Is There a Woogy in the House?

Summary
Phoebe’s lifelong fear of the Woogyman in the basement is an ongoing source of amusement to Prue and Piper, until an earthquake unleashes a long-dormant shadow demon which turns Phoebe towards her dark side and against her own family. Much to Prue’s dismay, Phoebe’s erratic behavior and the bizarre deterioration of the house come to a head during a dinner party for a very important client of the auction house, who has a keen interest in the Halliwell mansion because she believes that it is located over a spiritual nexus, a point of incredible energy that can be swayed either towards undeniable good or astonishing evil.

Plot
An aftershock rattles the manor and knocks a portrait of Grams to one side; Prue sets it right. The sisters suspect a gas leak and call a repairman. Claire has talked Prue into holding a dinner party at the manor, which they can't do with a gas leak. The gasman arrives and enters the basement. Piper and Prue tease Phoebe about her childhood fear of the "woogyman". Meanwhile, the gasman discovers a crack in the basement floor and probes it with a screwdriver, a murky black fog emerges -- the Woogyman. It tells the gasman that he has freed it and begins to pulsate and expand, surrounding and completely engulfing the gasman.

Later, the gas man enters the kitchen, looking expressionless and speaking in an oddly flat tone. He tells the sisters that the problem is bad but he will have it fixed by tonight. Back in the basement, the enslaved gasman turns to his shadow and asks it, "Which one do you want?" The shadow points and says, "Phoebe."

Professor Whittlesey meets Prue at Buckland's. She tells Prue that the original house was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and that the manor is built over a spiritual nexus.

Piper is in a wine shop when Claire calls, announcing that there is one more guest. She bumps into Josh, who has the store's last bottle of Clara Jensen '93 wine in his hand. She wants that bottle for herself, but he won't hand it over. She freezes him and plans to take the bottle, then thinks better of it.

Phoebe finds the portrait of Grams crooked a second time. The gasman calls for help from the basement claiming to have sprained his ankle; Phoebe is frightened but starts to enter the basement. She touches a childhood picture of herself and her sisters, and has a vision of Grams banishing the Woogyman. The gasman calls again and Phoebe enters the basement. The gasman, unhurt after all, blocks her exit and the Woogyman enters Phoebe.

Piper enters the manor and finds Kit yowling and frantically running out the door. The gasman attacks Piper, who calls for Phoebe. Phoebe runs in. A baseball bat appears in her hands and she knocks the gasman out. They call 911. Andy and Darryl discover the gasman has a clean record. Phoebe is less than enthusiastic about her apparent new power, much to Piper and Prue's surprise; Phoebe had been craving an active power for some time. She also becomes unusually snappish, further worrying her sisters. The woogyman orders Phoebe to use her powers against her sisters.

Electrical appliances and plumbing malfunction. The guests arrive but Piper has not finished cooking dinner due to the problems in her kitchen. One of the guests is Josh, and he has the bottle of wine. A strange-acting Phoebe greets them at the door. Phoebe and Prue present "duck medallions" to the guests, but the dish proves to be a live duck. As more strange malfunctions beset Piper, Phoebe conjures a knife and almost stabs Piper, but Josh enters just in time.

Phoebe instead gives Professor Whittlesey a tour of the house, leading her into the basement as Prue and Piper try to cut the evening short, offering dinner at Quake on the house. The professor returns, acting as strangely as Phoebe. As the guests leave, Phoebe tells Prue and Piper they don't live there anymore--but that "he" does. Prue tries to get back in, but is repelled. She then closes the door in their faces with a flick of her hand.

Piper and Prue sleep outside. Piper tries to throw a brick through the window and it too is repelled. Phoebe sets fire to the portrait of Grams.

Piper and Prue find Professor Whittlesey being arrested. Josh says that the professor was in the middle of a lecture when she attacked him without warning. Josh tells the two sisters about spiritual nexuses; they are equidistant from the five elements, water, fire, wood, metal and earth. The two find that the manor is equidistant from the bay (water), the natural hot springs (fire), a Kenwood Park, named after the trees that once grew there (wood), Twin Peaks (earth) and a place where they panned for gold as kids (metal). When they connect the dots, they discover that the manor was built in the center of a pentagram--apparently it's in the middle of a Wiccan nexus as well as a spiritual one. Prue and Piper think that their family built the manor on that spot to reclaim the spot for good--and evil is trying to take it back.

Andy enters the manor and Phoebe leads him into the basement. Darryl is across the street breaking up a fight, started by a man who had been in the Halliwell manor. Piper and Prue see Andy coming out of the manor and Piper freezes him, as this was a moment when the manor would let them pass. When they come in, they see Phoebe is frozen as well--meaning she has somehow been turned evil. Prue and Piper begin to suspect the Woogyman and remember the story that Grams had told about it. Andy walks up behind Darryl with his gun drawn, but Darryl subdues him.

Prue and Piper search the Book of Shadows, to no avail. Just then, Phoebe enters, throws Piper out of the attic and conjures a huge razor. Prue tries to talk her down, in vain. Prue flings Phoebe back and she and Piper run. They cannot pass the door, however.

Phoebe calls for help from the basement. The other sisters suspect a trap, but Prue develops a plan to get Grams's story out of Phoebe. Piper remembers something about a shadow in the story. The two enter the basement, a flashlight in Prue's hand. The Woogyman appears. Phoebe appears at the top of the stairs and conjures a knife. As it tries to possess Prue and Piper, they beg her to remember the story. Phoebe has her vision of Grams and at last remembers the spell. She banishes the woogyman and now the damage to the house is restored, including the portrait of Grams.

Piper meets Josh at his office. He is now covering Professor Wittlesey's classes until she can face the board for her behavior. He offers her a bottle of Clara Jensen '93 wine. Andy is suspended for two weeks.

The sisters add their first page to the Book of Shadows, telling how to banish the Woogyman.

Gasman


The Gasman was a repairman working for Bay Area in San Francisco. He was a very tall, good-natured man who was hired by Piper Halliwell to check out a "gas leak" in the house. In the basement, the gasman studied a crack in the concrete floor and inadvertently released the Woogyman, who then possessed him. Under the influence of the shadow demon, he tricked Phoebe Halliwell into entering the basement, where she too was possessed. The gasman later tried to kill Piper in the kitchen, but Phoebe hit him across the head with a baseball bat, knocking him unconscious. He was then taken off to the hospital with a head injury.

Spoiler Notes

 * While the Nexus returns in later episodes and is refered to sometimes as The Shadow, the Woogyman only returns in Witch Trial due to Abraxas. However, the Woogyman Spell is used multiple times to banish the Nexus' power from demons. The Woogyman and the Nexus are finally destroyed in "Something Wicca This Way Goes?" when Piper, Phoebe and Paige vanquish the demon Zankou, using the spell to Banish a Suxen.

Glitches

 * When the gasman is possessed by the Woogy, you see two tendrils of black smoke attach themselves to the gasman's nostrils, whilst the Woogy enters his body through his nose, yet in the next shot, the Woogy only goes up one nostril rather than two.thumb|300px|right

Quotes

 * Phoebe: There you go Grams. (She straightens up a picture of Grams.) Earthquakes give me the jeebies.
 * Prue: Would that be the Phoebe Jeebies?
 * Phoebe: Oh, you know. It’s the comedy stylings of Prue Halliwell.
 * Piper: You’re the only Halliwell that actually likes earthquakes.
 * Prue: I don’t like them, but I don’t go running through the house naked screaming "run for your life" either.
 * Phoebe: Okay. That is such an exaggeration. I was wearing slippers.

:Piper: (Hangs up the phone, looks at her list and someone takes the last bottle of wine.) Excuse me, that’s ...
 * Josh: Callara Jensen, ’93. Last bottle.
 * Piper: Mine. Um, look, why don’t you try this. (She picks up a different bottle of wine.) It’s got a real brusque flavour, good nose, great vintage, it’s probably better than the Callara.
 * Josh: I’m impressed. But why do you want it so bad?
 * Piper: Because it’s got a great body. Look, I’m making Coc au Vin and I need that bottle more than you do.
 * Josh: Look, I’m sorry, but I’ve already been to three wine stores, lunch break is long over and I was told that this was the bottle to get.
 * Piper: Told?
 * Josh: Well, the woman who recommended this grew up in a vine yard and she does know how to choose wine.
 * Piper: Yeah, well I grew up in a house with two sisters and I know how to do this. (She freezes him.) I can’t. I can’t use my powers for personal gain. But – but, it’s not really personal gain exactly. Uh, damn! You can keep the wine. (She leaves and the guy unfreezes.)

:Phoebe: It’s okay, it’s okay.
 * Piper: I thought he was gonna kill me. I didn’t even have a chance to freeze him. Where’d you get the bat?
 * Phoebe: I don’t know, it just sort of appeared.
 * Piper: What do you mean it appeared? Like you opened a closet and found it? Or appeared like you thought bat and there it was?
 * Phoebe: Yeah, door number two. I can’t explain it, but something weird happened to me down in the...
 * Piper: What? Phoebe, spill. How’d you make the bat materialize?
 * Phoebe: Safety first, witchcraft later. We gotta call 911.

:Piper: Look, Phoebe. He's going into the basement. Alone.
 * Phoebe: Don't even start.
 * Prue: What if, dare I say it, the bogeyman get him?
 * Piper: I believe Phoebe pronounced it "Woogyman." Or was that just the buckteeth?