Scry Hard

Scry Hard is the 151st episode of Charmed.

Summary
In an attempt to lure the sisters out of the manor, Zankou sends his underlings to attack Leo, in order for him to search the house for the Nexus and release the Shadow, the ultimate power. Meanwhile, in order to protect his parents, Wyatt magically shrinks them and traps them inside a doll house, and Phoebe is left in charge of the newspaper.

Episode Guide


Leo, lacking powers and feeling useless, has cleaned up the attic; Piper worries about him, believing that he is obsessive. He has found a doll house, a small model of the manor. A demon shimmers in, throws a sharp-edged boomerang, and disappears. The boomerang grazes Leo, and Piper is worried; but Leo refuses to hide. Piper goes to Paige with the boomerang and asks her to scry with it.

Zankou plans to lure the Charmed Ones into his lair, but not so much to fight them as to lure them out of the manor so he can find the Nexus.

Paige goes to Phoebe and she tries to claim a family emergency; but Elise has other plans. According to her, she has a family emergency and her top lieutenant Richard Dillard is out sick (it turns out they're planning a night out) and she leaves Phoebe in charge of the newspaper.

Demons attack at manor. One throws a boomerang and it wounds Leo in the back. Wyatt sees, and transports Leo and Piper into the doll house in miniature form. The doors and windows are magically blocked. Piper tries to blast to get Paige's attention, but in vain. Paige takes Wyatt and Chris to Magic School.

Zankou flames into the apparently empty manor, followed by a dozen demons. They spread out and look for the Nexus.

Paige tells Phoebe that Piper is missing. They orb into the manor, but find Zankou and his minions there, and he blasts them out the front door.

Piper finds where the doll house parts for playing, and blasts; she and Leo escape, and try to consult the Book of Shadows.

In the basement, Zankou opens the Nexus. The Shadow comes out, but instead of entering Zankou, it destroys three demons and retreats. Zankou realizes that Piper is still in the manor.

Piper blasts the Book of Shadows to find a scrying spell. She uses it in reverse to draw the attention of Paige and Phoebe, but the blasting also draws the attention of two demons. Paige and Phoebe orb into a bathroom and fight their way to the attic -- but Zankou greets them, with miniature Piper and Leo in a box. Paige and Phoebe bluff Zankou, claiming that he needs the Power of Three to open the Nexus. Zankou restores Piper to full size, retaining Leo as leverage.

Zankou and the Charmed Ones enter the basement, Leo still in the box, and the sisters open the Nexus. The Shadow, however, enters Leo, restoring him to full size, since he's the only neutral being in the manor. He blasts Zankou, who flames away. Leo asks the sisters to take the Shadow out of him; they say a spell, and the Shadow returns to the Nexus.

The sisters talk Leo into taking charge of Magic School.

Featured Music

 * "Better Now" by Collective Soul
 * "Sand in My Shoes" by Dido

Glitches

 * Paige was able to cast the Woogyman Spell although she had never cast or heard it. It can be presumed that Phoebe had taught her the spell once, when she had informed Paige about the Woogyman, in case she ever needed to use the spell. Or she could have seen it in The Book of Shadows.
 * The doll house isn't actually a complete replica, as the exterior is different and the conservatory is shown to be in a different place.
 * Piper and Leo both make comments about Leo's inability to self-heal now that he's a mortal. But in previous episodes, it's mentioned that Leo wasn't allowed to use his powers to heal himself.
 * When shrunken Piper and Leo reach the book it is open at the Demonic Sorcerers page. When we see it again it is open to the Deflection page even though they have yet to turn the pages.

Quotes
(Jordan approaches Phoebe.)
 * Jordan: First, my teacup. Now he's on my computer.
 * Phoebe: You know what? Isn't this kind of obvious?
 * Jordan: What?
 * Phoebe: He likes you. (They look over at the man sitting at his desk and the man winks. The fashion editor walks away.) Any other questions? No. Okay. I will be in my office, in a meeting. (Phoebe walks back into her office.) Can you believe those guys?
 * Paige: At least they're not pre-pubescent.

:Piper: (from inside box) What are they doing?
 * Demon: They're stalling.
 * Craven: Just kill them and evil will control the Nexus this time.
 * Paige: This time? What do you mean? You've tried before?
 * Phoebe: I bet they lost some demons too. Yeah, we've had some experience with the Nexus.
 * Craven: They're lying.
 * Zankou: No. I read Piper's diary. I guess I'll need to make her big again for you to do this.

