20 Years Since 'Charmed' Ended, Let's Look Back At The Series 20 Most Memorable Episodes

May 22 marks the 20th anniversary of the airing of the final episode of Charmed. The series, following the adventures of three sisters who discover they are the powerful witches of a prophecy, ran for eight successful seasons between 1998 and 2006, becoming a beloved cult classic. A reboot ran for four seasons from 2018 to 2022, but never quite matched the cult status of the original.

To celebrate the 20 year milestone since the show's conclusion, let's look back at some of the most memorable episodes of Charmed.

1. 'Something Wicca This Way Comes', 1x01

The Halliwell Sisters, Prue, Piper, and Phoebe, reunite in their childhood home shortly after the death of their Grandmother. Piper tries to repair an ongoing rift between Prue and Phoebe, a task further complicated when Phoebe stumbles upon the Book of Shadows, a magical family heirloom that unlocks their powers as the Charmed Ones, powerful witches destined to defend the world from demons and Warlocks. Worse, the sisters may have already unknowingly welcomed a Warlock into their inner circle.

At the time of it's airing, 'Something Wicca This Way Comes' broke records for the highest rating series premiere on the then-young WB network. A tie-in novel adapting the episode was later released.

2. 'Dead Man Dating', 1x04

The Charmed Ones befriend the ghost of the recently murdered Mark Chao, and must solve his murder and recover his body for burial before Yama, a dark spirit of Chinese folklore, harvests his soul. Over the course of the episode, Mark and Piper develop feelings for each other, leading to a bittersweet ending.

Guest starring a young John Cho as mark, 'Dead Man Dating' was an early favourite. It showed the series leads had the chops for emotional, dramatic scenes.

3. 'From Fear To Eternity', 1x13

Barbas, the demon of fear, emerges to kill witches via their greatest fears. The Halliwells must work together to face their fears, and the personal hang ups attached to said fears, before Barbas destroys them all.

The episode marked the first appearance of Barbas, an iconic recurring villain throughout Charmed's run.

4. 'Deja Vu All Over Again', 1x22

Over the course of the first season of Charmed, Prue Halliwell reconnects and eventually rekindles a relationship with her high school boyfriend, Andy Trudeau, now a local Police Detective. In the season one finale, Andy's superior Inspector Rodriguez, in reality a demon/warlock, traps the Halliwell sisters in a Time Loop via a deal with the demon Tempus, intending to repeat the loop until he kills all three Charmed Ones.

Prior to the beginning of the loop, Phoebe experiences a premonition of Andy's death, which Prue spends the finale working to prevent, begging him to stay away from Halliwell Manor. Unfortunately, Andy cannot resist the urge to try and protect Prue, with his death being a fated event that allows the sisters to keep the loop from resetting. Prue, and viewers, never entirely got over Andy's loss.

5. 'Morality Bites', 2x02

After Phoebe experiences a distant premonition of herself being burned at the stake, the Charmed Ones travel ten years into the future to find out why. They discover Prue as a ruthless business woman, Piper divorced from but sharing a young daughter with Leo, and Phoebe destined for execution at the hands of D.A Nathaniel Pratt, using modern day Witch Trials as a political platform.

Returning to the present, the sisters realise that Pratt is the local dog walker on whom Prue and Piper had been tempted to use their powers to stop him from letting his dog do it's business on their lawn. The whole adventure was a chilling reminder on why they should not use magic for personal gain.

6. 'All Halliwell's Eve' 3x04

On Halloween, aka All Hallow's Eve, the sisters are summoned back in time to the 1600s to help protect Charlotte, a young pregnant witch, from an evil witch who wishes to kidnap Charlotte's baby and raise it to be evil. Phoebe's current love interest Cole, secretly the demon Belthazor, is also after the baby. While in the past, the trio learn magical techniques that had been forgotten with time.

In a twist ending, Charlotte's baby, delivered by Prue and Piper, is revealed to be Melinda Warren, ancestor to the Charmed Ones.

7.'Just Harried', 3x15

The day of Piper and Leo's wedding arrives, and Halliwell Manor is abuzz with activity. Unfortunately, Prue, over-stressed from helping with the preparations, nearly derails the happy event when her Astral Self subconsciously develops a wild alternate personality and nearly commits a murder.

After three seasons of ups and downs, fans were excited to see Piper and Leo's special day finally happen.

8. 'Death Takes A Halliwell', 3x16

After failing to save an innocent police woman from a demon attack, Prue develops a hopeless rivalry with the Angel of Death who arrives to collect the woman's soul. Prue has to accept that Death is not an evil to be vanquished, it simply is, and some fates cannot be fought.

‘Death Takes A Halliwell’ has grown in popularity since its initial airing. The slightly ambiguous nature of Prue’s final conversation with Death feels especially poignant considering Prue does in fact die at the end of the season.

9. ‘All Hell Breaks Loose’, 3x22

While trying to protect a skeptical Doctor from Shax, an assassin sent by the Source of All Evil, the Halliwell sisters' powers are exposed to the public. The exposure sets of a horrifying chain of events that leads to Piper's death. Phoebe strikes a dark deal with Tempus to rewind time and save Piper. However, this deal leaves Phoebe trapped in the underworld, and her absence from the initial sequence of events leads to a tragedy of equal measure.

Of course, 'All Hell Breaks Loose' is mostly remembered for marking the final appearance of the late Shannen Doherty as Prue Halliwell. However, it has also been praised for powerhouse performances, mostly from Doherty and Holly-Marie Combs as Piper.

10.'Charmed Again', pts 1&2, 4x01 and 4x02

While still grieving the death of Prue, Piper and Phoebe are shocked to learn that they have a younger half-sister, Paige Matthews, the secret daughter of their Mother, Patty, and Patty's Whitelighter, Sam. Paige was given up for adoption for her own protection. With Paige, the sisters can potentially reforge the Power of Three.. if they can keep The Source of All Evil from turning her first.

If the transition from Prue to Paige had gone badly, it may have been the end for Charmed. Instead, 'Charmed Again' breathed new life into the show.

11. 'Hell Hath No Fury', 4x03

Piper, deeply frustrated with Paige's unintentionally breaking various magical rules, succumbs to the influence of demonic vigilantes the Furies, transforming into one herself. As a Fury, Piper targets her sisters, supposedly the source of her anger. Instead, with Paige's help, Piper ultimately realises that she is actually angry at Prue for leaving her.

The incident allows Piper to begin truly accepting Paige into her life. 'Hell Hath No Fury' is often remembered for Holly-Marie Combs's heartbreaking acting work.

12. 'Charmed and Dangerous', 4x13

Desperate to finally take out the Charmed Ones, The Source unleashes a powerful and dangerous magical force, The Hollow. With Phoebe having written a spell that may finally vanquish The Source, the sisters mount their own last stand.

The episode is known for one of the biggest victories the Charmed Ones achieve, finally defeating The Source. Unfortunately, the victory is hampered by one of the series' greatest plot twists, when Cole, unbeknownst to the sisters, becomes the new Source of All Evil.

13. 'Centennial Charmed', 5x12

Cole, in a final twisted attempt to win Phoebe back, alters reality so that Piper and Phoebe never met Paige, thus erasing the Power of Three. It is left to Paige, the only one who remembers the true timeline, to save her sisters and re-set reality.

As well as the final regular appearance of the late Julian McMahon as Cole, 'Centennial Charmed' was the series' 100th episode overall, hence it's title.

14. 'The Day The Magic Died', 5x15

With a heavily pregnant Piper on bedrest and due at any moment, Phoebe, Paige, and Leo are left to deal with a slew of well-intentioned but highly impractical baby gifts from the magical world, and the arrival of Piper and Phoebe's Father, Victor, with an unexpected new wife in tow. Things get even more complicated when the world's magic is temporarily de-activated, a sign that Piper and Leo's baby is a Twice-Blessed child of prophecy.

As Piper goes into labour, and evil forces converge hoping to steal the Twice-Blessed Child, Phoebe and Paige must somehow protect her without magic.

15. 'Chris-Crossed', 6x10

Chris's former fiance, Bianca, arrives and kidnaps him back to the future, to face the evil force he had travelled back in time to prevent. The evil is revealed to be an adult Wyatt, turned by some as yet unknown event in the past. In an even bigger twist, 'Chris Perry' is actually Chris Perry Halliwell, Wyatt's yet-to-be-born brother and Piper and Leo's second child.

Fans knew that Chris had supposedly come to stop the turning of a future evil. But the fact that that evil was Wyatt, still a sweet baby in the present day, came as a shock.

16. 'The Courtship of Wyatt's Father', 6x16

Chris is running out of time to reunite his parents and ensure his conception before he is erased from existence. His woes are made even worse when both Piper and Leo go missing, kidnapped to a ghostly plane by a Darklighter. However, Piper and Leo's forced proximity may be exactly what is needed for the former couple to save their son.

The episode's final scene, in which Phoebe and Paige know Piper is pregnant before she does and have to explain the truth, is one of the funniest scenes of the season.

17. 'It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World pt2', 6x23

After returning from the Evil alternate universe, the Charmed Ones fall under a spell that makes them forget Gideon's evil plans for Wyatt. Soon after, Piper goes into labour, so it is up to Leo and Chris to protect Wyatt and save the future.

While there are still some good episodes to come, Season Six is widely considered the last truly great season of Charmed. This episode's bittersweet ending, juxtaposing Future Chris's death with the present Chris's birth, into a better world his original self never got to see, is a large part of the reason why.

18. 'Witchness Protection', 7x10

The Charmed Ones find themselves in the unwanted position of needing to protect a demonic Seer who holds information they need on certain demons, and the mysterious Avatars. Due to their shared power of premonition, Phoebe forms an unexpected friendship with the Seer, Kyra, who shows Phoebe a vision of her future daughter. Enamoured with the vision, Phoebe agrees to help fulfill Kyra's dream of becoming human.

Charisma Carpenter, then best known for playing Cordelia Chase in Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel, played Kyra, with her guest run one of the highlights of season seven. Many fans were disappointed when the character was killed before Phoebe could fulfill her promise, possibly contributing to the decision to revive Kyra as a supporting character in Zenescope Entertainment's Charmed comics.

19. 'The Seven Year Witch', 7x16

After the incident with the Avatars, the Elders erase Leo's memory as part of a test to decide his true destiny: whether he belongs with Piper, or the Elders. While nervously awaiting the outcome of Leo's test, Piper is attacked by demons and left comatose. Trapped in limbo, she is surprised to find the lingering spirit of Cole, who unexpectedly declares his intent to save Piper and Leo's relationship and restore Phoebe's faith in love.

Despite one Elder's attempt to interfere with Leo's test, there was no breaking the love of the series' main couple. Leo's choice to fall from grace for Piper will always be a special moment for longtime fans.

20. 'Forever Charmed', 8x22

After the battle with Billie and Christy leaves Piper as the last surviving Charmed One, Leo is returned, and the reunited couple embark on a trip through time in a last desperate attempt to save Paige and Phoebe. Meanwhile, Billie is forced to face the fact that she may have been manipulated, and Christy was turned.

The final season of Charmed was, unfortunately, not the show's strongest. Thankfully, with a final flashforward montage that gives each character their much deserved happy ending, the series sticks the landing in 'Forever Charmed', cementing it's place among the great cult classics.