We All Scream for Ice Cream

We All Scream for Ice Scream is the 54th episode of Charmed.

Episode Information

 * Season 3
 * Episode No. 10
 * Written By Chris Levinson and Zack Estrin
 * Directed By Allan Kroeker
 * Production No. 4300054
 * Original Airdate January 18, 2001

Guest Starring

 * James Read as Victor Bennett
 * Paul Wittenburg as Caleb
 * Robert Clendenin as Ice Cream Man
 * Bobby Edner as Ari

Co-Starring

 * Erica Mer as Freckles
 * Soren Fulton as Jersey
 * Alexa Nikolas as Little Girl

Featuring

 * Emmalee Thompson as Little Prue
 * Dylan Kasch as Child
 * Bernadean Jones as Receptionist


 * Jim Jenkins as Man in Lobby

Episode Summary
Prue cannot stop humming a tune which she doesn't recognise until she hears a nearby child humming it. She follows the girl to an ice cream truck and she and Phoebe try to stop the "demonic" ice cream man who sucks them all into the truck, which holds a parallel dimension; a frosty playground full of captured children with a hurricane-like force that sucks the children into oblivion. They help the kids escape but realise they are demonic children and the ice cream man is innocent and it is his job to catch them. They enlist the help of their father to open the truck's door (which can only be opened by a mortal) to help the injured man. He is near death and saves Prue from being sucked up by the Nothing in the process. Prue realsies that she has been in the truck herself before as a child after after Phoebe has a premonition. Prue is almost killed by the Nothing but saved by Victor. They catch the demon kids and put them back inside the truck. They leave things with their father on good terms.

Plot
Prue has a tune stuck in her head and asks the sisters if they recognize it. They don't. Justin ("Coyote Piper") has asked the sisters to come to a barbecue. Meanwhile, an ice cream truck trawls the streets, playing that same tune, an odd sight at night; a boy walks up and a man in the truck offers him some ice cream. A strong wind pulls the boy into the truck.

Prue sleeps fitfully and dreams of a snow-covered playground. She screams for help and her father rescues her just as the alarm clock sounds. Phoebe is at her laptop and gets an instant message from "an old friend", but is unwilling to share with Prue. Piper has a report of their father sighted in an office building; she goes there and asks after him, but he is not there. She thinks she sees him, but is mistaken.

Prue and Phoebe hear a girl humming the tune stuck in Prue's head. The girl points to the ice cream truck as it passes. The girl runs toward the ice cream truck and Prue and Phoebe go after her, thinking it odd to see an ice cream truck in winter. They find the girl being drawn into the truck; they try to rescue her, but are pulled in with her instead. The two find themselves in the snow-covered playground of Prue's dream; the ice cream man asks who they are, but then flees. A boy warns the sisters about the Nothing, and leads them to a hiding place. The girl runs out, but then the Nothing takes her.

Piper notices that Prue and Phoebe are missing. A young man enters P3 and introduces himself as Caleb, and Piper has to reject him clumsily.

Phoebe has a vision of Prue's experience in the ice cream truck. She had been in the same playground and rescued by their father.

Piper calls for Leo, who tries to find Prue and Phoebe. He can't.

The sisters gather the three surviving children. The ice cream man skulks nearby and the sisters try to follow him. He runs off into the woods and a portal opens on top of the slide. The sisters lead the children through the portal as the ice cream man urges them not to, and then escape themselves. The ice cream man tries to follow, but one of the children grabs his wrists and covers his hands in boils, to the horror of the sisters.

Prue and Phoebe rejoin Piper and Leo and they consult the Book of Shadows. The ice cream man turns out to be a mortal and working for good, to catch demon children with his ice cream truck. The Nothing can then vanquish them, but it does not distinguish good from evil. They need a non-magical person to open the truck. Prue tells of Phoebe's vision. Phoebe confesses that Victor has been in town for three months; the instant message from "an old friend" was from him.

Caleb finds the sisters at P3 and Piper tries to make him go away. Leo tells him he has a phone call and they leave. Victor enters and the sisters ask about the playground. Victor doesn't cooperate at first, but then tells of his experience. Victor was staying home with Prue when she had a cold. Prue had come down and heard the ice cream truck. She saw a boy pulled into the truck and gone after her. He entered the truck and rescued Prue. Grams was furious with him, and that was when Victor left for good.

The four go looking for the truck, but find it missing; it's been towed. The demon children show up. One blows, and flings the four back. Piper and Phoebe go after the demon children while Victor and Prue break into the impound lot. Victor opens the truck and he and Prue enter. They try to rescue the ice cream man. He gives Prue a part that he removed from the truck. As the Nothing approaches, the ice cream man offers himself so Prue and Victor can escape. Piper and Phoebe spy on the demon children, and find that they know where the truck is and there are about a half dozen more. They go to the impound lot. A demon child hits Piper over the head, knocking her out. Meanwhile, inside the the truck, Victor and Prue climb toward the exit. The Nothing tries to take Prue, but Victor grabs hold of her. They come out of the truck and Prue flings several demon children about. Victor puts the part back in the truck and the tune begins to play. The demon children gather around the truck and are drawn in.

As Piper comes to, Leo enters with Caleb. Caleb turns out to be the new ice cream man.

Victor is now reconciled with his daughters. He has a job interview and if he gets the job, he'll be based in San Francisco.

Power Usage

 * Phoebe / Premonition / Swing Set / Ice Cream Van
 * Leo / Orbs / Himself / Manor
 * Leo tries to sense Prue and Phoebe in the manor.
 * Ari uses a heat projection on the Ice Cream Man's hands in the alley.
 * Freckles blows a breath over her hand and makes the ice cream man's corpse disappear.
 * Freckles / Telekinesis / Prue, Piper, Phoebe, Victor / Alley (blows on her hand)
 * Prue / Tk / Door Handle / Junkyard (failed)
 * Freckles / Telekinesis / Phoebe / Junkyard (Blows on hand)
 * Prue / Tk / Demon Kids / Junkyard x 4
 * Prue / Tk / Demon Girl / Junkyard
 * Demon Boy / Fire Ball / Prue and Phoebe / Junkyard
 * Ari / Heat Projection / Victor / Junkyard
 * Prue / TK / Ari / Junkyard

Book of Shadows

 * 1) To Separate a Witch from Her Powers
 * 2) The Ice Cream Man and the Nothing

Lost

 * 1) Jersey stood over an incinerated Ice Cream Man. (not seen)
 * 2) The Ice Cream Man was sucked up by the Nothing.

Magic

 * 1) The Ice Cream Man sucks the Demon Boy into the Ice Cream Van.
 * 2) The Ice Cream Man sucks Prue, Phoebe, and the Demon Girl into the Ice Cream Van.

Evils

 * 1) Demon Boy, vanquished at the beginning of the episode.
 * 2) Little Demon Girl, vanquished by the Nothing.
 * 3) Demon Kids were sucked into the Van.

Music

 * Collective Soul - Skin
 * 'Nina Gordon - Tonight and The Rest Of My Life''
 * Rob and DJ E-Z Rock Base - It Takes Two