Black as Cole

Black as Cole is the 8th episode of the fourth season and the 74th overall episode of Charmed.

Summary
In the midst of mulling over his marriage proposal, Phoebe comes face-to-face with Cole's demonic past when a widow tracks him down seeking vengeance for her husband's murder. Meanwhile, Paige encourages Piper and Leo to test their readiness to become parents.

Main Cast

 * Alyssa Milano as Phoebe Halliwell
 * Rose McGowan as Paige Matthews
 * Holly Marie Combs as Piper Halliwell
 * Brian Krause as Leo Wyatt
 * Julian McMahon as Cole Turner
 * Dorian Gregory as Darryl Morris

Guest Stars

 * Vincent Angell as Human Sykes
 * Heather Dawn as Emma
 * Bonnie Root as Susan Coleman

Co-Stars

 * Michael Bailey Smith as Belthazor
 * Aaron Brumfield as Demon Sykes

Featuring

 * Sara Lynn Moneymaker as Marika
 * Matthew Heron as Annoying Man
 * Kaycee Shank as Kari

Book of Shadows

 * The Dragon Warlock page is right before the Enchantment Spell.
 * The Enchantment Spell is a page before the page on Time Loops.
 * The Reverse Awakening Spell is across from the page on the Scavenger Demon.

Scavenger Demon

 * Lower-level demon, feeds on the remains
 * of other demons' victims. This
 * demon is usually black and
 * covered in a green
 * ectoplasm. It has the
 * power to shoot a
 * string of ectoplasm out
 * of the palm of its hand, similar
 * to a spider's web. With this, it can
 * hide in high places and easily
 * capture its prey.

Potions

 * Piper makes a potion to kill Sykes using a pig's foot and a piece of Sykes's flesh.
 * Power Stripping Potion made by Phoebe.

Powers

 * Orbing: Type of Teleportation used by Leo.
 * Ectoplasmic Webbing: Used by a Scavenger Demon to attack Phoebe.
 * Energy Balls: Used by Cole to vanquish the Scavenger Demon and by Sykes to kill a Mortal. Sykes used it to attack Phoebe, Cole, Leo and Susan. Sykes and Belthazor used it to attack each other.
 * Shimmering: Type of Teleportation used by Cole and Sykes.
 * Shapeshifting (limited form): Used by Sykes and Cole to turn into their Demon and back into their Human forms.
 * Molecular Immobilization: Used by Piper to freeze the mechanical baby, Sykes, and Sykes and Cole when they were fighting.
 * Premonition: Phoebe got a Premonition in which she saw Sykes killing Susan.
 * Shadow Manipulation: Used by Sykes to command his shadow.
 * Super Strength: Used by Belthazor and Sykes while fighting.
 * Adjusting: Used by Cole and Sykes to break through Piper's freezing power.

Artifacts:

 * Scrying Crystal - A magical pendant used for scrying. Emma tries to scry for Sykes.

Vanquished

 * 1) Scavenger Demon: Vanquished by Cole, a low-level demon that "feeds on the remains of other demons' victims" (Book of Shadows)
 * 2) Sykes: by reputation Belthazor was his mentor. He even used the same Shadow Demon as Belthazor. Vanquished by Belthazor with an Athame.
 * 3) Belthazor: Vanquished by Emma with the power stripping potion.

Witches

 * 1) Kari: Murdered by Sykes, a beautiful person who everyone loved.

Innocents

 * 1) Emma: her fiancé Andrew was a witch, wasn't a witch until her fiancé was murdered by Cole and she devoted her life to the Craft.

Lost

 * 1) Guy at the Phone Booth: murdered by Sykes

Quotes

 * Paige: You were a demon and a lawyer? Insert joke here.
 * Piper: I don't think a witch is allowed to marry a demon (nervous laugh) honey, we can't have a demon in the family.
 * Paige: A demon who likes to kill witches? Well, that narrows it down to about every page in the book.


 * Cole: Marry me.
 * Phoebe: What?


 * Sykes: Belthazor, we meet at last.
 * Belthazor: But not for long.


 * Phoebe: (to Cole): Well, just because you're not a demon anymore doesn't mean we can't live in sin.

Notes and Trivia
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 * The title is a reference to the common saying "as black as coal", which is a reference to a very dark color or mood.
 * This is the only episode of the series with Cole's name in the title.
 * For the first time Holly Marie Combs's tattoos on her wrists are shown on screen.
 * This is the last episode of Michael Bailey Smith as Belthazor, however the demon will be back to life in the alternative reality of Centennial Charmed but won't be seen on screen.
 * Paige falls to the ground after blowing up the vanquishing potion for Sykes, as Piper did in "Sleuthing with the Enemy" even though the earlier explosion was much more violent than the one in this episode. However it is possible this is due to Sykes being weaker than Cole.
 * This is the last time Phoebe shimmers with a demon. She does temporarily gain the ability to shimmer herself in Witch Wars.
 * The alley where Darryl and the sisters are is the same one used in The Honeymoon's Over and Wrestling with Demons.
 * Cole is wearing the same clothes that Julian wore for his Charmed promotional photo shoot.
 * The first shot of the Manor seen in this episode will be used constantly throughout season 4
 * Although having shown a greater desire to get married in the past, in this episode Phoebe displays a strong concern about getting married, this may be due to who was asking her rather than the idea itself.
 * A non-magical being (Emma) scries in this episode, which is unusual and which some consider an error.
 * This episode begins Paige's distrust and questioning of Cole, similarly to that previously held by Prue.
 * This episode scored 5.2 million viewers.
 * Cole proposes to Phoebe in this episode.
 * This is the first time that Paige sees Cole's demonic half. It also begins her long-standing mistrust of him, which would later lead Cole to believe that she is responsible for Phoebe leaving him.
 * Although Prue is not mentioned directly, Phoebe does imply her when talking to Emma about losing a loved one.

Glitches

 * When Paige is looking through the Book of Shadows for the demon while talking to Piper and Leo, she says she found a demon that kills with an athame. The demon is Belthazor, but the Belthazor page says nothing about him killing with an athame.
 * Belthazor stabs Sykes with the athame, it's all covered with blood. When Cole drops it when he turns human, Emma picks it up about to stab Cole, but the athame is clean without the blood.
 * The Cole's Human Form page, which Phoebe wrote next to the Belthazor entry has been replaced.
 * When Phoebe tries talking to Emma about Belthazor, Emma's hands are folded in front of her, holding her sweater closed. In the following shot when Emma turns around, her arms are now down by her sides, with her sweater open.

International Titles

 * French: Libéré du mal (Freed of Evil)
 * Czech: Černý jako Cole (Black as Cole)
 * Slovak: Čierny ako Cole (Black as Cole)
 * Russian: Tchërniy v roli Koula (Black as Cole)
 * Serbian: Crn kao Kol (Black as Cole)
 * Spanish: (Latin America): Negro como Cole (Black as Cole)
 * Spanish: (Spain): Oscuro como Cole (Dark as Cole)
 * Italian: Doppio Volto (Double Face)
 * German: Schwarz wie der Teufel (Black as the Devil)
 * Hungarian: Fekete, mint Cole (Black as Cole)