Ms. Hellfire

Season 2, Episode 9, Aired
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Episode Summary

An assassination attempt on the sisters' lives forces Prue to go undercover as the woman who tried to kill them, known as Ms. Hellfire. While undercover, she becomes romantically involved with the man who hired the original Ms. Hellfire.
9.0
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EPISODE RATING: Superb
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Fan Episode Reviews (17)

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  • Prue enters the Matrix.

    7.5
    "Good"
    By iltarion, Jun 11, 2011 Report Abuse
    This somewhat preposterous episode has four redeeming characteristics from my point of view: Shannen in black leather, astral projection, Darryl learning the truth, and Barbas.

    I continue to be at odds with many reviewers who are not fans of Billy Drago as Barbas. I dig this demon, always have, with his seething whisper and his icy stare. His confrontation with Prue is a great scene, and I love how he turns her against her sisters. Great idea that will be partially repeated when he turns Phoebe against Paige in Season 5. Barbas by himself is pretty much enough to ensure this episode of a 7.5.

    As I have said before, I appreciate how the writers decided to not mess around with Darryl. The sisters tell him straight away what is going on, and he absorbs it about as well as he can. I think the entire thing is handled very realistically. I'm not sure why Prue gets the new power when the writers have probably over-established her as the most powerful witch already, but a new power is always a good thing.

    I thought the whole Prue with Bane relationship was ridiculous. They are in love but have never met? And he is like the wimpiest bad guy in history, I think. Cool when Prue goes up against her sisters. Quick thinking by Piper this time to get Shannen to Astral Project. Of course, once again, the power of talk and their sisterly bond save the day. Good scene in the beginning with the hit woman shooting up the manor, but in the middle of the day? Whuh?

    Dan coming around in the middle of the night carrying plywood is just pathetic. I started with as open a mind as possible, but can we just get rid of this guy already?!! UGH!!!moreless

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  • I've seen probably 80% to 90% of the eps of Charmed. This one ranks up there as one of the worst. It still beats any episode of Gilligan's Island, but only because that is a rather easy yardstick to measure by.moreless

    6.0
    "Fair"
    By igotbupkis, Apr 18, 2011 Report Abuse
    Charmed is fantasy. We know that. This episode isn't fantasy, it's absurdity.

    As a matter of fact, to steal a riff from Joe Pesci, it's an absurdity wrapped around an improbabilty stuffed with inanity... blanketed with a heapin' helpin' of horse manure. (OK, OK, that last is vaguely stolen from Buddy Ebsen and the Beverly Hillbillies...)

    To start with, the Manor gets shot up with a full auto machine gun. Then some woman comes roaring in from the back entrance, and tries to shoot the girls with the same gun. Pru sends the bullets back at her and she is killed. Some investigation of what she was carrying with her suggests this was a hitwoman, hired to kill Pru, her sisters, and 10 other witches, of whom only the sisters and one other is still alive.

    Right about now, your bogon flux meter should be pegging out. Hired assassins, one would presume (granted, I have no actual experience with them), would tend to be fairly low key about their hits -- subtlety would be a hallmark -- they wouldn't usually use a drive-by style of attack as a format for making a hit (unless, perhaps, the situation warranted it, such as on a rap star)... I would personally expect that an assassin who performed a drive-by type hit in the middle of a WASP suburban neighborhood would not be in business for long.

    Bending the needle on that bogon flux meter about now: They probably don't keep copious written notes about things, either... like "Hit on XXX, plastique, 10am" along with a crossed off list of recent kills, all wrapped up in a nice day planner. Successful assassins are likely anal, but not in the written sense of things, only in the meticulous sense of the term.

    I grant you that assassins probably use explosives to blow up their victim's car (this does seem to be one type you do hear about), but using them to blow up a shop they own seems, once more, likely to draw the ire of various officials even more so than the drive-by thing. It's also not particularly good at precision, since one really can't be too sure they got the intended victim and not some innocent bystander... and it's not like they wouldn't appear rather overly suspicious poking around the coroner's office asking about the person who was killed.


    About now the needle breaks off the BFM, putting out one of your eyes: I don't see it as likely that too many assassins get romantically involved with the person who hired them... or that assassins often get romantically pursued by the one who hires them...

    But despite these perposterous unlikelihoods, we find herein all the above as salient plot points.

    Apparently the only assassin actually involved with this episode's production was a mass murderer of bogon flux meters.

    About the only thing this episode does of any importance is a quick throwaway about Buckland's new management (Seems like a much bigger and more widespread firm now than when Pru got hired -- the SF office is now a "regional office" of an apparent chain, not the home base of a single "Christies" type house of high repute), and a slightly introduced point about Pru's new power of astral projection.

    Other than the above two minor developments, for the most part, this ep need only be watched for continuity and completeness reasons. It's otherwise something to bypass.moreless

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    0 3

  • finally!

    9.8
    "Superb"
    By prue4ever, Apr 18, 2011 Report Abuse
    finally prue gets a new power! and i love this power- astral projection! i wish i had it! lol. barbas is back! has my fav orite demon! and finally daryll knows that the charmed ones are \'the charmed ones\'! lol, this is a very good epiosde. Prue (shannen) is good in this episode!

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    1 0

  • Starring Prue as the hit-women Ms. Hellfire

    10
    "Perfect"
    By danman5069, Apr 18, 2011 Report Abuse
    This is a very funny ep. Shannen Doherty did really good in it. it's new to charmed and thats why i found it good. Also, one of my fav. demons was in it Barbas The Demon Of Fear it was great. and i hope Charmed keeps going on and on.

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    1 0

  • Meet Prue: Sexy Assasin!!

    9.2
    "Superb"
    By Rock_Magick, Apr 18, 2011 Report Abuse
    Cool. Finally, another ep where Prue's inner sexy, kick-ass self is revealed! Love the outfit, love the ep love evrything 'bout PRUE!! The moves ar great, the camera angles carefully plotted to move with the action. So much going on. Prue was made for the leather and her fight moves are great. You can see that in this other ep I just can't remember what it's called. Prue Rox!!

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • If you look carefully, you can see DJ walk up behind Bane as he and Prue start to make out. Then when they zoom out to show the whole room, you see DJ walk up to Prue and Bane again and tap on Bane's shoulder. Then when they zoom in, you see DJ tap on his shoulder again! Edit
    • When Prue tells Bane that she wants to talk to Barbas, Bane replies by saying "Well like I said, the night is young." however Prue told Bane that the night was young, not the other way around. Edit
    • In the conservatory after Piper freezed Dan and Marcy, she asks Phoebe who Marcy was and Phoebe replies telling her it was M. Steadwell. After they talk, Piper tells her to keep Marcy in the house. Phoebe only told her that it was M. Steadwell, she never actually mentioned the girl's first name. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • International Episode Titles: Czech Republic: Pekelnice (Hell's Witch) France: Usurpation d'identité (Identity theft) Edit
    • Antonio Sabàto Jr. and Alyssa Milano both appeared on the seriesMelrose Place, but in different seasons. Edit
    • This episode scored 5.1 million viewers. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Barbas (to Willis): Your greatest fear is that Bane will be double crossed, and will come to kill you... (Bane bursts through the door with an automatic gun and fires at Willis, who screams and falls over, Bane leaves the room, and Willis gets up, relatively unharmed) Edit
    • (Reading Ms Hellfire's notebook - Prue: Telekinises, Piper: Freeze, Phoebe: Negligible) Phoebe: Negligible!? Edit
    • (Trying to decide on a plan to stop the hitman) Piper: Freeze? Phoebe: Kick? Prue: Send flying? Piper: Okay. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Prue: Mmm. Not exactly Avon calling.
      This is a reference to the well known beauty & makeup company, Avon and the common greeting from its salespeople - "Avon calling". Edit
    • Title: Ms. Hellfire
      This is a reference to the film "Mrs. Doubtfire", starring Robin Williams. Edit

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