Episode Report Card Demian: F | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Enter The Stench
By Demian | Season 4 | Episode 4 | Aired on 10.17.2001
Limbo. Morphine Holly and her posse glance around uneasily. Raige and Phoebe cross to Meat-Puppet Charlie's side. Not Cho descends from mid-air behind Morphine Holly and Phag to menace. He knocks Phag onto her back, then back-flips to land a kick into Morphine Holly's chest. She flies backwards, landing on the dirt-stained drop cloth a few feet from The Vortex Of Dry-Cleaning. The Vortex grabs hold of her and drags her back towards the portal. Morphine Holly grabs onto a wooden railing as Phag runs to her aid. Meanwhile, Raige spots the Dragon Blade tucked into Not Cho's belt. She points it out to Phoebe, and the dagger orbs into her outstretched hand immediately. Phoebe guesses that Limbo has amplified Raige's powers. She instructs Raige to remove Piper's Glowy Tint from the dagger, then bounds over to Not Cho. "So it's you," he says mildly. "Black-Belt Barbie." Snicker. I love Barbie jokes. Phoebe quickly proves herself to be Nutcracker Barbie as she leaps into the air to boot Not Cho onto a nearby shelf of papier-mâché rocks. He drops his sword. Raige calls out to her, asking Phoebe how she's to retrieve The Glowy Tint Of Piper from the blade. Phoebe yells back something about orbing it out. Rose screws her face up in constipation, and The Glowy Tint emerges to hover above the dagger. Phoebe and Not Cho tussle, with pants and grunts and hoos and hahs aplenty. Raige meanwhile slides The Glowy Tint back into Meat-Puppet Charlie and unties him from the "tree." Over at The Vortex Of Dry-Cleaning, Phag struggles to hold onto Morphine Holly's hand. Not Cho flips Phoebe off the ledge onto the drop cloth, then bounds down after her. He prepares to gut her like a fish. Raige orbs the Dragon Blade into Phoebe's hand. She plunges it into Not Cho's heart, and his Glowy Tint melts out as Corpse Cho drops to the ground.
Suddenly, The Vortex stops sucking and turns into a glassy image of a cloud-dotted blue sky. Limbo promptly morphs into a verdant garden. Raige gazes around in awe. "What happened?" she wonders. "Beats the hell out of me," Piper notes from Phag's side. She crosses to join her sisters as Gold-Tooth Charlie makes with the strained explanations. The version of Limbo they entered was a reflection of Not Cho's "fear of crossing over." Now that the "natural order" has been restored, Limbo appears in its true form, and Piper and Phag's Pa's souls have returned to their true bodies. Whatever, Grandpa. Phag tells her Pa that they have to return to the Manor so the Dolt can heal him. He gets all Mystical Oriental on her ass, telling her he was "mortally wounded" and must therefore submit to the will of the magical blah. Phag protests. Addressing his daughter, he states, "You know better than to cling to the physical world the way you clung to my hand at the [Vortex]. I am no greater or less than anyone else facing death. That is the only lesson that keeps you from being a true Zen master." In case that little lecture wasn't anvilicious enough for you, we get a reaction shot of Phoebe looking contemplative, so we know this is really All About Prue. Gold-Tooth Charlie pauses, then turns his attention to the Ps to bludgeon us all with his message. "Death is a part of life. A transition and rebirth. Something your friends here have learned recently." The Glamorous Ladies Of Halliwell Manor look so very sad. Shut up, Glamorous Ladies. Phoebe relinquishes the Dragon Blade to Gold-Tooth Charlie. Phag and her Pa profess their eternal love for one another, and he turns to enter The Portal Of Dry-Cleaning. Those he leaves behind exchange Looks Fraught With Significance. The four ladies then clasp hands to float up into the clouds and back into their own world.