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Post by vandergraafk on Aug 2, 2007 17:43:47 GMT -5
Just as the web of confusion seems to have dissipated, Chris gets bitten by a demonic spider who needs another magical creature to feed on. Why not ensnare a pregnant Piper and feed on two magical beings at once? Meanwhile, Phoebe and Paige contemplate whether it is wiser to keep Leo in the dark about the enshrouded Piper or to summon him and solicit his help in saving Piper and perhaps letting him in on Piper's little secret.
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Post by vandergraafk on Jul 9, 2009 13:22:47 GMT -5
Well, as great an episode as Spin City is, the key plot device to unravel the remaining conundrum, i.e., how to free Leo from a demonically poisoned Chris, poses a problem in Charmedverse. To recap: Piper receives a kick in the belly from fetal Chris and declares that she will take the potion. Her logic: the anti-spider venom potion will innoculate fetal Chris and thus "free" future boy Chris from the venal thrall he has been placed under. She swallows the potion and Chris reverts to being the son with a chip on his shoulder, a boy desperate to pound his father into submission.
Wait a second. This resolution creates a temporal paradox. The innoculation of fetal Chris frees future Chris from the spider's "charm". Yet, if fetal Chris is immune and the innoculation holds so that future boy is freed, then we have a potential paradox. That is, fetal Chris is born and grows up immune to the spider's venom. As far as we know, the innoculation holds so that when future Chris meets the spider, he is already immune to her bite. Thus, none of Spin City can occur. How, then, would Leo learn that he is Chris's father? What else might have happened to cause the power of two to summon Leo?
Or, is this really a paradox? Suppose we accept the rationale that Piper offered. That is, whatever happens to baby Chris happens also to future Chris. Thus, ingesting the potion now innoculates both baby Chris and future Chris simultaneously. If we assume that the innoculation wears off over time - perhaps there was no need for a booster potion to maintain innoculation - then we can explain why future boy is NOT immune to the spider's potion when bitten in the parking garage.
But, that forces us to explain why whatever happens to baby Chris affects future boy at the same time. Talk about action at a distance. This is action across space and time. Yet, isn't this what Piper demonstrated in Season 5's "A Witch in Time" when Piper pinches her "past" Piper's arm and awaits the appearance of a red mark on her own arm.
Certainly, Charmed has a seeming consistency here. But let's not get carried away. Piper pinches "past" Piper's arm and awaits the effect: a red mark. Since the time gap between these two Pipers is very small, there's no need to assert simultaneity of cause across time and space. Indeed, "present" Piper does not wince when she pinches "past" Piper. Rather, she experiences the effect, a red mark on her arm.
Alas, that's not the same as simultaneity of causality. In Spin City, the cause - drinking the potion - is felt by both fetal Chris and future Chris simultaneously. The effect is also experienced simultaneously. Why?
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