DEAD MAN DATING

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THE PLOT

Andy asks Prue to go away with him for her birthday, but Piper and Phoebe try to persuade her to put it off for a day because of the surprise party they have arranged, against her wishes because Prue hates surprises.

Mrs Chao gives her son Mark a warning about Chinese spirits, but he tells her that he doesn't need the protection.  A fatal mistake as he ends up in an alley surrounded by Chinese gangsters who shoot him dead.  Mark's ghost gets up and sees his body lying on the ground before it's burned by his killers.

Determined to buy Prue a birthday present, Phoebe applies for a job as a hotel's resident psychic, gets the job and manages to annoy her first customer.  Seeing the ad she's circled in the newspaper, Piper turns up at the hotel and tells Phoebe that their powers aren't to be used in this way.

Mark is amazed that the two sisters can see him since none of the other psychics he's tried have been able to.  Neither believes that he's a ghost until Piper sees a cyclist ride straight through him, after which she start to believe his story.

Prue arrives at Quake and sees Andy having lunch with his ex-wife, which is news to her since she didn't know he was married in the first place.

Mark tells Piper that if the Gatekeeper captures his soul before his body has been properly buried then he'll take him to hell forever.  As they stand before Mark's charred remains, the Gatekeeper materialises but Piper freezes everything and the pair flee to safety.  Piper explains the situation to her sisters and says that she has anonymously tipped the police off where to find his body.

At the Hotel Neptune, Phoebe gets another premonition after picking up a wallet - its owner will be killed by a hit and runner driver, but the man's wife is her first customer and the pair think she's stalking them.

Phoebe confesses to Prue about her premonition and her job and is surprised to find that Prue isn't mad at her for using her powers in this way.

Piper attempts to speak to Mrs Chao and is surprised that the police haven't notified her yet, but finds herself unable to break the news.  They quickly discover why she thinks Mark's still alive, when a TV news report says that the body found was that of Tony Wong, a Triad leader who was Mark's murderer.  Phoebe has a premonition that he's still alive and Prue guesses that he killed Mark because the pair look alike.

Piper and Mark go to Chinatown in pursuit of Wong, and after freezing him, Piper photographs Wong holding a newspaper with the headline 'TONY WONG DEAD'.  She sneaks the photo and Mark's name into Andy's mail at the stationhouse.

Phoebe hassles the hotel guest again and he's convinced she's crazy.  Outside, Phoebe dives to push him out of the way of the car she saw in her premonition.  Back at the Manor, she tells Prue that she got a real rush out from saving him.  Prue realises that while Andy kept her in the dark about his ex-wife, she's keeping a bigger secret from him every day.

Mark gives Piper his family's recipes, and tells her that birthdays are important - he should know, he was killed on his his.  They return to the Manor, but Piper is kidnapped by the Triad, who caught her car's registration number back in Chinatown.

Wong has Piper tied up, but Prue, Phoebe and Mark arrive and Prue uses her power to get past Wong's guards.  Wong shoots at Prue, but Piper freezes the room, allowing her to sidestep the bullet, finish untying Piper and throw Wong downstairs.

Andy found Piper's photo in his mail and the police arrive outside, shooting Wong, whose spirit also leaves his body.  With the sisters and Mark having made their escape to avoid Andy, Wong pursues them, but Mark impales him on the Gatekeeper's pike.  Attention then turns to Mark, but Piper intervenes to save him.

At his own funeral, Mark tells Prue not to miss out on her birthday - they're all too precious.  Mark's dead father appears - and he really does have to say goodbye, leaving Piper reflecting on how she's fallen for a dead guy.

NOTES

Andy takes his ex-wife to Quake - a smart move considering Piper's the manager.

Why doesn't Piper freeze everything when the Triad kidnap her from the Manor and how far does her ability to freeze the outside stretch to?

THE POWER OF THREE

Prue moves the sweet trolley at Quake into Andy's path after seeing him with Susan.  More importantly, she throws Wong's guard aside and then throws Wong himself down the stairs.

Piper freezes the alley when the Gatekeeper comes for Mark.  She also freezes Tony Wong twice - one when she photographs him holding the newspaper and later when he shoots at Prue.

Phoebe sees a hit and run accident and has a premonition after seeing the Tony Wong story on TV.

COMMENTS

For the first time, there's no running up to the attic to find the chant of the week from the Book of Shadows, and the series is all the best for it, producing its best episode so far.

Apart from rescuing Piper, Prue and Phoebe don't get a whole lot to do, but they both learn important things about themselves.

But the main focus is on Piper and Holly Marie Combs is excellent in this episode.  She's been the most sensitive sister so far, and there's no exception here with her scenes with Mark, although she does get some more light-hearted material when Andy thinks she's talking to herself.

It's also nice to see a decent guest character at last, and John Cho's Mark proves far more interesting than Stefan or Jeremy did.

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