Hate ---> Love (or at least Like)

[Nerf]

Today I watched "Desperate Housewitches." It was an episode I used to loathe, as many of the fandom does. However, when I last watched it, and again today, I've realized it's not that bad. There are things to hate about it to be sure (namely Paige, her subplot, and her horrid memory), but in general it's a pretty good episode. Piper/Holly is great and this episode had a good story line for her. The fact that she could no longer act as Wyatt's mom in public was pretty powerful and would be hard for someone to deal with. There were other things to like, but that is not the point of this thread.

It made me think of other episodes that I initially hate and then come to like, or even love. Here are some examples from me.

"Happily Ever After." -- I thought this episode was really stupid when I first saw it, but it later became one of my favorites of S5 and still is. I'm not sure why I didn't like it the first time, as I'm a big fan of fairy tales. There are still a few things that bother me (I HATE that dress they put Phoebe/Alyssa in), but for the most part I really enjoy it.

"Generation Hex." -- Like most, I loathed this episode when it first aired and even refused to rewatch it for awhile after I got my S8 DVD set. But when I finally watched it again I realized that, for the most part, it is an awesome episode. Mainly because of Billie and Christy. I know many hated their characters and their plot, but I found this episode to be very strong for them, especially for Christy, and a very important piece of the story line. Besides that, the whole thing with Coop taking Phoebe back in time was fun. Yes, a plot about getting Phoebe to not give up on love had been done to death, but it was fun to see them do the type of thing that they did in "Cat House", placing the actors into scenes from the past. It also shows that Cole's death really does still have an effect on Phoebe. Just the look on her face when she saw him being vanquished was a tell all about what was going on in her head. I could go on about how much I enjoy this episode, but I won't. The only things I can't stand about it are Billie's fried hair-style, the not so great guest actors for the Magic School students, and the insanely creepy talking by Wyatt.

Anyway. What about the rest of you? Any episodes that you used to hate, but now love, or at least enjoy?

[Perry Peverell]

I used to hate "Thank You For Not Morphing". I can't remember why, but I skipped that episode every time. Then, one time, I watched it again and I really liked it. It has great storylines. Prue dealing with her anger and hate towards her father, Piper and Phoebe meeting their father for the first time, the n there are the shapeshifters who try to steal the Book of Shadows.

[Nerf]

Hmm. "Thank You For Not Morphing" is still bad in my book.

However, you've reminded me that "I've Got You Under My Skin" is one that I used to think was bad and now I quite like it. When I last watched it I actually quite enjoyed it. Of course there were some things that were dumb from the earliness of the show, but most of it was very good. And the sister interaction was great. I looooved the scene in the attic where Piper and Phoebe are talking and Piper is scared and worried about being evil. Such a sweet scene, wonderfully acted. Holly was great throughout, also with that great scene at the church where she yells "I'm good!" It was a good early episode, portraying their struggle with their new powers in a great way.

The one thing that really bothers me in this episode, every time I see it, is that Andy tells Darryl to give him five minutes to talk to Prue in Quake. From there everything moves in real time, no lapses. Prue walks in and talks to Phoebe, they walk into the kitchen to talk to Piper, Andy walks in, freeze the scene, things are only frozen for about 30 seconds, then Darryl walks in and he's all, "I gave you ten minutes." No you didn't, you idiot! It was less than four minutes! Agh! Stupid Darryl! ... I don't like the guy. *cough* Not enough to taint my liking of the episode, though.

[Dom]

Looking back on it, I feel that season 8 was too early for it's time. That, or i'm just being nostalgic, but looking back, the whole premise of Season 8 was very cool. Now the bad acting and horrible writing for some characters (Namely Coop) deserve to be buried along with horrible other episode like "Nymphs just Wanna Have Fun." I honestly think season 8 could have been awesome with some recasting and an actual budget.