"Charmed" Sand Francisco Dreamin' (2003)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

John T. Kretchmer

Writers:

Constance M. Burge (creator)
Monica Breen (writer) ...

TV Series:

"Charmed" (1998)

Original Air Date:

9 February 2003 (Season 5, Episode 14)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Romance

Plot:

After a demon kills the sandman and uses his sleep dust to cause the Charmed Ones' nightmares to come to life...

Plot Keywords:

Wiccan | Sisters | Witchcraft | Demon | Power Of Three

Cast

Alyssa Milano	...	Phoebe Halliwell
Rose McGowan	...	Paige Matthews
Holly Marie Combs	...	Piper Halliwell
Brian Krause	...	Leo Wyatt
Henry Gibson	...	Sandman
Rebecca Balding	...	Elise Rothman
Darin Heames	...	Tracer Demon
Austin Peck	...	Ryder
Tim Kelleher	...	Axel
Allison Munn	...	Wendy
Clarissa Romano	...	Becca
Beth Orton	...	Herself
Troy Blendell	...	Clown
Shauna Sand	...	Sienna
Shari Shaw	...	Soccer Mom

Runtime:

42 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Certification:

Mexico:B | USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Title based upon "California Dreamin'" by The Mamas and the Papas.

Quotes:

Tracer Demon: [upon seeing that Phoebe wounded herself when she wounded the killer from her dream] Man, would Freud have a field day with this or what?

Movie Connections:

References Friday the 13th Part III (1982)

Soundtrack:

Mr. Sandman

Nighmares at the manor

An entertaining episode, but one that feels like "been there, done that". The sandman legend was too good to pass, I guess, but the defeat-your-worst-fear plot is overdone by now, and the fact that the characters keep alluding to 1.13 From Fear to Eternity doesn't help.

The good thing is that this episode is well-done. Everybody's fears are interesting, sometimes puzzling but always coherent, and contribute to characterization. The demon is right, Freud would have a field day. In particular, Paige's nightmare is very cleverly thought up and explained. Piper's offers a bit of comic relief, although she gets off the hook a bit easily, and Leo is a darling for not objecting more than that. Finally, Phoebe's nightmare is absolutely spot on. At first it seems to be less interesting than the others, just another nightmare about being killed in a hideous way. The killer's mask raises some interesting questions, but Phoebe herself offers a very plausible explanation, so that the final revelation about the killer's identity comes as a good surprise. It isn't that original, but it is in continuity with recent events, and shows that Phoebe's apparent recovery from the traumatizing last year is itself a kind of mask.