Synopsis of Black as Cole
Written by Brandee Mode
Paige tells Piper she heard from Phoebe that she and Leo are considering having a baby. Phoebe and Cole are looking for a demon that Piper scried for. Right after killing the lower demon, Cole proposes to Phoebe on the spur of the moment.
After opening credits, Cole and Phoebe come home and he wants to talk about it, she doesn't. A demon that looks a lot like Belthazor kills a witch in an alley, then changes to human form. Later in the episode we learn he is pretending to be a lawyer like Cole did. In human form, his name is Sykes.
Phoebe admits to Piper that Cole asked her to marry him. Phoebe doesn't know what to do because she never thought of herself as the "marrying kind". While Phoebe is having a heart-to-heart talk with Cole, they are interrupted by the sound of a baby crying.
Paige has rented a mechanical baby for Piper and Leo to practice with. Piper is not thrilled with the idea and passes the fake baby to Leo on her way out.
The sisters show up in the alley where the other witch was killed. Phoebe talks to a friend of the victim, who is apparently a member of the dead witch's coven. Phoebe touches the friend's necklace and gets a preminition of the Belthazor-look-alike killing the friend.
Phoebe is going to pretend to be the friend, so they can get a piece of his flesh for a vanquishing potion. The Belthazor-look-alike attacks but a woman comes from out of nowhere and pushes Piper out of the way, throwing a knife at the demon, which results in the demon getting away.
Back the house, the strange woman whose name is Emma in explaining how a demon killed her lover and left a knife behind. She has been searching for the demon for over a year and killing the demon is the only thing she cares about. Cole recognizes the knife. He tells the woman to let the Charmed Ones handle it. She says she can't.
Sykes is in human form now in an office. He has called in the friend witch, pretending he needs to question her about the murder. She and Leo go to the office. She goes inside with Sykes and Leo sits down to wait, but he notices the demon's shadow slide under the door. Leo orbs into the office. He knocks Sykes on the back of the head and orbs the witch away.
Leo and the witch orb in and Sykes shimmers in right behind them. Sykes and Cole throw energy balls at each other and both change to their demon form. Piper freezes the Sykes demon and Paige gets some flesh. Sykes-demon breaks through the freeze fights a little with Belthazor. Then the Sykes-demon says they'll finish this later and leaves.
Emma is standing there stunned. She said the demon that left was not the one who killed her lover, it was Belthazor. Cole is back in human form and the look on his face... he looks ashamed. Emma is furious that they are protecting a murderer. She leaves.
Paige askes if Wmma was right, but Phoebe says now is not the time. Piper and Paige go off to make the potion with the flesh. Cole tells Phoebe he must be the one who killed her lover because he recognizes the knife as one of his. Cole doesn't even remember doing it. Phoebe reminds him that he is not Belthazor and to think of all the good he's done since then. Cole says if the potion doesn't work the only way to stop Sykes is if he embraces his demonic self completely and there may be no coming back from that. He tells her to get the Belthazor vanquishing potion she has left and keep in ready, just in case.
Phoebe has left to find Emma -- to try to convince Emma that Cole is good, he's not like Belthazor. Cole enters the kitchen and Paige and Piper finish the potion. Paige gives him a hard time, Piper defends him. He seems surprised that she did. They try to figure out Sykes plan. They figure he would go somewhere to tend to his cut. They think Sykes will have set a trap but they think Cole could recognize it first. Cole, Piper and Paige go to the mausoleum with the potion. On their way out, Leo comes in with the mechanical baby, which has been hit by an energy ball, it's obviously broken. After they leave a leg falls off the fake baby.
Emma refuses to listen to Phoebe. She says that just because Cole does good things now, the demon still exists and she won't stop until the demon is dead.
Cole, Piper and Paige arrive at the mausoleum. Cole sees the trap and stops Paige from setting it off. He realizes this was a distraction and Sykes is after Phoebe.
Phoebe comes home and is attacked by Sykes. She asks what he wants. He wants Belthazor and she is the bait. Cole, Piper and Paige arrive at the house. The Piper and Paige check downstairs, Cole checks upstairs. Sykes has Phoebe tied up in the attic. Cole and Sykes talk for a little bit and then change to demon form and begin to fight. Piper and Paige run upstairs and Piper freezes both demons as Belthazor is about to stab Sykes-demon. Emma runs in downstairs and sees a bottle of potion on the floor. She picks it up and heads for the stairs.
The demons fight through the freeze. Belthazor stabs the other demon. Paige and Piper have untied Phoebe and she tries to talk to Belthazor, telling him it's OK to change back into Cole now. It's unclear if she's getting through to him. Emma comes in and throws the potion at Belthazor, who is then surrounded by flames.
When the flames disappear, Belthazor is gone and Cole is on his knees. Paige askes what happened. Phoebe says it was the power-stripping power she had made for Cole. Phoebe rushes to him, asking if he's OK. Emma picks up a the knife and starts toward Cole. Phoebe steps in front of him to stop her. She tells Emma the demon she was after IS dead now. Cole is human, an innocent. Emma gives her the knife and leaves.
In P3 -- Piper is writing a check to Paige to pay for half of the destroyed fake-baby. Paige is having a hard time with the fact that Cole used to kill people. Piper points out that it was not Cole, it was Belthazor. Paige doesn't think there's a difference. Leo says Piper is right. Cole's human half was totally subjegated by the demon. He is an innocent.
Back at the house, Phoebe is pacing in her bedroom, waiting. Cole went for a walk and lost track of time. Then he tried to shimmer back and realized he couldn't anymore. He doesn't know what to do with himself anymore. She says he's still the man she fell in love with. He points out, "but I'm not the man you want to marry."
She again says she loves him and she's not ready for marriage. It has more to do with her issues than with him. She wants to get romantic, they start kissing...
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