The Good

What straight, red blooded American male wouldn't love the Halliwell sisters? Heck, even if you weren't straight you might like them.

The Bad

This is the kind of show that almost screams to have Special Features and there are none.

The Halliwell Sisters are back in Charmed: The Complete Seventh Season. There is a lot of change as there now two young children in the mix, but Piper, Phoebe and Paige have other things on their minds, mainly the evil Zankou. He is hellbent (literally) on absorbing all of their powers, and in addition to this Homeland security agent Keyes is starting to figure out who these girls are. Suddenly, this show becomes a game of cat and mouse where the girls have got to rid themselves of Zankou, yet they can't do it in a way that is going to call attention to themselves (lest Keyes find exactly what he's looking for). On top of this, there's the little matter of having to get rid of their powers or they are in danger of dying before the fight can begin.

This show's biggest asset is it's cast. Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, Holly Marie Combs, and Oded Fehr really add up to something interesting here. There is a naturally chemistry that the girls have because they've been working together for so long, but Fehr seems to have his evilness in check so that it's not overt but it's always on tap whenever he needs it. With sassy episode titles like "The Bare Witch Project," "Someone to Witch Over Me" and "The Seven Year Witch" I think it's apparent that after all those years on the air, the show itself never lost it's charm. Charmed: The Complete Seventh Season continues this show's hip and interesting take on the supernatural.

Features

No Extras came with this release.

Video

1.33:1 - Full Screen. This show looked good across the board in this 6 disc set. There isn't anything too special about how these shows are composed, but I was impressed with (considering all the episodes) that the picture held up so well. We're also talking about shows that are from 2004 so it isn't like Paramount has given them a great deal of time to disintegrate in the vault. I also think that the effects employed in Charmed: The Complete Seventh Season also looked good, without unduly calling attention to the fact that they were effects.

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround - English and French. With 933 minutes of content to wade through, I think fans will be happy to find that everything is strongly composed in the audio department. Like the aforementioned "look" of this movie, nothing about the audio blew me away, but I think Paramount has done a very good job of keeping these assets in their most pristine condition. This show moves at a fairly brisk pace with the actresses saying things in quick quips for most of the show. I never had to rewind except when I wanted to laugh at someone's comment or foible.

Package

The three Halliwell sisters are all present and accounted for on this almost mystical green, purple and dark red cover. The back of this slipcase offers up more pictures from the show, a description of what Charmed: The Complete Seventh Season is about, and some technical specs. The 6 discs are neatly stored in slim cases that fit snugly into this box set. On the cases is more artwork from the show, as well as episode listings and descriptions.

Final Word

What makes Charmed such a fun show is that it is obviously focused quite heavily on magic, witches and spirits, yet it never feels like it gets lost in that. Also, the production values of the show don't express that in a way that it gets mixed up in the narrative. I am not saying that everything about this show is perfect, but it doesn't fall pray to the usually histrionics and mythology that so many genre shows like this seem to. In fact, what has always surprised me about this show is just how normal these girls seem. Their ability to cast spells and exist in two parallel worlds is all a part of what accentuates the duality of their characters.

Charmed: The Complete Seventh Season is filled with tension, action, and quick dialogue so that as audience members we never have to dwell on a specific aspect of it for too long. This isn't to say that this show is completely surface level, far from it. The feeling I have always gotten is that the creators of Charmed never took themselves (or their creation) that seriously, and that's what has made it so much fun for the fans.

Charmed was released .