Episode Report Card Owen: D | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT How To Make A Quilt Out Of Americans
By Owen | Season 2 | Episode 17 | Aired on 04.05.2000
Gail Manor. Basement. The coven holds hands and chants, with Cheeto in the center of their circle again. Cheeto is now wearing black trousers and a black mock turtleneck sweater. Did the women have special demon-about-town clothes ready for him? The old ladies Hallmark, Powers of the witches rise/ Course unseen across the skies/ Come to us who call you near/ Come to us who settle here. Cheeto whines that "it's not working." Cut to the Ps outside the warehouse. They're all clutching their heads with their hands in discomfort, feeling what I like to think are empathy pains for the viewing audience week after week. Or maybe all three actresses simultaneously realized how many years they have left on their contracts. Anyway, fireflies emit from their bodies and take to the skies. Cut to Gail Manor. The fireflies are in front of the house. Cut to the basement. The fireflies alight onto Cheeto and he absorbs them. The coven stops chanting. Cheeto uses his new telekinetic power to fling an old lamp against the wall. He smirks. Gail insists that he now "hold up [his] end of the bargain." He waves his hand and morphs her into Young Gail, who I think is played by the actress who got bitten by Alterna-Willow at the Bronze in Buffy's "Doppelgangland" episode. Amanda and Helen gape at their newly-young friend. Young Gail touches her face and beams. Helen demands, "Now us!" Cheeto turns to Helen and waves his hand at her, turning her to a pile of ash enclosed in a purple pantsuit. Young Gail wails as he does the same to Amanda. Cheeto: "You see, I can take away youth as quickly as I grant it." YG: "But why?" Cheeto explains that it took three witches to summon him, and it takes three witches to banish him; he's just protecting himself. Then he insists that YG introduce him to "more willing souls who want to be young again." He grabs YG and they depart.
Piper drives the Ps back to Gail Manor. The Ps strut up the stairs to the porch, setting their bitches to "on." Prue enters the house without knocking and starts bellowing, "Aunt Gail!" She suspects aloud that Gail and her friends were the ones who summoned the demon. Phoebe wonders why she wanted the Ps to come to Santa Costa. The Ps walk into the kitchen. Prue smells something, and declares, "It stinks!" She walks off the set towards the direction of the smell. Lo and behold, it's coming from the lines being fed through the teleprompter! Actually, the sisters' noses lead them down the stairs to the basement, where they find the piles of dust and polyester that used to be Helen and Amanda. Phoebe: "I hope that didn't happen from drinking the tea." For once, Alyssa delivered a zinger without milking it or baby-voicing it, and I actually laughed. Anyway, Prue thinks the scene is proof that the coven summoned Cheeto. She also notes that Gail is nowhere to be found. Just then, Piper sees a mouse scurry across the floor. She tries to freeze it, but she's shooting blanks. Piper tells Prue to try to "move it." Prue's impotent also. Prue whines, "What the HELL is going on with our powers?" A double-watt bulb flickers on in Phoebe's brain, and she suggests that they find and ask Aunt Gail. Prue rolls her eyes heavenward.