Synopsis of Centennial Charmed
Leo orbs into the attic at Paige's request. Paige is invisible and sneaks up behind him. The *shimmer* that represent invisible-Paige jumps "into" Leo. He explodes and Paige reappears. Leo reforms and curses. He tells Paige not to practice on him because even though he is dead, it still hurts. Paige explains that she realized the reason they couldn't vanquish Cole is because of his "protection shield" so she made a potion that makes her temporarily invisible, that way she can get past Cole's shield. Once inside the shield, she can say a spell to blow him up. Leo is skeptical and says that the solution lies in the power of three. Paige insists on doing it alone.
Cole enters his apartment looking tired. He sadly looks at a picture of himself and Phoebe in happier times. He looks in the mirror and tells himself Happy Birthday. We see a shimmer jump into Cole, just like with Leo. Cole explodes and Paige becomes visible again. She is quickly disappointed to realize Cole is going to re-form. Paige tries to orb out but isn't quite fast enough: the black bits of Cole knocks the blue orb bits of Paige out the french doors. Having reformed, Paige resurfaces treading water and sneezes. Opening credits start.
Phoebe coaches Piper while she sits on a birthing ball. When Piper falls off, she again insists that she will deliver the baby in the hospital. Leo is nearby watching. Also present is a woman named Eve, who is the cousin of Ava, the gypsy doctor we met earlier this season. Paige enters and promptly sneezes, at the same time orbing out and right back in. Eve had her back to Paige and didn't notice. The others quickly take Paige into the next room. Paige didn't know she had orbed and they mention that Eve knows they helped save the gypsy family, but "knowing is different than seeing". At Leo's urging, Paige admits that she tried to vanquish Cole the night before. Piper and Phoebe admonish Paige for trying alone and besides that Piper says they are supposed to be "taking a break" from demon-fighting during the last trimester of her pregnancy. Paige gets really irritated and states that she "felt differently" and storms off.
[Taking a break? Since when do they get to choose when demons attack?]
At the apartment, Cole tells an Avatar that he is willing to become one of them. Cole wants to confirm that if he does so, he will be able to manipulate time and reality. The avatar warns him against using the powers for personal use.
Phoebe, Piper and Leo are at P3 along with Darryl and his wife to celebrate Darryl's promotion. Phoebe tries to explain that Paige won't be coming due to a "bad cold" but Paige enters just as Phoebe says it. Piper and Phoebe rush over to her. Paige claims that Eve's home remedy worked and she hasn't sneezed all day. Piper and Phoebe are concerned over how angry Paige was that morning. Paige admits to feeling "suppressed" and doesn't like having to do everything "by committee". Paige thinks she should find her own place to live.
Cole kneels and the Avatar says some words that I assume to be in Latin. At the end of the ritual, the Avatar tries to escort Cole to wherever it is that Avatars spend their time, but Cole refuses. Cole insists that first he is going to get his "wife back once and for all" The Avatar is disgusted and tells Cole his new powers don't affect love. Cole thinks he and Phoebe were at their best right before she met Paige. So he is going to alter reality so that never happened: "undo what was, to change what is."
The Avatar warns Cole that it could have "unforeseen consequences" but Cole is insistent and refuses to "spend another hundred birthdays without her". Cole says some words in Latin and at the same time Paige starts to sneeze, but Piper hurries her into the storage room. Paige orbs out just as Cole's spell finishes. When she orbs back in, the club is dark and empty. Paige puts on her coat while questioning the darkness and drop in temperature. She returns to the main room and discovers the club in shambles. Paige starts calling for Leo, which wakes up a homeless man. He gets angry that she has entered his territory. He brandishes a knife and Paige calls for it but nothing happens. When he lunges at her, she flips him onto his back. He scampers away and Leo orbs in. Leo doesn't recognize Paige and starts to orb out but she points out that she must be one of his charges, otherwise he would not have been able to hear her calling. Paige sarcastically asks if he notices anything different but Leo says this is how the club has bee for the past year, since Piper abandoned the club after Prue's death. Paige is frustrated a little a tells Leo to take her to Piper.
They orb into what looks like a junk yard and crouch behind... something big, I can't tell what it is. They watch as a Lazarus demon appear. Piper emerges from her hiding place and freezes him. As she walks closer, she unfreezes just his head. She questions him about finding Shax, exploding first one arm, then the other. The Lazarus demon is uncooperative and she finally just blows him up completely. Piper starts to leave and Paige runs out to stop her. Piper and Leo look at each other and the pain on their faces is easily recognized. We quickly learn they Piper and Leo are divorced in this reality. Piper does not believe Paige's claim about being sisters and assumes it is an attempt by The Elders to get her back. Paige tries to prove her identity by point out that Lazarus demons will resurrect unless the remains are buried in a cemetery. Piper still doesn't want to listen and starts to walk away but the Lazarus demon reforms. Leo and Paige yell out to Piper, who turns and quickly blows up the demon again. Paige realizes she is getting nowhere and tells Leo to take her to Phoebe. Leo sadly states the he isn't allowed to orb to the manor anymore because it's forbidden. Having lost all patience, Paige storms off to walk to the manor.
Cole leans against a car, gazing at the manor. The avatar who gave Cole his powers appears next to him. Cole is mildly surprised because he though he would be the only one to cross over to the other reality. The Avatar informs Cole that it was not his only "miscalculation" because Cole also changed himself. Cole is no longer invincible, he is back to being Belthesor. The Avatar begs him to change things back to the way thing were. Cole refuses and says he has to "play this out first".
Cole enters the house, not sure what to expect. He look around cautiously and discovers a surprise birthday party waiting for him. They bring out a big cake that marks his 100th birthday. One of the demons comments that he thought Cole was not 117 but he promptly explodes into flames and disappears. It is quickly revealed that he was killed by The Seer. She comments that she knows Cole is sensitive about his age. Cole is surprised to see her alive.
[I was glad to see her, but I was surprised that he was surprised to see her. It seems logical to me that she would be alive since the circumstances leading to her death had been altered.]
He asks where Phoebe is, which is naturally the moment when Phoebe comes down the stairs. Cole walks over to her and she is surprised when he compliments her. He tries to kiss her but she pulls away and looks at him like he's crazy. Then Phoebe moves past him to flirt with a (demon) party guest. The seer tries to comfort Cole by stating that once Phoebe conceives a "magical heir" he won't need to keep up pretenses because she will "take it from there".
[I assume she means magically transferring the baby from Phoebe to herself prior to birth. Which makes me wonder why that hasn't happened already in this alternate universe.]
Paige has made it into the house and sees Phoebe enter the kitchen. Paige quickly follows her. [I'm still trying to figure out how Paige made it into the house undetected.] Phoebe is sneaking a cigarette and is startled when Paige enters the kitchen. Paige says she doesn't have a lot of time, so gets right to the point, telling Phoebe she is her sister. She tries to explain that she is from "the real world" and there Phoebe is free of Cole and she's happy. Phoebe won't listen and calls for a guard. Darryl enters and Paige is happy to see him until she realizes he is the guard. Paige hits him on the head with a pot, or maybe it was a frying pan (I didn't get a good look at it). Paige makes one more quick plea to Phoebe then runs out with Darryl chasing her down the driveway. Darryl is about to shoot Paige when Leo shows up and orbs her out just in time.
Leo and Paige orb into a cemetery. Paige starts to babble about how things are messed up when she realizes that if all the demons they killed are alive, that means the innocents they saved are dead. Leo tells her that's not all and gestures to the headstone they are standing near. The headstone says Paige Matthews on it. Leo explains that he checked with the Elders, who confirmed the existence of another sister but The Source had her killed before The Elders could find her. So when Paige arrived in this reality, she took over where the other Paige's life ended. Since the other Paige had never met Piper and Phoebe, her powers never got activated, so that's why *our* Paige can't access her powers right now.
[In my opinion, that would explain why she can't use her orbing-telekinesis, but she should still be able to orb because we saw her do it as a teenager when she was in the car crash with her adoptive parents. Whatever.]
Leo points out if Paige hadn't orbed when she did, no one would know it's an alternate reality. She states that Cole would have known. Leo offers to help any way he can and Paige appreciates that but says what she really needs is her sisters. That's when Piper shows up, having just finished burying the Lazarus demon. She decided Paige could be right about the other stuff too and offers to help.
Darryl informs Cole of Paige's escape and The Seer explains to Cole that Phoebe put a spell on Darryl to make him useful so Cole wouldn't kill him. Cole sees Phoebe go upstairs with the demon she was flirting with earlier. The Seer tries to stop Cole from following, telling him it's no secret that they both have affairs. He angrily replies that he didn't go through "all of this" to lose Phoebe. The Seer tries to question what Cole means by that, but he has already left to follow Phoebe.
In the abandoned P3: Piper asks Paige how successful the club is in the *real* world. Paige also explains briefly about her own birth and mentions Piper's baby. They realize that Cole has taken over the life of Balthezor in that reality. Paige reminds Piper of the potion to vanquish Belthezor, that requires a sample of Cole's flesh. Piper pulls a knife from her belt and says "Let's go hunting."
Cole bursts into Phoebe's bedroom and uses an energy ball to kill the anonymous demon she is making out with. Phoebe is shocked and crawls off the bed. Cole can't believe after everything, she still doesn't love him. Phoebe says she is the one who gave up everything and the only reason she is till there is to "make sure what happened to Prue, doesn't happen to Piper" and Cole should know that. Cole softens and looks as though he might cry. He asks Phoebe what happened to them, they "used to be so in love". Phoebe tells him that "maybe it wasn't mean to be" then she leaves the room.
After the show returns from commercial, Cole leaves the bedroom and find Piper in the hallway. She immediately gestures to blow him up but he doesn't explode. Instead, Cole is blown back against a large piece of furniture and he falls to the floor. Leo orbs in with Paige. With a grimace on her face, she hurries over and cuts a piece of flesh from Cole's arm. Paige hurries back to Leo and Phoebe returns upstairs, having heard Cole crash against the furniture. Phoebe is happy but shocked to see Piper there. Cole tries to throw an energy ball at Piper but Phoebe tackles him. Leo orbs out with Piper and Paige. Cole knocks Phoebe to the floor and calls for guards, who show up immediately. Cole tells them to go find Phoebe's sisters. They question his use of the word sister in plural form. Cole confirms that there are 2 sisters and Phoebe is surprised that Paige was telling the truth. Cole is angry now and he tells Phoebe, that he didn't "go through all of this to lose you. If I'm going down, you're going down with me."
Back at the abandoned club, Paige prepares the potion to vanquish Cole/Belthezor. Piper is surprised how well Paige knows what she is doing. Paige tells her she "learned from the best, I learned from you." Paige tosses in the last ingredient, remembering to take a step back to avoid the mini-explosion. Paige puts some potion in a vial and they leave for the house.
At the manor, Paige Piper, and Leo begin to quietly look around when Phoebe comes downstairs and urges them to leave before catches them. But it's already too late, because Cole has just entered the room. Cole throws an energy ball, knocking down Piper, Leo and Paige. He uses telekinesis to move the vial of potion to his hand. Paige wakes up but Piper stays unconscious. Paige takes Piper's hand and begs Phoebe to do the same. Phoebe takes Piper's other hand and they are surrounded by light and the chandelier shakes just like in the season 4 premiere. Paige stands and calls for the potion. It orbs to Paige's hand and she immediately starts to throw it at him but Phoebe stops her. Cole doesn't think Phoebe will throw it, but then his smile fades.
[Apparently he had forgotten that Phoebe vanquished him once already in season 4 and that was back when she DID love him.]
Phoebe throws the potion at Cole and he is engulfed in flames, then disappears. The room begins to spin around Paige. When it stops, the house looks like it did before. Piper enters the room, wearing pajamas and eating ice cream. Paige happily points out that Piper is pregnant and hugs her. Piper looks confused and asks Paige where she has been.
[Since time had passed in the *real* reality also, I was surprised that Piper wasn't worried about where Paige had been. She seemed merely curious.]
Phoebe returns home and Paige hugs her also. Paige states that she's not moving out after all and they should spend as much time together as they can. Paige is quite perky as she says this, which makes Phoebe suspicious. I assume that leads Paige to explain what happened because the next thing we see is the three of them entering Cole's apartment. Piper is not convinced that Cole is really gone, but Paige insists that it is over. Phoebe quietly accepts that it "wasn't meant to be" and joins Piper in the elevator. Paige looks around the room, says "Happy Birthday Cole" then enters the elevator herself.