THE DEVIL'S MUSIC

PLOT

Piper's club, Phoebe tells Prue, "couldn't be more dead if I was embalmed."  The pair discuss the offer an an interest free loan from Chris Barker to help out with the club's finances.

Piper comes over and tells her sisters that the club's name - P3 - is a little nod to the Power of Three and also the fact that the three of them are partners in the club.

The question where everyone is is answered by the crowd at a Dishwalla concert across town.  Leo is also at the gig, obviously looking for someone.

Backstage, the group's manager is with a young, excited female fan.  He tells her that she "seemed like a good soul" and that she "said the magic words, you said you'd do anything, remember?"

He leaves her in an otherwise deserted room, and agitatedly waits outside.  The girl sinks to her knees and screams as a shadow looms over her.  The manager enters the room and says that this is it, it has got to stop.  A black-cloaked demon reminds him that they had a pact.  Opening his cloak, the girl and others are trapped inside him, screaming.

Dishwalla and their manager Jeff Carlton are guests at a radio station.  Later, Carlton asks someone for directions to the bathroom and is escorted to a doorway.  Leo tells him that he's intervening and blows some sort of dust into his face.

At P3, Piper is checking the accounts on her laptop.  They look bad.  Jenny shows up and asks if it's against the law for her to be in the club even though it's closed.  Piper doesn't know.  Jenny then asks if Piper would have her arrested if the club was open and says that she really needs a ticket for the show.  Just then Jeff Carlton shows up and tells Piper that Dishwalla want to play "P cubed."  Jenny asks if she can meet the band, telling him that she'd do almost anything.

Prue talks to Chris Barker, offering to pay interest.  He wants her to go to Paris with him but she just wants to start with the loan, which they'll repay.  Afterwards, she tells Phoebe, who isn't sure if they're doing the right thing.  Prue tells her that they're helping their sister, which is always the right thing.

An excited Piper bursts into the Manor, telling that how she's managed to get Dishwalla to play P3.  Leo shows up and admits that he made it happened by suggesting to Carlton that Dishwalla play the club.  He tells them that there's a demon involved, who will be in the club tonight.

Leo explains that the demon is Masselin.  In exchange for human sacrifices he's promised to make Carlton rich and powerful by attracting successful bands to him.  The innocent victims are devoured for their souls.  Piper is furious that Leo is using her like this.

As the roadies load Dishwalla's gear, Morris shows Carlton a picture of the girl missing after the previous gig.  Carlton tells him that there's dozens of girls with short skirts and tight tops at their gigs and says he hasn't seen her.  Morris then shows him pictures of two other girls who have disappeared from other clubs that Dishwalla have played.

Carlton goes to Masselin and tells him that the cops are asking questions.  He wants out; their agreement is null and void.  Masselin tells him that he must honour the agreement and bring him more souls.

Prue tries to get out of the deal with Barker, telling him that they only had an agreement to make a deal.  He knows about the Dishwalla gig and is impressed by the club's potential.  He's offered to pick up the loan from the bank and tells Prue to make sure that he's on the guest list for tonight.  Prue asks him not to go through with it.

Phoebe is preparing the potion to defeat Masselin.  Piper asks how she plans to use it since they can't even give Kit her vitamins.   Phoebe explains that she's going to fill a balloon with it then use herself as bait.  She tells Piper she'll be find with her sisters to back her up.

Piper continues to moan about Leo.  She tells Phoebe that in the future she and Leo were married, which implies some sort of relationship.  She adds that she'd "rather just freeze him and kick him in the..."  "Shins?" suggests Phoebe.

Dan rings the doorbell, wanting to speak to Piper.  He tells her that Jenny thinks she's off to see Dishwalla.  Piper promises to go and talk to her.  Then Leo shows up.  He knows who Dan is because he follows baseball, which annoys Piper even more.  She tells him that he can talk to Phoebe instead.  When Piper and Dan have gone, Phoebe tells him that Piper is just upset.  "I don't blame her," replies Leo.

At Bucklands, Prue runs into Morris.  He tells her that Andy didn't have time to run through the drill with him and, although he respects her for trying to keep him safe, he wants to know what she knows about Carlton.  Prue tells him that she can't say.  Morris tells her that it's about his job, and that they still need to communicate.

At Dan's, Piper tells Jenny that she never said Jenny could see the show, and that she can't go.

Outside P3 there's a long queue to get into the gig.  Inside, Prue tells Phoebe that she told the bouncer not to let Baker in.  Carlton tells Piper that he doesn't want any problems.  Then Leo tries to talk to Piper, but she tells him that she doesn't want to talk right now.

Phoebe approaches Carlton and spins him a story about being unaware of managers until she heard of him.  She wants to know more about it and tells him that she'll do almost anything.  He takes her backstage, while Prue and Piper follow them.

Carlton leaves Phoebe in a room.  Prue busts open a door and then Piper freezes Carlton.  Phoebe backs towards the wall, unaware that she's backing into Masselin.  She gets the balloon ready, but the demon sees it and withdraws.  Carlton unfreezes and is suspicious about the absent Prue and Piper.

While the sister regroup and discuss tactics, Masselin tells Carlton that he brought witches for him to devour.  The demon tells him to get the balloon then bring the sisters to him and suggests that he uses an innocent soul to tempt them.

Barker bribes the doorman to let him in while Jenny sneaks in undetected.

Carlton is on the lookout for an innocent while Piper assures Leo that they've got things covered.

Carlton sees Phoebe and points her out to a bouncer, telling him that she's carrying something.  Two bouncers finds the balloon in Phoebe's bag.  She tries to grab it back but it burst all over her outfit.  Carlton then asks Jenny if she wants to meet the band.  She tells him that she does, and that she'll do almost anything.  He gets her to follow him.

Barker tells Piper that he's taking over, but that he might keep her on in a diminished capacity.  He's prevented from saying anything further by Morris, who shows him his badge.

Piper freezes the entire club and they see Carlton taking Jenny backstage.  The sisters follow but Piper is unable to freeze them further because they've left the room.  They discuss the situation before seeing Carlton, who Prue throws back against a pile of boxes.  Piper tells him to help them, but he replies that they'll get eaten.  Piper suggests that they get themselves eaten and then Prue blows up Masselin from the inside.

Phoebe kicks the door open.  Masselin is waiting for them, and the sisters see Jenny inside him.  Prue uses her powers to fling Phoebe's outfit, which is covered with the potion, at Masselin, who explodes, covering Barker with goo.  The missing girls are freed.

Morris shows up.  The sisters explain that they're preventing a kidnapping and freeing the missing girls, and Morris arrests Carlton.  Prue warns Barker that he doesn't want to get involved with them.

Later, Piper is paying P3's bills due to the successful night.  She announces that Barker has withdrawn his offer.  Prue tells her that they didn't expect a double-cross.  Piper declares that personal relationships and business don't mix.

Leo shows up and thanks Piper.  He's put a spell on Jenny so she won't remember a thing.  He asks if she meant it when she said she loved him when he was dying (see Love Hurts).  She did, and still does but she can't can't keep waiting around for him even though she doesn't want him to clip his wings for her.  He gets a message calling him away and she tells him he should go.

Later, she's outside the house when she sees Dan picking up the mail.  She waves and he returns it before heading inside.  Piper goes inside and then comes back for another look.

CAST

Belfast-born Larry Holden has an uncredited role in That Night, which also stars Eliza Dushku and Katherine Heigl.  He guest starred as Fuqua in Timecop: Lost Voyage, which starred T. W. King.  He's also in A Woman Named Jackie which stars Sarah Michelle Gellar.

CONTINUITY

There are references to Love Hurts and Morality Bites.

Dan Gordon used to play second base for the [Seattle] Mariners.  Leo follows baseball.

THE BOOK OF SHADOWS

Masselin: Trapped within the demon, the unfortunates are kept alive, their souls tortured for the pleasure he gets from their suffering.  The demon seeks willing trusting souls delivered by the one who sealed the pact.

THE POWER OF THREE

Prue busts open a door backstage at P3 when she and Piper are after Carlton and Phoebe.  Later she throws Carlton against some boxes and flings part of Phoebe's outfit at Masselin.

Piper freezes Carlton backstage.  She also freezes the entire club.

NOTES

The Dishwalla tracks featured are Counting Blue Cars, Find Your Way Back Home, Stay Awake and Until I Wake Up.

The tattoo on Holly Marie Combs' shoulder is clearly visible in the final scene at the Manor.

Comments
Like a lot of Charmed episodes, The Devil's Music is enjoyable without being great.

All too often the series serves up a monster of the week threatening someone who's only in the show to get into trouble in the first place, followed by the Halliwells vanquishing the threat.

And that's the basic premise of The Devil's Music.  We're introduced to an innocent in trouble, in this case Tina, who's threatened by a not particularly interesting or threatening demon in the shape of Masselin, who'll probably never be referred to again.

P3 seems to be at least partly an attempt to replicate the Bronze on Buffy, but at least it makes a change from the sisters chatting around a table in Quake all the time.  Plus there's the obvious potential for a soundtrack album.

Unfortunately, The Devil's Music seems designed to showcase Dishwalla, with the result that a lot of the second half of the episode seems to revolve around characters wandering around P3 looking for each other.

On the plus side, it's nice to see Morris developing a little, but against this, it was obvious from the moment that Jenny set foot in P3 that she'd end up having to be rescued by the Halliwells.  Indeed, it was pretty obvious as soon as she was introduced that the character would be fulfilling this role sooner or later.  Similarly, after Prue was the sister romantically involved last season, Piper looks like she's going to take on that role this time around, although at least there could be some ongoing storylines involving both Dan and Leo.

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