Feats of Clay

Feats of Clay is the 11th episode of the first season and the 11th overall episode of Charmed.

Summary
For a complete plot of Feats of Clay go here.

Phoebe's ex-boyfriend from New York, Clay, comes to town with a mysterious Egyptian urn and asks if Prue could sell it for him on the auction block. Prue has to deal with a new boss from the bank that took over the auction house, a woman named Claire who admittedly knows nothing about the auction business, but says that if Prue doesn't have a successful auction in one day, the bank will close the business. Phoebe convinces Prue to try to sell Clay's urn, but Prue soon finds out that it's not only stolen, it's cursed. With Clay's two partners in crime already dead, the Charmed Ones try to save the hapless thief, but it's only through his own act of selflessness, trying to save Phoebe, that Clay saves himself. Piper tries to use magic to help a clumsy guy at work get back together with his girlfriend, but it's Prue ingenuity that actually seals the deal.

Characters
Characters in bold appear for the first time in the series.

Magical Beings

 * Guardian of the Urn - a magical being that protects a priceless Egyptian urn, once owned by an ancient wizard. When the wizard died, a curse was placed on the urn. Witches and magic cannot lift it, and those who are cursed do not live to tell the tale. When the urn is stolen, the thief is visited by the beautiful yet merciless Guardian, and punished for their greed.

Mortals

 * Clay Muniz
 * Palmer Kellogg
 * Doug
 * Wesley
 * Shelly
 * Claire Pryce

Spells
The Charm of Confidence is a charm that boosts one's confidence. Piper once used it to boost the confidence of Doug, a waiter at Quake. She made it stronger than needed, however, which backfired and made Doug too confident.

Requirements: A poppet to be put in a cauldron and several candles to be lit.

Music
"Inside Out" by Eve 6 (after opening titles)

Notes and Trivia
thumb|300px|right|Feats of Clay WB Trailer
 * Darryl does not appear in this episode
 * Piper is starting to get control over her power. She is now able to unfreeze people as well as freeze them, she tells this to Prue at the begining. She later has similar control problems with her molecular combustion power in Exit Strategy.
 * In this episode it is mentioned that the Book of Shadows contained no information about the Guardian of the Urn. However, Piper mentions that there was information about the Seven Deadly Sins. These pages would later appear in an episode specific to this topic, Sin Francisco, however nothing on those pages mentions anything about selfless acts reversing the damage though the sisters and Leo do discover this.
 * This episode scored 5.7 million viewers.
 * Alyssa Milano's right shoulder tattoo is visible through her red shirt when she closes the front door after Clay leaves.
 * When Clay and the others steal the urn they mention that the person they are stealing it from died mysteriously, but if the Guardian of the Urn teleports it back to the rightful owner after killing the thief they should be stealing it from the owner and not someone who died from the curse.
 * When Clay jumps in front of the snake to save Phoebe and it disappears, Phoebe says, "A selfless act, just like the Book of Shadows said." This is not true, Prue said that a selfless act might balance the scale, not the Book of Shadows.
 * Phoebe's boyfriend Clay's name begins with a "C" and in later we learn that her true love's name begins with a "C" which at the time she thinks is Cole, but later turns out to be Coop.
 * Cristine Rose (Claire Pryce) and Holly worked together on Picket Fences - they played mother and daughter. Cristine has also worked with Shannen when they both guest stared in the same episode of Life Goes On together.
 * Clay is the first character in Charmed to have his name used in an episode title.

References to other movies,books,mythology,etc..
Phoebe: It's just like The Cowardly Lion from "The Wizard of Oz".

"The Wizard of Oz" is a movie from 1939, which featured Judy Garland as Dorothy

Clay: Maybe you can show me around. Help me see where I left my heart. A reference to the famous 1962 Tony Bennett hit I Left My Heart in San Francisco

Phoebe: I thought your charm was to boost his confidence, not turn him into Tom Cruise.

Making a comparison to the 1988 movie "Cocktail" that starred Tom Cruise as a bartender.

Prue: They hired you at the Rainbow Room? The Rainbow Room is a very famous restaurant in New York that serves a more elite clientelle.

Title: Feats Of Clay

"Feet of clay" is a phrase that refers to a person's weakness. It's origin is found in the bible: "...his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay." (Daniel 2:31-32)

Quotes

 * (Piper and Prue are sitting at the bar in Quake)
 * Prue: What else don't I know?
 * Piper: Prue, don't take this personally but sometimes you can be a bit judgemental.
 * Prue: That is so not true. (Piper gives her a look.) Alright, so maybe it's sometimes true. I just don't understand why Phoebe never even told me about this guy.
 * Piper: People don't like to dwell on things that end badly.
 * Prue: Yeah, well, I wish my relationships ended that badly. Did you hear them last night? There was music, there was wine, there was...
 * Piper: Talking. And how do you know there was wine?
 * Prue: Okay, so I peeked. Well, you know, if nobody tells me anything, I have to get creative.


 * (A small explosion is heard coming from the attic. Piper's there doing a spell. Smoke has filled the air)
 * Prue: Are you okay?
 * Piper: Nothing to see here, move along.
 * Phoebe: Welcome to London.
 * Prue: What did you do?
 * Phoebe: More like who did you do it to?
 * Piper: I put a charm on Doug but I doubled the recipe, just give love a shot and give me a break.
 * Phoebe: Go ahead, Prue, yell at her.


 * (A snake appears in front of Clay. Prue, Piper and Phoebe run in.)
 * Phoebe: Clay.
 * Clay: Stay back, Phoebe.
 * Phoebe: No!
 * Prue: Phoebe, look out! (The snake goes to bite Phoebe and Clay puts his arm up in front of Phoebe. The snake disappears.)
 * Phoebe: A selfless act. Just like the Book Of Shadows said. (The guardian and the urn disappears.)

International Titles

 * French: La Malédiction de l'Urne (The Curse of the Urn)
 * Polish: Wyczyny Claya (Feats of Clay)
 * Czech: Na hliněných nohou (Feet of Clay)
 * Serbian: Klejevo prokletstvo (Clay's Curse)
 * Italian: La maledizione dell`urna (The Curse of the Urn)
 * Brazilian Portuguese: A Maldição da Urna (The Curse of the Urn)
 * Russian: Podvigi Claya (Feats of Clay)
 * Spanish: Las hazañas de Clay (The Feats of Clay)
 * Spanish (Latin America): La maldición de Clay (The curse of Clay)
 * Slovak: Clayove skutky (Clay's Feats)
 * German: Der Fluch der Urne (The Curse of the Urn)