Cole Turner's "Humanity"
COLE TURNER'S "HUMANITY"
When his character had been first introduced in the Season Three premiere episode of "CHARMED", (3.01) "The Honeymoon's Over", Cole Turner was revealed as demonic assassin that went by the name of Belthazor. In the episode, (3.08) "Sleuthing With the Enemy", viewers eventually learned about Cole's true state as a human-daemon hybrid. In order to explain his love for the witch Phoebe Halliwell, the series' writers attributed his evil nature to his demonic side and his ability for love and compassion to his human side. Many years ago, I came to the conclusion that this explanation for Cole's complex personality seems like a load of bull.
Recalling those years in which Julian McMahon - the actor who had portrayed Cole - had spent on "CHARMED", it seemed to me that Cole had loved Phoebe, regardless of whether he was evil, good, demonic or human. He had loved her, due to his own personality and nothing else. If "humanity" guaranteed goodness, how does one explain the numerous humans that the Charmed Ones had faced who turned out to be not only morally questionable, but out-and-out evil? Characters like:
*Tony Wong - a local gangster who murdered a young man named Mark Chao in order to steal the latter's identity and avoid the police. (1.04) "Dead Man Dating"
*Whitaker Berman - a handicapped man with an ability to infiltrate the dreams of others via machines, uses his ability to kill women that reject his advances. (1.05) "Dream Sorcerer"
*Harry and Danny - two thugs who kidnapped a psychokinetic named Max in order to rob a bank. They also shot his dad, when the latter proved to be difficult. (1.14) "Secrets and Guys
*Phoebe Halliwell (2009) - Future version of Phoebe who used her powers to murder a man that had assaulted a friend of hers. (2.02) "Mortality Bites"
*Ms. Hellfire - A female assassin who attempted to murder the Charmed Ones with an assault weapon. (2.09) "Ms. Hellfire"
*Bane Jessup - A ganster hired by Barbas to murder the Charmed Ones. He, in turn, handed over the assignment to Ms. Hellfire. (2.09) "Ms. Hellfire"
*Martha van Lewen - A San Franciscan socialite whose murder of her lover and family chauffeur led to the men in her family being murdered by his spirit. (2.11) "Reckless Abandon"
*Piper Halliwell - She had broken Federal law by purchasing illegal South American fruit that had not been examined by U.S. Customs called Kiwano, which causes Oroya fever. (2.12) "Awakened"
*Aunt Gail, Amanda and Helen - Three elderly witches (one of them who was an old friend of their grandmother, Penny Halliwell) who stole the Charmed Ones' powers for a daemon who could restore their youth. ("How to Make a Quilt Out of an American")
*Dr. Curtis Williamson - The doctor who had treated Piper of Oroyo Fever, accidentally acquired their powers and became a murderous vigilante. (2.20) "Astral Monkey"
*Emilio - A street thug who had allowed his body to be used as a host for one of the demonic spirits called the Guardians. (3.01) "The Honeymoon's Over"
*Abbey - A bartender at P3, who developed an obssession over Prue. She kidnapped Prue and nearly killed her. (3.05) "Sight Unseen"
*Tom Peters - Prue's ex-classmate who had deliberately joined a demonic academy to ascend to demonhood. (3.12) "Wrestling With Demons"
*Sutter - A ruthless political boss from a town in 1873, who terrorized a Native American citizen and intimidated other citizens. (3.14) "The Good, the Bad and the Cursed"
*Ray - A bar customer who had murdered another customer in cold-blood and framed Prue. (3.15) "Just Harried"
*Alice Hicks - A local San Franciscan who shot Piper in cold blood after asking the two older Charmed Ones to allow her to become a witch and being rejected. (3.22) "All Hell Breaks Loose"
*Carol Grisanti - An abusive mother who allowed her husband to take the blame for their son's abuse. (4.02) "Charmed Again, Part 2"
*FBI Special Agent Jackson - A Federal agent who turned out to be a witch hunter that burns witches alive. (4.22) "Witch Way Now?"
*Phoebe Halliwell and Paige Matthews - Two of the Charmed Ones who ripped Lieutenant Darryl Morris' soul from his body without his permission. (6.01-6.02) "Vahalley of the Dolls"
*Rick Gittridge - An old classmate of Phoebe and convict who managed to escape from jail with her help. He kidnapped a few other classmates and blackmailed her into using her powers to commit crimes. ("Hyde School Reunion")
*Phoebe Halliwell and Paige Matthews - The two younger Charmed Ones who had deliberately set up Rick Gittridge to be murdered by Scabbars Demons, who were after Chris Halliwell. They changed Rick's face into Chris'. (6.17) "Hyde School Reunion"
*The Charmed Ones - The Halliwells turned into murdeorus werewolves when all three of them are on their menstrual cycle during a Blue Moon. (7.06) "Once in a Blue Moon"
*The Charmed Ones - The Halliwells helped the Avatars cast a spell on the citizens of Earth against their wills in order to transform the planet into Utopia. (7.12) "Extreme Makeover: World Edition"
"CHARMED" also featured characters, originally regarded as good because they were whitelighters (guardian angels for witches), portrayed in a negative light. In other words, they either committed or tried to commit some pretty serious crimes. I can only think of two whitelighters who were guilty of committing evil. One of them was a member of the Whitelighters' Council of Elders named Gideon, who spent most of Season Six plotting to kill Piper and Leo's toddler son, Wyatt Halliwell. Gideon felt concerned that Wyatt was too powerful and became convinced that Wyatt needed to die to protect the Greater Good. When a witch named Sigmund, who worked at Gideon's magic school, began to question Gideon's plot, the latter killed him. When Leo and his time traveling younger son, Chris, learned of Gideon's plot, the Elder killed Chris, as well. An enraged Leo retaliated by killing Gideon. Brad Kern and the screenwriter of (6.23) "It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World: Part 2" tried to transform Leo's evil deed as something necessary - an act of evil was needed to bring balance to two parallel worlds. After all, it was Gideon's second reason for attempting to kill Wyatt. But - and I have argued this with other fans of the show - if Leo's sole reason for killing Gideon was to bring balance to his world and a parallel world - then his action would have not worked, for it could not be deemed as evil. Malice or any other negative motive had to be behind Leo's act of murder in order for balance to return. And it did return. Which made Leo guilty of cold-blooded murder . . . and evil.
My knowledge of the villains that appeared on the show between Seasons Five and Eight are very sketchy. But I have noticed that there have been a great deal of evil humans, or humans who have committed questionable or evil acts between Seasons One and Four. Many or nearly all of these humans have never displayed any sign of remorse for their actions. Even more disturbing is the fact that the Charmed Ones - especially Phoebe and Paige - have committed some very questionable acts.
And the series also proved - without acknowledging - that demonic or other supernatural beings are capable of love. Beings such as:
*Paul Rowe - A warlock and one-third of the powerful Rowe Coven, who had sacrificed himself to save his ungrateful half-brother Brendan from being killed by the eldest brother, Greg. (1.18) "When Bad Warlocks Go Good"
*Alec - A darklighter who had fallen in love with a human and future whitelighter named Daisy. He eventually turned to evil again, when she had rejected his love. (1.21) "Love Hurts"
*Elias Lundy - The chauffeur of the van Lewen family who had been Martha van Lewen's lover. He had been genuinely in love with her, when she murdered him in cold-blood. His love eventually turned to hatred of her family when he became a ghost. (2.11) "Reckless Abandon"
*The Warlock/Businessman - He was also love with his mortal secretary and could not deal with her romantic feelings for another. (2.02) "Magic Hour"
*Rick and Nathan Lang - Army friends of Leo who had died on Guadacanal. They blamed Leo for their deaths and came back as ghosts to kill Piper. (4.17) "Saving Private Leo"
*Orin and Cree - A demonic father and son pair who seemed willing to do anything for each other. It is clear that they loved each other as father and son. (5.06) "The Eyes Have It"
*Cole Turner/Belthazor - Phoebe's demonic ex-husband whose inability to deal with her permanent rejection of him, led him to a path of depression, suicide attempts, insanity and evil. (5.09) "Sam I Am" to (5.12) "Centennial Charmed"
*Armand - The ghost of a necromancing demon who had once been Grams' lover when she was young. Although he wanted to use Wyatt's powers to become corporeal, he was genuinely in love with her. (5.21) "Necromancing the Stone"
In the Season Three episode, (3.13) "Bride and Gloom", Cole once told Phoebe that evil could not love:
Phoebe: Love is love.
Cole: There's no such thing as evil love. It's just gratification, lust.
The person who had put those words into his mouth was a screenwriter named William Schmidt. Now, I do not know if Mr. Schmidt actually believed this crap, or whether he had been instructed by showrunner Brad Kern to write it. Nevertheless, Cole ended up being proven wrong on many occasions, judging by the adversaries listed above. And the sad thing is that many fans and possibly Kern himself, refuse to accept this. They preferred to cling to the belief that evil cannot love. Period. No one seemed willing to admit that love can drive people to both good and evil. Why? I do not know. What can I say? Humans are an illusional bunch.
Some people would say that the above adversaries' ability to feel or experience love was due to some human blood or ancestry within them . . . like Cole. I say . . . bullshit to that. Unlike Constance Burge, Brad Kern and their writers, I am not stupid enough to believe that individuals can be easily labeled as good or evil, based upon what they are. I do not believe in recognizing a being's moral state in such a simplified manner. Life is simply too complex and ambiguous for such immature thinking.
A good example of CHARMED's talent for contradiction is the saga of the Rowe brothers in the Season 1 episode, "When Bad Warlocks Go Good". In this episode, Prue met a seminarian (someone training to become a priest) named Brendan Rowe. It turned out that he and his two half-brothers were part of a powerful family of warlocks called the Rowe Coven. Although his half brothers, two "so-called full-blooded warlocks" named Greg and Paul, tried to convince his brother to choose a path of evil, Brendan - whose mother was a non-magical mortal - resisted with Prue's help. The oldest Rowe, Greg, turned out to be one evil bastard willing to do anything to convince Brendan to help form the Rowe Coven. Surprisingly, the middle brother, Paul, turned out to be a different kettle of fish. One, he had earlier tried to convince brother Greg to allow Brendan to lead his own life. From the beginning, Paul had never struck me as someone as being inherently evil. I got the feeling that he had been dominated by a strong-willed and evil father, and later by his older brother Greg. The only reason Greg wanted Brendan alive was to maintain the powerful Rowe Coven. And when he threatened to kill Brendan for rejecting this path, the Charmed Ones did not come to the latter's rescue. Ironically, it was Paul Rowe who saved Brendan's life out of brotherly love . . . and sacrificed his own. And Brendan reacted in this manner:
Greg: Then you will die. (He throws the knife and it hits Paul in the chest.) Damn you, Brendan.
Paul: Greg. (He pulls the knife out of his chest.) Damn you!
(He throws the knife and hits Greg in the chest. They both turn into dust.)
Prue: I'm sorry.
Brendan: I'm not.
Ungrateful bastard. Paul had sacrificed himself to save Brendan's sorry ass and the shit heel could not even acknowledge this. Why? Because the moronic writers - along with Constance Burge - lacked the guts to admit that their theory of evil being unable to love was worth shit in the wind.
Brad Kern and his writers saved the worst for one Coleridge Benjamin Turner, aka the daemon Belthazor. After Phoebe had faked his death in Season Three's "Sleuthing With the Enemy", Cole returned in "Bride and Gloom", in the hopes of continuing his relationship with her. Phoebe responded in the following manner:
Phoebe: "Maybe not on the surface and maybe not even in your heart. But somewhere inside of you, you'll always be evil. And you can't ever change that. Goodbye."
How ironic that this would come from a woman whose future self was shown in Season Two's "Morality Bites", murdering a man in cold-blood out of revenge for a friend's death in an alternate future timeline. In that same timeline, her older sister Prue nearly murdered the District Attorney in order to stop the execution of a very guilty Phoebe. Phoebe was right that Cole would always have evil within him. But she believed this was the case due to him being a half-daemon. She never considered the possibility that Cole would always have evil or darkness within him, because he was a sentient being. Or that she, her sisters and Leo would also have evil within them as long as they existed. After all, if mortals like Ms. Hellfire and Piper's bartender Abbey, were capable of acts of extreme evil, what on earth made Phoebe believe that one has to be a daemon or even half-daemon to possess the potential of evil? Exactly how stupid was she? Or should I say . . . Brad Kern and his cabal of writers?
Well, here is an example of how stupid they were when Cole first lost his powers in the early Season Four episode :
Leo: You don't think they should?
Paige: I don't know, I guess it's not my business. Probably just really the fact that Cole killed people.
Piper: Yeah, but that wasn't Cole, it was Belthazor.
Paige: Splitting hairs if you ask me.
Leo: It's not though. He's human half had absolutely nothing to do with any of that, it was totally substicated. Phoebe's right, he's an innocent.
Personally, I believe that Brad Kern might be a fucking moron. What on earth made him portray Cole's demonic half as some kind of supernatural entity that had assumed control of his human half? Was Kern really that stupid or simply unable to allow the series fans to accept that Cole had been a hybrid since birth? And why on earth did Kern and his writers believe it was necessary to strip Cole of his powers in order to make him "safe" for Phoebe? After all, she and her sisters had the potential to be just as dangerous to him. The Charmed Ones ended up proving just how dangerous they could be - especially in the post-Season Four years. And considering the number of dangerous mortals they had encountered between Seasons One through Four, it still amazes me that they continued to believe that a completely human Cole was the only safe Cole . . . despite the fact that Leo had witnessed a mortal Cole kill a former demonic colleague in cold blood in order to prevent them from being discovered in the Source's Realm in (4.09) "Muse to My Ears".
By early Season Five, it all went to shit for poor Cole. In late Season Four, the Halliwells managed to kill the Old Source in (4.13) "Charmed and Dangerous". Unfortunately, the old bastard's spirit took the opportunity to take possession of Cole's body - which been lacking his demonic side since the losss of his powers in "Black As Cole". Despite some struggling on Cole's part, the Source was able to take full possession of his body. Instead of allowing the Charmed Ones to find out what had really happened to Cole, Kern and his writers allowed the sisters to eventually assume the worst and kill Cole and the Source's spirit in (4.20) "Long Live the Queen". Later, Cole managed to acquire new and stronger powers in something called the Wasteland and returned from the dead. I had hoped that the sisters would eventually learn of their mistake and discover what had really happened between him and the Source in early Season Five. Alas, Brad Kern had something else in mind.
Cole returned to San Francisco at the beginning of Season Five to win back Phoebe's love. After all, when she had visited him in the Wasteland, she had refused to help him escape using the Grimoire in the Season Four finale, "Witch Way Is Now?". But he found himself facing a Phoebe, who feared his new powers and wanted nothing to do with him. Phoebe finally claimed that she still loved him, but something about him stood in the way:
Phoebe: Right. So once again our love was nearly fatal.
Cole: I never would've hurt you if I wasn't under her spell.
Phoebe: Most men don't try to kill their wives when they're under the Siren's spell. Most men just kiss and die. But because you're a demon...
Cole: I'm not...
Phoebe: Okay, well, because you have demonic powers and a lot of them, you became a bigger threat than the Siren. And that's only one way out of a thousand that your powers can turn against me.
It is understandable that Phoebe would fear Cole's new powers. But I wonder if she ever understood that as part of the powerful Charmed Ones, she and her sisters could be just as dangerous to society . . . as they would eventually prove in mid-Season Seven. Yet, she had never expressed such reservations about her very powerful nephew Wyatt, who had been born in mid-Season Five's "The Day The Magic Died". Even when the Halliwells learned in Season Six that Wyatt might prove to be a very powerful force of evil in future, and had an encounter with an evil Wyatt in Season Seven's "Imaginary Friends", they never viewed him as a threat, like they did Cole. It seemed that morality had nothing to do with Phoebe's reservations about Cole. Apparently, blood seemed to be thicker than an ex-husband. Or perhaps Wyatt's status as the son of a witch and a whitelighter made Phoebe more tolerant of him than the son of a mortal and a daemon. Even Leo's murder of an Elder who had been plotting against Wyatt was tolerated . . . despite the fact that it had been an act of evil.
Am I accusing the Halliwells of possible bigotry toward Cole, because of what he was? Who knows? When Piper had succumbed to depression and anger over Prue's death in Season Four's "Hell Hath No Fury", and Leo's promotion to being an Elder in Season Five's "Oh Goddess!", Phoebe, Paige and Leo did not hesitate to give her emotional support. Yet, when Cole had suffered depression and anger over Phoebe's final rejection of him, the sisters reacted in this manner:
Phoebe: No, you said it yourself. It wasn't a smart plan. Unless you didn't really wanted to kill us. You wanted us to be so blinded by hate that we couldn't see what you were really up to.
Cole: Well, it's the only way out for me. And you want it too, so...
Phoebe: Yeah, but on our terms, not yours. We won't help you commit suicide.
According to Phoebe, not only would they refuse to help Cole commit suicide, they were only prepared to kill him on "their terms". Nor were they willing to help him deal with his loss of Phoebe. Period. And all because of his demonic heritage.
In the end, Paige tried to kill Cole on her own in "Centennial Charmed". This led to Cole becoming an Avatar and changing the timeline in which Paige had been killed before becoming a Charmed One. But this also led to Cole returning to his old status as Belthazor. And the sisters killed him using a potion they had first created back in early Season Three:
Paige: I think you should feel good about it, you know? We don't have to look over our shoulders anymore. It's over.
(Phoebe picks up a photo of her and Cole.)
Phoebe: I guess it just wasn't meant to be.
Piper: Let's go.
(They head for the door. Phoebe places the photo on a side table and looks back into the apartment. She smiles slightly and walks into the elevator.)
Paige: Happy birthday, Cole.
Personally, I found Paige's birthday greeting too little and too late for me to take her words seriously. I found it empty and shallow. And I have not harbored a kind thought about the Halliwells and Leo ever since.