I've Got You Under My Skin

I've Got You Under My Skin is the second episode of Charmed.

Summary
As Andy and Morris try to figure out why so many young women have been going missing in the neighborhood of Piper's restaurant, Piper struggles with restaurant management and the fear that she might be an evil witch. At Piper's restaurant, Phoebe meets a handsome and famous photographer, and is flattered when he asks if she would pose for him. Phoebe soon finds out that the photographer actually needs young and beautiful subjects so that he can suck the youth out of them and stay young himself. Luckily, Phoebe's sisters rescue her and they vanquish the photographer with some help from a spell from the Book of Shadows. After spending the night with Andy, Prue runs out on him in the morning. Andy pursues her and finally they agree to take things slowly. Prue gets a job at a local auction house. Her boss, Rex, and his cohort, Hannah, are aware that Prue is a witch, but don't tell her that they know.

Plot
Chef Moore has hired Piper at Quake ("Something Wicca This Way Comes") and then quit to open his own restaurant, leaving Piper as Quake's manager with more responsibilities than she bargained for. She and Phoebe meet with their friend Brittany Reynolds and admire a tattoo of an angel on her right hand; she got it on a trip to Tahiti. Phoebe tells Piper that she got a premonition of a guy, Alec, buying her a martini. Piper doesn't like this; the sisters agreed not to use their powers in public. Phoebe claims she couldn't control it -- and in any case, she can't control when she gets premonitions yet. As she predicted, Alec shows up and buys Phoebe a martini. Brittany goes to her car, and is frightened by someone sitting in it.

Prue has slept with Andy and quietly slips out of his apartment, but not before telekinetically flinging his alarm clock out the window. The next morning, Piper watches a documentary about the Salem witch trials. The documentary says that a Mary Estes was struck by lightning while trying to enter a church, and this was held to be God's judgment. Prue tells Piper that she and Andy had sex, and thinks their relationship is going too fast. Phoebe comes down; she and Alec stayed out until 3 am. Prue isn't happy that Phoebe used her powers to find out about the date. Prue mentions that someone is abducting young women in their neighborhood.

A man, Max, of uncertain relation to Brittany, brings her picture to Andy and Darryl; Brittany never came back home last night. He last heard from her at 10 pm, when she called to say she was coming home.

Piper is outside the church the Halliwells once attended. Pastor Williams suggests that she's early for bringing unused food from Quake. Piper asks if evil beings can enter a church. The pastor doesn't quite take her seriously. After he leaves, Piper approaches the church door, but hears a thunderclap as she takes hold of the handle. Prue has a job interview at Buckland's Auction House. She's running late, and more people crowd into the elevator. Andy calls her to apologize for last night. Someone's about to get out, but Prue closes the elevator door and sends it all the way to the twelfth floor, where she has her interview with Rex Buckland, the company president.

Phoebe bumps into Stefan, a popular photographer, at Quake. He gives her an address on a napkin and suggests she come over to do a shoot.

A woman who was with Stefan earlier is seen tied down and surrounded by candles. She begs Stefan not to hurt her. An old man, Javna, steps out from the shadows. He shoots rays from his eyes into the woman's, and she turns into an old woman while Javna turns into Stefan. Piper returns to the church with Phoebe to drop off the unused food. The pastor returns and Phoebe leaves him alone with Piper. The pastor mentions Exodus 22:18 -- "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." Phoebe meets an elderly couple who are playing Lotto, and in danger of losing their house. She picks up a Lotto ticket and has a premonition of the winning numbers. She tells the couple the winning numbers, and then buys a ticket. As she and Piper leave the church, an old woman is visible at the door -- with Brittany's angel tattoo on her hand.

Andy and Darryl are staking out Quake, where Brittany was last seen. Prue drives up and Andy leaves to flag her down. Prue finds Phoebe inside with Stefan. Prue notices Phoebe is wearing an expensive dress and pulls Phoebe into the kitchen. Stefan's youthful appearance is starting to fade. Phoebe owns up to her premonition about the lottery. Prue isn't happy; they aren't allowed to use their powers for personal gain. Just as Piper tries to shoo them away, Andy walks in and bumps into a guy holding plates. Piper freezes the room and notices Prue and Phoebe are still moving. Prue notices that the dining area isn't frozen. Darryl comes in after them and Prue stalls him until Piper can unfreeze the kitchen. The next day, Phoebe finds Piper leafing through the Book of Shadows. Piper is nervous about their new powers; she's worried they come from evil and wants to be normal again. Phoebe reassures her that they're good witches and are meant to protect the innocent.

Prue has lunch with Andy. She regrets having slept with him and convinces him to go slower. She gets a call from Rex; he wants her to come in for a second interview.

Piper returns to the church and this time opens the door. She is at last convinced that she has not become evil. As she leaves, she meets the old woman and recognizes Brittany's tattoo. Rex tests Prue's abilities. He points out a piece that his assistant, Hannah Webster, is restoring and asks Prue to tell him about it. Prue recognizes it as a copy. Rex shows her another, and she recognizes it as a Degas piece. Hannah accidentally knocks over a ladder with a can of paint on top. Prue raises her hands and diverts it away from her; only a few spots of paint end up on her pants. Rex tells Prue she's hired. After Prue heads out, Hannah tells Rex that Prue might be a witch.

Piper has brought Brittany to the manor. Prue comes home and Piper points out the tattoo. Meanwhile, Phoebe goes to the address that Stefan gave. She has a premonition of Javna attacking her and flees, but Javna has sneaked into her van.

Piper finds Javna in the Book. He feeds on the life forces of young people for one week every year. He can only be vanquished with the Hand of Fatima, which Muhammad used on him centuries earlier. Brittany finds the address Stefan wrote down for Phoebe and faints, alerting Piper and Prue. Piper finds the address and Brittany mentions Javna.

Andy and Darryl are reviewing the tapes from an ATM across from Quake. They see the first victim walking out arm-in-arm with Stefan. Realizing they just found their prime suspect, they rush to Stefan's place.

Javna has Phoebe tied down. He gets ready to blast her just as Prue and Piper pull up in Prue's car. Piper thinks they may need to call the police, but Prue points out that they're the only ones who can stop Javna. They hear Phoebe's scream. Prue blows the door open, and she and Piper storm in. Prue flings Javna across the room. Javna turns his eye-rays on Prue while Piper frees Phoebe. Prue uses a mirror to deflect the eye-rays back into Javna's face. Javna ends up on the same table where he had Phoebe tied up. The sisters speak the Hand of Fatima incantation. A beam appears out of Prue's hand, and reduces Javna to dust. Brittany turns back to a young woman again.

The sisters head outside and find Andy and Darryl there with several cops. Prue claims that Phoebe's van stalled, but Andy easily starts it up.

The Lotto numbers come up, but Phoebe's ticket fades away. Prue tells her it was a personal-gain backfire.

Vanquished
A demon who taps into the black magic power of the evil eye to steal the life force of the youthful, this gives him a temporary fix of youth. His victims, once drained, are left appearing frail and elderly, but this is reversed once he is vanquished by a spell written by the prophet Muhammad called "The Hand of Fatima."
 * Javna

Saved

 * 1) Brittany Reynolds
 * 2) Tia
 * 3) 3 unknown and unseen victims of Javna
 * 4) Elderly couple

To Invoke the The Hand of Fatima / To Banish Javna

 * Evil eyes, look unto thee,
 * May they soon extinguished be.
 * Bend thy will to the Power of Three,
 * Eye of Earth, evil and accursed.

Power Usage



 * 1) Phoebe gets a premonition at the bar at Quake.
 * 2) Prue throws Andy's alarm clock out his bedroom window.
 * 3) Prue keeps the elevator moving up to her floor, skipping five.
 * 4) Javna attacks Tia in his studio.
 * 5) Phoebe gets a premonition from the lottery ticket at the street vendor.
 * 6) Piper freezes the kitchen in Quake.
 * 7) Prue deflects paint falling on her to the floor.
 * 8) Phoebe gets a premonition from the door knob of Stefan's place.
 * 9) Javna attacks Phoebe in his place.
 * 10) Prue throws open Stefan's front door.
 * 11) Prue throws Javna into the wall in his place.
 * 12) Javna attacks Prue.
 * 13) Javna attacks Prue but it hits the mirror.

Personal Gain

 * Prue uses her telekinesis on Andy's alarm clock.
 * Prue uses her telekinesis on the Elevator at Bucklands.
 * Phoebe gets a premonition of the winning lotto numbers and plays them. (however she doesn't win, due to personal gain)
 * Piper freezes the kitchen as a stack of plates drop. (Though not technically personal gain as she did it accidentally)
 * Prue diverts a bucket of paint from falling on her at her interview. (This is technically not personal gain, due to it being a reflex)

Trivia

 * Antagonist: Javna
 * The first painting Rex had Prue identify was "Madonna of the Meadow." Prue said that it was from the 16th century and it was painted by the Italian Giovanni Bellini. However Prue recognized the painting as a copy due to it being "too well preserved" and that the frame support should be in poplar and not in pine.
 * The second artifact Rex had Prue identify was the sculpture "Little Dancer Aged Fourteen" by Edgar Degas. Prue mentioned that it was the only sculpture he exhibited himself.
 * The title of this episode is in reference to the Cole Porter song by the same name.
 * Ironically the hit TV show Angel had a episode with the same name, which guest stared Anthony Cistaro who portrayed Dumain in Season 8.
 * Darryl asks Andy if his favorite movie is Ghost Busters (1984) Andy says that it is Evil Dead II (1987).
 * The sisters learn that good witches don't freeze.
 * Phoebe mentions that Prue and Piper agreed to not use their powers.
 * Pastor Williams makes a reference to vampires.
 * Piper explains how she has never had sex on the first date.
 * Prue mentioned that she hadn't seen Andy in almost 7 years.
 * When Piper Halliwell is watching the documentary on Mary Easty, it is stated she was electrocuted when she ran for the church. This, however, is untrue. Mary Easty was tried as a witch in 1692, petitioned for counsel, denied, and was hanged on September 22 of that same year.
 * Even though it was thought that Prue couldn't channel her power through her hands until the Season 1, episode Out of Sight. It's shown in this episode that she channeled it through her hands to stop paint landing on her.
 * This episode scored 7.4 million viewers.
 * A version of the episode's script can be found here.

Music
"Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia (after opening titles, and in the background at Quake)

Quotes

 * Piper: What? Phoebe, you are not supposed to use your powers, we agreed.
 * Phoebe: No, you and Prue agreed. I abstained. Besides, it's not like I can control it, it just popped into my head.
 * Piper: That's the whole point. None of us can control our powers. That's what scares me. I could panic and freeze the entire restaurant.

:Rex Buckland: That was strange. Lucky you, huh?
 * Prue: Yeah, I'm charmed alright.

:Prue: What are you watching?
 * Piper: Nothing. (She turns off the TV.) Just a show.
 * Prue: About witches? Are you worried we're gonna be burnt at the stake?
 * Piper: Yeah, right. By the way, Andy called.

:Phoebe: What shouldn't have happened?
 * Piper: Prue slept with Andy.
 * Phoebe: Hello.
 * Prue: Thanks a lot, mouth.

:Prue: Brittany, are you alright?
 * Piper: I'll call 911.
 * Prue: And tell them what? That she's dying of old age at 25?