DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN

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THE PLOT

The devil sorcerer, Tempus, is sent to Rodriguez, who is now deemed worth of his help.  Rodriguez says that he's found the Charmed Ones and is told to get them all together by midnight tomorrow to destroy them.  He plans to use Andy to get to them.

Andy makes the front page of the San Francisco Ledger after he's suspected of murdering Rodriguez's partner Inspector Anderson.  Phoebe gets a premonition from the paper of Andy being killed at the Manor.

Rodriguez tells Andy off the record that he doesn't think Andy killed Anderson, and that he suspects a supernatural killer.  He tells him that he knows that Prue is a witch and wants Andy to arrange a meeting.

Andy and Prue discuss Phoebe's premonition.  He suspects Rodriguez, but she agrees to meet him at the Manor, where she'll have the Power of Three to protect her.  She tells Andy to stay away.

The sisters discuss battle tactics before Rodriguez arrives.  Phoebe lets him in, and he throws a jolt of electricity at her, killing her.  Piper freezes his next jolt before Prue throws it back at him, which destroys him.

Tempus turns back time, bringing back Rodriguez, telling him that this is why he has been sent - Rodriguez will learn more every time he is destroyed by the Halliwells.

The day starts as before, but it seems familiar to Phoebe, which she mentions to Prue.  Once again, she has a premonition of Andy dying.

Rodriguez barges in to see Andy, more annoyed that the first time around.  Afterwards he reports to Tempus again, who tells him that he needs to adjust and anticipate from what he's learned before.

Phoebe and Piper are at Quake when Piper again meets Joanne Hertz, a former classmate of Piper's who is producing a segment for the Food Network that Piper is featuring in.  After feeling inadequate the first time around, this time around Phoebe fills in her sister when the room is frozen, tells her that she suspects some sort of time loop is happening and the pair head back to the Manor.

The Book of Shadows yields nothing and when Rodriguez shows up, he kills Phoebe and then Piper before Prue flings the ball of electricity back at him.

Tempus turns back time again and the day restarts, but Phoebe anticipates everything.

Andy and Prue meet again.  The previous time it seemed vaguely familiar to her, this time he tells her that the demon is after her and that he's after the Power of Three.

Rodriguez is even more wound up this time and glares at the hissing Kit outside the Manor.  Andy, watching from across the street as he's done previously, sees this and grabs his gun.

In the Book of Shadows, the sisters find out about Tempus, who is a manipulator of time.  To destroy him they must remove him from the time he is in.  Rodriguez bursts in and throws a jolt at the three of them.  Piper tackles Prue to the ground and Phoebe dodges it.  Andy bursts in, fires at Rodriguez, whose power throws him across the room.  Piper freezes the scene, and she and Phoebe find that Prue is unconscious and that Andy is dead.

The pair tie up Rodriguez, but can't figure out how to kill him.  Phoebe surmises that Rodriguez's death is what is triggering the time loop.

The unconscious Prue sees a vision of Andy, who tells her that they weren't supposed to stop the premonition, and that she's not to kill Rodriguez because the next time around he'll kill her and her sisters.

Piper and Phoebe wake up Prue, who is determined to accelerate time and break the loop.  She casts the spell and Tempus bursts into flames.  She unties Rodriguez, telling him that he doesn't have the power to kill them.  As he's leaving the Manor, he turns and throws a jolt at her, which she deflects back, destroying him.

After Andy's funeral, Piper tells Phoebe that she's quitting her job - she wanted to be a chef not a restaurant manager.  Prue tells them that Andy has been exonerated and that the police are now looking for Rodriguez.

NOTES

Amongst a ton of other roles, David Carradine starred in the 1970s series Kung Fu.  TV presenter Nancy O'Dell has several roles to her name, mostly as reporters, including the second and third Scream movies.

Joanne is 26 and was in the class of '92.  Piper was about 24 in Thank You For Not Morphing so is probably 25 by now.

According to the Book of Shadows, Tempus is the Devil's Sorcerer and can manipulate time any way he chooses, always for evil's gain.  To destroy him he must be removed from the time he's in.

The spell to accelerate time is "Winds of time gather round, Give me wings to speed my way, Rush me on my journey forward, Let tomorrow be today."

THE POWER OF THREE

Prue flings Rodriguez's bolt back at him, destroying him on the first two times.  After she's cast the time accelerator spell she unties Rodriguez, and then deflects the bolt he's thrown at her.  At the end of the episode she closes the door without touching it.

Piper freezes Quake so that she can talk to Phoebe when Joanne shows up.  The first time around, she also freezes the Manor after Rodriguez has flung a bolt at her.

On the second day, she freezes Quake twice - the first time so that Phoebe can tell her about Joanne and the second time so that Phoebe can tell her about there being a time loop.

The final time around she freezes the Manor after Rodriguez has killed Andy.

Phoebe gets a premonition of Andy dying from touching the newspaper.  She also gets this on the second day, and is so aware of what's happening that she knows she's going to get one on the third day.

COMMENTS

Charmed does Groundhog Day, but it's a bit hit and miss all told.  Perhaps those sort of things are best done as comedies - and certainly Groundhog Day is better than the more serious 12:01 - but the Charmed take on it gives the season a slightly disappointing conclusion.

Tempus isn't very interesting, and David Carradine doesn't appear to be putting much effort into the role, although to be fair to him, there's nothing really for him to do anyway.  Rodriguez hasn't been particularly interesting so far, and it's only on the second and third times around that he starts to pick up here.  Unlike Phoebe, who learns from what's gone before, he just gets more and more wound up - shooting the clock is perhaps the equivalent of Bill Murray smacking the insurance guy in the mouth - and it's his scaring off of Kit which ultimately proves to be his undoing.

Andy's death proves to be a bit of an non-event, with nothing like the impact of, say, the Buffy episodes Passion or Becoming, Part 2.  It's also pretty obvious what's going to happen, especially after Tempus winds back time the first time.  We know that none of the sisters can really die and since Rodriguez's death is what's triggering the time loop, the only way out of it is to let me live, with the knock-on effect of Phoebe's premonition coming true.

Phoebe's future knowledge is handled quite well and although Piper doesn't get much to do, it's nice to see her having a go at Joanne.  Her decision to quit her job is obviously going to shake things up for season two, although how they intend to survive on just Prue's salary is a bit of a mystery. 

The closing scene is a nice reminder of how much their powers have grown over the season, but Andy's death needed to be handled far better to have the sort of impact you expect in a season finale.

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