Out of Sight
The Charmed Ones are assisting at a birthday party for a boy named David. The children are playing with a ball, when David throws it towards the woods. A demon comes out and grabs David. Prue tries to separate them by telekinesis, and an attack-dog reporter, Eric Lohman, witnesses this act. The demon opens a hole in the ground and disappears with David. The sisters learn of an abduction the prior day, and two more twenty years earlier, from the same spot.
The demon shoots lightning upon David's eyes and he can no longer see.
Phoebe learns the name one of the kidnapping victims from twenty years ago, Brent Miller.
Eric Lohman appears at Prue's office. He claims to have seen her use magic and wants a story. Prue refuses to talk to him. He threatens to make her look bad in his story if she doesn't cooperate.
Phoebe tracks down Brent Miller. He is a successful software developer. He is unwilling to talk about his kidnapping, until Phoebe tells him about the recent ones. She believes his story about "monsters" abducting him. He mentions that the monsters said something about auras.
The demons peek out from the storm drain and see a glowing aura around a man. One gestures, and the man is strangled to death.
Piper and Phoebe consult the Book of Shadows about auras and identify the demons as grimlocks. The man is identified as Jerry Cartwright, a wealthy philanthropist.
Eric Lohman goes to Andy and asks after Prue. Lohman claims that Prue has powers and keeps popping up in unsolved murder cases. Andy refuses to comment.
Josh shows Piper a map of the storm drain system. Josh tells Piper that he has a new job in Beverly Hills, but he'll stay in San Francisco if Piper wants. Piper freezes him and rants out loud, deciding she needs more time to decide. Brent recounts his kidnapping to Phoebe. Phoebe takes his hand and has a vision. Phoebe asks of anything he might have heard that could locate the grimlocks. Brent has a map of the public works; it has raised lines so he can feel it. Between his memories and Phoebe's vision, they are able to locate where he was held.
Andy appears at Prue's office and wants to talk about the kidnapping, and what Lohman had told him of Prue's powers. He believes Prue is keeping a secret, but Prue is unsure of whether to reveal it. Phoebe locates an entrance to the storm drain and goes to the manor. Piper meets Prue at the manor and a baby carriage rolls into the street. Piper freezes the scene. The neighbor doesn't have a baby, though, and there are only towels in the carriage.
Phoebe and Piper gather maps and go to the storm drain instance, while Prue distracts Lohman. When Phoebe and Piper drive off, Lohman tries to follow, but Prue flings a screwdriver into his tire. Andy goes to Brent and he tells her about Phoebe; Andy follows Piper and Phoebe to the storm drain. Piper falls into a deep hole, alerting the grimlocks. Phoebe calls Prue, who is mixing potions. She comes out and finds that Lohman has disabled her car. She, at last, agrees to talk and the two go to the storm drain. Lohman follows Prue into the storm drain. A grimlock finds Piper and starts to strangle her; Prue flings a metal bar into its head. A grimlock kills Lohman. Prue uses her power to get Piper out of the hole, but she is injured and the others lead her up toward the street. Andy arrives and shoots a grimlock, but the bullets do no harm. Prue flings it off of him and now Andy knows that Prue has powers. The sisters hand Piper off to Andy, who returns to the street. A grimlock confronts Phoebe and Prue. Prue throws a potion, melting it. Phoebe finds the children. The other grimlock appears and Prue drops her remaining potion. The grimlock tries to strangle Prue. Phoebe hits it in the head. It turns on Phoebe and now Prue flings the potion off the ground onto the grimlock, killing it. The boys' vision is restored, and so is Brent's.
Piper misses Leo, and decides to tell Josh to take his job in Beverly Hills.
Tropes
- Asshole Victim: Lohman is consistently obnoxious and regularly makes threats about exposing the big secret. When talking about how he died, Darryl gives a very sarcastic, "Yeah, that's a real shame."
- Baby Carriage: Lohman sends an empty baby carriage into the road just as a truck passes to try and get the sisters to use their powers. Piper does freeze things, but she and Prue spot Lohman watching and act like nothing happened. Unfortunately he spots that Piper's purse swaps shoulders on his recording, giving away that she did something magical.
- Blatant Lies: Andy tells Darryl some flat-out lies of how the kids were trapped in the storm drains. Darryl doesn't believe a word of it, but goes along at Andy's request of believing it "for now."
- Caught on Tape: Lohman manages to "record" Piper's freezing power, the "evidence" being her purse suddenly switches shoulders. Of course, to any viewer, it just looks like an awkward jump cut, but it spooks the girls.
- Children Are Innocent: Why grimlocks target children and take their sight. It allows them to see the auras and identify the best possible targets.
- Eye Scream: The grimlocks' victims are blinded and only recover when the demons are vanquished.
- Kick the Dog: Not only was Brent blinded as a child, but his claims of being abducted by monsters were met with outright mockery.
- No Ontological Inertia: Once the grimlocks are killed, Brent regains his vision after two decades of blindness.
- Oh, Crap!: Andy when he sees Prue use her powers.
- Secret-Keeper: Andy finally learns the Halliwells are witches.
- Took a Level in Badass: A small step. Prue can now telekinetically move things with gestures instead of squinting at objects.
