé who treated her terribly but quitting her job didn’t line up with everything else viewers learned about Prue in the same episode.
She scolded Phoebe for not having any idea about her future before the youngest Halliwell sister gained the power of premonition. And even in the pilot, Prue established herself as the voice of reason.
