Brian Krause Movies

Three of the most gorgeous TV witches since the days of Elizabeth Montgomery were the heroines of the hour-long WB fantasy series Charmed, which first materialized on October 7, 1998. Reunited in their ancestral San Francisco mansion, the Halliwell sisters -- Prudence (aka Prue, played by Shannen Doherty), Piper (Holly Marie Combs), and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano), and came upon a dusty tome titled the "Book of Shadows," which by and by revealed a secret that had long been withheld from them: the sisters were witches known as the "Charmed Ones," blessed with extraordinary powers which they were expected to use in the never-ending fight of good against evil. Prue, the oldest, had the gift of telekinesis, enabling her to move objects at will; middle child Piper was able to stop time; and Phoebe, the baby of the family, was able to see the future. The ritual enabling them to combine their powers involved the linking of hands and chanting in unison, "The power of three will set us free." Of course, now that the girls knew they were witches, they were immediately targeted for destruction by all manner of warlocks, sorceresses, and malevolent spirits, many of these hoping to steal the Halliwells' powers for themselves. Also, in their efforts to lead "normal" lives and not give away their secrets, the ladies encountered a great deal of difficulty in the romance department -- not to mention the holding and maintaining of regular employment.

During season one, Prue worked for the Buckland Auction House, whose owner turned out to be a warlock; she also lost her policeman boyfriend, Andy Trudeau (T.W. King), who was killed in an effort to save the Halliwells from a demon. Phoebe's private life was not quite so tempestuous, though she had a bad habit of losing jobs due to the bad things happening around her. The impressionable Piper, who managed to find work as a caterer and later as the owner of the "P3 Club" nightspot, thought she had found true love in the form of hunky handyman Leo Wyatt (Brian Krause), until learning that Leo was a "Whitelighter," a guardian angel fated to protect all good witches from harm -- and as such, was off limits. In later seasons, however, Leo was demoted to "mortality" and was able to marry Piper, with whom he had a "bewitched" son named Wyatt. By the time Leo's powers were back to full steam in season five, he'd been appointed an "Elder" Whitelighter; his former job of protecting the sisters was taken over by another Whitelighter named Chris Perry (Drew Fuller), who turned out to have a hidden agenda.

Season three saw quite a few upheavals in the lives of the sisters, with Phoebe falling for Assistant DA Cole Turner (Julian McMahon) -- who turned out to be the demon Belthazor, and whose mission was to kill the sisters. Cole managed to purge himself of evil, only to revert to wickedness -- a cycle that continued to repeat itself until, in season four, the "bad" Cole married and impregnated Phoebe with his evil seed. Eventually the baby was stolen by a demon called The Seer (Debbi Morgan), and poor, mixed-up Cole wound up trapped in another dimension before being "vanquished" permanently. (At least Phoebe landed a permanent job as a newspaper advice columnist once the dust had settled!) As for Prue, season three of Charmed turned out to be her last when she was killed during a "demon assault." Her place in the Halliwell household was taken in season four by the girls' half sister, Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan), who like the late Prue possessed telekinetic powers. Paige would eventually find "civilian" employment as a social worker, enabling her to emulate the other girls by applying her powers for the forces of good on a full-time basis.

There were scores of additional plot complications and story arcs occurring in and out of the "real world" and back and forth in time (at one point, for example, the heroines were converted into Greek goddesses). "Charmed" though the Halliwell girls may have been, it didn't mean that they exactly led charmed lives. Perhaps it was the unstable nature of the world in which our heroines dwelled that made Charmed one of the WB's most successful offerings; viewers literally never knew what to expect from one week to the next! ~ All Movie Guide

Series regular Rose McGowan plays a dual role in this episode. Trying out her conjuring skills, Paige (McGowan) brings to life a medieval prince (Charlie Weber) -- who immediately declares his love for her. It turns out that the prince is in the thrall of an evil enchantress...whom Paige had been in a previous life. Naturally, Rose McGowan also appears as the enchantress, and her performance should lay to rest any doubts that she was worthy of replacing former Charmed star Shannen Doherty. ~ All Movie Guide

After envisioning the death of her new boyfriend, Miles (Ken Marino), Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) ends up repeatedly rescuing the poor fellow from certain doom. In so doing, Phoebe upsets the time-space continuum, unleashing the futuristic warlock Bacarra (Butch Klein) -- who in turn is under the control of the demonic "future" Cole (Julian McMahon). The "present" Cole balks when ordered by Bacarra to take Miles' life, even though his refusal will result in the deaths of Phoebe and Paige (Holly Marie Combs). Ultimately, the only "Charmed One" left standing is Piper (Holly Marie Combs), and it is she who must put time back in joint and save her sisters (not to mention the future world). ~ All Movie Guide

In the concluding half of Charmed's fifth-season opener, Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) has elected to remain in the form of a mermaid -- partly because she wishes to escape her marriage to ex-demon Cole (Julian McMahon), partly because, well, she likes being a mermaid. Although she has vanquished the infamous Sea Hag, Phoebe is still in danger, courtesy of the Hag's demon ally Necron (Judson Scott). As Paige (Rose McGowan) and Leo (Brian Krause) encounter enormous obstacles in their efforts to persuade Phoebe to return to her human self, Piper (Holly Marie Combs) attempts to overcome her crippling panic attacks by casting a "fearless" spell -- which, alas, backfires horribly. ~ All Movie Guide

Piper and Leo's baby has been born, and has been brought back to the manor. Although Piper (Holly Marie Combs) is the mother, the maternal bug has bitten her sisters, Phoebe (Holly Marie Combs), who talks about nothing other than the baby, and Paige (Rose McGowan), who has become fiercely overprotective. It is in fact Paige who pursues two demons bent upon stealing the baby's powers to an unholy marketplace -- where she becomes a new "magic source" which all the demons hope to bleed dry. Elsewhere, Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) is both frightened and terrified by her new boss, Jason Dean (Eric Dane); and while the Charmed Ones bicker over a choice of names for the baby, the infant himself proves to be a constant source of amazement. ~ All Movie Guide

Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) must do some serious thinking when "reformed" demon Cole (Julian McMahon) proposes marriage. The same goes for Cole himself, who while trying to help Phoebe and Paige (Rose McGowan) track down a malevolent mystical murderer is forced to face down the demon still lurking within him -- once and for all. Observing the drama from the sidelines are Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Leo (Brian Krause), uncertain whether or not to take a hand in matters. ~ All Movie Guide

Valentine's Day is anything but festive for Piper (Holly Marie Combs), who worries that Leo (Brian Krause) will be harshly punished for aiding the Avatars in their misbegotten efforts to utopian-ize the world. Elsewhere, Paige (Rose McGowan) struggles to overcome the loss of Brody by plunging into her latest project: finding new faculty members for the magic school. English teacher Drake Robin (Billy Zane, in his first series appearance) seems eminently qualified for an academic post. However, Drake has left one teeny-tiny item off his resumé: he used to be a demon, and he has recently entered into an unholy pact! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this appropriately titled 100th episode of Charmed, the semi-demonic Cole (Julian McMahon) realizes that he will never be able to win back the love of Phoebe (Holly Marie Combs) so long as he is opposed by her half sister, Paige (Rose McGowan). To remedy this situation, Cole links up with the Avatars to make a journey into the past, where he can establish an alternate reality in which Paige never makes the acquaintance of Phoebe and Piper (Holly Marie Combs), and thus never becomes a "Charmed One." The plot thickens when the demons of the past rear their ugly heads, and when Paige suddenly finds herself able to penetrate Cole's alternate reality thanks to a bad cold! ~ All Movie Guide

While mourning the death of their sister Prue, Charmed Ones Piper and Phoebe Halliwell (Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano) are surprised by a visit from their mother, Patty (Finola Hughes) -- and even more surprising by the news Patty has brought them. It seems the girls have a half sister whom they have never met: Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan), the daughter of Patty and her Whitelighter (guardian angel) Sam. Now, explains, Patty, the "Power of Three" remains intact, with Paige joining the Halliwell household for more benevolent witchery. This opening episode of Charmed's fourth season was originally telecast as a single two-hour program; it has since been divided into a pair of one-hour shows for syndication. ~ All Movie Guide

In the course of a murder investigation at the magic school, Paige (Rose McGowan) and Agent Brody (Kerr Smith) find themselves plunked into the middle of a detective novel that was started 20 years earlier, but never completed. In order to escape their literary prison, Paige and Brody must figure out how the novel was supposed to end -- and they must also locate the book's long-missing author, Eddie Mullen (Bug Hall). As indicated by its title, this episode uses the Charmed format as a framework for an affectionate homage to the shadow-laden film noir genre of the 1940s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Cleaners, whose job it is to erase all evidence of mortal contact with witches, try to cover up videotaped proof of Phoebe's (Alyssa Milano) and Paige's (Rose McGowan) witchcraft by framing Inspector Daryl Morris (Dorian Gregory) for murder. When the Charmed Ones try to help Daryl, they end up on trial for their lives themselves. Despite the friction between them, Leo (Brian Krause) and Chris (Drew Fuller) join forces to save Daryl and the girls. But there's a fly in the ointment -- namely, the Charmed Ones' perennial nemesis Barbas the Fear Demon (Billy Drago). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide