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THE
PLOT Morris and Trudeau are investigating the disappearance of four young women, all of whose last known sighting was at Quake. The latest is Piper and Phoebe's friend, Britney, who was also last sighted at the restaurant. Prue picks up her relationship with Andy, but regrets sleeping with him on their 'first' date, and is headhunted for a job at Bucklands auction house, which she criticises over the phone as being "stuffy", without knowing that her potential new boss in the lift with her. Phoebe recognises New York photographer Stefan at Quake, and he gives her the address of his studio, suggesting that she model for him. At the studio, Britney is tied up, when Stefan reveals that he's actually Javna, a demon who feeds on the life force of the young to gain eternal youth. Once he's finished feeding on her, Britney has become an old woman. Doing a food run for the church, Piper and Phoebe discuss Piper's fears about their newly discovered powers, when Phoebe has a premonition about the winning lottery numbers which she tells an old couple filling in their ticket. Later, Piper steels herself to enter the church, in order to prove her theory that only the good can enter churches. She escapes unscathed, but afterwards she meets an old woman who has the same tattoo of an angel on her hand that Britney did. Prue has been called back for a second interview, and Rex Buckland introduces her to Hannah Webster, another of the house's specialists, and asks Prue to comment on several objects. Hannah 'accidentally' knocks some paint over Prue, who manages to deflect it, but appears to get away with it. However, after she's gone, Hannah says Prue is "either the luckiest woman alive or a witch." Phoebe has taken up Stefan's modelling offer, but has a premonition and tries to leave, only to be grabbed before she can drive off. Piper and Prue read the Book of Shadows to discover what Javna is, and when Britney collapses after seeing Stefan's address on a napkin from Quake, they realise that Phoebe is in danger. The pair arrive outside Stefan's studio, and hear Pheobe's scream coming from inside. Once inside, Piper frees Phoebe, while Phoebe uses a mirror to reflect Javna's power before all three use a chant from the Book of Shadows to defeat him. Back at the Manor, Britney reverts to her younger self. Having seen Stefan leaving Quake on a security tape, Morris and Trudeau arrive at the studio, only to find that he's vanished, leaving Andy contemplating Prue's involvement in another unsolved crime. Back at Quake, Stefan's previous victim has no recollection of her meeting with Phoebe, who eagerly digs out her lottery ticket in anticipation of winning a fortune, only for the numbers to change before her eyes. Looks like her dress will have to go back then... NOTES According to the Book of Shadows, Javna feeds one week out of every year, stealing the life force from the young to gain eternal youth. According to Piper, the prophet Mohammed invoked the Hand of Fatima centuries ago to banish Javna back to "wherever the hell he came from." The chant of the week to destroy him is "Evil eyes look unto thee/May they soon extinguished be/Bend thy will to the Power of Three/Eye of Earth, evil and accursed." Neil Roberts who plays Rex Buckland played Brother Michael in BABYLON 5: DECONSTRUCTION OF FALLING STARS and Tuling in the DOCTOR WHO audio story THE LAND OF THE DEAD. Bailey Luetgert, under the name Bailey Chase, played Graham Miller in BUFFY, making his first appearance in THE INITIATIVE. Barbara Pilavin has also appeared in BUFFY as the Old Woman in ANNE. THE POWER OF THREE Prue throws Andy's alarm clock out of the bedroom window in the pre-credits sequence. She also sends the lift at Bucklands straight to the 12th floor since she's running late for her interview. Called back, she somehow deflects the paint that Hannah 'accidentally' knocked over. Finally, she throws Javna into a wall at Stefan's studio allowing Piper to free Phoebe. Piper panics in the kitchen at Quake and manages to freeze everything when Andy enters. Phoebe has a premonition of Alec chatting her up at Quake and another of the winning lottery numbers. She also sees herself tied up in Stefan's studio, but he manages to catch her before she can drive off. COMMENTS A bit of a downturn after SOMETHING WICCA THIS WAY COMES. The idea of stealing the life force of others is a tad unoriginal, the whole Stefan/Javna thing isn't particularly interesting, and it might have been better to have kept us in suspense as to who Javna was for a bit longer rather than giving it away so early on. Piper is already proving to be the best of the three Halliwell sisters, and that's true here as well, with her uncertainty about what her new powers mean and her eventual shout of "I'm good!" outside the church. On the other hand, how on Earth Prue thinks she's got away with the paint episode is unbelievable and Phoebe only really gets to show that she's got a good pair of lungs on her when she's tied up in Stefan's studio. Overall, I'VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN is a fairly average episode. There's the start of an ongoing plot with Prue and Rex/Hannah, but they're pretty two-dimensional at this stage, and Piper alone can't save this one. BACK TO THE TOP |
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