The original Charmed saw Prue (Shannen Doherty), Piper (Holly Marie Combs), Phoebe (Alyssa Milano), and Paige (Rose McGowan) band together as the all-powerful Charmed Ones, the most powerful force of good that the world had ever seen, to defeat the variety of evil beings that sought to destroy the world — or, rather, sought to destroy San Francisco, where the Halliwell sisters resided.
With so many episodes throughout the show’s lifetime (178 to be exact), the lore surrounding this particular take on magic grew with new/more powerful demons and creatures introduced with each passing season. Some explorations of the expanding universe created fun and inventive material, while others fell flat. We’ve decided to look through the series’ eight seasons and rank them based on best use of magic, from the Halliwells and their powers to the demons that roamed the city streets.
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8. Season 1
While Charmed Season 1 is one of the objectively better seasons of the show, story-wise, the use of magic was understandably not the primary focus. Over the first 22 episodes, the focus is where it should be: On the sisters and their growing powers, with all three trying to master the respective gift they were given. While there are plenty of demons in their lives, the sisters are also faced with a variety of human issues to tackle, like in “The Wendigo” when Phoebe joined Prue at Buckland’s Auction House and stumbled across a premonition-causing bracelet. The writers take their time on the basics, which is a blessing but also makes the use of magic substantially less important and prevalent. However, some magical highlights are the sisters traveling to the past and encountering their mother and when Prue accidentally clones herself.
7. Season 7
Ultimately, Season 7 just didn’t work. The season was full of ideas that could have been quite interesting, but continuously just didn’t go anywhere and let fans down. The season’s two focuses, the Avatars and Zankou, probably were the most powerful beings the sisters had ever dealt with, but the Avatars' story ended on such a laughable note with utopia coming to an end after a whole 30 minutes in the world that had been built up for far too many episodes. The noir episode where Brody (Kerr Smith) and Paige are stuck in a magical novel set in the 40s is fun, but lost in the noise of Lady Godiva’s reappearance, the sisters reverting back to their childhood personalities, and yet another attempt to turn Wyatt evil with an invisible demon. If it weren’t for the chilling final episodes and Zankou nearly killing the sisters, this season would have been ranked last.
6. Season 8
The final season is just slightly better put together than Season 7 when it comes to magic. Bringing in Billie (Kaley Cuoco) and her new powers adds some excitement back into the show without overdoing it, as viewers watch Billie become more skilled with her telekinesis and projection powers and the ridiculous demons/creatures aren’t really necessary. Ultimately, resurrecting the Triad as the sisters’ final threat was a great move and allowed viewers to see how powerful the sisters had become as individuals and as a unit, not necessarily relying on potions to save the day. However, there are still major letdowns with the magic, like whatever was going on in “Malice in Wonderland” and the magical, government-created virus that was killing various creatures in the magical community after making them hulk out and attack everyone in their sight. Altogether, it’s a rather good season when it comes to how the writers used magic to guide the sisters forward, but it doesn’t land as well as some other seasons.
5. Season 2
The second season, like the first, is more focused on the sisters than the magic. However, the season is filled with great stories that expertly utilize the established magic of the universe and expand it ever so slightly. Like, for example, in “Morality Bites” when the sisters travel ten years into the future to understand why Phoebe is being burned at the stake. Or, when Phoebe’s past life comes back to haunt her in “Pardon My Past” and Halliwell history is explored more thoroughly. While objectively one of the better seasons of the show, this is because of the focus on the sisters and how magic fits into their lives, rather than the later seasons’ focus on how the sisters fit into the magic of the world. Still, watching the sisters become stronger witches with growing powers, like Prue’s astral projection, puts it higher on the list as everything feels so meticulous in the best way possible.
4. Season 5
While a big departure from what came before, Season 5 immediately branched out into the magical world with a two-part episode about mermaids and numerous magical creatures in the following episodes, before ending on a two-parter where the sisters turn into gods (temporarily). For the most part, this branching-out worked, and it offered something new to the show after the sisters’ future became less clear without the Source of All Evil constantly working to kill them. Viewers saw the Halliwells’ magic like never before, and the magic we did see was primarily used to further the characters’ stories, like Piper and Leo (Brian Krause) welcoming their twice-blessed child into the world or Cole (Julian McMahon) literally creating another universe where Piper and Phoebe had never met Paige after Prue’s death.
3. Season 3
Season 3 is the start of something new for Charmed. After getting a better hold on their powers and becoming closer than ever, the sisters are faced with stronger and more deadly threats than ever before. Though not a new concept as the sisters (and viewers) had been introduced to upper-level demons before with Litvack, the show emphasizes that these demons are aware of the Charmed Ones and ready to do whatever it takes to kill them… like planting a spy in their midst to learn their secrets and destroy them. This puts more pressure on the sisters to make themselves as knowledgeable as possible to be aware of the threats coming their way. The introduction of the Triad, the Source of All Evil being further fleshed out, and the Elders’ power shown to the sisters are a few aspects of the season that successfully build on the magical world the sisters are just becoming accustomed to.
2. Season 4
Though Season 4 wasn’t too focused on expanding the universe (that was saved for the second half of the series), the use of the magical world the writers had already created remains quite enjoyable. After Prue’s death and Paige’s introduction, it’s nice to see some beginning hijinks brought back as Paige struggles to learn the craft and the rules that come with being a witch, especially in contrast to Piper and Phoebe’s much more serious view of magic and the cost of personal gain. The Source being the Big Bad of the season, twice, also brought about entertaining opportunities to test the sisters, like when he tricked Piper into thinking she was a patient at a mental hospital in order to get Piper to give up their powers. Transformations had more of a purpose, too, like Piper turning into a Fury that allowed her to express her repressed feelings over Prue’s death. Before the magic became too fantastical and the show stopped primarily focusing on the sisterhood, Season 4 was a nearly perfect showing of what the writers could do with the world they had spent years creating.
1. Season 6
While I am personally not a fan of Charmed Season 6, this is the season when the writers became incredibly focused on exploring the magical world at-large. From the invention of magic school — which, let’s face it, didn’t pay off — to the Cleaners (who sure would have come in handy when Prue and Piper were exposed in the Season 3 finale), doing the most with the Halliwells’ magic and what the Charmed Ones are protecting became a priority and came at the cost of some of the more human elements of the show. Plus, Chris (Drew Fuller) traveling back from the future to stop the sisters from dying and Wyatt from turning evil led to some interesting opportunities. There are some fun moments with simpler magic, too, like when the three blonde sisters — Mabel, Mitzy, and Margo Stillman — stole the sisters' identities and powers to become the new Charmed Ones, and Paige's trip to the past (albeit a mess to the timeline) to see Grams in her era of peace, love, and free magic.
All eight seasons of Charmed are streaming on Peacock TV.
