TW Watches Charmed S03E22: All Hell Breaks Loose

By Owen Quinn author Photos copyright CW

If you had a secret power then the last thing you would want is for it to be exposed to the world. As the Charmed Ones would find out in the season three finale, this is what happens when the world knows your secret. And in order to put things right inn between demon attacks, it will come at a terrible price.

This is also a milestone episode for charmed fans and it has a whole new spotlight and meaning behind it for fans following the untimely death of Shannen Doherty from breast cancer. Behind the scenes, she and Alyssa Milano who plays Phoebe, were at conflict. Milano had allegedly given the producers an ultimatum; that one of them had to go. it was said that Milano resented the fact Doherty was the highest paid and threatened to sue for making her work in a hostile environment, allegedly but check out all the YouTube videos of Combs and Doherty telling the story. In the end, they decided to fire Doherty. Holly Marie Combs who played Piper along with Doherty spoke openly about it on her podcast and at conventions. Rose McGowan, who came into the show as unknown sister, Paige, would later be very vocal about her own public feud with Milano.

I have to say I always preferred Prue to Phoebe both as a character and actress. But it’s good the truth came out before she died and was able to set the record straight before her death.

Writing this article is bitter sweet right ow, as fellow Charmed actor, Julian McMahon passed a couple of days ago at the age of 56 from cancer. And it is only when you look back, you realize just how good this show and characters were. When you see this episode, you can’t help but think of the circumstances in Doherty’s departure but the loss of both actors whom, quite frankly, were brilliant. I watched this show religiously every week and I can see now why I came back time and again.

But if you are going to leave a shoe no matter what the circumstances, then All Hell Breaks Loose is the way to do it. This is Prue’s Yesterday’s Enterprise. We get a double bluff at the episode’s beginning While protecting one Doctor Griffiths from a demon called Shax, the Charmed Ones take him back to their house. While Phoebe finds a spell to stop him, he blasts both sisters. They are smashed through a wall and lie broken and bleeding. Phoebe repels Shax and Leo is able to save the sisters. But when Phoebe leaves to go to Hell to save her love, Cole (Julian McMahon), Prue and Piper go looking for the wounded Shax. They face him down in the street and vanquish them.

However, a news crew films their actions and their secrets are exposed to the world. Even Heaven will not help them as their exposure is seen as a terrible transgression. This could undo all the good they have done and wreck the future.

Soon, they are besieged by the public and news crews. Even Jerry Springer and Sports Illustrated want apiece of the Halliwells. Soon, people from their past are on television about hoe they always suspected the Halliwells were witches as Prue cast a spell at ten years old to split a couple up. Doctor Griffiths exposes them on television and tells about the book in the attic. People wanting to join their coven break into their house. Her name is Alice, a wiccan fanatic who says she is just like them, that she is the only one that understands them. Prue throws her out of the house and Leo says the only thing they can do is ask Tempus to reverse time to the point of Shax’s original attack.

Cole must go to the Underworld to find Cole and Phoebe but if he does, Prue and Piper will be all alone. Cole is forced to ask the source to get Tempus to reverse time but it will be done at a cost. If Phoebe stays in the Underworld, Tempus will do as they ask and it is also the only way to stop one of the sisters from dying.

This is no easy ride as Alice shoots Piper. Alone, Prue must get her sister to the hospital. In fury, Prue uses her powers to clear a path but her actions are seen as domestic terrorism and a threat to the public. Snipers are dispatched to kill her before she can do anything else. But Griffith cannot save Piper who dies right before her sister.

hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? It is clear from Piper’s death scene that Doherty and Combs have such a deep bond as actresses and costars. Acting can only take it so far and you can’t help but wonder just how real some of these tears are. Too late, Leo returns but he is powerless. The Halliwells are to be killed and trapped in the medical bay, Prue stands alone. She uses her powers and martial arts to kick soldier ass but the damage is done. They are demons, things to be destroyed. Alone, shattered and about to be killed by a sniper’s bullet to the head, time reverses just in time.

But like all demons they cannot be trusted. Shax’s attack succeeds this time. With no Phoebe to read the spell, Griffiths is killed and Prue and Piper lie broken in the wreckage. Piper has blood coming from her nose indicating internal bleeding while Prue lies motionless beside her sister. Fade to black.

This is Charmed at its best but given the background circumstances, its excellence shines through. The Phoebe going to Hell and being separated from her sisters may well have been to keep the costars apart but it only highlights how good Doherty and Combs were together. It is a pity the producers didn’t see that at the time or history would have been very different. The role was almost recast at one point with Jennifer Love Hewitt and Tiffani Thiessen. But they went with a fourth sister to restore the Power of Three.

It is also one of those episodes where the reset button works and is an integral part of the plot. But this reset comes at a great cost. The only subdued performance here is Milano’s as Combs and Doherty are on a tour de force. Indeed, Doherty also directed the episode so she gave it her all. And this is why looking at it back when I first watched it, I didn’t care about Phoebe being trapped in Hell. I cared about Prue and Piper. Piper is shot in the stomach and dies. Prue keeps her sister warm even after death but refuses to let members of a SWAT team disturb her grief. Even Leo rips your heart out when he discovers the love of his life, Piper is dead.

When the truth finally came out about the circumstances of Doherty’s departure, you couldn’t help but feel cheated. Rose was great as Paige but the fact Prue never came back to the show even though every other dead relative did, was a hole that could never be filled and left a sour taste in many fans’ mouths.

Outside of that, what a great exit for a great character who as time showed, was a true heroine both on and off the screen.