Suffering declining ratings, "Charmed" was very nearly canceled at the end of Season Seven, but was given a reprieve, offering loyal fans hope for a more satisfying finale to the series. Sadly, much of Season Eight was disappointing. In exchange for a promise to assist on 'unusual' cases, the sisters were allowed to renew their identities and original appearances, with Homeland Security concocting a story that they had been 'undercover'; budgetary constraints forced Leo to 'disappear' for half of the season; an annoying, whiny novice witch, Billie Jenkins (Kaley Cuoco) became a 'regular', taking precious air time away from the Halliwells; and loose ends were tied up far too quickly and cheaply. Billie's rescue of her long-lost sister, in the Underworld, was referred to but NEVER filmed(!); Paige met, dated, and quickly married a parole officer (Ivan Sergei); and Phoebe, in an increasingly annoying "Love Quest" subplot, finally found her soul mate in a 'new' Cupid (Victor Webster).

Fortunately, everything 'jelled' in the series' final two episodes, as Billie and her sister, Christy (Marnette Patterson), who had been secretly trained by the revived demonic Triad, aligned against the Sisters. With both sides tapping into the 'Ultimate Power', "The Hollow", there was a cataclysmic, if brief battle, destroying nearly everything and everyone, and forcing Piper (and the returned Leo) to journey into the past and future, in the series' finale, to straighten things out, and provide the 'Charmed Saga' a happy, satisfying conclusion, as the Halliwell sisters' descendants continue their magical adventures well into the new millennium.