S5-9 SAM I AM

[vandergraafk]

Paige finally gets a charge and goes quite gaga over this new development until she meets her new charge: Samuel. Unlike the nascent witch she expects to meet or a future whitelighter, Paige is saddled with a drunken bum who steadfastly refuses her help. Paige is further surprised when her new charge seems well versed in all things whitelighter and even chides her for not having read the whitelighter guide. Paige will be even more surprised to learn that Sam is a biological father.

Alas, this simple family reunion falls neatly into the suicidal plans of Cole who is looking for a reason to force the sisters to vanquish him. Shapeshifting into Sam, Cole tricks Paige into believing that she is having a serious discussion with her father. The trick is made all the more threatening when Cole brings along the darklighter who has been stalking Sam. The darklighter manages to launch an arrow that trifurcates and attacks Paige, Leo and Piper. Only Piper survives the attack as the baby's protection shield won't allow Piper to be injured. Leo and Paige, on the other hand, are slowly succombing to the darklighter poison. Only Sam can save them. Can he? Will he? And what about Cole? Why has he turned on the sisters?

[vandergraafk]

EXPOSURE ISSUES

Exposure is an ever present concern in Charmed. In this episode, black magic is exposed very openly as Cole vanquishes two criminals who attempt to rob a biker bar. When the barkeep attempts to thwart the would-be robbers by drawing a pistol, the lead criminal shoots him with a shotgun. To prevent anyone else from interfering, his companion sprays semi-automatic weapons fire along the length of the bar. Cole, seemingly oblivious to the events unfolding, continues to gulp down his whiskey until the shot glass is shattered by bullets. Cole, of course, is struck as well, but instantly self-heals. The disruption of his drunken despair causes Cole to lash out and fling both criminals across the bar. As the companion criminal reaches for his pistol, Cole launches a fireball and vanquishes him. The surprised lead criminal is equally vanquished.

The next morning Phoebe announces to her started sisters that the truce with Cole is over. According to her, last evening a tall, dark and handsome man had a violent encounter with two criminals attempting to rob a biker bar. A skeptical Paige wonders why this should be of interest to the Charmed Ones, while Piper questions whether Cole was involved. The fact that the two had been flung across the room and vanquished with fireballs that left scorch marks seemed convincing enough. However, Paige replies that the vanquishing potion was not effective against the blood from the letter opener that Phoebe had stabbed Cole with in A Witch's Tale Part 1.

We can and should infer that Darryl Morris has informed Phoebe about what had been discovered at the bar. Presumably, some of his information had been based on eyewitness accounts, although many of the bar patrons had fled during the intitial burst of fire. Some perhaps remained waiting in the wings before taking full flight and thus were witness to Cole's violent response.

In the event, dark magic was clearly exposed. The would be criminals were not to be found, and witness reports must surely have raised eyebrows. Not all of the bar patrons could have been so inebriated to imagine energy balls being thrown or criminals flying through the air at the wave of an arm. Besides, the barkeep was dead. The shotgun was presumably found along with the semi-automatic weapon.