Thank You For Not Morphing

Thank You For Not Morphing is the third episode of Charmed.

Guest Stars

 * Markus Flanagan as Marshall
 * Eric Matheny as Fritz
 * Mariah O'Brien as Cynda
 * James Dineen as Mailman
 * Brian Krause as Leo Wyatt
 * Tony Denison as Victor Bennett (credited as Victor Halliwell)

Summary
Barely have the sisters discovered their new powers when their long-lost father resurfaces in their lives. How convenient! Piper and Phoebe never really knew their father Victor, but Prue remembers all too well how he walked out on them. She gives Victor major attitude when she suspects he's returned to steal the Book of Shadows. It seems like everyone's in the market for a good book, because the shape-shifting neighbors have their sights set on the volume as well. They appear to be three fun-lovin' twenty somethings, but when no one's looking they turn into attack dogs, the mailman, Prue's boyfriend, Piper, Phoebe and dear old dad, all in an attempt to finagle the book. After working out some sticky family issues, the sisters unite their powers to save Victor and make supernatural jelly of those nasty shapeshifters. But before you can say, "Happy Father's Day", Victor has vanished from their lives again and the sisters are doing it for themselves... again.

Plot
The Charmed Ones attend a party at a nearby house. The party is hosted by three young people who recently moved into the neighborhood -- Marshall, his brother Fritz and their sister Cynda. Prue wants to leave early so she can be rested for work, but Andy is also present. They chat briefly and then Prue returns to the manor -- where she finds the door ajar and a large, angry dog on the attic stairs. She backs away and runs out the door.

A man walks into Prue's office and asks her to appraise a ring. She says the ring is old, perhaps 17th century, and is meant for protection. She wonders where the man got the ring--and who he is. The man tells Prue, or "Prudence" as he calls her, that she should know who he is. Prue now recognizes her father, Victor, who hasn't seen them in 20 years. She tells him to leave her and her sisters alone. Victor invites the sisters to dinner with him at a swank hotel where he's staying, but Prue isn't interested. Victor tries to reason with Prue, but Prue brusquely orders him out.

At lunch, Prue lets it be known that she wants nothing to do with Victor. However, Phoebe and Piper are more open to seeing him; they scarcely have any memory of him. Prue says that Grams always warned them Victor was a threat to them, and is suspicious that he showed up so soon after they discovered they were witches.

Phoebe goes to visit Victor. He is happy to see her, though he confuses her with Piper. They hug, and Phoebe has a vision of him stealing the Book of Shadows.

A man in a postman's uniform appears at the manor. He morphs the end of a finger into a key and unlocks the door. He kicks in the attic door and picks up the Book of Shadows. He tries to leave the manor, but the Book won't pass the front door. Prue appears and the "mailman" tosses the Book aside and assumes Andy's appearance. Cynda joins them and "Andy" leaves with her. Prue wonders what the Book is doing on the floor and returns it to the attic, finding the door kicked in. The sisters suspect Victor, but Phoebe remains quiet about her premonition.

Phoebe and Piper go to dinner with their father. Andy joins Prue at the manor. Prue is resentful of her father, but Andy convinces her to join him. She doesn't want to have dinner, only to know where Victor has been all these years. A waiter carrying a flambe, trips over a table leg and Piper freezes him. Victor admits to knowing the sisters are witches.

Piper and Phoebe, or so it seems, are sitting in the manor reading when the "mailman" shows up. Suddenly, "Piper" and "Phoebe" morph into Cynda and Marshall, while the mailman morphs into Fritz. The neighbors, it turns out, are really shapeshifters who are after the Book. Cynda wants to kill the Charmed Ones, but has to be calmed down by her brothers. They hear the sisters arrive with Victor, and morph into crows to avoid detection.

Victor and the sisters are reminiscing. Phoebe wants to talk about becoming a witch, making Prue and Piper uncomfortable. Victor asks to see the Book of Shadows, raising the sisters' suspicions.

Cynda is trashing the house; she is still angry that they didn't get a chance to kill the sisters. Marshall has to calm her down; they need to keep them alive in order to get the Book. Fritz wants to kill two of the sisters and make the third give them the Book, but Marshall shoots that idea down as well. He reminds Fritz and Cynda that they still have to give Victor a chance to get it; apparently they're using Victor to steal it.

Victor admits that he is after the Book, because it tends to draw evil to the sisters and he wants to protect them. He says that while Grams wanted them to discover they were witches, he vehemently opposed it, fearing for their safety. They refuse, and when he persists Prue violently throws him across the room. Victor takes the hint and leaves.

The shapeshifters come to Victor at his hotel room and threaten to kill him unless he makes another try for the Book. Victor plans to go to Phoebe, believing her to be the only one who isn't now openly hostile to him.

The next morning, Phoebe comes downstairs and finds Prue and Piper ignoring her. Phoebe admits to having visited Victor and that she had her premonition, but didn't want to believe it was true. Prue comforts her. Piper finds the protection ring. Victor meets Phoebe outside the manor and has her premonition again -- only this time "Victor" morphs into Marshall, who then walks away with Cynda and Fritz. Phoebe runs back into the manor, and warns Prue and Phoebe about the neighbors. Cynda happens to be there making cookies. Minutes later, Fritz and Marshall show up, followed by Victor. Phoebe goes to the Book, which flips open by itself to a spell designed to vanquish shapeshifters. Phoebe comes back downstairs and finds two Victors. Both try to convince the sisters that they are the real Victor. Prue shifts the protection ring, and the Victor on the left picks it up, proving he's the real Victor (the one on the right is Marshall). The sisters say the spell, and the shapeshifters melt. The ring protects Victor. Victor and the sisters share an emotional hug, and Victor says that they don't need him to protect them anymore.

The newly hired handyman, Leo Wyatt, brings in a small package left on the doorstep. The package is from Victor, who has left town again. It contains a videotape showing the girls as children, enjoying a family Christmas.

Marshall, Fritz and Cynda
The three are shapeshifters who posed as Piper, Prue and Phoebe's neighbors across the street in attempt to steal their Book of Shadows. They tried to use their father, Victor, to do so, but end up getting vanquished. Marshall was the leader, Cynda the most aggressive and formidable, with Fritz being the youngest of the trio.

To Vanquish the Shapeshifters

 * When in the circle, that is home,
 * Safety's gone and evil's roam.
 * Rid all beings from these walls,
 * Save us sisters three, now heed our call.

Family

 * 1) Victor Halliwell

Glitches

 * When Prue walks in on Andy (Fritz), the camera turns slowly when Andy is talking, and you can see a man reading the script in a chair, in the sun room.
 * When Fritz, Marshal and Cynda are in the living room (just before Cynda changes into her demonic form) you can hear her laughing. When the camera switches to her, however, it's noticeably by her expression that she was not laughing a split second ago.
 * When the book flipped itself, the page Famous Books and a page with the Relinquishment woodcut was flipped several times, as if there were more than one pages looking the same.
 * At the end of the episode, when Phoebe is looking for the Safety Spell, it's noticeable that she's not looking through the actual Book of Shadows. The spin is way to thin and the binding is very different (look picture).

Quotes

 * (At a cafe. Prue, Piper and Phoebe are sitting at a table drinking coffee.)
 * Piper: I wonder why he went to you first. Why not Phoebe or me?
 * Prue: Piper, it's not like I won the lottery.

:Piper: Okay, we have to call the cops and report it as break in.
 * Prue: And tell them what? That someone broke into our house to try steal our broomsticks? I mean, please.

:Piper: (Just as a waiter walks past them holding a flambe, Victor puts out his foot and trips him. Piper freezes him and the restaurant. She gets up and takes the flambe out of the waiters hands. Everyone unfreezes and the waiter falls flat on his face.) Who wants flambe?
 * Victor: (The waiter stands back up and takes the flambe off of Piper.) Nice reflexes. Now let me get this straight. Piper, you freeze time. Prue, don't you move objects? And what's you specialty, Phoebe? Premonitions? Maybe we should talk about this elsewhere.

:(Piper answers the door. Piper and Leo walk back in the living room.)
 * Prue: Uh, hi, you must be Mr. Wyatt.
 * Phoebe: The handyman?
 * Leo: Call me Leo.
 * Phoebe: Gladly.