Line #2 Recap/CharmedS2E1WitchTrial


1	!Witch Trial
2	->'''When a demon steals the Book of Shadows, the Halliwells have just one chance to get it back or they lose their powers forever.'''
3
4	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/witch_trial___dan.jpg]]
5
6	Phoebe walks into the darkened manor and calls for her "sister witches", only to find Piper on the couch with Rob, a loan officer. Piper freezes him and scolds Phoebe for speaking of witches. Phoebe hadn't known that a man was in the house. Prue walks in and Piper shoos her out before unfreezing Rob. Rob agrees to meet Piper at the club she is trying to buy. Phoebe proposes to go to an autumnal equinox celebration, a powerful day that is also their first anniversary of becoming witches.
7
8	The Book of Shadows flips, and the page says "Rite of passage: fight it with the Power of One or else" but Phoebe cannot finish reading it before a demon opens a portal in the attic and draws the Book to him. Piper thinks the "Power of One" refers to Prue, as she has the strongest power. The doorbell rings and Jenny Gordon steps in. She wants to use the phone and is trying to reach her parents in Saudi Arabia. Dan Gordon, her uncle, steps in behind her; the two are not talking, but he persuades Jenny to leave.
9
10	The demon chants strangely over a page in the Book of Shadows, and the writing disappears.
11
12	Phoebe and Piper go to the equinox celebration (Prue is at Buckland's). About a dozen other young women have gathered around a stone altar. The others all disrobe, but while Phoebe is enthusiastic, Piper is embarrassed. Phoebe hears Grams saying, "The Power of Three", but Piper does not.
13
14	Piper drives up to the club and finds Rob already there. Rob says that running a club is risky, but Piper convinces him to grant the loan. Meanwhile, the demon chants over the Book and Jeremy Burns reappears. Grams says "The Power of Three" to Piper just as Jeremy blinks into the club and knocks Rob to the ground. Piper freezes him and conference-calls Prue and Phoebe. But Jeremy unfreezes, and Piper can't freeze him again despite several attempts. By way of speaker phone, they say the spell to vanquish Jeremy ("The Power of Three will set us free"). Rob is in a gurney being readied to go to the hospital, and suggests the crime level in the area could jeopardize the loan. Prue comes to check on Piper, and Piper tells her how she heard Grams.
15
16	Phoebe hears Kit meowing outside and finds Jenny holding her. Phoebe starts talking to Jenny. Phoebe, for the first time, notices the triquetra on Kit's collar. Phoebe leaves as Piper drives up, with Kit in her arms, and shows the triquetra to Piper. She thinks this is some kind of symbol of the Power of Three. The two consult the Spirit Board, and Grams says "The Power of Three" again--this time Piper hears it. The Spirit Board spells out "Abraxas". Phoebe finds Abraxas in one of several occult books she has bought; he is a demon of the astral plane that demonizes the powers of good witches.
17
18	Abraxas chants over another page of the Book and the Woogyman appears in the manor. The two sisters scramble to remember the spell to vanquish the Woogyman. Piper remembers that the spell to vanquish Jeremy was in the back of the book and that for the Woogyman before it; Abraxas is reading the Book backwards. Phoebe has a premonition of Nicholas killing Prue.
19
20	Prue is talking to a customer when Nicholas appears in the hall. Prue escapes into her office, but Nicholas follows her in before she can close the door. He uses his ring to heat Prue up from within. Prue, with difficulty, speaks a spell and Nicholas is vanquished just as Prue falls over unconscious.
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22	Piper and Phoebe visit Prue in the hospital. Phoebe believes the Book is still in the attic, but within the astral plane. She also realizes that if Abraxas reaches the start of the book, they will lose their powers, because the spell that gave them their powers is at the very beginning. Prue, feeling responsible for Andy's death, wants to stop being a witch.
23
24	Rob's assistant tells Piper that the loan has been denied.
25
26	Prue goes to Darryl and wants to know how much Andy told him about who the Halliwells really are. Darryl says only that he knows they were connected to some unsolved cases and that they somehow help stop killers. He also tells her that Andy told him to tell her that if anything happened to him, it wouldn't be her fault.
27
28	The sisters go to the attic and Piper draws a large triquetra on the wall. Prue arrives from the station. The sisters plan to get the open a portal in the astral plane, then Prue will knock Abraxas away from the Book while Piper and Phoebe grab it. Piper and Phoebe aren't sure Prue is up to it, but Prue reassures them by moving a chair. The sisters open a portal in the triquetra, but Prue freezes up and cannot knock Abraxas away from the Book. Abraxas flings them across the room. Phoebe and Piper scold Prue, and she breaks down and cries over Andy. She blames herself for Andy's death. The other sisters tell Prue that Andy had chosen to walk into the manor. As the sisters embrace, Grams whispers again; only this time, all three sisters hear. They determine that the "Power of One" is the three of them working as one.
29
30	The three sisters return to the stone altar at sunrise and chant the spell that invokes the Power of Three just as Abraxas is reading the same spell backwards. The Book pops out of a portal onto the altar. The sisters continue to chant and a portal appears, revealing Abraxas. Abraxas is drawn into the altar and disappears into a large glowing triquetra.
31
32	The Rite of Passage page reads in full: "Rite of passage: fight it with the Power of One or else...a more powerful Evil that awaits will destroy you." Phoebe is glad they didn't read that part earlier.
33
34	Prue and Phoebe have taken out a second mortgage on the manor so Piper can buy her club, with her sisters as partners.
35
36	Grams whispers once more, and then appears in ghostly form. It turns out that when the Book turns itself, it's Grams doing the turning. After she disappears, the Book turns once more. The page reads: "Happy Anniversary, my darlings."
37
38	!! Tropes
39
40	* TenMinuteRetirement: Upon figuring out Abraxas's plan, Prue decides it would be better for the people they love if the Halliwells ceased to be witches, until she has a talk with Darryl about Andy and decides to fight the demon after all.
41	* BackFromTheDead: Jeremy, The Shadow (The Woogyman), and Nicholas are all revived and attack the girls again.
42	* CallBack: When talking what he does and doesn't know about the sisters, Darryl cites [[Recap/CharmedS1E21LoveHurts what Andy had confided in him]] about their involvement in unsolved cases.
43	* DePower: The sisters are afraid this will happen to them if Abraxas reaches the beginning of the book and reads the spell that unbound their powers backwards.
44	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: When Dan first shows up, Phoebe {{Squee}}s "I saw him first", it's her who bonds with Jenny and she shares a moment of understanding with Dan later. These moments look like they're setting up Phoebe to be the sister Dan gets together with, rather than Piper.
45	* FanServicePack: A new costume designer joined the show for Season 2 (Eilish to be specific) and there is a notable increase in clothes that are far more attractive and flattering. Piper and Phoebe spend the majority of the episode in figure hugging sun dresses (and Phoebe's is strapless), while Prue wears a LittleBlackDress for the auction.
46	* FriendshipMoment: The reason there wasn't more legal scrutiny over Andy dying in the manor was because Darryl ran cover for the sisters. He says he did so at Andy's request.
47	* HeroicBSOD: Prue effectively spends the episode in one, being too afraid to fight another demon after Andy's death.
48	* ILetGwenStacyDie: Prue has been blaming herself for Andy's death.
49	* LastRequest: According to Darryl, Andy thought dying when he did was a possibility. Therefore, he had asked Darryl to cover for the sisters and to assure Prue that it wasn't her fault.
50	* LifeIsntFair: Prue struggles with the bitter irony over how she's supposed to be the most powerful, responsible, and knowledgeable of the three sisters, yet she still couldn't save the love of her life.
51	* NakedPeopleAreFunny: The coven meeting about the equinox has all the women present taking off their clothes to perform the ritual naked. Piper's awkwardness about the situation is very much PlayedForLaughs.
52	--> '''Phoebe:''' When in Rome...
53	--> '''Piper:''' But we're not in Rome, we're in California, and I'm pretty sure it's illegal here!"
54	* OnTheRebound: Piper's brief fling with Rob ends badly. When she questions her behavior, Phoebe suggests that Leo was on her mind the whole time.
55	* OpenMouthInsertFoot: Piper and especially Phoebe question Prue for hesitating after the portal was opened. They're apologetic when they find that Prue is struggling with a lot of guilt over Andy's death.
56	* PlotTailoredToTheParty: Each of the past enemies resurrected by Abraxas is dispatched by each sister. Phoebe banishes the Woogyman again, Prue vanquishes Nicholas, and although they use the Power of Three to vanquish Jeremy, it's Piper he attacks and she facilitates the vanquish.
57	* RuleOfThree: Abraxas summons three past vanquishes to attack each of the sisters.
58	* SceneryCensor: This technique and some ShouldersUpNudity is used for the Wiccans' [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyclad_(Neopaganism) skyclad]] meeting to keep things appropriate for a prime time network show.
59	* ShamelessFanserviceGirl: The Wicca group and Phoebe getting naked for a skyclad ceremony. Subverted for Piper, who is completely mortified, but does it anyway.
60	* TraumaButton: At Buckland's, Prue has been tasked with organizing an auction for a recently deceased man's belongings. During a conversation, the widow admits she keeps wondering if she could've done or said something to save him. This rattles Prue, who's been asking herself the same questions about Andy. This gets worse when the portal plan fails, and she's questioned for hesitating at a critical moment that could've made the difference.
61	* VoiceOfTheLegion: Nicholas talks like this, despite sounding normal in his last appearance.

Context Recap / CharmedS2E1WitchTrial