Episode Report Card Demian: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Something Better Change
By Demian | Season 7 | Episode 12 | Aired on 01.22.2005
Excellent sequence, that, despite its flaws. And by the way, as it was unreeling the first time, I immediately flashed back on a similar sequence from H. G. Wells's In the Days of the Comet. I'm not a big sci-fi kind of guy, but I did happen to pick up a used copy of that book about fifteen years ago, and the part where the world falls asleep at the same time -- to wake, eventually, in a comet-induced Utopia, by the way -- always stuck with me. Of course, in Wells's book, "[t]he moonlight...illuminated streets and squares littered with crumpled figures, through which such electric cars as had no automatic brakes had ploughed on their way until they were stopped by the fallen bodies," which is both far more realistic and far more disturbing than what just happened here, but whatever. I'm sure the crack monkeys will have a wonderful explanation for why all of those drivers managed to turn off their cars before lapsing into comas.
Oh, and look at that. Here comes Uniqua, toddling down an unnaturally slumbering city street with the Manor Morons to supply what passes for an plausible explanation on this show. "The effect was gradual," she assures Phoebe. "They all fell asleep gently and safely." The gals, poisoned by the paranoia crystal, pepper her with impertinent questions anyway, like how can they be certain no one suffered internal injuries? They also pepper her with some rather relevant ones as well, as when Phoebe wonders aloud what happened to those who happened to be aboard commercial flights when the mojo wave swept the planet. The answer she gets from Dolta? "I'm sure the Avatars took care of all that." Thanks for nothing, Dolta. The gals continue to be bundles of jittery energy, so Uniqua calmly suggests they concentrate on locating the Straggler Demons. Raige instantly believes she's found one "in a bad suit" feigning sleep by the sidewalk. Phoebe whips her arm back to fling a potion vial at his head. Uniqua grabs her arm, however, and reminds her that they must be certain before taking action. Raige skitters over and nudges the guy's shoulder. He doesn't react, so she turns to rejoin her sisters. Just then, the guy leaps to his feet and flings a Flaming Ball Of Death at her back. For whatever reason, it goes wide and destroys a nearby streetlight as Piper deploys her Hands to send the guy howling and wailing towards The Waste Land in a fireball. And I'm just going to assume the late Straggler sensed The Change and took appropriate steps to blend in with the zonked-out humans around him, because otherwise, I can't figure out how he'd know what was going on. Fanwanking: It's What's For Dinner.
In any event, Uniqua reveals that the transformation will take the better part of two hours, and suggests that she and Dolta return to Not!warts to cloak themselves "until it's safe." Dolta refuses to leave the gals unprotected, so Uniqua flares out alone. Dolta then orders the group to split up to hunt for the remaining Stragglers. He'll head off with the Feebs while Raige sticks close to Piper's side. At the first sign of trouble, Raige is to orb Piper back to the Manor. Piper makes paranoid noises about Dolta's possible secretly lustful motivations for heading off with Phoebe instead of his wife, like, do not go there, Piper, before Raige rolls her eyes and drags Piper out of the frame.