Episode Report Card Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Murphy's Luck
By Owen | Season 2 | Episode 16 | Aired on 03.29.2000
Cut to Prue on the side of the freeway. MC appears behind her, saying, "It's okay. I know what needs to be done. It's the best thing. Best thing for everyone. Something I should have done a long time ago." Prue looks up at the freeway overpass. MC adds, "Jump." Cut to a close-up of Shannen. Girl, constipated.
The hell? "Bod" Man Fragrance sprays. This is as close to these models as you're gonna get, gals, because these guys are gay, gay, gay.
There was no PSA about depression and/or suicide at the end of this episode, so I'd like to say a few disparaging words about what's been going on here before returning to the recap. Yeah, I know this is just a fantasy show, and a shoddily put-together and ill-conceived one at that, but let's get back up to speed on reality. Depression occurs when people suppress their feelings to avoid feeling pain (thus negating their ability to feel anything, including joy). This can be caused from reaction to negative stimuli or faulty brain chemistry. Please don't believe -- as it's being presented here -- that depression and suicidal thoughts might be the result of an "unlucky" life inflicted upon you by some inchoate, otherworldly source. (The Lycra-suited Black Lighter who's whispering self-destructive thoughts in people's ears in this ep seems to me to resemble an embodiment of schizophrenia, which is another form of mental illness altogether.) I'd also like to stress (and shame on the Charmed producers or WB execs for not doing so) that if anything in Maggie Murphy's or Prue's plight here is hitting home for you, please seek some counseling. There's help and concern for you out there; things can get better. Now back with the show.
Freeway overpass (or is it a pedestrian bridge? Yet there's no traffic going across it, on foot or by car.) Prue steps to the railing above the traffic. Mummy Clean assures her that it's "the only way, the only way to save the ones [she loves]." He adds that she should have done this "eight years ago." Hmm. Wouldn't that have been around the time that Shannen started the downward spiral that sent her off of 90210 for good? Oh, then MC really plays dirty by telling Prue that Andy would be alive today if not for her. That's pretty evil. Prue: "Andy. WAHHH!!!" MC: "Jump!"
Halliwell Manor. Attic. Brace yourselves. Brian Krause must've been getting acting "tips" from Dorian Gregory. Leo goes through the BoS. Leo doesn't find anything. Leo slams it shut. Leo wails, "Dammit! Arrrggghhh!!!! I can't just sit here and DO NOTHING!" Oh, please -- for the sake of your career, Brian, you might want to do just that. But no! He berates himself to "THINK!" while grabbing his head with both hands. Then he looks at his hands -- yes, those healing instruments of yore -- and gazes yearningly towards the ceiling. Cue the caterwaul. "I WANT MY POWERS BACK! I WANT MY POWERS BACK! I WANT THEM BACK NOW!" What range -- from Hamlet to Veruca Salt in mere seconds! He sits down in front of the full-length Mirror of Contemplation prop we've seen in prior episodes (it mysteriously floats about from set to set), and grabs his head with his impotent mitts again, then gesticulates wildly. He looks back at the ceiling. In a normal tone, he proclaims, "I can't keep being mortal, if this is the cost. I don't want to lose Piper, but not [sic] at the expense of losing one of her sisters. Even the bitchy, bossy one." (That last sentence was, um, my doing.) "This is my calling. You have to let me help. You have to give me my wings back." And even though he didn't say the magic (literally, here) word "PLEASE," the Lord or whoever he was browbeating grants his wish. As a choir moans, Leo looks at his hand. It begins to glow. Hmm. Leo might have lost Piper again for good, but I guess he'll always have -- snicker -- that hand.