Interview with Pat Shand - Charmed Season 10 #17 (SPOILERS)

Under the cut you can read my interview with Pat Shand talking about #17!

The interview contains spoilers.

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INTERVIEW

 

Charmed Comic Fan: While her charges are making the magical effigy, Paige says that it represents their inner spirit and source of their power. Tyler’s looks in pain, as Aidel says. While Tyler is not seeing anything wrong in it, is how the effigy turned out looking like coming from the emotional damage that he went through while he was possessed?

 

Pat Shand: Definitely. Tyler is in a good place right now, it seems, with a great boyfriend in Kareem, a strong mentor in Paige, and a good friend in Aidel. But his effigy, which does seem to be in pain, speaks to some deeper damage. However, it’s definitely up to interpretation – is that pain, or is it maybe a cry of victory? A rebellious battle cry? We could leave that to the reader.

 

Charmed Comic Fan: The effigy is also meant to represent Prue, right? The one that got the short end of the stick to say the least.

 

Pat: Yeah, in some ways. The entire concept of the effigies was created to parallel Prue. The idea of something else putting its fingerprint on her, molding her into something not quite it, not quite her, but parts of both.

 

Charmed Comic Fan: Something that clicked to me while reading the issue is that what Ben is describing about himself trying to understand where he begins and Cole ends might also apply to what is happening to Prue. One moment Prue sounds like Prue then she is saying she is older than time itself which sounds like Heremus. Is there any parallel to be drawn between their cases?

 

Pat: Yeah, Ben also parallels Prue’s situation here. It’s interesting, because I’ve seen folks mention that because Ben and Kyra are off on their own for now, that they don’t know why their ‘subplot’ is a focus. The Ben/Kyra storyline isn’t a subplot, though, that’s straight up plot, that’s the A-Story. Their situation is inextricable from Prue’s. You’ll see soon how tied together they are.

 

Charmed Comic Fan: A lingering question through the season is why Prue put Ben in Cole’s body. Is why she did it connected to her own relationship with her father?

 

Pat: There might be an emotional parallel there, but the reason she did it is a very specific plot point that I can’t really get into yet. Once you guys know that, you basically have the key to the rest of the season.

Again, though, I’ve said this a bunch, but this season isn’t a mystery. There are some mysterious aspects, like Ben being in Cole’s body, but the overall story isn’t meant to leave readers guessing or to shock people. Charmed has never been about that, and it’s frankly not something I care about. I care about telling the best and most emotionally relevant story possible – and the key to I think understanding where we’re going lies within Ben’s role in Prue’s overall plan. Everyone is still in “Prue’s going to die!” mode, but there is still something vital about Prue that no one knows yet.

 

Charmed Comic Fan: Paige and Henry are back together! While to their knowledge at that time the Big Bad is defeated and everything is ok, Paige being a Charmed One and always putting her family in danger is not going to stop anytime soon. What’s stopping them from returning to the same problem when the next threat appears?

 

Pat: Exactly.

 

Charmed Comic Fan: What did Prue mean when she said the Old Ones “are in our hearts”?

 

Pat: I didn’t come out and have her say it, but think about what she did the last time she was in a room with magical children. She planted the seeds of the Old Ones in their hearts – the Aldar Kose plan. If Phoebe hadn’t gotten there, something really bad might have happened.

 

Charmed Comic Fan: The whole scene of Prue trying to kill Phoebe with the Athame for me is one of the scariest moments ever. Her reason is that she thinks Phoebe didn’t mourn her. Is her bigger problem with Phoebe and does she feel the same about Piper?

 

Pat: No, she definitely doesn’t feel the same about Piper. However, that doesn’t mean that she wouldn’t kill Piper. Look at Prue’s logic in this issue. She tries to kill Victor for not visiting her, and she tried to kill Phoebe for “not mourning her.” I’d say these are both pretty drastic reactions, right? There is a lot of Prue’s angst and depression at the root of these decisions, but let’s face it – that’s something that, on any given Wednesday, you wouldn’t expect Prue Halliwell to do, right? All of the moves she makes will come from that place of deep seeded fear and resentment, but her sense of the right thing to do is obviously warped.

 

Charmed Comic Fan: In the summary of the issue we saw the question “will the Charmed Ones stand on the side of good or evil?”, which is something we didn’t see play out in #17. Is this a decision the Charmed Ones will encounter soon?

 

Pat: I’m very, very careful about the way I write the solicits. I can’t clarify any of that.

 

Charmed Comic Fan: Tyler sent Prue somewhere that will be hard for her to come back, something that sounds too good to be true considering Prue’s power. Any hints as to where he sent her?

 

Pat: No, I didn’t really think it mattered. We’ll see the place next time, but it’s a pocket reality that we don’t give a name.

 

Charmed Comic Fan: Story arc 3 complete! With 1 more story arc left what are we in for in these last 5 issues?

 

Pat: A homecoming party, Darryl, a character from Social Medium (which I thought would be out right now, but I don’t know the schedule!), maybe some bad news, and then, at the end, some shit with a door.

 

Charmed Comic Fan: Thank you very much, Pat!

 

Pat: Thank YOU!

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