Happily Ever After

Season 5, Episode 3, Aired
EDIT

Episode Summary

An evil witch traps the Halliwell sisters in distorted versions of classic fairy tales, where Phoebe attends a ball as Cinderella and meets Prince Charming, Paige has a taste of Snow White's poisoned apple, and Piper encounters a big, bad wolf, as Little Red Riding Hood.
8.3
out of 10
EPISODE RATING: Great
305 votes
  • Your Rating: 10
    "Perfect"
  • Your Rating: 9.5
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 9
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 8.5
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 8
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 7.5
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 7
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 6.5
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 6
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 5.5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 4.5
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 4
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 3.5
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 3
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 2.5
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 2
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 1.5
    "Abysmal"
  • Your Rating: 1
    "Abysmal"
Rate It

Watch Online

Netflix
Subscription

Cast & Crew

See All EDIT

Fan Episode Reviews (19)

See All

  • Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most powerful witch of them all?

    8.5
    "Great"
    By iltarion, Jul 22, 2011 Report Abuse
    How far we've come from Something Wicca This Way Comes. In this episode, Piper gets all of her confidence back. The final faceoff between Piper, a very good Little Red Riding Hood by the way, and the evil witch, and the screen-grabbing presence of Grams, are good enough on their own to make this a strong episode of Charmed.

    Fairy tales are somewhat dark and morbid themselves, and so this episode is hardly the silly fluff that most might expect. The sisters find themselves in some serious trouble, and the danger continues to escalate until only Cole and Piper's blow-up power stand between them and the brink.

    Grams improves any episode she is in, and Jennifer Rhodes is at her best here. The scenes between her and Paige are especially well done and well-written. Paige continues to be the most interesting sister on the show, and it is unfortunate that an apple knocks her out of action for a while.

    Phoebe's subplot is about as bad as in the first 2 episodes. Her paranoia towards Cole is still mostly unexplained though at least she tells us about a nightmare she had that she is afraid may be a premonition. I didn't care that they tried to bring another guy into the mix. The entire subplot was onerous to me, but Julian, of course, tried his best to save it. The subplot of Phoebe ranting against Cole and then Cole saving her in the end is getting old. Once again, the final two scenes are the best scenes. Cole back in the manor, leaning on the stairs? That is like old times. Strange to think that the last time that was the case he was the Source.

    Piper goes from losing nearly all her confidence to getting that back and her mojo by the end. The confident Piper has some great lines, including "Back off, Grams, I just saved your ass." And the even better, "I saw the wolf eat you."- "Yeah, I didn't agree with him." I really dug that when the evil witch walked towards the mirror, you could see the empty dias with the table in the background. Then, when she turned around, Piper was standing on the dias leaning against the table. Excellent. After the clunker to start, Season 5 has turned it around and will continue to get better, climaxing in Centennial Charmed.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    0 0

  • Not Fairy Good

    5.5
    "Mediocre"
    By lenzinoH20, Jun 17, 2011 Report Abuse
    Happily Ever After-An evil witch traps the Halliwell sisters in distorted versions of classic fairy tales, where Phoebe attends a ball as Cinderella and meets Prince Charming, Paige has a taste of Snow White's poisoned apple, and Piper encounters a big, bad wolf, as Little Red Riding Hood. I get it, the writers were trying to have fun with this one but sigh, the only kind of fairytales that appeal to both adults and children are the ones done by Disney! Brad Kern and his team of delinquent writers just get it wrong. I sure this "could" have been a fun ride down fairytale lane but it just comes off as a joke, one. BIG. childish. joke. It doesn't help that the Phoebe/Cole arc rears it's ugly head and it's almost like the writers forgot that both characters came to some sort of an agreement last episode. Suddenly, Phoebe's back "Cole is evil this, you b@stard that!" Calm down woman! You have a nightmare about your exit and suddenly, he's public enemy #1 again? Not to mention, she punches him when he does nothing to call for it! *headdesk* If anything, Phoebe is the one looking like the obsessed ex, not Cole. Poor guy, poor Julian in fact. He basically just stands around while his character gets insulted by everyone for yet another episode. Also, throwing in the character of Adam just seemed like an attempt to add to the drama by making a brief triangle...*yawn*

    Once again, the small character detail/sub-plots are the only redeeming facotr. It's always great to see Grams back (Jennifer Rhodes just a class act!) As silly as the storyline is, Jennifer's delivery makes it a little less silly. It's also nice to see Grams and Paige meet for the first time, even if Paige is hesitant at first to bond with her real grandmother. It's a small, but well written plot for Paige, bringing her closer to the family and showing that while Paige has been through a lot with her sisters, she's still relatively new to the family. Nut a las, for every bit of character development we got glass slippers, pumpkins, poison apples, carages, a axe weilding woodsman and...dwarfs....*headdesk*. Not to mention, the sight of watching Piper vanquish the evil witch in her Little Red Riding Hood get up was pretty laughable no matter how awesome Holly was in that scene. Once again, the episode ends with Phoebe and Cole leaving each other on good terms. I mean Cole actually tries to let Phoebe move on and trust herself again. What's so evil about Cole again? Geeze.... "Happily Ever After" is Charmed at it's fluffy best. Nothing more to see here.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    0 0

  • This one was actually fun and quite an interesting romp through the land of children's fairytales.

    8.0
    "Great"
    By Lady_Lancaster, Mar 31, 2011 Report Abuse
    When the three sisters find themselves trapped in some very 'different' versions of classic fairytales, it has an eeriness to it but also, it is, in its way, very amusing as the girls try to separate reality from fiction and make sense of everything.

    Paige finds herself eating a poisoned apple. (Sound familiar?) Phoebe is Cinderella going to a very fancy ball and, of course, meeting up with the appropriate Prince Charming, while Piper, as Little Red Riding Hood, has to deal with a rather unpleasant wolf.

    The story, of course, was a serious one, but the sidebar of the fairytales was a piece of good fun!moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    1 0

  • There's no place like home...

    5.5
    "Mediocre"
    By MovieMark, Apr 20, 2010 Report Abuse
    As silly as the concept may be, it's coming off of a two-part episode involving mermaids, so let's cut this one a little slack, shall we? It's Charmed having fun, and to be perfectly honest, a decent storyline. Season 5 has shed itself of any bearings to season 4's arc-related activities, and while it doesn't always work, for this episode at least, I enjoyed its frothy appeal.

    Gram's is back at long last (I always enjoy it when she mixes things up). She's here to illustrate to Piper that she can raise a magical child without the help of her overbearing grandmother, and to show Paige a thing or two about witchcraft. I wasn't entirely sure why Paige gave her grams the cold shoulder, but then again, it's obvious the writers have forgotten a lot about the fiery haired Wiccashe hates fairytales here, but loved them back in 'A Knight to Remember' and embraced her birth mother in 'Charmed Again, Part 2,' without accusing her of trying to replace her adoptive mother. Continuity, be damned!

    Phoebe is the bell of the ball, Paige takes a nap and Piper must hunt down the big bad wolf. While Alyssa looked rather silly (and, I'm sure felt a bit daft) having to let her glass slippers do the walkin', this episode once again highlights how good Cole is, and once again proves how frustrating this duo is as a non-couple (Phoebe's irrationality is beyond grating, and we're only 3 episodes in). Piper's storyline was fun, and I liked how she's officially the most powerful witch of all (although how she didn't notice something was amiss with Grams is beyond me. I did think it was funny that the 'Little People' knew straight away).

    Overall, in a season with more than its fair share of clunkers, this was an enjoyable, albeit entirely frivolous, slice of Charmed.

    Phoebe: 'What's next? Leprechauns?'

    Oh, Ms Halliwell, you have no ideamoreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    0 0

  • The three sisters become parts of real life fairy tales when an evil witch tries to stop them from having a happily ever after.

    8.0
    "Great"
    By Loony-Boo, Feb 13, 2009 Report Abuse
    Basing a Charmed episode on fairy tales, I think, is a very good idea. There are so many tales that they could have chosen from that it was impossible for the writers to decide not to do this. I loved the idea of their Grandma coming back and then her being eaten by the big bad wolf. This episode would mainly impress a child, thats why I like it, but I dont think someone looking for a good, serious episode would enjoy this episode. The only part I didn't like in this episode was when Piper became Little Red Riding Hood, I feel as though they could have done a lot better there.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    0 0
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

See All

  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • Why is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz even included in an episode about fairy tales? Fairy tales are a subcategory of folklore. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a piece of 20th century fiction written by L. Frank Baum; it's not folklore in the slightest, so it should not be included as one of the fairy tales. Edit
    • When Piper and Grams are talking before they go up to the attic, we can see clearly after Grams that the coffin where Paige lies is over a trolley. You can clearly see the wheels on the bottom of the table! Edit
    • TRIVIA: When Leo talks about The Evil Enchantress he is talking about the season 4 episode A Knight to Remember where Paige realizes that a fairy tale about an evil enchantress is in fact a memory of her past life. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • International Episode Titles: Czech Republic: A pak žili šťastně... (And Then They Lived Happily Ever After) France: Miroir, gentil miroir (Mirror, good mirror) Edit
    • This episode scored 5.1 million viewers. Edit
    • Guest star Sean Patrick Flanery and star Alyssa Milano appeared together in the film The Dimond Hunters. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • The Evil Witch: Why won't you answer my question? Why won't you tell me what I want to hear? The Apprentice: You know as well as I, that I cannot tell a lie. The Evil Witch: Dammit. Well then if I'm not the most powerful witch in the land, who is? (Piper magically appears) Piper: Take a wild guess. Edit
    • (Phoebe, with Paige following her and unable to stop walking due to the spell of the glass slippers, nearly gets hit by a taxi. The taxi stops and honks at Phoebe) Phoebe: Hey! I'm walking here! Taxi driver: Get out of the street! Paige: Don't you have any way of controlling those things? Phoebe: They didn't exactly come with an instruction manual, Paige. Paige: Ugh. God. Edit
    • Cole: Am I up to something again? Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • To get home from the fairy tale land, the new Keeper gives Piper a set of ruby slippers. This is another reference to the story of the Wizard of Oz. In the story and film, Dorothy just has to click the heels of her ruby slippers together to return home. Edit
    • Phoebe: These boots maybe are made for walking...
      This is a reference to the famous song These Boots Are made For Walking by Nancy Sinatra. Edit
    • Title: Happily Ever After
      This phrase commonly ends fairy tales, it is usually used in the context that the good characters in the tale lived happily for the remainder of their lives. Edit

Show Forums

See All
Last Activity
Replies

Watch Charmed Full Episodes

See All

Related Shows

Season 5 Episodes

See All
Ep 23
Oh My Goddess (2)
Ep 22
Oh My Goddess (1)
Ep 21
Necromancing the Stone
Ep 20
Sense and Sense Ability
Ep 19
Nymphs Just Want To Have Fun
Ep 18
Cat House
Ep 17
Lucky Charmed
Ep 16
Baby's First Demon
Ep 15
The Day The Magic Died
Ep 14
Sand Francisco Dreamin'
Ep 13
House Call
Ep 12
Centennial Charmed
Ep 11
The Importance of Being Ph...
Ep 10
Y Tu Mummy Tambien
Ep 9
Sam I Am
Ep 8
A Witch in Time
Ep 7
Sympathy for the Demon
Ep 6
The Eyes Have It
Ep 5
Witches in Tights
Ep 4
Siren Song
Ep 3
Happily Ever After
Ep 2
A Witch's Tail (2)
Ep 1
A Witch's Tail (1)

Contributors

Become a contributor
More
Less

TV Listings

Full Listings
BROWSE | Shows | Videos | News | Listings | Forums | People | Photos | TV.com Blog

CBS Entertainment | About TV.com | About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Ad Choice | Terms of Use