Is Charmed's End Near?

Brad Kern, longtime executive producer of The WB's Charmed, told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming season finale, "Something Wicca This Way Goes?" could also serve as the series finale—with a big surprise—should the show not get picked up for an eighth season. The finale builds on the events of "Death Becomes Them," the penultimate seventh-season episode, Kern said in an interview.

"The girls [Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs and Rose McGowan] have to figure out how to get the book back before Zankou [Oded Fehr] can use it to be able to tap into the power of the spiritual nexus and then become unstoppable," Kern said. "Over the course of the episode the girls have to wrestle with whether the fight [to protect innocents] has been worth it, whether they want to carry on or not, what they're willing to give up."

Kern added: "But they also realize that if they don't stop Zankou then all of the good they've done over the past seven years will have been for naught. That's just not acceptable, but the more they try to stop him, one by one he takes their powers. Halfway through the show they end the act by saying, 'I don't think we're going to get out of this one alive.' And that sets up a surprising ending that is so surprising and so top-secret that even in the episode outline that I've sent to the studio and the network, I've not included that scene. It will only be distributed on the day we shoot it. The idea is to not let spoilers spoil things for the loyal fans."

Still, Kern isn't giving up hope for another year of the show about the Halliwell sisters. "The network loves Charmed creatively and have been especially happy with it this season," he said. "But whether we come back or not still all boils down to ratings—which means it's up to the fans. If they all tune in and watch the last couple of episodes, I believe that'll raise our numbers enough to push us over the edge and force The WB to pick us up for an eighth season."

The WB will announce in May whether or not they'll pick up Charmed for another, presumably final, season. The season finale will probably air on May 22.
Sci Fi Wire -- The News Service of the Sci Fi Channel