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Recap / Charmed S8E10 Vaya Con Leos

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Paige is outraged when Henry offers to split the bill on their date. Billie finds the low-level demon who kidnapped her sister, but the latter gets taken away by a demonic bounty hunter who doesn't want him to talk. The Angel of Death appears before Piper with a warning: he will soon come for Leo. A protection spell Piper casts on Leo makes all men in San Francisco look like him.

Tropes

  • Armor-Piercing Response:
    Piper: You're not taking me.
    Angel of Death: You're right. I'm not. [beat] I'm taking Leo.
    Piper: What?
  • Bargain with Heaven: The Charmed Ones make a deal with the Angel of Destiny for Leo to be returned if they defeat the coming threat.
  • Bad Liar: At the hospital, Piper assures the bloody Leo that he'll be fine. He points out she was never particularly good at lying.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Leo is saved from death itself, but he is sent away as part of a bargain with the Angel of Destiny. The only one to get him back for good is for the sisters to defeat an upcoming threat that's unlike their previous opponents.
  • Chekhov's Classroom: The Angel of Death tells Piper early on that he's not about the how or the why behind the reason for all this, just the when. After Leo is laid up in the hospital, Piper recalls this and confronts the Angel of Death about that reason.
  • Cosmic Plaything: Literally. The Angel of Destiny arranged for Leo to die in order to give the Charmed Ones the motivation to overcome a coming evil.
  • Continuity Porn: Let's see...
    • The Angel of Death makes a reappearance, referencing the events of "Styx Feet Under".
    • Piper summons both an Elder and an Avatar, calling back to Leo's history with both respective groups.
    • The Angel of Destiny is summoned; a being that appeared only once, and four years ago at that. It's lampshaded and explained why a different actor (of a different gender too) appears.
    • Leo pretends to be a handy man when he's hiding from the Angel of Destiny, which is what he pretended to be in Season 1 when the sisters didn't know he was a whitelighter.
    • Piper says she can get Wyatt to heal Leo, referencing the events of "The Seven Year Witch", where Wyatt was able to heal her when she was dying.
    • Paige is shown carrying the same green bag she was holding onto when meeting the sisters for the first time in "Charmed Again, Part 1"
  • The Dreaded: The Angel of Death, the Avatars and the Elders are all terrified of the Angels of Destiny.
  • Don't Fear the Reaper: The Angel of Death appears to Leo before it's time in order to give him time to prepare for what's coming. Also, he admits to feeling bad about the whole thing (which he attributes to his past encounters with the sisters) and points Piper in the direction of the answers she seeks.
  • Dramatic Irony: After the spell is in effect, Leo slips away from the manor by pretending to be a mere handyman, which is what he pretended to be when he first arrived in Season 1.
  • Face Death with Dignity: Before the surgery, Leo is resigned to not getting out of this. He's about to tell Piper his Last Request (a message for Wyatt and Chris), but she refuses to hear it because she's not done trying to save him.
  • He Knows Too Much: Burke was about to tell Billie everything when the sisters and the Angel of Destiny arrived. He secured amnesty in exchange for him helping with Leo, but after everyone has left, he and Reinhardt are executed by an unseen force to tie up loose ends.
  • Heartbroken Badass: Piper at the end of the episode.
  • Hidden in Plain Sight: Piper's spell to hide Leo from the Angel of Death ends up making everyone else in the city look like Leo. By the time he catches up with the real Leo, he admits the hunt was actually a fun challenge.
  • Human Popsicle: Leo's fate at the end of the episode.
  • Irony:
    • The only way to one day save Leo is to lose him now.
    • Neither the summoned Elder nor the summoned Avatar are willing to use their powers to intervene and save Leo. Piper is frustrated to find that this is the one time that members of both groups agree on anything.
  • It's All My Fault: Piper blames herself for Leo being frozen and sent away, saying he got caught up in her destiny.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall: At the time, it was common knowledge that Season 8 would be the last for the series. The Angel of Destiny warns the sisters that they have one last big battle coming up.
  • Life Isn't Fair: Leo notes that he gave up being an Elder to be with his family and only a few months later, he's going to die.
  • Little "No": Burke, when he realizes his mysterious employers are about to eliminate him.
  • Not So Above It All: Leo gets a real kick out of the antique truck, as he had one like it back when it was new. He practically has to plead with Piper to bring it home.
  • Pet the Dog: As a true neutral, the Angel of Death's actions are this; warning Piper that Leo is due to die, so she can prepare herself. When pushed, he gives her a lead that allows her to save him.
  • Poor Communication Kills: Paige is annoyed that Henry didn't pay for lunch, saying he specifically asked her on a date. Henry said he asked her to go to lunch at a place called Nate's (though he admits he was going to ask her out for real but got scared she'd turn him down).
  • The Problem with Fighting Death: Despite all the brave fronts, Piper and Leo fully acknowledge there's nothing they can really do when the Angel of Death comes knocking. The only way out for Leo is for the sisters to make a deal with an even higher power, who set this sequence of events in motion in the first place. They make the deal and are left devastated by temporarily losing a member of the family.
  • Properly Paranoid: Paige doubts the accident is a mundane affair, due to the Angel of Death's earlier appearance. Though Paige is ultimately wrong about demons being involved, her discussion about it gets Piper to thinking and pulling connections to look into it all.
  • Punch-Clock Villain: The Angel of Death's role in the plot. He tells Piper that he's just carrying out his part in the grand design and didn't make it so.
  • Put on a Bus: Leo is frozen and taken away by the Angel of Destiny.
  • Silence Is Golden: The episode closes on Paige going to Henry for comfort, Phoebe looking after the boys, and Piper crying beside Leo's truck. Only a few sound effects are heard alongside the music.
  • Spanner in the Works: The Angel of Destiny's plan runs into complications all because the Angel of Death felt uncharacteristically sympathetic about this situation and warned Piper what was coming.
  • Super Cell Reception: Lampshaded by Phoebe when she receives a phone call in Magic School. A subversion occurs later in the episode when Piper summons Phoebe using the To Call a Lost Witch spell—even though Piper was aware that Phoebe went to the underworld to help Billie and that the former agreed to call the latter.
  • Tragic Keepsake: In the last scene, Piper cries beside the antique truck that Leo wanted so much.
  • Wham Line: "I'm taking Leo."
  • Who Dares?: The Angel of Destiny in response to the Charmed Ones summoning her.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: Piper initially assumed that she was the one the Angel of Death had come to reap.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: About to be vanquished, Burke asserts that he did everything he was ordered to do. That, of course, means he's no longer useful.

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