Feats of Clay

Feats of Clay is the eleventh episode of Charmed.

Summary
Phoebe's ex-boyfriend from New York, Clay, comes to town with a mysterious Egyptian urn and asks if Prue could sell it for him on the auction block. Prue has to deal with a new boss from the bank that took over the auction house, a woman named Claire who admittedly knows nothing about the auction business, but says that if Prue doesn't have a successful auction in one day, the bank will close the business. Phoebe convinces Prue to try to sell Clay's urn, but Prue soon finds out that it's not only stolen, it's cursed. With Clay's two partners in crime already dead, the Charmed Ones try to save the hapless thief, but it's only through his own act of selflessness, trying to save Phoebe, that Clay saves himself. Piper tries to use magic to help a clumsy guy at work get back together with his girlfriend, but it's Prue ingenuity that actually seals the deal.

Plot
In Cairo, three thieves break into a mansion, looking for a valuable urn. One picks the urn up and a symbol on it glows. Clay, one of the thieves, takes possession of the urn and the three plan to meet in San Francisco. The Guardian of the Urn appears to another of the thieves, Wesley, and places a spider on his chest. The spider delivers a fatal bite as Clay and Palmer escape. Clay appears at the manor; he turns out to be an ex-boyfriend of Phoebe.

The sisters are talking at Quake when a waiter, Doug, spills some glasses. Piper freezes him and saves the glasses. Doug's girlfriend, Shelley, also works at Quake. She has dumped him, he's a wreck and he's constantly dropping dishes.

Clay tells Phoebe about the urn and he wants Prue to sell it via Buckland's. Rex Buckland and Hannah Webster had skimmed off so much in auction proceeds that a bank forced Buckland's into bankruptcy and sent Claire Pryce to run it. Claire wants to move $1.2 million of merchandise the next day, or she will close Buckland's. Clay brings the urn in, but Prue suspects the urn might be stolen. Clay bumps into Palmer, who mentions the urn in front of Phoebe.

At the auction, Claire comes to Prue and tells her that the urn is stolen. Prue uses her power to switch the tags on the urn and a picture, and takes the urn away. She meets Palmer, who tells her of the curse on the urn. Prue uses telekinesis to move the urn, making Palmer believe that the curse is real, and he runs out.

Piper has cast a spell to boost Doug's confidence. She and Phoebe walk into Quake and find Doug shaking a cocktail and with a half dozen girls fawning over him. Shelley looks on, jealous.

The Guardian catches Wesley as he is about to skip town. She places a scorpion on his neck, which gives him a fatal sting.Prue tells Phoebe that the urn is stolen and cursed. Phoebe is reconnecting with Clay, though, and has a hard time believing Prue.

Buckland's has raised $1.28 million and Claire agrees to leave it open. Andy walks into Prue's office and tells her about Palmer. He had found Prue's business card on Palmer's body.

Phoebe confronts Clay about the urn and he admits that he stole it. He knows that Wesley and Palmer are dead, but had not known about the curse. Phoebe believes that Clay had brought the curse among the sisters. Later, Clay meets Phoebe at the manor and offers to take the urn and turn himself in to the police. Phoebe gets a vision and sees Clay confronting a giant cobra. At Buckland's, the Guardian appears to Clay, Phoebe and Prue. Clay flees, Prue's telekinesis barely affects the Guardian, and the two sisters also run.

The three sisters consult the Book of Shadows, and find nothing about the urn--but that a curse for greed can be reversed by a selfless act. They come back down and find Clay gone. Clay has returned to Buckland's and offers himself to the Guardian. The Guardian throws down a glowing cord, which turns into a huge cobra. The sisters run in and Clay blocks the cobra from Phoebe. This selfless act redeems him. The Guardian disappears, and then so does the urn.

Piper has reversed the confidence spell and Doug is back to dropping dishes. He spills a tray in front of Shelley. Piper freezes him and pulls an engagement ring out of his apron. Shelly finds the ring and Doug asks Shelely to marry him. She had given up on waiting for him to ask, but now they are reconciled. Clay walks in and asks if there is any chance Phoebe will return with him to New York. She tells him San Francisco is her home now.

Music
"Inside Out" by Eve 6 (after opening titles)

Trivia
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 * Antagonist: Guardian of the Urn
 * Darryl does not appear in this episode
 * Piper is starting to get control over her power: she is now able to unfreeze people as well as freeze them, she tells this to Prue at the begining. She later has similar control problems with her molecular combustion power in Exit Strategy.
 * In this episode it is mentioned that the Book of Shadows contained no information about the Guardian of the Urn, however Piper mentions that there was information about the Seven Deadly Sins. These pages would later appear in an episode specific to this topic, Sin Francisco, however nothing on those pages mentions anything about selfless acts reversing the damage though the sisters and Leo do discover this.
 * This episode scored 5.7 million viewers.
 * Alyssa Milano's right shoulder tattoo is visible through her red shirt when she closes the front door after Clay leaves.
 * When Clay & the others steal the urn they mention that the person they are stealing it from died mysteriously but if the Guardian of the Urn teleports it back to the rightful owner after killing the thief shouldn't they be stealing it from the owner not someone who died from the curse?
 * When Clay jumps in front of the snake to save Phoebe and it disappears, Phoebe says, "A selfless act, just like the Book of Shadows said." This is not true, Prue said that a selfless act might balance the scale, not the Book of Shadows.
 * Phoebe's boyfriend Clay's name begins with a "C" and in later we learn that her true love's name begins with a "C" which at the time she thinks is Cole, but later turns out to be Coop.
 * Cristine Rose (Claire Pryce) and Holly worked together on Picket Fences - they played mother and daughter. Cristine has also worked with Shannen when they both guest stared in the same episode of Life Goes On together.
 * Clays friend, Palmer bares a striking resemblance to the Demon Jeric, that appears in Season 5.

Glitches

 * How did Clay know that Prue worked at an auction house? Phoebe said she hadn't talked to him since she left New York, and when Phoebe arrived in San Francisco, Prue was still working at the museum.
 * Clay tells Phoebe that he came to see her because he needed Prue's help to appraise and sell the urn, because he needed to make some quick cash. Wouldn't Phoebe find it suspicious that he paid for a trip to San Fransisco to avoid appraisal costs? Getting an urn appraised in New York would be a lot cheaper than flying to San Francisco?

Quotes

 * (Piper and Prue are sitting at the bar in Quake))
 * Prue: What else don't I know?
 * Piper: Prue, don't take this personally but sometimes you can be a bit judgmental.
 * Prue: That is so not true. (Piper gives her a look.) Alright, so maybe it's sometimes true. I just don't understand why Phoebe never even told me about this guy.
 * Piper: People don't like to dwell on things that end badly.
 * Prue: Yeah, well, I wish my relationships ended that badly. Did you hear them last night? There was music, there was wine, there was...
 * Piper: Talking. And how do you know there was wine?
 * Prue: Okay, so I peeked. Well, you know, if nobody tells me anything, I have to get creative.

(A small explosion is heard coming from the attic. Piper's there doing a spell. Smoke has filled the air)
 * Prue: Are you okay?
 * Piper: Nothing to see here, move along.
 * Phoebe: Welcome to London.
 * Prue: What did you do?
 * Phoebe: More like who did you do it too?
 * Piper: I put a charm on Doug but I doubled the recipe, just give love a shot and give me a break.
 * Phoebe: Go ahead, Prue, yell at her.

(A snake appears in front of Clay. Prue, Piper and Phoebe run in.)
 * Phoebe: Clay.
 * Clay: Stay back, Phoebe.
 * Phoebe: No!
 * Prue: Phoebe, look out! (The snake goes to bite Phoebe and Clay puts his arm up in front of Phoebe. The snake disappears.)
 * Phoebe: A selfless act. Just like the Book Of Shadows said. (The guardian and the urn disappears.)