Still Charmed & Kicking



Still Charmed & Kicking is the 156th episode of Charmed.

Episode Information

 * Season          8
 * Episode No.     01
 * Original Airdate September 25, 2005

Plot
At the Halliwell manor, Victor is holding the reception for the Halliwell sisters’ funeral. Piper and Phoebe are there in new forms while Agent Keyes of Homeland Security is keeping an eye on things. When Janice Dickinson shows up, it becomes clear it’s Paige in an assumed form and her sisters bust her on it.

Paige is unhappy no one cares that she was dead except for leprechauns but they’re interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious man – Leo in a disguise of his own. Paige is interrupted by a signal from her charge, even though the Elders don’t know she’s alive. There are demons nearby making sure they’re dead and the Sisters refuse to encounter them. Phoebe notices a guy from the paper that she was attracted to, even though she never knew his name. Victor is approached by a real estate agent named Paul Haas, who pries into the sisters’ cause of death and Leo’s disappearance, then offers to buy the house. Victor tells him to get lost and he leaves… then enters by flame into a sect of demons in the Underworld to announce to them his certainty that the Charmed Ones are dead. A demon assuming leadership over the next band of demons in the wake of Zankou’s defeat, Haas plans to establish a foothold in the mortal world and rise to power by acquiring the Manor after killing Victor.

Agent Keyes is calling off the case over the protestations of his younger partner Murphy – Keyes admits he’s faking calling off the case so that the Halliwells resurface, and Murphy will spot them. Phoebe in her other form approaches the guy from the office but Piper gets him out before Phoebe blows their cover. Wyatt is concerned about the fact he can’t recognize his mother, so Phoebe comes up with a plan to use the Book of Shadows to cast a spell to fix themselves each in one look but they will look like themselves to their family. They’re interrupted by Paige’s “jingle” Meanwhile, a leather-clad woman dons a black wig and weaponry, and goes out on some mission.

The Sisters come up with their new identities’ histories and cast a spell to “create” them, and Phoebe decides to go shopping now that they’re relieved of hunting demons. Paige suspects Haas of being a demon and Phoebe hauls Piper along while Paige remains behind to “relax.” Piper is reluctant about the “big change” even though she now has the normal life she always wanted. Piper goes to check up on P3 and the guy running it, while Phoebe contemplates the loss of her column. Paige is griping to Grams about her lack of any real life and that she doesn’t know where to start. Grams isn’t thrilled about the fact no one consulted her about abandoning the Halliwell legacy. Grams basically tells Paige to live with her choice and go out and “find her thrill.”

Paige is having a cup of coffee when a guy hits on her but they’re interrupted by a purse-snatcher. Paige goes after him but loses the guy because she didn’t orb, then gets more “jingling.” The black-clad woman goes into a theater where a patron is having his energy sucked by a demon-type. Paige orbs in, following the Whitelighter “jingle,” and the demon attacks and stuns her. They’re interrupted by the black-clad woman who does some acrobatic moves and then redirects his fireballs back at him. She flees just as Paige wakes up, wondering who it was.

Victor and Leo are doing household chores and Victor expresses his concerns. After Leo leaves, an Elder arrives to console Victor about the loss of his daughters, and tell Victor that the Elders are considering raising the boys. Leo overhears them as Victor refuses and the Elder reluctantly accepts his decision. An injured Paige returns and the guys notice her, while Haas confronts the demon who failed. Piper is at P3 and notices Victor has been changing the club music and the place isn’t doing well. She covers by saying she’s Victor’s “niece” which is why she has the passwords for the club computers. Leo calls Piper to come back and deal with the situation, while Phoebe drops in at the paper and gets to hear them say nice things about her. Then she introduces herself as Phoebe’s “cousin” and doesn’t cover very well, then leaves. When she heads out, she runs into the hot guy in the elevator and gets his name – Dex Lawson. When they shake she gets a premonition of them marrying and going into the manor.

Back at the manor, the sisters get together as Paige is trying to locate the demon, much to her sisters’ dismay. Paige is feeling bad that she can’t respond to the calls for help, and talks about the woman who attacked the demon. Victor is putting the boys to bed when Haas arrives with two demons to kill Victor. Grams arrives to help Paige out, and Paige gets another signal. Haas confronts Victor but the black-clad woman arrives and the sisters hear the resulting battle downstairs. The woman disposes of the two underling demons but Haas makes his escape. It’s clear the woman has some kind of telekinetic powers, and she takes off after thanking the sisters.

The sisters suspect the woman knows who they are, or may have a way to home in on the calls that Paige has been getting. They figure they have to make a statement so the demons don’t keep coming after Victor and the boys, but wonder how to do it without alerting the demons to their secret IDs. At his home, Victor is confronted by Haas and more underling demons. Haas wonders who the women are and promises a painless death if Victor tells him. Victor identifies the sisters as “cousins” and then Wyatt orbs in. Wyatt blows up all the demons except Haas and Victor tells him to spread the word. Haas suspects that it wasn’t really Wyatt and the Charmed Ones are still alive. Piper was disguised as Wyatt and Phoebe as Victor, and they think their plan worked. They figure the mysterious woman is Paige’s charge and she’ll have to deal with it. At her home, the woman takes off her black wig and weaponry and reveals she’s a blonde girl, Billie, who heads off to class.

Recurring

 * Glenn Morshower as Agent Keyes
 * James Read as Victor Bennett
 * Jennifer Rhodes as Penny Halliwell
 * Rebecca Balding as Elise Rothman

Guest Cast

 * Brandon Quinn as Agent Murphy
 * Jason Lewis as Dex Lawson
 * Christina Ulloa as Jo Bennett
 * Beatrice Rosen as Jenny Bennett
 * Adrienne Wilkinson as Juile Bennett
 * Mykel Shannon Jenkins as Paul Haas
 * Janice Dickinson as (Paige Matthews in Disquise)

Book of Shadows
To Change Appearance
 * I call upon the Ancient Powers,
 * to mask us now and in future hours.
 * Hide us well and througougly,
 * but not from those we call family.

~ Result: The sisters and Leo look different for the whole world except their family.

Quotes
Piper (to her father victor): and look a little more berieved, Agent keyes is watching"

Phoebe: jo, jenny nice, julie, louis?"

Leo: "Yea as in louis armstrong, the famous trompeter?"

Piper: yeay i think my dad used to listing to him (with a smirk on her face)

Phoebe: "well if you can deal with it, so can the government."

Trivia

 * Piper gets a new car in this episode - a dark blue 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee
 * This year's opening credits are two clips per character, whereas previously Holly, Alyssa and Rose each had 3, and the remaining characters had 2.
 * In this episode it's said that Dad (Victor) booked Barry Manilow in the club P3. Barry Manilow is an American singer and songwriter best known for his recordings I Write the Songs, Mandy and Copacabana
 * The sisters take the identity of cousins, which is what they (minus Paige and plus Prue) had been in their past lives.
 * Alyssa Milano wears her hair long for the first time in 2 years.
 * Often times, the "reflections" would be wearing their hair differently than the real Phoebe, Paige, and Piper. For example, when Piper and Phoebe are shoe-shopping and look into the store window for reflection, the real Phoebe (Alyssa) has her hair in a ponytail, but her reflection is wearing her hair down.