Episode Report Card Demian: B | 1 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT There's A New Source In Town
By Demian | Season 4 | Episode 13 | Aired on 02.06.2002
Piper of course immediately opens the Book to the appropriate entry. The watercolor illustration is presumably of Spike and Caprice, but his rendering makes him look like Ewan McGregor, and hers makes her look like a slut from a Whitesnake video. The entry identifies them as "Guardians Of The Hollow." The Dolt crosses to Piper, guessing that Spike was possessed. He exposits that The Hollow, when last released "eons ago," nearly "decimated all magic -- all things." The forces of good and Eeevil had to set aside their differences to overcome it, and even with their best efforts, they were merely able to "contain" it. Since that time, The Hollow has been locked away. "So if good and [Eeevil] are seeing eye-to-eye on this one, who released it?" asks Phoebe. Piper um-duhs, "The Source, you halfwit." Or a reasonable approximation thereof. The three quickly realize that The Source will infect other underlings with The Hollow and have them return to the Manor to abscond with Phoebe and Raige's powers as well. To protect their remaining powers, Piper proposes that they whip up a few potions that imitate those powers' effects. The Dolt agrees with this, orders them to have Raige return to the Manor immediately, and orbs out to break the news to TPTB. TPTB really are worthless if they don't already know what's been going on. The reason for their existence, again? Because I'm just not getting it. Anyway, Phoebe begins, "On a scale of one to bad..."
"This is very bad," Raige finishes, over at the courthouse. Her lip gloss is blinding. Long story short, Collagyn's hearing takes place in minutes, and Collagyn is nowhere to be found. "God, I hope her ex didn't find her," Raige breathes. Phoebe rings Raige's cell at that moment to inform her of the "demonic emergency" at the house. Raige begs Darryl to "pull some strings" to postpone the custody hearing for a few hours. What? The hearing as originally scheduled was for three in the afternoon. The goddamned courthouse is going to be empty in a few hours. And where the hell is Collagyn's lawyer? Why is the woman depending upon a police inspector and a glorified secretary to represent her interests in a custody proceeding? Something tells me Collagyn's still hitting the pipe on the sly. Darryl reluctantly agrees to do his best, and Raige leaves.
Manor kitchen. Piper and Phoebe play with potion ingredients while ruminating on the possibility that Piper "jinxed" them all with the will. Cole strides in, wondering if it's okay for him to be back at the house. Phoebe mumbles a bit in reply, but Piper tells her to cram it. "We need his help," she notes, and turns her attention back to the pot simmering on the stove. Phoebe hesitantly wanders around to approach Cole, spluttering out the details of her vision. Cole's none too pleased that she withheld this information from him earlier; he actually seems to be wounded by Phoebe's decision to keep him in the dark. Piper instructs them to cut the crap and get to the bit about the demon's appearance. Phoebe describes him thusly: "Creepy, half-face. His good side had tribal markings a bit like..." "Belthazor," Cole guesses. Phoebe confirms this, and I am forced to disagree. Belthazor had those black lines running all over his face. The Source has a dinky little crop-circle tattoo on his forehead. Phoebe asks Cole if the gent from her premonition works for The Source. "He doesn't work for The Source," Cole grits. "He is The Source." Yeah, we know, doll. Move it along. Cole reveals The Source's face was disfigured in the battle to wrest control of Hell from his predecessor, and adds that only "upper-level demons" have seen The Source without his hood. Piper too-casually mentions the release of The Hollow, which only serves to amp up Cole's apprehension that much more. The three exchange Looks Of Concern as the shot cuts away to Hell.
The Source regards a clay amphora on a stand for a moment, then stretches his hand towards it. The vessel immediately explodes into CGI shards that hang suspended in the air as the effects shot circles in and around them. It's a pretty cool effect. Unfortunately, it was far cooler when it first appeared in that Gap ad five years ago. Now it's simply overused. The Source notes with delight the strength of Piper's purloined powers, and vows not to stop until he has "all three of their powers coursing through [his] veins." Those of you attempting to keep track of the convoluted universe this show's staff has created might want to make note of that: Three powers. So somehow Phoebe's levitation and premonition are simply two manifestations of the same power, as were The Late Lamented's telekinesis and astral projection. I'll leave it to the gang on the boards to tease out some sort of rational explanation for that, as at this point I'm certain that rationality has never made the acquaintance of the Charmed production staff. D'Eartha emerges from the shadows to piss all over The Source's parade. "No one wins while The Hollow roams free," she avers. The Source assures her that he has complete control of the thing. D'Eartha begs to differ. "The more magic [The Hollow] absorbs, the stronger it becomes -- and the more you extract from it, the more it corrupts you until it consumes all things. Including you." D'Eartha, sweetie, that makes no sense whatsoever. I get the part where it becomes more powerful the more magic it absorbs, and I'm with you on its ability to corrupt The Source, but you lost me with the bit where corruption of The Source leads to Armageddon for all magical beings. The Hollow appears to be able to exist without a host body, so once it's been unleashed, what the hell does corruption of The Source have to do with anything? Jesus. Whatever. I know I'm putting more thought into this than the "writers" did, so let's just drop it.