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Charmed
Season 1, Episode 9

Melinda Warren is summoned.
Episode Information
Air date	December 16, 1998
Written by	Sheryl J. Anderson
Directed by	Richard Denault
Production Code	4398008
Credits
Billy Wirth	Matthew Tate
Tyler Layton	Melinda Warren
Brian Krause	Leo Wyatt
Neil Roberts	Rex Buckland
Leigh-Allyn Baker	Hannah Webster
Terry Bozeman	Arnold Halliwell
Michael Mitz	Cafe Patron
Catherine Kwong	Waitress
Jodi Fung	T.V. Reporter
Dana Winseman	Mr. Halliwell
Episode Guide
previous The Truth is Out There... and It Hurts	next Wicca Envy

The Witch Is Back is the 9th episode of the first season and the 9th overall episode of Charmed.

SummaryEdit

For a complete plot of The Witch Is Back go here.

A warlock from the past is released from his curse and tries to steal the sisters' powers with the help of Rex and Hannah, but the sisters resurrect their ancestor Melinda Warren to combat him. Meanwhile, Piper works up her courage to ask Leo out and Andy gets frustrated by Prue's continued involvement with bizarre police investigations.

CharactersEdit

Characters in bold appear for the first time in the series.

Magical NotesEdit

Book of ShadowsEdit

Melinda's Warlock CurseEdit

This Warlock Curse was created by Melinda Warren to trap Matthew Tate into her locket. It is believed that only Melinda herself is able to perform the curse.

(To Curse Matthew Tate into Melinda's locket)

Ingredients needed:

assorted herbs,

a Spotted Owl Feather,

a leather bag

and a locket.

Combine the herbs and make it into a fine powder.

Put the powder into the leather bag and add the owl feather.

Put the bag into fire and let it burn while chanting the spell

and holding the locket open, pointed to the to-be-cursed warlock

Outside of Time!

Outside of Gain!

Know only Sorrow!

Know only Pain!

To Call Blood to BloodEdit

The "To Call Blood to Blood" ritual was cast by the Charmed Ones to summon their ancestor Melinda Warren, to help them defeat a powerful, ancient warlock.

(To Summon Melinda Warren from the dead)

3 sprigs Rosemary for remembrance

2 tablespoons chopped Ground Holly

for spirit calling

A pinch of Cypress for longevity

1 shredded Yarrow Root

for contacting relatives

Let the herbs be prepared while the name of

the love one is repeated by the preparer.

Place the herbs in a silver bowl.

Lay in a treasure of the loved one,

should one be available.

With a knife, prick the left finger,

so the blood will flow straight from the heart.

Add the blood to the bowl, calling the name

of the loved one and saying, "Blood of our

blood, we summon thee." The loved one

will be summoned in full wholeness and

freshness of life.

PowersEdit

ArtifactsEdit

BeingsEdit

Magical BeingsEdit

Matthew Tate-
Melinda Warren-

MortalsEdit

Arnold Halliwell

Episode StillsEdit

MusicEdit

In The Air Tonight by Holly McNarland Around Here by Counting Crows

Notes and TriviaEdit

This is the first time Phoebe sees a vision of the past, which is a power advancement, the first for the sisters that didn't occur under the influence of evil magic.
This is the first episode of many to have the word 'witch' in the title.
Phoebe makes a joke that she believed her future power was the power of flight. She does temporarily develop the power to fly in the season 2 finale Be Careful What You Witch For. Later in the season 3 premiere The Honeymoon's Over, she develops the power of levitation.
Upon being summoned to the present, Melinda's first words to the Charmed Ones were "Blessed be!", a traditional Wiccan greeting.
Melinda Warren assumes that Matthew must have copied the power of Blinking from another witch, although it is later established that Blinking is a Warlock power. However it is also believed that Blinking was originally a Witch power and that it evolved to be a Warlock power.
The photos that Rex Buckland gives Matthew will be used again in Deja Vu All Over Again and again in Something Wicca This Way Goes...?. Prue's photo doesn't appear because Shannen didn't want her face shown on the show after she left.
Even though Phoebe's power is passive, Matthew was still able to obtain a premonition when he touched Phoebe, causing her to have a vision and allowing him to obtain it.
Melinda did not use her powers to escape her execution in order to protect her daughter from the same fate.
Prue shares her name with Melinda's daughter, Prudence Warren.
Before Melinda departs, Phoebe triggers a premonition in her, allowing her to see a future of "many more generations of my beautiful daughters". Phoebe is later revealed to be the only sister who only has daughters, although Paige also only gives birth to girls. Prue never had children, Piper has two boys and a girl, while Paige also adopts a boy.
Phoebe and Piper say they'll miss Melinda, and Prue says that they can always bring her back, but they have never done so in future episodes. Melinda makes an appearance in one episode of season 3 as a baby and in season 9, when Patty and Penny summon her and all the Warren Witches to help the Charmed Ones defeat Neena.
This episode starts the trend of an element of the past coming back before the New Year, which happens next in Season 2 (P3 H2O), 3 (Coyote Piper), and 5 (Sam, I Am). Seasons 4 (A Paige from the Past) and 6 (Witchstock) both have episodes about the past as the first episodes of the New Year.
This is Tyler Layton's last TV role.
This episode scored six million viewers.
This is the first episode to show someone blinking.

References to other movies, books, mythology, etc.Edit

When Leo and Melinda meets, he says: "I am a true labourer. I earn that I eat, get that I wear." Melinda replies: "Owe no man hate, envy no man's happiness." This is a quote of Corin in the play "As You Like It", by William Shakespeare in Act III, Scene II.
The title of this episode is The Witch Is Back. This is a reference to the Elton John's song "The Bitch Is Back".

GlitchesEdit

In the beginning when Prue lets Matthew out of the locket, her hand keeps moving from at her side to on her stomach when the shot changes.
When Matthew is cursed back into the locket at the end of the episode, the sisters' heads move at the wrong time whilst he is being sucked to the locket.
Matthew broke Prue's window, but in the over head shots the glass wasn't there.
At the end of the episode when the girls are saying goodbye to Melinda, Phoebe is shown saying "Why can't you stay here and have the life that you should have haved" when really she should have said "should have had".

QuotesEdit

(Rex leaves. Prue sees the locket and picks it up. She opens it. The door slams shut and Matthew comes out of it.)

Matthew: At last, freedom. The world has changed. What time is this?

Prue: Excuse me?

Matthew: Where am I?

Prue: Who are you?

Matthew: Matthew Tate, and if you freed me from that locket you are a descendant of Melinda Warren. (He walks closer to her and she throws him across the room.) Thank you.

Prue: For what?

Matthew: I tricked you into using your power on me. Now, I have it. (He slams her against the wall with a chair. He then blinks, she runs in the middle of the room and he reappears behind her.) Behind you, witch.

Prue: How did you do that?

Matthew: I can share your power but you can’t share mine.

Prue: What do you want?

Matthew: I want what Melinda took from me. I want all three powers back. (He grabs her.) Defend yourself. Stop time.

Prue: I can’t.

Matthew: Ah, so you’re not alone. There are others. (He disappears and appears in front of the desk.) And the family name is now Halliwell.

Phoebe: You’ve never asked a guy out before?

Piper: Not on a real date, no.

Phoebe: I don’t understand. Am I the only person in this family who’s inherited the take-a-chance gene?

Piper: Probably. ‘Cause if I remember my biology correctly, it’s attached to the can’t-mind-my-own-business gene.

Phoebe: Ooh! Go.

Prue: Great, so now I’m being hunted by a warlock and the San Francisco P.D.

Phoebe: Nobody ever said you led a boring life, Prue.

Piper: Maybe Andy can help.

Prue: Oh, yeah. You want to have that conversation with him? "Hey Andy, I hate to bother you but this seventeenth century warlock is trying to kill me and my sisters." Any thoughts?

Piper: Okay, it was a bad idea. But the point is we need help.

Piper: Oh, wow, Melinda, you look great.

Melinda: Thank you. Oh, but how do you keep your legs warm?

Prue: We drink coffee.

(Leo approaches the doorway of Phoebe's bedroom.)

Leo: Oh, sorry, I let myself in and it didn’t occur to me.

Piper: Leo, uh, it’s okay. This is, uh...

Phoebe: Our cousin, Melinda.

Leo: Nice to meet you.

Piper: Leo’s fixing our plumbing.

Melinda: What’s that?

Prue: Uh, we’ve got to go now.

Melinda: To work with one’s hands is a great gift.

Leo: Well, I am a true labourer. I earn that I eat, get that I wear.

Melinda: Owe no man hate, envy no man’s happiness.

Leo & Melinda: Shakespeare.

(Melinda giggles.)

Prue: Wasn’t that fun? Okay, let’s go now.

(They walk out of the room and Leo walks in.)

Melinda: (to Piper) He is a treasure, Piper.

Piper: Why you telling me?

(At Quake's kitchen Phoebe is holding a rolling pin and Matthew is backing her into a corner. Phoebe goes to hit him with the rolling pin but he grabs it and throws it on the floor. He then grabs Phoebe and she has a premonition of him attacking Melinda.)

Matthew: Now I have your power. And I see Melinda’s here. Good. She will die at my hand. (He pushes her on the ground and he blinks out of the room. Piper comes in.)

Piper: Are you okay?

Phoebe: Yeah. It was Matthew. He’s gone, but he copied my power.

Matthew: They returned Melinda Warren back from the dead to do it.

Hannah: They did what?!

Piper: Leo! You're here! Why are you here?

Leo: I thought I could work on the plumbing in the downstairs bathroom.

International TitlesEdit

French: La Sorcière de Salem (The Witch of Salem)
Polish: Czarownica Wróciła (The Witch Came Back)
Czech: Návrat čarodějky (Return of the Witch)
Slovak: Bosorkin návrat (Witch's Return)
Italian: Il ciondolo antico (The Old Pendant)
Spanish (Spain): La bruja ha vuelto (The Witch is Back)
Spanish (Latin America): El regreso de la abuela (The Return of the Grandmother)
Hungarian: Az ük-ük-üknagyanyánk (The Great-great-great-grandmother)
Portuguese (Portugal): O Feiticeiro Voltou (The Warlock Came Back)
Brazilian Portuguese: A Bruxa Voltou (The Witch Came Back)
Russian: Vozvrashchenie vedʹmy (Return of the Witch)
Finnish: Vieras menneisyydestä (Visitor from the Past)
German: Rückkehr aus dem Jenseits (Return from the Afterlife)
Serbian: Veštica se vratila (The Witch Came Back)

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Episodes: Season 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10