Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Charmed - Season 6

 

The sixth season of Charmed is really a long serial arc that continues the storyline set up at the end of season five, with the arrival of Chris (Drew Fuller) as Paige, Phoebe, and Piper's new white lighter, and Leo being promoted to Elder. The story is revealed in parts throughout the season, with a major reveal coming at about the halfway point of the season. There is still a "monster-of-the-week" procedural aspect of the show, but nearly every episode is used to advance the larger story. There are also some smaller serial story arcs during the season, one that involves Phoebe and her relationship with Jason (Eric Dane) and one involving Paige and a pair of feuding magical families that she gets in the middle of. Toward the end of the season, Holly Marie Combs' role is reduced to accommodate her real-life pregnancy. 

As has been the case for the blu-ray releases of seasons 1-5, this is a region-free import without any extras. There are captions in German and English, but there are no behind-the-scenes material, commentary tracks, or the like. 

Overall, the season is very good. The story is not given away too quickly and comes to a conclusion that could continue into season seven or be left resolved. The show again got a good slate of guest stars including Melissa George, Ivana Milicevic, Jenny McCarthy, Balthazar Getty, Kathryn Joosten, Keith Szarabajka, Marisol Nichols, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, and Billy Drago. The musical guests this season included Smash Mouth and Ziggy Marley. Even though the season is mostly good, it was not without its faults. Dorian Gregory was again used pretty sparingly throughout the season (although he definitely had more to do than he has in the past couple of seasons) and some of the content does not hold up as well almost twenty years later. The special effects could still be very cheesy and fake looking (which is actually accentuated in HD), and the clip show, showing events from throughout the series did not include Shannen Doherty. On the other hand, they were still putting McGowan and Milano in very skimpy outfits every so often. Ultimately, if you liked the prior seasons you will probably like this season, but if the show has never done anything for you, this season will probably not change your mind about it.