Piper Halliwell & The Search for Stability 

I always thought Piper was the most realistic character and her development was the most natural. And her longing for stability even manifests in the kind of powers she has, she literally freezes time and as she becomes more adaptable and hr anxiety is replaced with anger she starts blowing things up

I love this analysis! I found it such a shame that Piper had to sacrifice the softer elements of her personality and "harden" to take on Prue's role, but it was also incredibly realistic. I can't wait to see your take on Paige.

She was my favorite of the sisters. I also just love Hollie Marie Combs. She gave so much emotional depth to Piper. She’s such a good actress! I enjoyed your analysis very much. Thank you for breaking it down season by season.

Piper really was the heart of the family , holly marie combs was charmed ! Her acting was the best and most related to

I miss Charmed for real. What I can say is, after Prue died Piper really did a great job becoming a new big sister

I cried when she said, "I've always had a big sister." :-(

Damn remembering how she had such a crippling fear of being like her mother and dying before her kids could grow up then how she handled it when she found out at least in one timeline that she did in fact die young, that's some growth there.

You hit the nail on the head. She's always seemed the most dependent on her powers. She doesn't want to be normal, she wants stability.

Piper's mother Patti, also had a romance with her whitelighter and for piper, it was like life repeating itself. For her. She is a mystery for me because if Shannen Doherty had not left the show, who truly would Piper Halliwell would have grown into on her own without having to become the older sister. We Would never know who piper was truly meant to be with out having to step into prues shoes!

As a fellow middle child, I loved her characterization. She is a middle child. It is how we are. Never getting anywhere near enough attention. Forced to sublimate our wants and needs because we have to play the neutral party. Always dragged down as a result. And when we try to rebel and get some attention and/or change the dynamic, we are usually painted as the bad guys, the negative ones, the ones that don't care. No one ever cared what we feel or what we want. And if it weren't for Prue's death forcing her into the eldest role, I feel that she would have stayed that way through out the entire show. The irony is that we care so much, that we can't imagine life without the people that over shadow us. It is a type of cognitive dissonance. I related so much to her. Even as a guy, the show was a guilty pleasure and is great.

Piper was always the most destined to be like her mother. They looked the most alike, both had the freezing power, and both fell in love with a whitelighter.

Piper was always my favorite sister in this series

Agreed. As much as Piper talked about normalcy, it was Stability she was searching for the most.

this show is my absolute comfort show - watching it feels like spending time with my family

Great video. It was incredibly powerful when Patty told Piper to have faith her destiny will be different than hers. Prue and Piper were the most concerned about that because of their mother and grandmother’s death. The stability/foundation they had was taken away. When Prue died, it heightened Piper’s fear that their family was destined for doom and sorrow in season 4.

She was the best actress of the entire series and Piper is the glue that holds this show together. Long after the quality has dwindled to the doldrums, her acting is the only reason left to keep watching.

Season 4 piper made me value my siblings. Before the show my biggest fear was cockroaches but now its losing a love one.

She was always my favorite of the Charmed Ones. Also, I’m a sucker for romance and I was rooting for her and Leo’s love story since Day 1.

Great analysis of all of them! You break down what the writers never could barely portray well for eight seasons.

Parenthood triggered a lot of shift for hte character, IMO. She became more adaptable when she had a child/children to protect. We see how fierce that is early, when she blasts those gates in the ep with the kid who is a firestarter.

Watching this video made me realize how much I find the plotlines of this show to be a mess. I love it, and there are obviously pros and cons to every show, but yeah. Messy. It also made me realize I will cry any time I see Piper crying.

Piper was always my favourite. Phoebe was always my least favourite. I love how strong and snarky Piper becomes as the series goes on

Im so glad someone is touching on charmed through the video essay frame because honestly theres much to discuss in that show and you are making a great job on deep diving into the characters without losing focus or being biased so congrats definitely am subscribed and am looking forward to a possible paige vid (shes one of my all time favorite characters and i think shes so underdiscussed(?) If that makes sense)

Piper was the real compass of the series and always there for her family and her friends. she became the protector of the everyone and she had to harden in order not to collapse under the weight and the dangers that threatened her family. however she was always soft and loving on the inside and something less than a blissfull happy ending could not come for her. it is not a surprise that we see Wyatt and Cris continue the legacy as piper eventually became the one that could not abandon their magic while the Paige and Phoebe really struggled in the final seasons. they were looking for meaning outside their destiny while piper understood that their magic was the only stability in their identity and passed it on to her kids.

Once that Windigo got into her in season 1 it stuck with her through the series 😂 She’s still my favorite character. I’m so attracted to her.

Don't mind me, I'm just watching all your Charmed videos back to back, because they give me so much joy!

Yeah Piper is the most relatable one. Her yearning for a normal life but puts that aside because of a great destiny. Many can relate to traits like that.

I understand Piper's desire for a stable lifestyle.

definitely want to see your take on Paige character development I watched pure phoebe and piper love the videos I would also love to see you do Buffy

Piper was Always my favorite

please please PLEASE make more charmed content, i'd love to see one on cole and phoebe's relationship 🥺

Piper was my favorite from the very beginning. She had the best come backs

Charmed is such an underrated show! Personal favorite of mine!

Just received the Charmed box set today in the post. Aside from catching a few episodes on TV and RU-vid before they were taking down, I've never really had the chance to fully explore Charmed. Love these videos! I constantly rewatch them just because they're so well discussed and put together. Can't wait for the Paige video.

Piper is my favorite sister! 👏👏👏

I love this show. However, I remember all the women always being stressed out and frantically trying to keep their jobs and business going. Also, they are constantly getting involved with men at work after clearly being sexually harassed. It really reflected this generation.

I LOVE Piper. Smart, gorgeous, and level-headed.

Would love a breakdown analysis for Paige! She was always my favourite sister

What a great analysis, watched every second.

Piper is my favorite character on charmed

I love piper 💜 she's really is the strongest of all the other's, 😊

OMG thank you for doing Charmed analysis! Like this is my ALL TIME FAVORITE show ever ever ever ever to infinity and back. You nailed all of the things about the sisters! Truly great job. Thank you deeply for the content. I love to know someone elses toughts on this beautiful show that I grew up with and fell inlove with. Cant wait for the Paige episode!

she was always my absolute favvvv growing up she felt the most real to me

I was so happy to see this video in my feed! Piper is one of my favorite characters not only in the Charmed universe but in all of fiction. Perhaps a Leo video next? 😊

A great psychological analysis. I disagree with Piper's powers not progressing in the first season as she gained control about the unfreezing process and she was able to freeze events in a bigger area around her and even in outdoor spaces. Still at the end of the first season, she quit a steady and successful position to achieve her dream. I agree with everything else. And it is true that she got much stronger psychologically after Prue's death. And she gained the most offensive power of the charmed ones and a great control over it while she was reluctant to use it at first.

Man I cried watching this... Piper was always my fave. I am the youngest of three sisters so watching Piper's grief losing her big sister hit home. Love this show, love this analysis of such beloved characters. Thank you!

Yes her power progresses.... or in a better term learns to control her power.

Piper is my favourite character of the show! When she cries, I cry too!!! Greetings from Guatemala

You know it is intresting to listen how tgeir power connected to their personalities as people usually explain how their powers connected to each other ,developed based on each other but not the aspect i have mentioned

I miss this series

Ohhhh this is a fantastic analysis!

No but you have no idea how excited I am to have found this. I am currently rewatching charmed, I do it every year I just realised, and I love review/analysis videos sooo this is, this is great.

i live for your charmed analysis videos!!

This is great!! The only thing I think was missing was Piper’s regression around the Evil Queen Phoebe arc, the fear of losing another sister and then dealing with Pheobes pregnancy with the Source Baby. I think because she dealt with that and in a much stronger fashion than she did with Prue led her to the decision at the end of season 4 to keep their destiny in tact!

i named my dog piper, that is how much i luv the character and actress

Piper's search for a normal life was relatable in the first 4 seasons of the show. Originally I could see some amount of understanding, in seasons 1-2 being thrown into a world where everything just wanted to kill them (which is touched upon in episode 2 of Season 1 where she tries to enter the church in fear that they're evil or the scene with her and Phoebe in the attic) however her search for normalcy didn't detract from her goal of being a Charmed One to quote Piper in Season 2 "I sill don't want to be a witch for all the reasons mention, but I won't quit only if and when you guys want to also" to me that speech showed that while Piper still has doubt in being a witch she factored in her sister's consent and still had moments where she cared. Her best episode was revolved around her saving an innocent (The Season 2 episode Astral Monkey) I could also see her wanting to quit because she lost Prue in Season 4, afterwards I cannot agree. However once Season 5 rolled around her desires for a normal life began to make less sense and started delving into selfish stupidity often at the expense of her Charmed duties. And her ideas of a normal life often made no sense. Like in Season 3 where she tried to illegally forge Leo's birth certificate just to get on an airport on a "normal way" she takes it too seriously and often becomes absurd. I also didn't like how she treated Leo and Dan in Season 2. I understand wanting to be normal, as most shows deal with this same idealology, but a show like this needs a balance of normal and magical, otherwise what is the point is one is overfocused over the other? Charmed's later seasons focus way too much on the former, which lead to the girls becoming more self serving. The RU-vid Channel Movie Nights explains the issues with Piper's normal life thing perfectly. At least as far as later seasons are concerned. It also never made sense that once Wyatt was born she never thought to take some magical precautionary measures every time Wyatt's powers proved to be too much, and they all just played it off like a sitcom joke. Like later after Wyatt summons a dragon, 4 episodes later he's risking exposing magic again despite losing him for that same reason. The fact Piper would switch between complaining that "Wyatt needs a normal life, but his powers get in the way" to "Wyatt needs his powers" just made her indecisive and contradicting to her normal life motives. She wants a normal life to the point of wanting to force everyone around her to normalize their everyday activity, yet she wants her babies running around magically causing trouble? Piper also married an Angel, yet she's normal again? Even in Season 8 she complained about "being normal" when Leo locking himself out of the house or the electric man couldn't get electric fix, even though none of that had anything to do with magic, it was a normal circumstance caused by inconveniences. Additionally Piper just becomes too surly later on that this sense of normalcy seems to give her a superiority complex, as she often acted the most self sufficient about it. Like I said on the Phoebe video this was a great job exploring the Charmed sisters and offering a more indepth analysis even if I disagree on some.

I need more Charmed analysis videos! LOVE THEM

I've been dying for you to get to Piper! Amazing job as always!

Thank you, i'm waiting for Piper analysis, she's my favourite! Yes she's looking for stability, her development is great, i identify myself more to her because she's shy, has lack of confidence and find confidence to be the lead sister after! I love that too, i was shy and lack of confidence like her. Unlike Phoebe who is rebel and Prue who is rude, has autority

I love all this characters so much. Im just running thru all your videos hahahah

Your channel is amazing! I loved charmed growing up and this is so nostalgic x

That was incredible. Thank you!

Beautiful analysis of my favorite character on this show!!! I've been such a huge fan of the show in general since the beginning and I agree with most of the points you made here.

I love your videos, I'm so glad this is up!!!!

i was so happy to see Piper get Gaias powers she has always been my favorite goddess, but Gaia is also a Titan

I hate the Prue died but it was needed for pipers growths and I love piper so I guess I can deal with prue dying

You are ALWAYS great! What about a video about Paige after that? Or Cole or Leo? Ps. I love your accent

I love this video! You did great! I can't wait to see Paige!

God job with all those Charmed videos!! I can't wait to watch Paige video!! Well done! :)

I love your channel please keep uploading! 😊

Hello, Rachel! I love your Charmed videos :)

Thanks to your video I have finally understood why I have resentment towards Piper, it’s because I see so much of myself in her, I yearn for stability, I hate not having control over everything.

charmed is so amazing

Wow, thank you for your analysis

She was my fave and had the biggest crush :) love the take and awesome video :)

I loved this!!!

I want to add, that it seems Piper was never meant to be the head of the sisters, and was always seen as the weak link. Before Prue's death, Piper was the one facing the possibility of death the most, and even in the episode of Prue's death, the sisters were trying to save Piper. Almost as if the universe wanted her to die so Paige could take her place with the sisters. But with the sisters fighting so hard, the universe changed its plans completely and took Prue instead. This probably doesn't fit in well with future plots, but a lot of things don't make sense in the plot. Obviously there are multiple timelines and time travel is just making new ones, what I don't get though is who would be the chosen one if not Wyatt? I suppose Phoebe was always destined to live and have kids, so maybe one of hers would work?

Thank you for this video.

I LOVED HER SO MUCH!!! I connected with her as I grew older

SIMPLY EXCELLENT, GREAT ANALYSIS ON PIPER, THE ONLY CHARACTER WHO KEPT HIS INTERNAL LINE AND WITH THE MOST NOTORIOUS EVOLUTION IN THE WHOLE SHOW, WHAT PHOEBE STOPPED HAVING AFTER THE FIFHT SEASON AND WHAT PAIGE NEVER ACHIEVED, THANKS FOR SHARE

My favorite! ❤❤ of charmed in my opinion.

Thanks for the video, i’m waiting for Paige !! 💙💙💙

I love this!! Although I would have loved to see at least a tiny reference or clip of Chris!

in a way Piper was the glue that hold the family together

I loved this but I wish you would've examined her secondary power too!

Looking forward to a video on Paige. She was my personal favorite sister and the one I related to the most. :-)

I mean they all wanted a life at some point magic took much control. but yes piper was the most resistant. but I agree I would be annoyed a little too .

Piper was my favorite ❤️

Holly was also by far the strongest actress of the group so Piper got the best material

Pipers my favorite

I never even watched this show or Buffy but I love your analysis of the shows haha.

Great breakdown but I have a question as we all know their powers changed dramatically when Constance left and brad kern too over could you possibly do a video about how you think their powers should have changed if your not to busy because personally I believe their power should have progressed as the show went on and piper should have had power over time not the speed of molecules pure power should have been movement and phoebes power should have been insight again if your not too busy making this video a reality would be great

My favorite character 😍

*Wants stability but refuses to bind the powers of her son.

I never thought about it this way

Can you do Bonnie Bennett from The Vampire Dairies

I also realized in one of the scenes where all three of them took the picture in front of the house. in one of the episodes they got into a nasty fight I forget which episode it was but at the ending of the show in the same picture it showed one of the sisters splitting apart which was either prue or pheobe. and in neither of the episodes ahead that scene was never talked about or even got see how that even affected them ahead and I still wonder until this day?

And just like that, I have the sudden urge to rewatch Charmed for the 9171186th time lol

My favorite character/sister on the show... favorite powers/ personality....so me

Another great video! Honestly watching this makes me not want to watch any further past prue's death.