S8-3 RUN PIPER RUN

[vandergraafk]

Holly Marie Combs claimed she wished to do an episode of Charmed demon free. In Run Piper Run, HMC's wish is fulfilled. There's nary a demon or warlock in sight. True, there's a nasty District Attorney who has killed one rival and pinned the blame for the murder on his former lover. (No, Cole did not return in this episode!) In any event, things go terribly wrong when the identity that Piper has adopted resembles all too closely the identity of fugitive from justice Maya Holmes. Aftera headhunter sends off Piper's picture for a background check, all hell breaks loose as Piper is surrounded and arrested at an outdoor cafe. Powerful, but Piper is first confused by the District Attorney Nance whom she deduces is the real criminal. Then, after a brief visit with her fashion conscious half-sister Paige and Dex obsessed Phoebe, Piper returns to her cell to discover that she will not be in jail alone. Instead, she will share her cell with an Amazon woman. Alas, the latter's size and oversized testerone driven persona and physique are no match for Piper's powers.

This episode showed all of the great promise that Season 8 held. Billie plays only a minor role. When she appears, it is most often as comic or sarcastic relief. Her most memorable line is her crack regarding the occupation of the manor by three cousins. Now, who's that going to fool! Most of the interaction concerns the three sisters, as it should be!

[Xenith]

I agree Run Piper Run was a very entertaining episode, and this episode did give me some hope in relation to the character of Billie...

Although I did have to wonder how everyone managed to glamour and deglamour so much without the sparkly effect.

Also I don't like how they keep changing the rules for Piper's powers. Most of the time Piper's freeze does no effect momentum...So Maya probably should have been a smear on the pavement, but these are minor gripes and this was still a good episode to me.

[vandergraafk]

Now, you're getting into the technical aspects of Piper's power. We know her power does not freeze time. It seems more logical to assert that her power can be used to decelerate motion or accelerate it. The latter leads to things bursting into pure energy as they are accelerated to a point where matter is not stable. The former results in the loss of motion akin to a freezing. In theory, there should be a difference in terms of objects at rest versus objects in motion. Objects at rest should simply remain so. Objects in motion need to decelerate - in order to freeze - or accelerate - in order to be blasted to smithereens. If the motion is of the normal human kind, then a "freeze" should be relatively easy to accomplish. If, however, the object is in an accelerating form of motion (Maya falling from a 20 story and above building), then her momentum must first slow down before a freeze can take place. Thus, Piper applied the freeze too late. Maya would have been a mere outline on the payment - or perhaps a slight indentation thereof.