One of my favorite shows growing up was “Charmed”. The show followed three sisters who deal with everyday drama, but the show also is about the sister who are the most powerful witches of all time. The show had some of the highest ratings on television during its syndication.  Charmed was filled with many allusions, but the one that stands out to me is the episode about the apocalypse it was entitled “Apocalypse Not” it aired in May 2000. In this particular episode the sisters Prue, Piper, and Phoebe come into contact with the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and they ultimately team up with the horsemen to try to get Prue back because she was transported to an alternate realm with one of the horsemen.

What is ironic about the show in general is that they are witches who fight evil. It’s ironic in that in the bible it is said that witchcraft is evil, and not acceptable by Yahweh. It is also interesting that the show writers and producers wanted to tackle four famous characters who can be found in the book of Revelation, and put them against magical witches.  In revelations chapter 6 the first horsemen is described “I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.”  This horsemen refers to the antichrist. Revelations 6 verse 4 describes the second horsemen “Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword”. The second horsemen is war, and is the character in charmed that is trapped in another realm with Prue. Revelations 6 verses 5-6 describe the 3 horsemen “and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine”. This horsemen is famine, and the last horsemen listed in the book of Revelations is death.

The episode climaxes as the sisters try to stop the four horsemen from starting the apocalypse. As the sisters are doing a spell the horsemen are also chanting some form of a spell, and because the two spells were being read simultaneously it created an alternate realm where war, and Prue were transported to. Piper and Phoebe are left frantically trying to rescue there lost sister, and have to team up with the other three horsemen to get Prue back, and to get War back as well. As expected their is a twist, and the sisters are left pondering whether to retrieve Prue and War and start the apocalypse; or let Prue remain trapped in the alternate realm with the horsemen War. Somehow they miraculously rescue Prue and prevent the start of the Apocalypse. The apocalypse is prevented because of an benevolent figure called “ The source”  ( their devil or Satan character)  kills the horsemen for missing the deadline he set for the team who was  so close to starting the apocalypse.

 

 



 

Without knowledge of the story about the four horsemen, and all that they did in the Bible I probably would have not caught this allusion. The show clearly references the four horsemen, and it also deals with the apocalypse which is what the book of Revelations is mostly about. As I mentioned before I absolutely love this show and still watch it on Netflix when I get the chance.  I am really impressed at how the writers made a great episode based off biblical figures and witches.