Recently, I watched the "CHARMED" Season One episode called (1.15) "Is There a Woogy in the House?". In this episode, Phoebe Halliwell’s childhood fear of a boogeyman in the basement called the "Woogeyman" proves to be true and it ends up taking possession of her and a few others – including her sister Prue’s ex-boyfriend, Andy Trudeau. Following this experience with the Woogeyman, Phoebe came to a conclusion regarding her moral compass.
The episode began with an aftershock from a पूर्व earthquake. The aftershock not only revealed Phoebe's childhood fear of something called the "Woogyman", it has an ongoing स्रोत of amusement for her two sisters. That is, until a violent earthquake unleashes a long-dormant shadow demon on the दिन Prue has plans to hold a रात का खाना party for her boss and a Bucklands’ customer. The latter first takes possession of a repairman, summoned to investigate a strange odor from the manor’s basement. After Prue and Piper leave the manor, the Woogeyman uses the repairman to summon Phoebe to the basement and she also becomes possessed. Phoebe’s strange behavior not only manages to ruin the रात का खाना party, she also summons the Buckland’s client – a Professor Whittlesbey, who knows a good deal about the manor’s history – to the basement and the Woogeyman. Professor Whittlesbey becomes possessed. After Prue and Piper find themselves locked out of the manor द्वारा Phoebe, the two set out to discover what Professor Whittlesbey was hinting about the manor, when the रात का खाना party first began. Unfortunately, the possessed professor ends up being arrested after she had physically attacked her assistant, Josh. Prue and Piper learn और details about the Halliwell manor from Josh:
Josh: आप know, I’ve met people like that. (He looks at Piper.) A spiritual nexus is a point of incredible energy.
Prue: Equidistant from the five spiritual elements.
Josh: That’s right. The place या thing that could be swayed either way.
Piper: Either way?
Josh: Yeah. Either to be a स्रोत of undeniable good या undeniable evil. Uh, look ladies, I’m gonna follow her and make sure she’s okay. Feel free to browse around our office if आप think it will help.
In other words, Prue and Piper came to some conclusion that because the manor was situated in the center of this Nexus – shaped as pentagram – it was the स्रोत of great power that can be a स्रोत of good या evil. Once Phoebe managed to banish the Woogeyman, she came to a conclusion about the Nexus and her moral compass:
Phoebe: I’m beginning to wonder if I have a good one [dark side]. (Prue and Piper stare at her.) Well, I am. I mean, up until now, I didn't even think I had a dark side. I mean, not any और so than anyone else.
Prue: Yeah, well the important thing is the good side won out.
Phoebe: Yeah, but I must have been और susceptible than either one of you, otherwise he wouldn’t of chosen me, right? Right?
Piper: आप were the only one that was born in the house, that makes आप और connected to it. That spiritual nexus thing.
Phoebe: That’s exactly my point. I could go either way. Good या evil. Kinda freaky.
What in the hell was Constance Burge thinking? What on earth made her think that someone would be stupid enough to buy such a theory straight out of Sunday school for eight year-olds? Phoebe could easily turn good या evil, because she was born above the Nexus? That was Burge's idea of characterization?
It was bad enough that Prue got the elements mentioned in the episode wrong:
Prue: Okay, to find a way back in, we have to know what we’re up against. The professor कहा that a true spiritual nexus sits equidistant from the five basal elements. So, that’s earth, fire, water, wood and metal.
Then she added:
Prue: Looks like it’s not just on a spiritual nexus, but a wiccan one as well. Which means it’s a battleground for good and evil.
The spiritual nexus beneath the manor was definitely not a Wiccan one. Wiccans are associated with the following five elements - earth, fire, water, air and spirit. The five elements mentioned द्वारा Prue in the episode are the following - earth, fire, water, wood and metal. These elements are associated with Chinese philosophy, not Wiccans.
But it got worse. At least for me. द्वारा the end of the episode, Phoebe claimed that because she was born in the manor (in other words, above the manor), she was और susceptible to being possessed द्वारा the Woogeyman than her sisters. What . . . a . . . load . . . of . . . crap! If for this reason Phoebe was और susceptible toward evil, then one might as well say the same about the others that ended up possessed द्वारा the Woogeyman – the repairman, Professor Whittlesey, one of the Halliwell neighbors . . . and Andy Trudeau. And I am certain that not one of them was born inside the manor. If Piper या Prue had been inside that manor alone instead of Phoebe, the Woogeyman could have easily possessed either of them.
Why do I find this Nexus Theory about Phoebe hard to swallow? It does not make any sense to me. That is not good characterization. I do not even know what to call it. Phoebe was और prone to evil . . . and therefore और prone to be possessed द्वारा the Woogeyman? Had it ever occurred to Constance Burge या the episode’s writers, Chris Levinson and Zack Estrin, that Phoebe ended up possessed, because she had the bad luck to be in the manor alone with the repairman?
First of all, the series has managed to prove that all four sisters had personality quirks that made them easily prone to evil. Prue’s anger, pride and arrogance made her very susceptible to evil. Probably और so than the other three sisters, due to her anger issues. Piper's inability to deal with loss and her selfishness made her easily susceptible to evil. Phoebe's selfishness and willingness to use shortcuts in life made her easily susceptible to evil. And Paige's self-righteousness and sadistic nature made her susceptible. Everyone – whether in real life या in fiction have personality traits that makes them susceptible to evil. Why Constance Burge could not accept this and instead, used this Nexus Theory to describe Phoebe's flaws eludes me. Perhaps Burge wanted an easier plot device to describe Phoebe's personality . . . instead of good old-fashioned, well-written characterization.
I cannot deny that I have always enjoyed "Is There a Woogeyman in the House?". It has always been one of my प्रिय episodes from Season One. But this theory about the Nexus and Phoebe's moral compass nearly ruined it for me. It is a crap theory, supported द्वारा bad writing. Instead of recognizing that just about anyone - namely any sentient being can choose a path of good या evil, दिया the right circumstances या emotional button pushed. But Constance Burge and this episode’s writers decided to resort to easy and sloppy characterization द्वारा feeding the viewers this black-and-morality crap that the Nexus would explain Phoebe's occasional delinquent behavior. It seemed like a bad ending to a pretty good episode.
