Synopsis of Happily Ever After
Written by Brandee Mode
The episode begins with Piper in the attic reading out loud, the story of Snow White. Paige enters and asks what she is doing. Piper says she has insomnia again and Paige offers to make a potion for it. Piper politely turns it down; she doesn't want to subject the baby to anything that could be harmful. This comment causes Paige to advise Piper to stop reading "those silly fairy tales" because they are all about helpless women. Piper says the fairy tales will teach family values to the baby, like Grams did for her. Paige says her grandmother did it by using her natural instincts and so should Piper. Piper thinks that would not be of much use since her natural instinct is to panic, especially when she has a child that could orb out when sent to it's room. Paige tells her it will all work out and then leaves with the Book Of Shadows to work on some potions downstairs. Piper returns to reading out loud from the book as the scene switches to a castle...
An old man cleans a large mirror and a woman trapped inside asks why he isn't dead yet. The old man comments on her bitterness "after all these centuries" before he turns to the apprentice and warns him about treating the objects in the room with great care. The bolt the mirror hangs from starts to come loose. The old man tells the apprentice that the objects are "pieces of history". The objects he is talking about are from fairy tales: Cinderella's glass slipper, Riding Hood's red cape, a pumpkin, the apple from Snow White, etc. The bolt comes loose and the mirror falls to the floor, breaking. The evil-witch is released and she immediately grabs the old man by the throat and kills him. The old man falls to the floor and she turns to the apprentice.
"Freedom's loss must be unwitting
Into the glass to do my bidding"
The mirror is back in one piece, hanging from the wall and the apprentice is now stuck inside. The evil-witch asks the mirror who is the most powerful witch of all and he answers
"You're much stronger than most witches I see,
Yet truth be told, there are three more powerful than thee."
As he speaks the image in the mirror fades from Piper, to Phoebe to Paige. The evil-witch says she will "see about that" and we get the opening credits.
Back to the show, Paige enters the attic to startle Piper, who fell asleep in the attic. Paige asks where Leo is; Piper assumes he is off somewhere helping another of his charges. Paige has been trying to make a protection potion, but Piper says that's impossible. Paige insists that Grams was close to getting it right.
[Having seen the rest of the episode, I paid more attention this time and I noticed that Paige called Penny "your Grams" when talking to Piper instead of just Grams or "our Grams"]
Piper thinks it's "too bad she's not around" because she could use some advice on how to prepare for the baby. Paige suggests calling her friend Wendy, (who had a baby in last season's episode Brain Drain). Piper wants to talk to someone has had a magical baby.
Phoebe rushes into the attic and asks Paige if the potion for Cole is done yet. Paige hasn't started it yet because she didn't know Phoebe "needed that right away" and Phoebe says she wants to be prepared "in case he tries something." Phoebe leaves to go to work.
The scene switches back the castle where the apprentice in the mirror tells the evil-witch that he doubts she will be able to destroy the Charmed Ones. She thinks she can because she has powerful fairy tale magic. She plans to use the objects in the room for her plan and it will result in "shifting them away from good." The evil-witch summons the woodman from the Snow White fairy tale and sends him to "bring me the heart of the witch who's as white as snow". Then she tells the mirror to show her "the sister who's been burned by love" which results in the scene switching to Phoebe arriving at work.
The assistant tells Phoebe that Cole has called several times and Phoebe orders her to get her divorce attorney on the phone. Phoebe turns and collides with a man who introduces himself as Adam Prinze. We learn he is a fan of Phoebe's advice column.
Cole arrives and greets Adam. They explain to Phoebe how Adam is considering buying the newspaper Phoebe works for, at Cole's suggestion. Phoebe pulls him into her office to scold him. Cole says he thought it would be good for Phoebe if her column could go into syndication, but Phoebe refuses to even consider that he is being honest. She is still convinced that he plans to do something evil.
PHOEBE: "If you hurt me or my sisters, I will vanquish you. And this time I'll make sure it sticks."
Cole leaves without saying anything. Adam invites Phoebe to a benefit but Phoebe declines, saying it's not a good time, but they agree to a rain check.
At the house, Piper is complaining to Leo that she needs Grams to give her some advice. Leo says he can't bring Grams, and suggests that Piper summon Grams like she has in the past. Piper says she already tried but it didn't work.
PIPER: "This is a very special baby, with very special needs and I need someone pretty damn special to me to figure it out, and when I say now, I mean now!!"
Suddenly Grams appears (as a real person, not a ghost) and Piper tells Leo thank you but he admits he didn't do it. They all assume that it had something to do with the baby's powers. Grams asks Piper questions, if she has done certain things to prepare, but Piper has to answer no to all of them. When they tell her that they put the nursery in the closet, Grams says it's "no wonder this baby called" her.
Paige comes downstairs and thinks they are interviewing nannies. Grams realizes this must be Paige and pulls her into a hug. Piper sends Leo upstairs to clean the nursery. Paige is confused, because Grams is "supposed to be dead?" and Grams says she's "over that". Grams comments on Paige's beauty and says she must have a lot of boyfriends.
PAIGE: "Actually, that's not a problem I'm having right now, Mrs. Halliwell"
Penny tells Paige to call her Grams, but before Paige can respond, the woodsman burst through the window, knocking Piper and Grams to the floor. Piper gets a cut on her arm that heals itself, while the woodsman swings the axe at Paige but she orbs out. When she rematerializes, the woodsman hits Paige, sending her flying a few feet. The woodsman goes to attack Piper again, but she blows him up. Leo returns downstairs to help Paige get up and the scene shifts to the castle and we learn the evil-witch watched the whole thing. She is unconcerned that the woodsman failed, she will take care of it herself. She picks up the apple and glass slippers before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
In the attic, Paige and Grams start toward the Book Of Shadows but Leo points out that "since when does a demon use an axe?" Piper holds up the picture of the woodsman from the Snow White story and Grams agrees that's him, but Paige thinks that's ridiculous. Grams points out that fairy tales "are real, at least they used to be". Meanwhile, downstairs the evil-witch appears and places a gift-wrapped box on the kitchen counter and puts the apple in a bowl with some other fruit. After she leaves, Phoebe arrives home, sees the box, reads the card and opens the box.
Upstairs, Grams tells the others that fairy tales are actually the "re-countings of ancient battles between good and evil" but Paige finds this hard to believe. Leo and Piper remind her about her past life as the Evil Enchantress. Phoebe hurries into the attic, and then softens at the sight of Grams. After they tell Phoebe about the attack by the woodsman, Phoebe shows them the opened box with the glass slippers inside. Phoebe insists this must all be due to something Cole is doing because he knows that Cinderella is her favorite. Grams points out the evil-witch is to blame in the fairy tales. To prove she is right, Phoebe puts on the glass shoes. Paige wants to look into things further, but Grams thinks it's a good idea so they aren't just "waiting for another attack" and Piper agrees with Grams, simply because she is hesitant to make a decision of her own. Phoebe's clothes are transformed into something that I am loathe to call a *gown* as the others watch.
[Seriously, this is the most hideous dress I have ever seen! It is so ugly! When I think of Cinderella's dress, I think of ONE piece of a dress. This is a two-piece.]
The dress is white, which is the only good thing about it in my opinion. The top is strapless. The bottom is basically a mini-skirt with a long bundle of frilly, lace hanging from the front of it and a wide train hanging from the back. There is a really big bow at the small of her back. Suddenly the glass slippers develop a mind of their own and begin forcing Phoebe to walk toward the door in jerky movements.
[Reminds me of the way Frankenstein walks. Her legs stick straight out with each step.]
Everyone's first instinct is to try and stop her, but Grams says they should let the shoes do what they want because it will lead them to whoever is causing the trouble. Phoebe clomps out of the attic, with Paige following to orb her out if there is an emergency. Piper and Grams stay back to work on a way to vanquish the evil-witch.
Adam enters an elevator and the evil-witch appears. She kisses him, which puts him under her spell. He asks how he can serve her and she tells him to "meet Cinderella at the ball" and to "make certain she's in the carriage at midnight" otherwise he "won't have a happy ending".
Phoebe clomps across a busy street, with people honking at her to get out of the way. Suddenly the shoes stop on the sidewalk. She and Paige wonder why they stopped there, but the answer soon appears in the form of a horse-drawn carriage which pulls up next to them. The driver will not speak to them, or even look at them. The door opens by itself and the shoes force Phoebe to get inside. When Paige tries to follow her inside, a force-field keeps her out. As the carriage pulls away, Phoebe yells from an open window that she will simply call for Leo if she needs to get away quickly.
The elders have said that if the evil-witch succeeds, she will corrupt the fairy tales "for every future generation" but Paige thinks that's impossible since the fairy tales have been printed for a long time. Leo says every copy is a manifestation of the original. The elders think someone has taken over the fortress from the inside. Paige wants to know why they can't go to the fortress and vanquish the evil-witch there. Leo says know one knows where it is, not even the elders. Piper says they have no way to find the evil-witch and Grams is surprised that it did not occur to Piper that she could scry for the evil-witch. Once they find her, they can vanquish her with a potion, which Grams goes downstairs to brew. She asks Paige for help and bribes her with the promise of working on the protection potion afterward.
The evil-witch has been watching again and knows that Piper is looking for her. She cuts some of her own hair and places it on the red cape for Little Red Riding Hood. When the apprentice-in-the-mirror asks her about it, she reminds him that she needs to lure Piper away from the house so the wolf can make his move.
Phoebe clomps into the ballroom and the shoes suddenly stop. Adam hurries over to her. He is surprised she came and she assures him that she came alone. Cole approaches and questions Phoebe why she is there. She immediately gets nasty with him, still holding on to the belief that Cole is behind all of this; she says he knows why she is there.
PHOEBE: "These boots may be made for walking, but they're not walking back to you buddy!"
Cole realizes she is blaming him for something but he has no idea what it is. With a grin on his face he asks
COLE: "Am I up to something again?"
Adam suggests he and Phoebe go get something to drink. As they start to move away, Cole tries to say something to Phoebe. Adam tells Cole to back off and Cole realizes he is under an evil spell. Phoebe breaks it up and pulls Adam away, refusing to listen to Cole's attempts to warn her.
Back in the kitchen, Paige is impressed that Grams remembered all the ingredients in the potion without looking at the book. Grams asks for a vial and as Paige retrieves it, the apple gives off a slight glow causing Paige to stare at it. Paige snaps out of it when Grams starts talking to her about quitting her job and how that's the best thing for her right now. Paige is surprised that Grams knows about this and Grams admits that she will take "a peek from time to time, but never during a private moment". You can tell by the look on Paige's face that she feels a little offended at the invasion of privacy.
PAIGE: "I already had a grams, one I really, really I loved. And yes, technically we're related, and you're my grandmother too. I guess it just feels a little odd because I don't know you."
Grams understands how Paige feels and says she is not trying to take the place of someone so special to Paige but asks if there could be a little room in Paige's heart for her also. They share a smile when Paige comments that now she knows where she gets her stubbornness from. Paige goes to get two more vials and is again drawn to the apple.
Somewhere in the dark, surrounded by trees, Piper and Leo discuss how suddenly Piper can't seem to make a decision on her own. Then they discover the red cape. Piper realizes they are "off the beaten path" and that Grams is in danger.
Paige bites into the apple and immediately morphs into a version of Snow White that I personally have never seen. Nothing like the Disney cartoon, that's for sure. Paige's short, curly orange hair turns black, straight and grows very long. Her clothes change to what basically looks like a robe. Paige drops the apple as she falls to the floor dead. Grams runs to her side. Before she can do anything she looks up to see the wolf in the doorway.
[Yes a real wolf.]
The wolf starts runs toward Grams and the camera moves to the wall so we see the wolf's shadow land on Grams' shadow, mouth first. We hear Grams scream. Both shadows blend into one and then the shadow representing Grams rises up again. The camera moves back to show the actress who plays Grams, but now she is really the wolf, pretending to be Grams. Leo and Piper orb into the kitchen as the-wolf-Grams-disguise is leaning over Paige. Wolf-Grams announces to them that Paige is dead. The show goes to commercial and when it returns, they are still in the kitchen and Piper is looking through the Book Of Shadows. Leo tries to heal Paige.
[Either he has temporarily forgotten that he can't heal the dead, or I can only assume he thinks she might simply be unconscious.]
Neither Leo nor Piper notice that *Grams* is acting strangely. Leo reminds them that Snow White was awakened by the kiss from a prince. Wolf-Grams grabs Piper's hand and claims they should go get Paige's boyfriend. Piper reminds *Grams* that Paige doesn't have a boyfriend and instead says a spell while crouching near Paige:
Hear our call, for those who fall
Purge her to awaken
From this toxin taken.
It doesn't work. Leo suggests they focus on vanquishing the evil-witch because then it should reverse dark magic she used to do this to Paige. Piper asks *Grams* about the potion, but Wolf-Grams pours in down the sink, claiming it "was a bad batch". The doorbell rings and Leo goes to answer it. Piper is still kneeling near Paige. Wolf-Grams is leaning toward her, starting to growl, when Leo calls Piper to see who is at the door. Piper arrives at the door to find seven dwarves.
LEAD DWARF: "Someone here eat a poisoned apple?"
The scene switches to Adam and Phoebe dancing, discussing Phoebe and Cole's relationship or lack thereof. She notices Leo standing near the entrance and leaves to talk to him. After Phoebe leaves, Cole stops Adam from following. Cole informs Adam that he knows evil when he sees it and threatens to kill Adam if he hurts Phoebe. Leo tells Phoebe about what's happened. Apparently, the spell Piper said summoned the descendants of the original seven dwarves. Leo explains they can preserve Paige until they can find the evil-witch. Phoebe still insists this is Cole's fault. Leo informs her the elders say it's not Cole's fault.
Back at the house, Paige now lies in a glass coffin, with the dwarves putting the finishing touches on it. Piper has to explain that she "doesn't have a prince" and the dwarves start to bicker about which one of them should kiss her. The lead dwarf tells them to stop. Piper picks up the woodsman's axe and starts to go upstairs, when Wolf-Grams stops her to ask what she is planning. Piper says she doesn't want to "wait around for the wolf to attack" and Wolf-Grams tries to pass off Little Red Riding Hood as the ONE fairy tale that is not true. Piper contradicts this and Wolf-Grams tricks Piper by telling her to prove it and the two head up to the attic together. As they go, a dwarf wonders out loud if Piper knows that is the wolf but the lead dwarf says it's none of their business.
Leo and Phoebe have moved off to somewhere semi-secluded and are about to orb out when Adam arrives, asking where she's going. She tells him there's a family emergency and he offers her a ride. Phoebe is about to turn him down, when Cole approaches and tries to warn her. Phoebe immediately hits him on the jaw. She grabs Adam's hand and pulls him away, ordering Leo to keep Cole away from her as she goes. Cole steps forward, but Leo blocks his path.
COLE: "Leo, he's evil."
LEO: " Really. And what are you?"
In the attic, Piper reads part of the Red Riding Hood story as Wolf-Grams slowly approaches behind her. When Piper gets to the part about "what big teeth" Grams has, Wolf-Grams says "the better to eat you with" and Piper turns to see Wolf-Grams leap at her and the camera zooms quickly into Piper's face and just like that, Piper is swallowed by the wolf.
Phoebe and Adam exit the building as the clock begins to strike midnight. Leo follows them, but he senses something from Piper and orbs out. The horse-drawn carriage comes around the corner. Phoebe turns to run, but Adam grabs her arm and pulls her toward the carriage, causing her to lose one of the glass slippers. Adam pushes Phoebe inside the carriage and the entire thing, (carriage, horses, and driver); all shrink to become a single pumpkin. The evil-witch has been watching through the mirror and proclaims that this is "the end" and we go to commercial.
When the show starts up again, Adam picks up the pumpkin and raises it over his head. Before Adam can smash it to the ground, Cole arrives and tells him to put it down. Adam says he HAS to do it or the evil-witch will kill him. Cole threatens to kill Adam if he hurts pumpkin-Phoebe. Adam throws the pumpkin to the ground, but Cole waves an arm and everything slows to a stop. Similar to when Piper freezes something but not as immediate. Cole walks over and takes the pumpkin, which is hovering only a few inches from the ground. Cole returns time to normal, then knocks Adam to the ground.
COLE: "Keep your hands off my pumpkin."
Back in the attic, the wolf is again looking like a wolf and Leo is brandishing the woodsman's axe toward the animal, while yelling "Where's my wife?" at it. The wolf prepares to jump toward the book and Leo realizes it must be a portal leading to the fortress of fairy tale objects. Leo lunges toward the wolf as it jumps for the book. As the wolf is in mid-air, it suddenly explodes, leaving Piper and Grams to fall on the floor. Grams explains that Piper "blew him up from the inside". Cole appears, holding pumpkin-Phoebe and tells them it's her and he "had nothing to do with this, I swear".
Piper says they should stay with the original place of trying to vanquish the evil-witch. Leo explains about the book being a portal but he doesn't know how to access it. Piper realizes that she will have to put on the red cape to make it work. Grams hands Piper the potion. Red Riding Piper touches the book and she gets sucked inside. Piper appears in the fortress to find the evil-witch angry with the apprentice in the mirror.
EVIL WITCH: "If I'm not the most powerful in the land, then who is?"
Piper appears.
PIPER: "Take a wild guess."
The evil-witch is shocked to see Piper because she saw the wolf eat her. Piper says she "didn't agree with him" and holds up the potion. The Piper says, "See if this agrees with you" and she tosses the potion at the evil-witch, who immediately melts into a puddle. The apprentice is released from the mirror and the fairy tale objects return to their pedestals in the fortress. Piper sees the keeper lying on the floor and worries that if he didn't come back to life, maybe her sisters won't either. The apprentice assures her they will because once she saved the fairy tales, she saved them too. Piper hands him the cape saying that must make him the new keeper. The apprentice notices that only one of the glass slippers has returned. Piper asks him how she can get home and he hands her a pair of ruby red shoes.
Paige, who is now alive again, looking like herself, and she asks how she ended up in a coffin. Grams tells Paige she was dead and now they have something in common. The lead dwarf tells Paige she should get a boyfriend in case this ever happens again. Phoebe and Cole come down the stairs and Phoebe rushes to Paige, excited to see her alive again. Cole starts to ask where Piper is, but before he can finish, she appears. Leo has a big smile on his face. The red shoes disappear. Grams says it's time for her to go, she was only there to remind Piper that she doesn't need her. Phoebe complains that she didn't get to spend any time with Grams. But Grams says not to worry, she never stays dead long. Grams asks Paige for a hug, which Paige agrees to, finally calling her Grams. Leo and Grams orb out. Paige goes upstairs to catch up on her fairy tales. Phoebe holds onto Piper's hand trying to keep her from leaving but Piper says she needs to catch up on some sleep and leaves the room.
Phoebe finally admits that it she was wrong and apologizes to Cole. He tells her that he lost her trust a long time ago and he doesn't expect to earn it back overnight. She says she doesn't know who to trust anymore. He says she can trust Adam, he was just being used by the evil-witch; he really is a good guy. Phoebe doesn't think she can tell the difference anymore.
In the ballroom, Adam picks up the glass shoe left behind as the camera pulls back to reveal Phoebe and Cole at the edge of the room. She asks why they are there. He says he wants to rebuild her trust. Cole tells Phoebe that he's not under a spell anymore and she should go see if her original instincts were right. Phoebe asks why he's doing this and
COLE: "I don't want you to fall in love with him Phoebe, but you need to realize he's not evil."
PHOEBE: "Why are you doing this?"
COLE: "Because unless you learn to trust yourself again, you'll never learn to trust me."
Phoebe walks to Adam and we are watching from Cole's point of view so we don't know what they say to each other. Adam and Phoebe leave the room together and the glass shoe disappears. Cole watches from the back of the room looking sad.
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