The run of above-average episodes hits a roadblock here, with a script that tries to do way too much at once. It also features an annoyingly long-winded wrestling sequence that ages the episode pretty badly. A bunch of early-2000's shows did 'the wrestling episode', and this one also features a couple of WWE wrestlers flinging the protagonists around. I guess some of the action is fine, but I don't get how Prue and Phoebe are suddenly experts at all kinds of kung-fu violence. It threw me out of the moment for a second.
While the show tried to personalize the storyline via Prue's old relationship with Tom, I'm not sure this element really worked. We never knew Tom, so Prue's connection to him subsequently felt a little half-assed. The story also wasted Ron Perlman, one of the finest character actors around. Considering the show built whole episodes around demons like Andras and Kierkan, two recent examples of actors with gesticulating tourettes, it's unfortunate that they saddled a talented guy with a nothing part.
The only real success of the episode is in the continued Phoebe/Cole saga. It's understandable that Phoebe would tell Piper and fear telling Prue, since Prue can get a little holier-than-thou at moments like these. I've ragged on Alyssa Milano a lot this year, but you could practically feel the emotional weight on her shoulders as she faces up to what she has done. Meh on the rest of the episode, though. D
Credits
Guest stars Ron Perlman (Kellman); Marco Sanchez (Tom Peters)
Writer Sheryl J. Anderson Director Joel J. Feigenbaum
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