When the first rumors of a Charmed reboot came out a few years ago I started a mental list of what it has to have. Now that it’s officially happening here’s what I think a ’70s-era Charmed show can still pull off.
The mythology of Charmed runs deep. So deep, in fact, that they could have set this during the founding of America and we’d still be able to get a Charmed feeling thanks to the original show’s flashbacks. (But I’m happy it’s not set way back then.)
Given the show’s history, I’m not worried about it taking place in the ’70s; I’m actually excited about it. It’s an original take on how we can learn more about the Halliwell family before the Power of Three was old enough to realize they were the most powerful witches in the world, and I’m excited to see what they bring to it.
With that being said, it’s hard to think of anything Charmed related happening without its important mythology and history, so there are just a few things this reboot absolutely has to have.
Whitelighters
Whitelighters are the angels in the Charmed universe, and without them we wouldn’t have Leo or Paige and we wouldn’t have the almost never-ending source of wisdom and guidance we’re so used to seeing.
It scares me to think about this happening without the Halliwell family at all, but if that is the (horrible) route they choose to go, then they’re definitely going to need a Whitelighter to guide the characters and tell them what’s up. Without the Book of Shadows, a Whitelighter is going to be the only way the new witches will have any hope of figuring out what is going on.
And I will never get sick of seeing people orb everywhere — that’s one of the best parts of the original show, tbh.
Darklighters/Demons
On the opposite end of angels there are always demons, so it’d be a missed opportunity to not include them in this reboot. Darklighters are the only thing that could kill a Whitelighter, so it makes sense to bring them into the picture as well so we could get some d-d-d-drama.
The only hesitance I have about this new reboot bringing Darklighters and demons into the mix is that today’s audience seem enthralled with demons and fighting, and I worry there’s not going to be as much character growth in the newer episodes as there was with the original series.
I don’t want a Charmed reboot to be all about the demon fighting and not enough about the sisters and their relationship, but hopefully the fact that it’s helmed by women will help prevent that from happening.
Pre-bound Charmed ones
As any well-informed Charmed fan will tell you, the main girls (Prue, Piper, and Phoebe) had their powers bound/stripped when they were children so they could grow up without the threats of demons and death. If the show is about the Halliwell family, I’m hoping it begins at least a good six months or so before their powers get taken away from them.
There are so many questions I have about the pre-bound Charmed ones: Did they have powers in the womb like Wyatt, or was that just because Wyatt was the product of a Charmed one and a Whitelighter? Did the girls having powers bring so much evil that Grandma had no choice but to take them away? What was life like for Penny and Patty with the girls as youngsters? Sure, we saw glimpses of that briefly in the main series, but there’s still so much more to know!
I’m hoping that if the show does indeed take place around the Halliwell family in the ’70s, we’ll get to see what led up to Grandma Penny binding their powers. Hopefully it might be an even bigger surprise and twist than we all thought.
Kick-ass Penny
Speaking of Penny Halliwell, the grandmother to the Charmed Ones and mother of Patty Halliwell, she is one bad-ass bitch. We know this because of the several times she’s been summoned by the sisters for help (both supernatural and remedial).
There’s no way the show could revolve around the Halliwell family in the ’70s and not include one of the most bad-ass witches in the family line. Witnessing Penny kick some ass is something we all need to see, and I’m sure it would be one of the best parts of the whole series.
I know the show is still in its beginning stages and there are absolutely no cast members involved yet, but I would die to see Jennifer Rhodes reprise her role as Penny just to see that unfiltered sass come back to my screen.
Cameos galore!
Don’t get me started on how ticked I am that this is a prequel happening in the ’70s, if it even is that. When I think Charmed, I think Phoebe, Piper, Prue, Paige, Leo, etc. So naturally, to make up for this hideous decision in setting, the show has to make up for it by coming up with some excuse to bring back the original girls.
Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs and Rose McGowan have all said they’d be totally down to return for a Charmed reunion, so it hurts that whoever decided to put this reboot in the ’70s basically took that interest and threw it out the window. I’m hoping they work in a way to get the girls to show up in this series, and not just once.
Having the main girls appear just once in this reboot would basically be blasphemy, so hopefully the main characters figure out a way to find out about the existence of the Charmed Ones and use some sort of spell to contact them occasionally for help.
Oh, and it wouldn’t hurt to see Leo, Chris, Wyatt or all the other characters every one in a while, too.
Bonus: Reference the original theme song
This is way less likely than anything else, but I’m hoping that when the show starts up they utilize the show’s original theme song, How Soon Is Now by The Smiths.
It’s a damn shame that the entire series is on Netflix but with some rip-off theme song. You can’t have Charmed without The Smiths! Well, you can as evidenced by Netflix, but you really, really shouldn’t.
The music license to use the song expired, but please, will someone contact The Smiths and politely ask them to let us hear it with Charmed again? Here’s the original theme for those of you who miss it like I do.
