Recap / Charmed S2E18 Chick Flick

Chick Flick

The Halliwells battle a demon who has brought horror movie characters to life.

Piper watches Dan come home alone. Prue takes her picture and teases her about pretending not to look out the window. Piper feels guilty, but is happy that Leo is in town.

Phoebe has been watching old horror movies. She saw Kill It Before It Dies, because, as a teenager, she thought it's protagonist Billy was the perfect man. It's research, she says, not for her classes but for herself.

The doorbell rings, and Phoebe answers — to be flung back by an angry demon. Prue stands up and flings him into the grandfather clock. The demon gets up and leaves. The two run after him as Piper comes down and finds them gone. They chase him into the theatre where Kill It Before It Dies is showing. Phoebe casts a spell and the demon seems to disappear. Prue urges Phoebe out of the theatre before Billy comes on screen, and so the two miss the appearance of the demon in the movie.

As the sisters clean up after the attack, Phoebe realizes that the demon had followed her home from the movie. Piper realizes that she's late for her date with Leo. She arrives at the restaurant and Leo isn't angry. The food arrives and Piper notices there's no salt. Leo asks the next table for the salt and finds Dan with his co-worker Amelia.

When an accordion player starts playing, Piper freezes the room, unfreezes Leo, and proposes a toast when Leo gets a jingle. Leo starts to orb away, but Piper asks him for a normal exit and unfreezes the room. Leo offers her a kiss and a goodbye.

Prue is excited to meet her hero, Finley Beck — until she actually meets him. He is arrogant, misogynist and condescending.

Leo tells Piper and Phoebe of the Demon of Illusion, a promoter of violence. The sisters believe they have vanquished him, but Leo doesn't think he would have been summoned if that were true. The sisters go back to the theatre and find that the Demon of Illusion is now part of Kill It Before It Dies. Billy, on screen, flirts with Phoebe. The Demon of Illusion insults the sisters and Billy tackles him, knocking the demon and himself off screen. The demon escapes. Billy still appears in black and white.

The sisters bring Billy to the attic. He has trouble understanding the world outside of movies. Just the same, he knows the Demon of Illusion; he regularly uses movies to promote violence. Phoebe realizes that the demon was not at the movie, but in the movie when he followed her home. Prue decides to look for horror movies.

Prue, Leo and Piper try to leave, when Finley Beck calls. He insists on seeing Prue now. Piper and Leo leave without Prue.

The Demon of Illusion appears in the movie Axe Husband. He offers to get the title character off screen, and sends them after the Charmed Ones. He encourages the audience to riot.

Phoebe applies make-up to Billy, the better that he will appear real. The two flirt and talk. He begins to enjoy being free to live the life of his choice. They kiss, turning his lips back to silver. The phone rings, interrupting them, and Darryl is at the scene of Axe Husband.

Finley continues to criticize Prue's work, finishing with "absolutely no depth". She asks if it's the technique or the subject. She finally tells him off, telling him of her disappointment. An enlargement burns, prompting a catty remark from Finley. As Finley climbs the basement stairs, Prue takes a candid shot, the flash stinging his eyes.

Piper and Leo enter a movie theatre where Bloody Mary is playing. The Demon of Illusion pushes the title character, Bloody Mary, off the screen.

Axe Husband attacks Prue in the darkroom. Prue runs to the attic and joins Phoebe and Billy, Axe Husband in pursuit. Piper comes in, fleeing from Bloody Mary, and hears the commotion. She impales Axe Husband with a timber fragment. Phoebe remembers both movies. Axe Husband stirs and the sisters and Billy flee, only to be met by Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary stabs Billy, but he is unharmed, as he is not real, and the sisters escape. Piper hides in the shower, noting how silly that seems. The door creaks and a shadow appears, growing larger — but it's only Prue. Bloody Mary chases them out and they run into Phoebe and Billy. Phoebe thinks that the only way to kill Axe Husband and Bloody Mary is the way they died in the movies. Phoebe flips Bloody Mary and kicks her out that much-abused attic window. She disappears. For Axe Husband, it's electrocution; he shows up. Prue flips an electric heater into his hands and then throws water, making him disappear as well. The doorbell rings, and the four wonder what's on the other side — but it's only Darryl. He tells of riots at several theatres. The sisters tell him what they know of the Demon of Illusion and the characters coming out of the screen. After Darryl leaves, Billy says the Demon of Illusion travels with his print of Kill It Before It Dies. He'll be back as it is the last screening in San Francisco.

Billy, Phoebe and Piper use potions to enter the movie. They confront the Demon of Illusion, but the movie is about to end. As the last of the film plays, Prue astral projects and finds the projectionist asleep. In time, she finds the reverse button and rewinds the movie. Phoebe and Piper escape, leaving Billy in the movie. The Demon of Illusion comes on screen and taunts the sisters, but Prue remotely stops the projector motor, burning the Demon under the bright light.

Phoebe says her goodbye to Billy.

Piper and Leo are kissing on a sofa, when Dan comes over with things that Piper had left at his house. He had hoped she would come back, but now realizes he must move on.

Prue says her editor enjoyed her basement-stairs shot of Finley, and has bought Phoebe a copy of Kill It Before It Dies.

---

Tropes

• Achilles' Heel: The Axe Husband and Bloody Mary can't be affected by the sisters' powers, and they shake off any mundane attacks thrown their way. They can only be taken out by the ways they die in their respective movies (electricity for Axe Husband, getting thrown out a window for Bloody Mary).
• Actor Allusion: Phoebe wears a Miami High Mermaids shirt. Alyssa Milano was the visual model for The Little Mermaid character Ariel when she was sixteen.
• Affectionate Parody: This episode is a parody of slasher movies.
• Bait-and-Switch: After kicking herself for hiding from Bloody Mary in the shower, Piper sees a woman's shadow approaching the curtain. She screams when the curtain opens, but it's just Prue.
• Berserk Button: Due to his squeaky clean image, Billy hates all kinds of swearing. It even causes him to attack the Demon of Illusion.
• Broken Pedestal: After having wished to work with Finley Beck for years, Prue finally meets him and is completely disgusted with how unpleasant he actually turned out to be.
• Brought Down to Normal: A variation. The sisters' powers don't work on the movie killers, so they have to run from them like mortals would. Prue can however use her powers to throw objects at them.
• Check, Please!: Between the date being over just as quickly as it started and her ex noticing that, Piper shouts this at the nearest waiter.
• Chekhov's Lecture: Finley Beck's lecture about not leaving film under a light for too long helps Prue defeat the Demon of Illusion.
• Curse Cut Short: When one of the killers smashes up a chair.
  Prue: That is an antique! You assh—
  Phoebe covers her mouth.
• Damsel in Distress: Parodied. The sisters' powers don't work on the killers, so they have to run screaming from them.
• Deliberately Monochrome: Billy is in black and white when he leaves his movie. Phoebe puts him in colour with a little make-up.
• Didn't See That Coming: Billy enters the real world because he attacked the Demon of Illusion, inadvertently pushing them both through the screen. Both of them are completely surprised by this occurrence.
• Disney Villain Death: Bloody Mary dies in her movie by being thrown out of a window.
• Foreshadowing: When the movie kills die they disappear like film being burnt up. The demon is finally vanquished by burning up the film he is on.
• Freudian Excuse: The first guy that Phoebe ever fell for is Billy, a fictional character that embodies every Nice Guy trope there is and has no flaws. Actual guys just can't measure up to such a lofty standard.
• Genre Blindness: Piper kicks herself for making one of the biggest movie blunders of them all: hiding from a killer in the shower. She later points out she's a rom com fan and thus out of her depth here.
• Genre Savvy: Phoebe knows all the tropes of horror movies because she loves the genre so much. She works out how to deal with the killers based on how they were dealt with in their movies.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: Piper doesn't do the greatest job covering Prue's mouth, so she pretty clearly says "asshole" on network television.
• Guilty Pleasure: Phoebe's favorite movie is an old 50s black and white monster flick with cheesy dialogue.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Piper was looking forward to an entirely normal date in a romantic restaurant with Leo, but helping clean up after the Demon of Illusion attacked Phoebe at manor leaves her running seriously late. Seeing her ex on a date at the same restaurant and Leo getting called away rather quickly don't make her any happier.
• In the Back: Piper does this to Axe Husband to save the others in the attic. However, as this isn't the way he dies in his movie, this only mildly inconveniences him.
• Jerkass: Finley Beck constantly insults and talks down to Prue during all their interactions. He even arrives at the manor uninvited and barges in as soon as the door is opened.
• Lampshade Hanging:
  • Billy lampshades many aspects of movies, notably asking why there isn't any music playing when he's delivering exposition.
  • Piper gets her own moment after hiding in the bathroom.
    Piper: I'm being stalked by psycho killers and I hide in the shower?!
• Last-Second Word Swap: Piper's comment on Phoebe's potion after she drinks it:
  Piper: It tastes like ass... phalt.
• Meaningful Background Event: As Prue talks to Finley on the phone and tries to claim she's not home, viewers can see a shadow through the front door's window. He's already on the doorstep.
• Medium Awareness: After Phoebe crosses over into a black and white movie, she looks at herself and:
  Phoebe: Hey, check me out! I'm retro!
• Moment Killer:
  • In true horror movie fashion, Prue interrupts a kiss between Phoebe and Billy because she's being chased by a killer.
    Phoebe: Hello, privacy!
    Prue: Hello, axe murderer!
  • Happens again at the end of the episode when Leo and Piper are making out on the couch and Dan arrives to return Piper's things from his house.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Piper didn't love Dan the way she loves Leo, but she still feels guilty about breaking up with him and thinks he got unfairly jerked around in all this.
• Nice Guy: Billy is an exaggerated example.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
  • The Demon of Illusion mistakenly thought Phoebe was after him instead of just going to the movies for the night. He followed her back to the manor and picked a fight, which caused the sisters to become aware of him. By the time Leo has actual information for them, they already know where to find the guy.
  • One of the Demon of Illusion's victims attacked Prue and kept her from entering the movie with the others. This ends up saving her from being trapped in the movie when it ends and giving her the opportunity to save her sisters.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Phoebe's surprising knowledge of horror movies makes Prue think they need to have a talk about her viewing habits when all this is over.
• Noodle Incident: Phoebe bases her spell on ones used to fight "the bunyip" and a demon that apparently had a horn on its forehead. Neither foe has been fought on-screen, although the bunyip has occasionally appeared in the Book of Shadows when characters are flipping through it.
• Plot Armour: Literally. Billy can't be killed by the psychos, since he doesn't die in his movie. It works on a Nigh-Invulnerable level for the freed movie killers. They can only be killed in the same method they died in their respective movies.
• Pragmatic Villainy: The Demon of Illusion tasks the Axe Husband with going after the sisters, and he says any random victim along the way is just fine, too, but he wants the people sitting in the movie theater left alone. These particular people getting killed would get in the way of his whole purpose, after all.
• Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: Phoebe to Bloody Mary - "we have to do something about that complexion".
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: After spending so much time with Finley, Prue berates him for his obnoxious attitude and says it is truly disappointing to meet the man behind work she genuinely admired.
• Running Gag: The grandfather clock is yet again destroyed.
• Shock and Awe: The ax murderer is electrocuted to death.
• Slashers Prefer Blondes: In-universe example. The woman being killed in the Axe Husband movie is indeed a blonde. Bloody Mary likewise busts in on a room full of girls, one of whom is a blonde.
• Straw Misogynist: The Demon of Illusion frequently makes sexist jabs at the sisters, even using the word 'bitch'.
• This Is Reality: Once out of the movie, Billy is confused by how no one or thing is telling him what he has to do now. Phoebe tells him this, though she's still not clear on how to explain what he is now.
• Too Dumb to Live: Piper tries hiding from a killer in the shower. She immediately realizes what a stupid idea that was. Also a subversion since no one attacks Piper for it.
• Villain Ball: Though Piper and Phoebe escape the movie, the sisters are still unable to beat the Demon of Illusion. He takes the time to gloat about it rather than walk off, but his word choice causes Prue to realize that she can use Finley's earlier advice to vanquish him.
• Witch with a Capital "B": Averted. The Demon of Illusion outright calls the sisters bitches to their faces, much to Billy's displeasure.