"I am very tired," says "Charmed" executive producer Brad Kern. "I masochistically wrote and directed the season finale. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm actually in the editing room right now, looking at it. We're almost there."

The Thursday-night drama about the Halliwell sisters, good witches in San Francisco, has been in a rebuilding phase all year. Last season's finale set up the death of eldest sibling Prue, played by Shannen Doherty, who left the show. To fill the gap, Kern introduced indie-film actress Rose McGowan as Paige, the long-lost half-sister of surviving witches Piper and Phoebe (Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano).

Much of the season focused on the integration of Paige into her new family -- and her efforts to cope with her newfound magical powers -- along with the romantic and supernatural complications of Phoebe and her half-demon lover, Cole (McMahon). At the same time, Piper has been dealing with the travails of married life with Leo (Brian Krause), the sisters' "Whitelighter," or supernatural guide.

Despite all the ups and downs, Kern promises the family remains intact through the final episode.

"I think it's safe to say that this season ends on a positive note," he says. "I think we owe that to the fans. It was pretty dark last year, so all the sisters survive this year."

Near as Kern can tell, the audience likes the new addition. "The audience seems to be reacting favorably to Paige. I feel like, with all the darkness we've had to deal with through the middle and end of this season, with the Cole-Phoebe saga, Rose's wacky, fun, bright-light personality helps keep the show in balance."

"I've been very happy with her. I think she's integrated very well with Alyssa and Holly, both on and off the set."

Off-camera, McGowan had to adjust to the demands of series television, including working more hours per day for more months out of the year. "She was limping and spewing oil and crawling last November," Kern says. "She and I had a long conversation when we hired her. I told her it's a marathon, not a sprint, and that's the biggest difference."

"I was a little concerned about her in November, because she was exhausted, beat. But she found a way to figure it out. I think one of the reasons why her performance has improved steadily each and every episode is because of her pacing herself emotionally and physically."

"She ends the season no more tired or exhausted than the other two girls, so she's done a miraculous job."

As far as the Cole-Phoebe romance goes, the witch and the demon have faced almost every kind of natural and supernatural challenge over the course of the season, including facing down (or giving in to) ultimate evil. "We've honored the Cole-Phoebe love story," Kern says. "Our mantra is always the same -- no matter what happens between the two of them or separately, their love shines through everything. Love, we hope, will conquer all, and that's that we've held true to."

"I'm a big romantic. The Cole-Phoebe story is one of my favorite parts of the show. It's a tragic love story, but love stories are. It's sad that he's got this evil DNA that keeps him from being able to shed it completely to fully realize and have a normal love life with Phoebe, but that's the tragedy."

"He loves her, and she loves him, and they keep trying to find a way, and they will keep trying to find a way. They'll just have to be a different way."

Despite the big wedding episode, don't expect happily ever afters. "You can't stay married to a demon for very long," Kern says. "There will be a parting of the ways. That doesn't mean that they love each other any less, and that's the tragedy."

"As we move toward the end of the season, Phoebe will have tried it every way possible. She will have tried it with him not having [demon] powers, tried it with him having powers, tried it on the good side, and tried it on the dark side. There won't be another way to try it. She's going to have to move on with her life, and that means without Cole."

"Cole's going to have other ideas about that."

As to whether this means supernatural divorce proceedings, Kern says, "Without giving too much away, Cole won't be coming from that place next year, but that's where the surprise will be. He will be coming from a different place, a new place. There's good, there's evil and then there's a third way."

After last year's cliffhanger finale, Kern decided to call on an old friend for a little help in getting through this year's closer. As a former supervising producer on the short-lived FOX cult series "The Adventures of Brisco County Jr." he turned to that show's star -- also the star of the "Evil Dead" feature films -- to play an FBI agent in the May 16 episode.

"I called Bruce Campbell up to guest-star in the episode I wrote and directed. He's great. Bruce rocks. We're going to let him direct an episode next year as well. Alyssa and he did a movie together several years ago, so they knew each other. It was just a riot on the set. We all had a lot of fun."

Regarding next year, Kern says, "With Paige having been fully embraced by her sisters, and with a whole year of being a witch under her belt, and with Cole and Phoebe's relationship being somewhat resolved, [and now that] Piper and Leo have something to look forward to, we look at next year as a rebirth."

"Though there are some looming questions and looming evils, I really wanted to end the season on a positive note. It was time to get back to the light and use that as a springboard for next year."