Cole Turner

Cole Turner
Charmed character
Julian McMahon as Cole Turner
First appearance	The Honeymoon's Over
Last appearance	Centennial Charmed (series regular) The Seven Year Witch (guest star) Cat House, Crimes and Witch Demeanors, Generation Hex (flashbacks)
Created by	Brad Kern
Portrayed by	Julian McMahon (human form) Michael Bailey Smith (demon form)
Information
Species	Human-demon hybrid
Family	Penny 'Grams' Halliwell (ex-grandparent-in-law; deceased) Allen Halliwell (ex-grandparent-in-law; deceased) Patricia 'Patty' Halliwell (ex-mother-in-law; deceased) Victor Bennett (ex-father-in-law) Prue Halliwell (ex-sister-in-law; deceased) Piper Halliwell (ex-sister-in-law) Paige Matthews (ex-sister-in-law) Leo Wyatt (ex-brother-in-law)
Spouse(s)	Phoebe Halliwell (ex-wife)
Children	Unborn Source (unborn child; deceased)

Cole Turner is a fictional character on the WB television series Charmed, portrayed by series regular Julian McMahon between seasons three and five. McMahon returned for a guest appearance in the show's seventh season, for its 150th episode. Charmed is a series which focuses on three good witches, the prophesied "Charmed Ones", sisters who battle the forces of evil. Cole is an adversary-turned-ally of the sisters introduced in the third series and a love interest of main character Phoebe Halliwell, portrayed by Alyssa Milano. Like the show's main characters, Cole also possessed a number of magical abilities; his most commonly used were the power to teleport and the power to throw projective energy balls which could stun or kill.

Within the series' narrative, Cole is half-human and half-demon by blood, and better known to the demonic world for over a hundred years as the legendary demonic assassin Belthazor. Cole is dispatched by the Source of all Evil himself to kill the Charmed Ones only to fall in love with then-youngest sister Phoebe, renounce evil and become a close ally of the Charmed Ones. Though Cole eventually completely rids himself of his demonic nature, and marries Phoebe in the fourth season, he never gains the trust of new youngest sister Paige (Rose McGowan). As part of his storyline, the character later returns to evil after unwillingly becoming the new Source. As the Source, Cole is eventually vanquished by the Charmed Ones, only to come back from death itself in his attempts to win Phoebe back. Driven insane, Cole is killed once again by the sisters in the fifth season. When the character returns for a guest appearance in the seventh season, it is unclear what kind of being he is, but he states that he is caught somewhere between life and death, atoning for his sins.

Character arc

Cole Turner makes his first appearance in the third season (2000-1) première episode, "The Honeymoon's Over". Charmed Ones Phoebe (Milano) and Prue (Shannen Doherty) run into Assistant District Attorney Cole Turner at the site where they killed a demon, and cover their tracks. Over the course of the episode, it becomes apparent to the audience that Cole is himself a very powerful demon, pursuing Phoebe romantically and deceiving the sisters as to his true nature in order to finally kill them. In "Power Outage", Cole's superiors, the demonic Triad, learn that he may have developed genuine romantic feelings for Phoebe; Cole responds by killing them, forcing him into hiding. Meanwhile, the sisters acquire a target in the red-and-black-skinned demon Belthazor (Michael Bailey Smith); in "Sleuthing with the Enemy", the Charmed Ones discovers Cole and Belthazor are one and the same, but when Cole convinces Phoebe that he, being half human, truly loves her, she fakes his death so that her sisters Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Prue will not hunt for him. When Cole re-emerges, causing a rift between Phoebe and her sisters, he attempts to re-ingratiate himself his demonic peers, the Brotherhood of the Thorn as part the sisters' double agent. When Prue and Piper are both killed following a successful mission by the Source's assassin Shax (Michael Bailey Smith) in the season finale "All Hell Breaks Loose", Cole's ingratiation with allows him to beg the Source (again, Michael Bailey Smith) to turn back time and prevent the exposure of magic; the Source agrees on the condition that Phoebe remain in the underworld under his command, though he secretly orders her to be killed. Phoebe is able to escape, however, due to the presence of Leo Wyatt (Brian Krause), her "whitelighter" (a witch's guardian angel).

Season 4

Cole does what he can to assist Phoebe and Piper from Shax's attack after Prue died from Shax's attack in the previous episode. Piper and Phoebe regain their full abilities, becoming Charmed Ones once again when they discover their younger half-sister, Paige (McGowan), with whom they destroy Shax. In "Black as Cole", a power-stripping one causes Cole to lose both his Belthazor form and demonic abilities, becoming wholly human. After the Charmed Ones successfully kill the Source (Peter Woodward) in "Charmed and Dangerous", the Source's essence fills the space left by Cole's vanquished demon half, making Cole the new Source; as the Source, he is guided by the Seer (Debbi Morgan), a manipulative demoness who has served multiple Sources. Paige continually suspects him of being evil. In "The Fifth Halliwheel", the Seer begins her plot to have Cole impregnate Phoebe, and in "Bite Me", Phoebe learns she is pregnant. On discovering that Cole is the Source, a pregnant Phoebe stands by his side to become the Queen of the Underworld, though she returns her sisters to help vanquish Cole in "Long Live the Queen". In "Womb Raider", the Seer uses a spell to take Cole's child from Phoebe, becoming the Source herself, but becomes overwhelmed by is powers and dies. Phoebe hears Cole's voice call to her on the wind, and in the season finale, "Witch Way Now?", she discovers Cole is able to linger in the Demonic Wasteland, where vanquished demons go, because of his human soul. Phoebe visits him there, insisting to him that he move on to his afterlife. After she leaves, he accidentally discovers he can acquire the powers of other demons vanquished there. He becomes powerful enough to kill the beast that consumes the essence of those vanquished there and, finally, to escape. Once back in the world, he saves the sisters' lives from a witch hunter.

Season 5

In the season premiere, "A Witch's Tail", Cole returns more powerful than ever, and though he still loves Phoebe, she wants to move on from him and is frustrated by his attempts to win her back. In "Sympathy for the Demon", Cole is taunted by the spirit of the demon Barbas (Billy Drago) who convinces Cole to use a power-stripping potion and acquires Cole's powers, becoming corporeal. To stop the threat of Barbas or anyone else possessing Cole's powers, Paige strips Barbas of his powers and Cole takes them back; the sisters, however, fear that his powers will make him evil again. In "Sam, I Am", Cole misuses his abilities and incinerates two robbers; he is visited by two mysterious beings for the first time, the Avatars. Neither good or evil, the Avatars offer Cole the opportunity to join their ranks and enjoy their powers; he refuses. Instead, Cole tries to provoke the sisters to kill him by sending an assassin after them, knowing that they will be able to recover thanks to their recent contact with Paige's father, whitelighter Sam Wilder (Scott Jaeck). He is distraught to learn he cannot be killed, this discovery pushing him over the edge as he reverts to more malevolent means of winning Phoebe back, such as attempting to corrupt the power of the manor. In Charmed's 100th episode, "Centennial Charmed", Cole accepts the Avatars' offer and uses their power to change history so that Piper and Phoebe never met Paige. In the new reality, Cole is Belthazor again; he owns Halliwell Manor with Phoebe, but they are unhappy together. Paige, accidentally brought along to this world, is able to meet her sisters and restore their full abilities. The sisters finally kill Cole using the original potion to kill Belthazor.

Last Appearance

Cole makes his final appearance in the 150th episode "The Seven Year Witch", in season seven; Piper's disembodied spirit receives advice from Cole, who claims to be in limbo atoning for his sins. However, it is later revealed that Cole, watching over the sisters, orchestrated Piper's illness and sent Phoebe's short-lived boyfriend Drake (Billy Zane) to her, all so that Phoebe could learn to believe in love again. Cole returns in Charmed season nine comic to once again help Piper after she is sent in to the cosmic void by Neena. Cole also helps Patty look for her daughter so he can find redemption. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Analysis

As a lawyer and a demon, one writer notes that Cole is part of the same "corporate" metaphor as the Wolfram & Hart firm in the television series Angel.^[4]

Influence

The erotic romance novels and novellas of Jennifer Dunne feature a heroine "obsessed" with Julian McMahon's portrayal of Cole.^[5]

Reception

Although the role did not gain McMahon big fame or laudable reviews, "Julian gained legions of fans due to his wide-ranging portrayal of Cole."^[6]

References

1. ^ http://charmed.wikia.com/wiki/Last_Witch_Effort
2. ^ http://charmed.wikia.com/wiki/Three_Little_Wiccans
3. ^ http://charmed.wikia.com/wiki/Cole_Turner#Reuniting_with_Piper_again
4. ^ Day, Peter (2006). "Piercing the corporate veil". Vampires: myths and metaphors of enduring evil. Editions Rodopi B.V.. ISBN 9042016698. 
5. ^ Dunne, Jennifer (2005). "Will the Real Phoebe Please Stand up". In Jennifer Crusie. Totally Charmed: Demons, Whitelighters and the Power of Three. BenBella Books. ISBN 1932100601. 
6. ^ Fischer, Paul (2005-07-01). "The Fantastic Life of Julian McMahon". Film Monthly. http://www.filmmonthly.com/Profiles/Articles/JulianMcMahon/JulianMcMahon.html. Retrieved 2010-07-11.