Episode Report Card Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Once Upon A Time
By Demian | Season 3 | Episode 3 | Aired on 10.18.2000
"Need a diaper change?" Piper snarks into the phone as she dabs the cut on her finger with a bar napkin. Phoebe shuts her down, telling her she has to be back at the manor before midnight. "Or the tooth fairy will harass us for not flossing?" Piper snits. Snicker. Phoebe apologizes for her earlier behavior, admitting that yes, they were trying to take Piper's mind off her relationship woes, but now she and Prue need her to battle the trolls. Piper, initially wary, makes the connection between her drinks-tray mishap and the possible presence of trolls in the club, asking Phoebe if she saw any there earlier. Phoebe clues Piper in to the earlier attack, and cautions her to be on guard for more. Piper states she's on her way home, and hangs up before Phoebe can warn her of the Tween Places. Piper asks the assistant manager ("Irene") if she's seen her car keys, moving into the bar's Tween in the process. Irene has no idea where Piper's keys are, and another cut to the TrollCam as one of the diminutive meanies spins Piper around to shatter a bottle of Jim Beam. Mmm. Jim Beam. Irene flutters around with a bar rag; Piper opens the register to retrieve her spare set of keys. A troll slams the drawer shut on her finger, eliciting a "son of a bitch" from Piper, who grabs her finger in pain as she asks Irene to close for her. Irene gapes at her clod of a boss as Piper exits the bar area.
Cut to the club exterior as Piper is flung through the door by an invisible troll. TrollCam as another demon sprints through the shadows to send Piper tumbling into a pool of light coming from a street lamp. Piper kneels in the pool of light, gathering her scattered belongings as she flings a huffy little monologue up at The Powers That Be, accusing them of sending "trolls to kick [her] while [she's] down." She had a good life, she's made a damn fine witch, and she'd make an even better wife, she insists, then threatens to remain rooted in place until TPTB send Leo back to her. The heavens' response is, of course, silence. Piper glowers with resentment.
Manor, six minutes to midnight. Prue and Phoebe fret over Piper's continued absence just as Piper walks through the door. Expressions of concern, batted back by Piper, who says she thought this was about the innocent and her fairy, not Piper herself. Prue notes that Piper doesn't seem "open," to which Piper replies she's "as open as [she's] gonna get in the next five minutes, so [they should] just do the damn spell." She moves into place next to Prue, who unfolds the spell which the three then recite: In this Tween Time, this Darkest Hour/We call upon the Sacred Power./Three together stand alone/Command the unseen to be shown./In an innocence we search the skies/Enchanted are our new-found eyes. Phoebe: "You have really got to lay off the rhyming, Prue." Shout-out? You decide. Prue maps out the plan. The three will head to Dysfunction Central, Piper will freeze the parents, and they'll then head to Kate's room to protect her.