P3 H2O

PLOT

Prue is at Camp Skylark, thinking back to the time she saw her mother Patty drown there twenty years ago.  Her thoughts are disturbed by a call from Piper, who thinks Prue is still on the road, something Prue doesn't bother to tell her isn't the case.  After the call, Prue walks to the end of the jetty and notices the water bubbling near to a boat.  A man comes running up shouting that "it's already too late, it's already taken him."

Piper and Dan discuss their breakfasts over the phone, much to Phoebe's annoyance.  Prue returns home and tells her sisters that she saw someone drown at the lake - the lake, and proceeds to relate what happened.  She arranges to meet her sisters as the lake in an hour, but in the meantime she has to go to Buckland's.

At the auction house, she finds Jack Sheridan sitting at her desk.  Since Prue won't date him, he is now working for Buckland's, and is waiting for his own office to be ready.  Prue says that she has to go and leaves him, telling him to sit tight and do nothing.

At the camp, Piper and Phoebe are talking to Mrs. Johnson, who tells them that she's not opening the camp now.  They ask if she knows who the weird guy, and Mrs. Johnson tells them that his name is Sam and that he showed up when the drownings started.  

While Mrs. Johnson talks to the three sisters outside, the water in the lake starts to bubble again, although none of them notice it.  Jack Sheridan calls Prue to tell her that he's taking her lunch appointment with a client.  Afterwards, Piper and Phoebe ask Prue why she flips out when someone compares her to her mother, as Mrs. Johnson did.  Prue tells them that she's terrified of becoming Patty - everything's repeating itself, she has no successful relationship with guys, is responsible for looking after her family and there's the possibility that she's going to die young.  She just wants to see Sam, vanquish the demon and get on with their lives.

Mrs. Johnson is checking out a boat tied to the jetty when the water starts bubbling again.  Suddenly, the demon jumps up from the water, lands beside her and then dives in with her.

The sisters check out where Sam lives.  Prue finds a photo of Patty and newspapers containing reports of the drownings.  Piper finds a certificate presented to Sam Wilder, New York Teacher of the Year for 1872.  Phoebe notes that he's either 127 years old or is a demon.  Piper then finds a pile of letters before Leo orbs in, telling them they have to leave before Sam returns.  They refuse until he tells them what's going on.

Leo explains that Sam was Patty's White Lighter and that he clipped his wings when she died, so that he's now mortal.  He is there to make sure they face the demon with a clear head, which Prue agrees with.

After Leo has orbed out, they hear shouts coming from outside - it is Mrs. Johnson struggling in the water.  Piper and Phoebe try to save her, but Prue finds herself rooted to the spot, and again sees a flashback of her mom dying.  Sam warns them that the demon is Mrs. Johnson.  After they've raced off the jetty, Prue tells him that they know who he is.  He tells them that he knew they'd come and tells them to leave because they're not strong enough.  Prue gives him one choice - either get on board or get the hell out of here.  Sam appears to be willing to help but blows dust at them, telling them to go home, go directly to bed and that when they'll wake up they won't remember anything.

The next morning, the sisters wake up with no memory of what's happening.  Piper has developed an itch, which Phoebe says looks like the time Prue got Poison Ivy at camp.

Dan shows up for his breakfast date with Piper, who can't remember anything about it.  Leo orbs in and she freezes Dan while Leo asks why they aren't at the lake.  He realises that Sam caused them to forget, but manages to get them to remember again.  Piper unfreezes Dan and cries off, saying she's got family stuff to do.  Prue and Phoebe tell Piper she's too contagious to leave the Manor and leave her to look in the Book of Shadows while they return to the camp.

Coaches full of kids arrive at the camp.  Prue plans to use Sam's powder on them and make them forget they want to go swimming.  She leaves Phoebe to keep them entertained and out of trouble while she goes to see Sam.

She asks him how he could just and watch the demon continue to take people.  He replies that he's not one of the good guys anymore, but Prue tells him that he's still got White Lighter instincts because he saved her.  He's been waiting for them to stop them from facing the demon because he couldn't save Patty.  Prue tells him that they need the powder in order to save the kids and to know what Patty's plan was in order to defeat the demon.

Leo can't find anything about the demon in the Book of Shadows.  Piper asks why he was unable to cure her itching and they realise that he wasn't supposed to.  She continues doing the laundry and finds the letters that they found the previous day, which turn out to be love letters from Patty to Sam.

Phoebe struggles to impress the kids, who want to go swimming.  Prue shows up with Sam and gives the powder to Phoebe while she goes outside to answer her mobile.  Phoebe blows the powder over the kids, telling them, "water bad, land good."

Jack Sheridan conferences Prue and her Japanese client.  Prue makes out that she has the horse he's interested in buying in front of her, but is surprised to hear Jack speak Japanese and seal the deal.  She asks who he plans to credit as the sales agent.

Piper and Leo read the letters and Piper realises that they could have been written by her.  She finds a letter about the water demon, telling Sam to stay away.  Leo thinks that Prue and Phoebe need to know about this and he hold Piper so that they can orb to the lake.

Prue is asking Sam what Patty's plan was when Leo and Piper orb in.  Piper tells the others that Sam loved their mom, and he admits it.  He came to the lake the day she died and blames himself for falling in love, otherwise he would have stayed away.  Prue tells him that they have to see past their emotions and asks what he saw that day.

Sam explains that he didn't see anything because Patty had frozen him.  Prue says that she knows someone who can see everything - Phoebe.  Phoebe asks how is this fair - every time someone compares her to their mom, Prue freaks out but now she expects her to relive her last moments.  Prue admits that it's not fair.

Phoebe gets a premonition from Sam, which shows Patty on the jetty.  She picks up an electrical cable.  Sam runs towards her, shouting a warning and she freezes him.  Then the demon takes her, drowning her from the inside.  Since freezing doesn't work against this demon, Prue decides to use Patty's plan of using electricity against the demon but the witch doing it won't be the one with the power to freeze.

As they stand watching Prue, Sam tells Leo that he's "forgotten how good this feels."  Leo asks him what it's like to be mortal, to which Sam replies "why do you want to know?"

Prue takes hold of the electrical connectors, with Sam beside the power switch.  She challenges the demon to show itself and the water starts bubbling.  Piper and Phoebe run up, followed by Leo, who Piper freezes.  The demon looms and Sam tells it to take him, which is does.  When it's inside him, he grabs both electrical connectors and tells Prue to throw the switch, which she does using her power.

Leo unfreezes and tries to save Sam but can't because he isn't supposed to.  Sam tells them that he's going to see Patty again and he sees her ghost by the lakeside.  "Don't lose her," he tells Leo, while Prue tells him to say hi for them.  Sam and Patty's ghosts vanish.

Prue enters her office and discovers that, much to her surprise, Jack credited her as the sales agent.  She offers to take him to dinner and he asks if this is breaking one of Prue Halliwell's rules of etiquette.  Prue tells him that whether this has nasty consequences or fruitful rewards depends on how he does at dinner.

At the Manor, Phoebe is making a journal out of Patty's letters, although it's not as good as the real thing.  Leo orbs in and tells Piper that he's been thinking about the whole Sam and Patty situation, and asks whether she can tell Dan the truth.  Piper replies that they agreed to put their job first, but Leo says that he can't stop loving her and therefore he can't do job.  Piper tells him that she can't do hers either and that she doesn't know how to say goodbye.  "Then don't," Leo tells her before orbing out.

Dan shows up at the back door for breakfast.  Piper tells him that she's not very hungry, but eventually she gives in. 

CAST

Finola Hughes returns as Patty and Emmalee Thompson reprises her role as a younger Prue.

CONTINUITY

According to Prue she's been working at Buckland's for a year and a half, but she's presumably rounding up a little.

We learned in That 70s Episode that Patty died on 28 February 1978.

THE BOOK OF SHADOWS

The Book contains nothing whatsoever about the water demon.

THE POWER OF THREE

Prue flicks the power lever on the jetty.

Piper freezes Dan outside the Manor and Leo at the camp.

Phoebe has a premonition of Patty's last moments.

NOTES

Phoebe says that having a certificate dated 1872 means that Sam is either a demon or 127 years old, except that if he was awarded a certificate that long ago, he'd have to be at least 150.

Three buses of kids arrive at the camp, yet there's only about a dozen of them in the room when Phoebe tries to keep them entertained.

COMMENTS

The series' best episode so far.  For a change, there's none of Charmed's usual reliance on the Book of Shadows or a lot of power using to say the day, as the vanquishing of the water demon is down to simple physics.

The fact that Charmed puts the sisters' lives ahead of the sort of interesting foes that we see on Buffy usually means that episodes aren't perhaps as enjoyable as they might otherwise be, but this actually helps make P3 H2O even better.  The water demon appears only fleetingly, so there's more time to explore Sam's relationship with Patty and how this and her death affect Prue, Piper and Phoebe.  Prue's maternal instincts towards Piper and Phoebe were first mentioned way back in Something Wicca This Way Comes and they are still shown to be as strong, plus she has all the problems that being Charmed brings with it.

Dan and Jack Sheridan continue to be underused by the series as  a whole, but the latter's interaction with Prue is still quite fun to watch.

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