Charmed: Witch Trial

"Witch Trial" is the first episode of season two of the supernatural fantasy series Charmed and the twenty-third episode of the series overall. It was directed by Craig Zisk and written by Brad Kern. It first aired on the WB Network on Thursday, September 30th, 1999. It is the one-year anniversary of the day that the Halliwell sisters first became witches. Phoebe wants to celebrate by attending a mystical congregation. Things heat up when a demon known as Abraxas emerges and steals the Book of Shadows. Reciting passages from the book backwards, he resurrects several of the Charmed Ones' former vanquished foes, such as serial killer warlock Jeremy Burns, the Woogeyman shadow creature and Nicholas. A disembodied voice warns the Charmed Ones that only the Power of One can defeat Abraxas.

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Notes & Trivia

 * This episode is included on disc one of the Charmed: The Complete Second Season DVD collection and disc seven of the Charmed: The Complete Series DVD collection.


 * Production code number: 4399022


 * This is the second episode of Charmed directed by Craig Zisk. He previously directed "Out of Sight". His next episode is "Ms. Hellfire".


 * First appearance of Dan Gordon. Actor Greg Vaughan becomes a regular series cast member beginning with this episode.


 * First appearance of Jenny Gordon. Actress Karis Paige Bryant is given openning credit billing on season two of Charmed even though she only appears in four episodes.


 * Third appearance of Penny Halliwell. She appeared last in the season one episode "That '70s Episode". She appears next in "Magic Hour".


 * Jeremy Burns appeared last in "Something Wicca This Way Comes". This is the final appearance of the character.


 * First appearance of The Industrial Zone, which later becomes known as P3.


 * Actress Amanda Wyss is better known for playing the role of Tina Gray, first victim of Freddy Krueger in the original A Nightmare on Elm Street.


 * First episode with Javier Grillo-Marxuach as co-producer. He will remain on the show in this capacity throughout the remainder of season 2.


 * This is the first professional television work of actor Greg Cromer. Like many cast members from Charmed, he also appears in an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. Both shows are produced by Spelling Television and star Shannen Doherty. Ironically, this is not the only time that Greg has to deal with witchcraft fare. He also plays a delivery man in the "Driving Mrs. Goodman" episode of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.


 * This is the first television acting work for Matt Entriken. He previously played a character named Marco in the 1997 science fiction film Starship Troopers. That film spun-off into two direct-to-video sequels as well as an animated television series.


 * Actor/stuntman Walter Phelan, who plays Abraxas, usually plays monstrous characters in film and television. He has also appeared in episodes of the horror anthology programs, Fear Itself and Masters of Horror.


 * First and only appearance of Rob.


 * This is the first credited television work for actor Mark Nearing, who plays a paramedic. Mark is a stunt performer and coordinator as well as an actor.


 * Mrs. Milton's late husband's name is John. John Milton was also the name of a 17th century English poet, famous for writing the epic Paradise Lost.

Allusions

 * The name Abraxas is taken from a word relating to Gnosticism. Also referred to as Abrasax, it is a word of mystic meaning in the system of the Gnostic Basilides, being there applied to the 365 spheres. In Gnostic cosmology, the 7 letters spelling its name represent each of the 7 classic planets—Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.


 * Prue Halliwell makes repeated references to Andy Trudeau. Andy was a detective for the San Francisco Police Department and the partner of Darryl Morris. He was killed in the season one finale, "Déjà Vu All Over Again".

Bloopers

 * Shannen Doherty is noticeably "perky" in two scenes during this episode.

Quotes

 * Piper Halliwell: No, I understand. Okay, bye. (She hangs up. Phoebe walks in.)
 * Phoebe Halliwell: Who was that?
 * Piper Halliwell: Rob, the banker. Or rather, his assistant. Telling me that my loan has been denied.
 * Phoebe Halliwell: Oh, honey, I'm so sorry.
 * Piper Halliwell: That's okay. Just wasn't meant to be, I guess. Really glad I never slept with him, though. What was I thinking?
 * Phoebe Halliwell: About Leo, maybe?
 * Piper Halliwell: Ugh.
 * Phoebe Halliwell: Wine?

....
 * Piper Halliwell: What are we doing here?
 * Phoebe Halliwell: Celebrating the Equinox. Can’t you just feel it? The energy in this place? It’s a convergence.
 * Piper Halliwell: It’s a crock. I thought we were supposed to meet your witch friend.
 * Phoebe Halliwell: We are. This is where she told us to meet her. Now, please just relax.
 * Piper Halliwell: Relax? My life was a mess before our little wake-up call this morning, remember?

....
 * Prue Halliwell: Hello?
 * Piper Halliwell: Prue, thank god you're there. Jeremy...
 * Prue Halliwell: Piper, calm down...
 * Piper Halliwell: Just attacked me.
 * Prue Halliwell: Jeremy? That is impossible. We vanquished him a year ago.
 * Piper Halliwell: Well, apparently he got un-vanquished somehow, and since we don't have the Book of Shadows, we're going to have to remember the spell together. I'm conferencing Phoebe. Phoebe are you there?
 * Phoebe Halliwell: AT&T, Power of Three!