Episode Report Card Demian: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Black as the Bitter, Bitter Heart Of Brad Kern
By Demian | Season 4 | Episode 8 | Aired on 11.14.2001
Manor. Cole races down the stairs in a tweedy grey jacket I want for my own. It looks like an obscenely expensive Hermes I salivated over once in the Marshall Field's boutique. A quick check with Phoebe reveals that the Garthalike is neither upstairs nor down. The Dolt orbs in with Kathy to let them know that the A.D.A. is responsible. The Garthalike squiggles in behind them at that moment and hurls an FBOD toward the four. Phoebe pushes Kathy and the Dolt up the stairs as Cole retaliates with an FBOD of his own. The Garthalike shrugs off the FBOD: "You're gonna have to do better than that." He then morphs up into his demonic form. Piper, Raige, and Emma rush in from the kitchen -- past the bionic brat in a car seat on the dining room table -- and Piper freezes the Garthalike. Raige scuttles over to him, and after a brief, squeamish pause, slices off a bit of his forearm. It looks like a strip of raw bacon. She gingerly picks it up off the floor as the Garthalike twists out of the freeze. The Garthalike swings a fist at Raige, who snipers to the carpet. Cole tackles Piper and Emma to the dining room floor as the Garthalike sends an FBOD into the bionic brat. Cole rises and morphs up into Belthazor as the women huddle on the floor. Emma takes one look at Belthazor and utters, "Oh, my God." We get the feeling she's not admiring his physique. Belthazor, oddly enough, is wearing not his usual turtleneck and jacket, but a sleeveless black muscle tee similar to the one sported by the Garthalike. The demons engage in a little pissing contest, then toss simultaneous FBODs that collide in mid-air. The Manor rattles as if enduring an earthquake. The Garthalike vows to "finish this later," and squiggles out. Piper collects herself from the floor and asks whether everyone's all right. Phoebe notices the stern expression on Emma's face and calls out to her. Emma advances on Belthazor, spitting, "[The Garthalike] isn't the one who killed my fiancé." She stabs the air with a finger directed towards remaining demon. "He is." I'd give that a DUN! but I saw that coming five scenes ago. Phoebe looks distraught and Michael Bailey Smith does his best to look abashed from beneath all that makeup and the colored contacts as we cut to commercial.
Cigarettes are my anti-drug.
Manor hall. Aftermath. "He's a killer!" Emma screams. "What is the matter with you people?" Piper attempts to restrain her as Phoebe tries to explain how Cole's status has altered since the last time Emma encountered him. Emma's having none of it and snatches up Cole's dagger from a nearby table. In what is a pretty damn cool bit of business, she whips it at him end over end, but he grips onto the hilt at the last moment, the blade inches from his throat. Excellent. "How can you defend a murderer?" Emma demands of Phoebe. "How can you live with yourself?" She spins on her cowboy-booted heel and storms out of the Manor. "Is she right?" Raige acidly inquires from a Victorian loveseat. "Are you the one who killed him?" Cole's silent, but cannot bring himself to meet her eyes. Phoebe tells Raige now is not the time -- they have another demon to fry. She asks Piper and Raige to brew up the Garthalike vanquish. Raige eases past with the Garthalike bacon on a china plate, shooting Cole a filthy look like she just realized she'd been living with Ted Bundy for the last few weeks. Honey, weren't you just drooling over the guy a couple of episodes ago? Fickle bitch. Piper appears to be wearily overwhelmed by this turn of events. Phoebe quietly endures the stares from both of her sisters, then turns with the sotto voce, "We need to talk." Cole mutely follows her upstairs, and thus begins the segment of the episode that took me completely by surprise. Details to follow, of course, including my irritation at how Kern and Scovell tried to have it both ways, but this scene is where it began.