MovieChat Forums > Charmed (1998) Discussion > So, Prue died because she didn't have a ...

So, Prue died because she didn't have a super-boyfriend?

posted 9 years ago by loui_b452
30 replies | jump to latest

Think about it. When Prue and Piper were launched through the wall, Leo healed Piper, his wife, first. That slight amount of favoritism caused Leo to go for the one he loved more. Thus, when going for his sister-in-law, it was too late.

Further, Phoebe was DOOMED except she had the advantage of having one of the underworld's strongest demons as a boy-toy. Without Cole, her days were numbered and not just on THIS occasion.

Prue, on the other hand, devoted to so much of her time to her destiny that she rarely had any lasting relationships, let alone one with a magical being. Her relationship was her sisters (like the theme of the show is founded on: sisterhood). BUT, that turned out to be her downfall. With no man to be there to save her in All Hell Breaks Loose, she was at a disadvantage to her sisters.

Anyone else feel like THIS was the moment the show's focus shifted from "sisterhood" to "Aren't guys just the best!! Let's let them always save us." Before, it was all about sister who just happened to be witches. After, the show crumbles into "3 sorta friend/roommates who devote a lot of their time to the men they love....oh, and they fight demons sometimes...also, Wyatt's there."



[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] thecherrypop 9 years ago

I doubt his powers were that far advanced. Plus, perhaps the only way he could bring Piper away from the brink of death was focusing all of his strength on her.

The show and the charmed ones took Leo's healing powers for granted

[–] MarkAnthony1990 9 years ago

Tbh, I simply assumed once Leo had finally got back from the Underworld, Prue had already died and he just about managed to save Piper.

The random explanation Kern threw into the script about "You saved me because I'm your wife" was bull when the simplest explanation could simply be that Prue had already passed before he arrived on the scene.

Babies kill TV shows!

[–] JustEs 9 years ago

That's exactly what I thought, but with the point of grief that Piper was at, she had to blame someone and took it out on Leo.

After all, Prue went through a full wall while Piper went through a broken one, so Prue's impact would've been harder. She was probably actually killed on impact while Piper wasn't.

I hated that line of Piper's - it was the start of turning her into Poor, Poor Pitiful Piper and Leo into her little errand boy - he was never really anything but a magical taxicab/doctor again.

[–] MarkAnthony1990 9 years ago

Yeah, I suppose I can take the line just being Piper in her grief but Leo not simply responding with "She had already gone" always annoyed me.

And, I agree, Prue would've had a more fatal impact. Especially considering we saw she was bleeding from her ear quite heavily, a clear sign of brain trauma. Not sure whether Piper had the same injury.

Babies kill TV shows!

[–] pfarnell 9 years ago

we know she had to go,ie Doherty, and why, so all immortality bets re Prue, just had to be off..

[–] Schleiben28 9 years ago

I don't think that had anything to do with it. Prue was hit pretty hard with an energy blast that shot her through a solid wall, causing her to bleed out from the back of her brain. When Piper got hit by Shax, she only went through half a wall and wasn't impacted as much as Prue. Prue was basically DOA after being hurled through the wall by the energy blast. There was no coming back from that physiologically, no matter how much medical or magical intervention occurred.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] gzv969 8 years ago

I don't think Prue having a super boyfriend would have made a difference. The first time Shax attacked, phoebe had to call for Leo to come down and heal them. Leo obviously wasn't watching and didn't sense piper was hurt. He looked surprised when he arrived. So imagine what would have happened if Phoebe was already in the underworld then by herself without leo. Even if leo was up with the elders he may have still been too late to save Prue and maybe even piper. By the way I blame Phoebe and her constant obsession of always wanting to save Cole or go to Cole always at the worst possible moments. Weakening the power of 3

[–] saikano_75 8 years ago

You got a point but I think that if she was not meant to die, he would have been able to heal them both. I think they really just did this because the actress was leaving...or being a fired. It sucks it had to end that way but seeing as they have separation issues, there's no way she could be written off by leaving the state/city to advance her career. So she had to die.

But if you want to be negative about it, then yeah look at it from that POV about having a hunk around to save your ass. Though I find it ironic because in the later seasons they want their boyfriends to be humans. Probably because they didn't like having to be saved.

[–] Tiger_Cat 8 years ago

So, Prue died because she didn't have a super-boyfriend?

Basically, yes. Ignoring the real world reasons why Prue died (Shannen no longer being employed by the show), in the show, Prue died because Leo chose to save his wife, rather than triage and heal the witch that was hurt worse first.

Anyone else feel like THIS was the moment the show's focus shifted from "sisterhood" to "Aren't guys just the best!! Let's let them always save us." Before, it was all about sister who just happened to be witches. After, the show crumbles into "3 sorta friend/roommates who devote a lot of their time to the men they love....oh, and they fight demons sometimes...also, Wyatt's there."

I don't know about the "let our guys save us" part, but agreed on the lack of sisterhood. Personally I noticed it in season 5, (season 4 felt like a rehash of season 1 with Paige learning about magic and all of them co-existed in a house due to necessity, rather than choice, once again) but there wasn't much sisterhood left. They really did come across as roommates, friends if they needed be, with the demon of the week/season making them work together.

[–] Michelle_89 8 years ago

Leo really should have said that it was because Prue had already died that he couldn't heal her. And if Piper tries to argue that he healed them both the first time around, he can just say that being with Phoebe and Cole in the Underworld delayed him by precious moments that ended up costing Prue's life. We saw Leo heal them both the first time around, and have to assume that he tried the same thing the second time. The only reason he couldn't heal both of them, no matter how close to death they were, was that Prue was already dead.

[–] Tiger_Cat 8 years ago

Just one quick line and it would have solved so much... Including part of Piper's survivor guilt.

The second time around Prue was hurt first and worst (she went through the wall vs the glass door Piper went through), it makes sense she'd die by the time Leo got there, but he really should tried to heal her first as all doctors do. But he thought and acted as a husband, rather a medical professional, and healed his wife first, otherwise why let Piper assume it and never correct her?

[–] MarkAnthony1990 8 years ago

I think you're getting mixed up with the season 1 finale, which Leo isn't a part of.

That was the episode Piper died after being thrown through a glass door.

When Prue died, she and Piper were lay side by side and both accessible to Leo at the same time. As he did at the start of the episode he could use his healing powers on both at the same time. The second time around, his delay through being in the Underworld meant Prue had already died before he got there. Piper's outburst was just her grief talking.

Babies kill TV shows!

[–] Tiger_Cat 8 years ago

You're right, though I didn't mix up the seasons' finale. I thought Prue went through the wall while Piper went through the door right next to the wall. I saw though this now but it doesn't change my argument.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7ffkqN4jUc

As a medical professional Leo could triage and determine which woman was closer to dying and then decide which to heal first. He most probably did make a choice and he chose his wife (perhaps exactly because Prue was closer to death and the time lost to save her could mean Piper would die instead).

Prue being dead by the time he reached them would make the most sense but I don't remember him ever saying that to Piper. Yes, that argument was Piper's grief but him telling that would help.

All that ignores however that Prue could have used her power on the doctor and push him out of Shax's way that way instead of doing so physically....

[–] joystar5879 8 years ago

Didn't Leo tell Piper outright, that he couldn't heal the Dead? Even if he COULD,
(and I think he might have been able to), Piper would have died, and the Halliwell Line would have died with her. Leo's duty was to the Greater Good...and that meant Wyatt.

I do hope he won't upset Henry...

[–] Tiger_Cat 8 years ago

Piper is one of three (four if you count Paige though she had her adoptive parents' last name) Halliwell sisters. Both Piper and Phoebe had children and continued the Warren/Halliwell line. Saving Prue instead of Piper or saving both wouldn't change that.

[–] MarkAnthony1990 8 years ago

His defence to Piper that he saved the wrong sister was "I can't heal the dead". Suggesting she was dead and his healing didn't work on her.

Babies kill TV shows!

[–] Tiger_Cat 8 years ago

Wasn't it Phoebe who said that?

I'd also argue that Piper was clinically dead in the episode with the insect brought in the club with that fruit and bit her, and Leo did work around the rules to save her, but that would require Shannen to remain with the show, which unfortunately is the real reason Prue died that day.

[–] MarkAnthony1990 8 years ago

They both did:

Piper: I don't understand why magic can't fix this. And why we can't bring Prue back. It's not like we haven't cheated death before. I don't understand why this time is any different.

Phoebe: Because Leo can't heal the dead, Piper. You know that.

Piper: Why didn't you save her?

Leo: I tried.

Piper: But you didn't. Why didn't they let you save her, too?

Leo: The Elders? They couldn't. They don't have that kind of power.

Piper: Then what the hell good are they? (She gets up, walks away from him, and finds a Kleenex. Leo follows.)

Babies kill TV shows!

[–] Tiger_Cat 8 years ago

I remember Phoebe's line, but, like I said before, Leo can heal the clinically dead when it suits them.

About Leo's line about the Elders, saying "They don't have that kind of power" isn't the same as him not being able to heal the dead. If anything considering the dead witch in this case is one of the three witches needed to vanquish the Source, I'd say that an exception could be made.

Edited to add: The Elders weren't supposed to know there was a fourth sister waiting in the wings to step up to the plate. (I remember Leo saying that in the episode with Cole working with Avatars to change reality. In that reality Prue was dead and Paige had died earlier so there was no more power of three). Would the Elders (aka the writers) really let Prue (or any of them) die when they desperately needed the Charmed ones?

[–] MarkAnthony1990 8 years ago

I remember Phoebe's line, but, like I said before, Leo can heal the clinically dead when it suits them.

The difference being though, we saw Piper's spirit and he apparently healed her before she had moved on.
We don't know the circumstances with Prue since the actual discovery of her dead body was left off screen.

About Leo's line about the Elders, saying "They don't have that kind of power" isn't the same as him not being able to heal the dead. If anything considering the dead witch in this case is one of the three witches needed to vanquish the Source, I'd say that an exception could be made.

It is though? If the Elders don't have the power to raise the dead, then neither does a Whitelighter.
As you say, for the Charmed Ones, the biggest force of Good in the world you'd think if they had the power to heal the dead, they would. But they can't, so they don't.

Babies kill TV shows!

[–] Tiger_Cat 8 years ago

The difference being though, we saw Piper's spirit and he apparently healed her before she had moved on.
We don't know the circumstances with Prue since the actual discovery of her dead body was left off screen.

I may be arguing a moot point (for all the real world reasons that influenced the decision) but had we seen the scene as it supposedly happened instead of being told about it, perhaps we'd see Prue's spirit in the astral,I think, plane like we saw Piper's when she was healed.

It is though? If the Elders don't have the power to raise the dead, then neither does a Whitelighter.

I'm sorry that's not what I meant. I miswrote. What I meant to write is that Leo saying that the Elders don't have that kind of power isn't the same as him saying he cannot heal the dead.

As you say, for the Charmed Ones, the biggest force of Good in the world you'd think if they had the power to heal the dead, they would. But they can't, so they don't.

That's exactly my problem. I don't understand how the Elders would allow one of their most needed witches to die without accomplishing what she's needed for. In the end it was okay, because there was a backup sister and Prue's death renewed the passion in Piper and Phoebe to end the Source in all the host bodies. But are we supposed to believe that the Elders who can do so many things, can't find a way to turn back time, or keep Prue alive a little longer or simply send another whitelighter to do the job? Piper and Leo had to talk in code about their wedding because the Elders were acting like peeping Toms and watched them and when the Source sends his personal assassin to take down two of the Charmed ones while having a private meeting with the third, the Elders were playing cards and couldn't be bothered?

And yes, I know all three sisters would survive as normally had Shannen remained with the show (which is the answer I keep receiving when my friends and I talk about Prue's death/Paige's introduction).

[–] MarkAnthony1990 8 years ago

Well, that's one of those questions that exposes it as TV show logic. Lol.

Such as, why don't the demons just flame in and kill the sisters in their sleep?

I remember Grams saying "they" aren't always looking down, and even then they managed to fool the Elders in season 8 into thinking they're dead despite staying living in the same house just with glamoured faces. Lmao.

Charmed has a huge continuity problem.

Babies kill TV shows!

[–] Tiger_Cat 8 years ago

Because demons have manners and don't go to witches' houses at nighttime, lol.

Plus, wasn't Paige sick of the tingling in her ears during their glamored-faces season 8 time? It was how she found Billie, I think. So the Elders didn't wonder how this J-something witch is also a witch/whitelighter hybrid (a big no-no prior to Whyatt) and related to the Halliwells but totally not Paige?

I'm starting to think the Elders knew everything all along but decided to let the quartet live their lives and only butt in when They needed them. It's a good way to explain how human Paige orbed during/after her parents' accident but nobody went after her till she was needed to recreate the Charmed ones.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] austin-pearce 8 years ago

Tiffani Thiessen was actually approached to take over the role of Prue before they made the decision to kill her off. They were originally going to recast the role to someone else.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] gzv969 8 years ago

It was mentioned in a 2001 EW article that Aaron looked for a replacement for Prue and reached out to Tiffani as well as Jennifer love Hewitt and after they declined he then went with the long lost sister idea. So it seems they originally considered replacing Prue with another Prue. But In a different article I read it mentioned they were all reached out too for the role of Paige before settling on Rose so it's really unclear. But also in the recent 10 years later interview with Brad Kern he did say it was always Rose for the role and no other person was looked at so Tiffani and Jennifer may have only been approached for a possible Prue character replacement.

http://www.ew.com/article/2001/06/12/spelling-asked-tiffani-thiessen-join-charmed