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impy So I wasn't exactly looking forward to watching I've Got You Under My Skin, which is the second episode of Season 1. It's funny because I kept thinking, "this one kinda sucks, no?" prior to re-watching it and no, past!me. It does not suck. I mean, yes, the things I remember sucking in particular do still suck. I still think it's weird that they keep going out of their way to make the first victim in any given episode a blonde and yes, the monster of the week, Javna, is still just as lame as he was 20 years ago, and yes, the special effects for this one are particularly not great. However one of my absolute favorite moments of the entire series takes place in this episode. For some reason I thought that came later but it actually makes way more sense for it to be in the second episode. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Again.
We begin at Quake, Piper's new job, where she's been promoted from chef to manager for reasons the series never actually makes clear. Piper is very much the character all about food and yet for whatever reason, she's not actually... cooking for most of the run on any of her jobs. I guess they figured they couldn't just have her run off in the middle of actually being responsible for making meals but being kitchen adjacent was close enough? Anyway, Piper is doing what she does best: panicking.
Phoebe does what she does best in S1 and is apparently wearing borrowed clothing. Piper alleges this dress is from her closet but seriously this:
does not scream Piper. At all. o_O
Still, we need to kick off the monster of the week plot, so a friend of their's, Brittany, comes along and we're treated to a bit of trivia that's been stuck in my head for 20 years. Namely the tattoo on the back of her hand is/was not a thing you could get in the US due to the veins and this could not scream IMPORTANT PLOT POINT any louder. I mean it's practically highlighted each time we see it, ala Psych. Britt heads out as Phoebe gets a premonition about a cute guy at the bar asking her (Phoebe) out. He does and she flirts back and away they go. The next we see of Britt, she's being abducted outside of Quake. Oops.
You might be wondering, hey, where's Prue? Well, fear not. She's busy getting dressed as quickly and quietly as possible as she sneaks out of Andy's apartment. Just as she's about to make a clean getaway, his alarm goes off... so she does the only sensible thing and uses her telekinesis to throw it out the window. He still wakes up to find her gone though. Sadness.
For those playing battle of the royalties at home, the only song kept from the original airing was Natalie Imbruglia's Torn. Sadness!
We return to Halliwell Manor where Piper is watching a terribly low budget documentary on her kitchen TV and when I say low budget, I mean it's actually got drawings used as the reenactment of a witch getting zapped by lightning for daring to creep onto holy ground. Prue appears and is properly horrified by Piper's taste in TV and then Piper changes the subject by mentioning that Andy called while Prue was in the shower. Prue immediately asks what Piper told him. "That you were in the shower..." Spidey sense tingling, Piper asks what's up and Prue admits she slept with Andy. Not that it was bad it's just... not a very Prue like thing to do, sleeping with someone on the first date. Prue points out that it's hardly her first date with Andy and Piper is having none of it. "High school doesn't count!" Since Prue will later admit they hadn't seen one another in seven years, I'm going to give this one to Piper.
Phoebe appears as Prue tries to run off to her job interview and there's a lecture on not using powers and some commentary on Phoebe's date being nothing she's ashamed of, with the implication that Prue is ashamed of hers. Prue fires back that she's not ashamed and huzzah!
We're going to take a moment to dissect something I saw when looking up pictures for this episode. Some asshat elsewhere commented that it's obvious even back in S1 that Shannen and Alyssa did not like one another. To which I say, it's called acting, dumbass. S1 Phoebe and Prue are meant to get on each other's nerves at every turn. It's a big part of their arc, actually, getting over their differences and learning to embrace one another. Also, Alyssa got married during the Shannen years on the show and both HMC and Shannen were in the wedding party so, y'know, I'm thinking they got along for a bit. But anyway.
I'm not really sure I can juggle the various subplots, so we'll focus on a sister at time, k?
Piper's big plot for this episode is her fear that their magic comes from evil. She's legitimately worried that if she tries to go into her church now that she's got her powers, that she'll be struck by lightning/the wrath of God. And this almost sounds insane, but given the way Phoebe hugs their pastor, it's pretty obvious that the sisters were fairly religious prior to the show starting. Piper donates food from her restaurant (though I suppose it's possible that the restaurant had this going before she appeared and it's just a coincidence), Phoebe and Pastor Mark hug when he realizes she's back in town, and Piper seems pretty comfortable around him aside from the worrying about being a hellfire kinda witch. So yeah, I'd say that if I woke up tomorrow with actual magical powers, part of me would worry about their origin.
So she attempts to enter the church after she and Pastor Mark talk about how he wouldn't want to chance being zapped by the big guy, but as she's about to open the door, a clap of thunder scares her back to her car.
Later, Phoebe will find Piper in the attic, reading the book and we'll be introduced to Piper's through line for the show. She wants to go back to being normal, no matter how messed up that was. Phoebe can't relate, but she assures Piper that there's no way Piper was given special powers for anything other than to continue doing good things for people. It's simply who Piper is. And this is the sweetest scene in the entire episode and I love it even as I hate that it was probably written by someone I loathe. (Brad Kern.)
We'll come back to Piper's worries as they'll sync up with the A plot in a bit.
Phoebe's subplot revolves around using her powers for personal gain. First she sees Alec hitting on her, and then when she's buying something at the newsstand, she sees the winning Lotto numbers after an old couple mentions that they're playing because they NEED to win. Phoebe tells them the winning combo and then buys her own ticket to play because why not?
She gets hit on by another dude at Quake, Stefan, who is a famous photographer and it's honestly a fairly cute moment for Phoebe. Stefan is clearly the bad guy even though we won't find out for sure til the redhead he's with gets her youth stolen in a scene or three. But Phoebe's still charming as hell and no, I did not intend that pun.
Phoebe and Piper make the food run to the church and Phoebe is pretty blasé about the whole witch thing, not caring if any of the volunteers overhears her because they wouldn't assume she meant she was an actual, literal witch. Piper is not amused.
Later we'll see Phoebe in another dress, this one allegedly Armani, and both Piper and Prue wonder how the hell she can afford it considering she's broke and up to her eyeballs in debt. We all know she charged it because of her impending Lotto win.
Speaking of Prue, she spends most of this episode torn between her job interview and her thing, whatever it is, with Andy. She just makes it into the elevator at Buckland Auction House (and that feels so wrong to type and say because it is forever called Buckland's after this, I swear, even if the official name may remain Buckland Auction House) and then her cell rings and of course it's Andy wanting to have a private conversation about their -ahem- lovemaking even though he's at work (hell, Brittany's boyfriend/husband/whatever, Max, had just been by to report her missing!) and she's in the building of a potential new employer. Naturally the guy she's standing right by is going to be the guy hiring her later on, but yeah, Prue tries valiantly to have the convo without making it super obvious what it's about and she fails utterly as all the guys in the elevator know what's up. Annoyed, Prue uses her power to bypass all the other floor stops on the elevator as it zooms safely up to the floor she needs.
Prue is also a little perplexed as to why Rex Buckland wants to see her considering she didn't call them for a job. His... secretary, I presume, mentions that he likes the work Prue did at the museum and Prue accepts this as a possibility. Then she's lead into Rex's office and surprise! Cute guy from the elevator who heard her say she wasn't right for the job at all is Rex Buckland. Of course he is.
Rex, as it turns out, just took over the auction house from his father so he wants to make sure that things go smoothly. But he also wants the new blood that Prue was able to bring to the museum, however he's only interested in people who truly want to be there. Prue realizes she's probably sunk her own battleship before she ever made it into the office but as Rex is seeing her out, she turns and explains that she's more than qualified for the job and that while she might not have sought it out, she is most definitely interested. Determined Prue is a force to be reckoned with, truly.
Prue and Andy meet up by accident at Quake when Andy and Darryl (Andy's partner) decide to stakeout the restaurant given that at least two victims were last seen there. There's a thing in the kitchen and Piper freaks out and it's adorable and really shouldn't earn a mention here, but it's fun so here we are.
Anyway, they meet up the next day to discuss the state of their relationship and what sleeping together means. Andy is totally thrilled to be with Prue again and Prue's less jazzed because she's a new witch and she's not stupid. She knows this is going to complicate matters, especially given that Andy is a police inspector. Still, Andy is willing to really hit the brakes and consider their first date hookup to be the end of the previous chapter in their relationship and they can start fresh. Prue's torn between wanting to rekindle her flame with Andy and not wanting to expose her secret. She's saved from having to make any serious answers when her phone goes off and it's Buckland's wanting her to come in for a second interview.
She rushes right over and we're introduced to Hannah Webster, aka the mother from Good Luck, Charlie. Prue is put to the test and given a painting to appraise. She does and finds it fake. They move on to a sculpture but just before Prue can do more than rattle off a bit of trivia about it, Hannah knocks into some scaffolding and a can of paint pours down on Prue. Or it would if she didn't use her powers to deflect it.
Why are there open cans of paint around supposedly expensive pieces of art? Anyone?
Prue never gets a chance to ask this most important question because Rex immediately offers her the job and she accepts. After Prue scampers off, Rex asks Hannah what she thinks. Hannah remarks that either Prue is the luckiest woman alive or she's a witch.
You knew they were gonna be bad guys, right? I do love that upon re-watching, it's super obvious that he hires her because she shows off her powers. The first go round it's a bit more subtle ... well. Not Hannah. Nothing about Hannah is subtle. :P
Piper time! Eventually, Piper scrounges up the courage and makes her way back to the church... and this happens:
Not evil! I swear, this is the cutest thing ever. While I might not love HMC quite as much these days, I do still adore her during her Charmed years and this is one of the many, many reasons why.
As she practically skips down the steps, she sees an old woman wandering by. Because she's Piper the helper, she goes to see what she can do for the woman. She sees some ink on the woman's hand and realizes that somehow, some way, this is Brittany.
When Prue arrives back home, all jazzed about the job offer, she finds Piper and Brittany. Luckily for all involved, Piper spotted something to help ID the monster responsible and also how to defeat him, but they'll need Phoebe. While the sisters are in the attic, Brittany is in the kitchen where she sees the napkin with Stefan's address on it. She faints due to the shock and somehow Piper and Prue hear her even though their on the third floor and she's on the first. Bullshit.
Also, as Piper and Prue rush to save Phoebe from the date from hell, they mention that they need the power of three to pull off this spell. How is it even possibly in the BoS then? Javna keeps getting out of hell to do his week of youth stealing?
Btw, I think I forgot to mention this. Javna/Stefan, is taking these woman to his abandoned warehouse, tying them up on a lighted table, and then staring red eye beams at them until they turn old and he's returned to his handsome, youthful exterior. He also has no problem telling them he's not Stefan but rather Javna and this bit of info they seem to retain even when they forget their own names or where they live or whatever might take them home.
According to the BoS, he does this for a week every... year? I kinda missed that when the cat hopped up for lovings. But there's a counter spell that will send him back to hell, only how did the Halliwells of the past even come across this guy? And why would the power of three exclusively work on it? Seriously, if it required the Po3, then the other Halliwells wouldn't likely know how to pull it off. And if they created the spell, why make something that could only be used when three sisters (cousins?) were born into the family at the same time? Why set yourself up for that kind of failure?
I digress. So Phoebe gets zapped til Prue and Piper break in, and then Prue gets zapped while Piper unties Phoebe. Prue is drawn towards Javna in the weirdest way and cannot get away but we also don't really see her try. And yet when told to grab the mirror he keeps lying around to admire himself after his thievery is done, she can do so easily. She turns his stare back on him and then she and her sisters begin their chant. This spell is lame and clearly keeps tripping everyone up and it feels like they just said fuck it after a take and went with it. Javna goes 'splodey and you can tell Piper is freaked out, Prue's not far behind, and Phoebe's all "SO COOL!"
Outside the cops come to the rescue after good old detective work brought them to the same warehouse. I think one of the things I love best about Andy is that he's not bad at his job. He's not as far as the sisters because he doesn't have magic, but he gets there soon enough that he would have busted Stefan with an old lady Phoebe. Hell, he might've even made it in time to stop Phoebe from being old lady-ified, depending on how long that would take.
Because he's not an idiot, he doesn't exactly believe their story about Phoebe having a date with Stefan but the van broke down right outside the warehouse and instead of going to him for help, she called her sisters. Probably because the van starts up with no trouble at all, huh?
We end the episode at Quake, where Phoebe checks in on Javna's third victim (the redhead) who remembers nothing, and then the Lotto winning numbers are announced and Phoebe's excited until she pulls her ticket out and the numbers all vanish. Prue points out that the book did tell them they couldn't intentionally use their powers for personal gain... and the show ignores the part where Prue did just that earlier with the elevator. Possibly because Rex is ~evil~ and if it gets them closer to an evil that needs vanquishing, it doesn't seem to be personal gain. Could also just be a fumble in the writing. :P But we'll let it slide because Phoebe has a moment of realizing she needs to be a little less reckless, Prue's more willing to admit she likes her power, and Piper is happy they were able to help people.
Overall, I think the main plot is almost as meh as I remember, but the rest of the plots keep the episode as one of the better ones. I love Piper's crisis of faith (as it were), Prue's tentative steps towards Andy, the banter between Andy and Darryl, and the sisterly bond in general. There's a lot that works about this episode. So while I might've gotten overly nitpicky, it's definitely not a bunch of stuff that would come up on a first watch.
Quote time, in case the couple I threw in didn't tide you over:
Join us next week as we confront serious daddy issues.
We begin at Quake, Piper's new job, where she's been promoted from chef to manager for reasons the series never actually makes clear. Piper is very much the character all about food and yet for whatever reason, she's not actually... cooking for most of the run on any of her jobs. I guess they figured they couldn't just have her run off in the middle of actually being responsible for making meals but being kitchen adjacent was close enough? Anyway, Piper is doing what she does best: panicking.
Phoebe does what she does best in S1 and is apparently wearing borrowed clothing. Piper alleges this dress is from her closet but seriously this:
does not scream Piper. At all. o_O
Still, we need to kick off the monster of the week plot, so a friend of their's, Brittany, comes along and we're treated to a bit of trivia that's been stuck in my head for 20 years. Namely the tattoo on the back of her hand is/was not a thing you could get in the US due to the veins and this could not scream IMPORTANT PLOT POINT any louder. I mean it's practically highlighted each time we see it, ala Psych. Britt heads out as Phoebe gets a premonition about a cute guy at the bar asking her (Phoebe) out. He does and she flirts back and away they go. The next we see of Britt, she's being abducted outside of Quake. Oops.
You might be wondering, hey, where's Prue? Well, fear not. She's busy getting dressed as quickly and quietly as possible as she sneaks out of Andy's apartment. Just as she's about to make a clean getaway, his alarm goes off... so she does the only sensible thing and uses her telekinesis to throw it out the window. He still wakes up to find her gone though. Sadness.
For those playing battle of the royalties at home, the only song kept from the original airing was Natalie Imbruglia's Torn. Sadness!
We return to Halliwell Manor where Piper is watching a terribly low budget documentary on her kitchen TV and when I say low budget, I mean it's actually got drawings used as the reenactment of a witch getting zapped by lightning for daring to creep onto holy ground. Prue appears and is properly horrified by Piper's taste in TV and then Piper changes the subject by mentioning that Andy called while Prue was in the shower. Prue immediately asks what Piper told him. "That you were in the shower..." Spidey sense tingling, Piper asks what's up and Prue admits she slept with Andy. Not that it was bad it's just... not a very Prue like thing to do, sleeping with someone on the first date. Prue points out that it's hardly her first date with Andy and Piper is having none of it. "High school doesn't count!" Since Prue will later admit they hadn't seen one another in seven years, I'm going to give this one to Piper.
Phoebe appears as Prue tries to run off to her job interview and there's a lecture on not using powers and some commentary on Phoebe's date being nothing she's ashamed of, with the implication that Prue is ashamed of hers. Prue fires back that she's not ashamed and huzzah!
We're going to take a moment to dissect something I saw when looking up pictures for this episode. Some asshat elsewhere commented that it's obvious even back in S1 that Shannen and Alyssa did not like one another. To which I say, it's called acting, dumbass. S1 Phoebe and Prue are meant to get on each other's nerves at every turn. It's a big part of their arc, actually, getting over their differences and learning to embrace one another. Also, Alyssa got married during the Shannen years on the show and both HMC and Shannen were in the wedding party so, y'know, I'm thinking they got along for a bit. But anyway.
I'm not really sure I can juggle the various subplots, so we'll focus on a sister at time, k?
Piper's big plot for this episode is her fear that their magic comes from evil. She's legitimately worried that if she tries to go into her church now that she's got her powers, that she'll be struck by lightning/the wrath of God. And this almost sounds insane, but given the way Phoebe hugs their pastor, it's pretty obvious that the sisters were fairly religious prior to the show starting. Piper donates food from her restaurant (though I suppose it's possible that the restaurant had this going before she appeared and it's just a coincidence), Phoebe and Pastor Mark hug when he realizes she's back in town, and Piper seems pretty comfortable around him aside from the worrying about being a hellfire kinda witch. So yeah, I'd say that if I woke up tomorrow with actual magical powers, part of me would worry about their origin.
So she attempts to enter the church after she and Pastor Mark talk about how he wouldn't want to chance being zapped by the big guy, but as she's about to open the door, a clap of thunder scares her back to her car.
Later, Phoebe will find Piper in the attic, reading the book and we'll be introduced to Piper's through line for the show. She wants to go back to being normal, no matter how messed up that was. Phoebe can't relate, but she assures Piper that there's no way Piper was given special powers for anything other than to continue doing good things for people. It's simply who Piper is. And this is the sweetest scene in the entire episode and I love it even as I hate that it was probably written by someone I loathe. (Brad Kern.)
We'll come back to Piper's worries as they'll sync up with the A plot in a bit.
Phoebe's subplot revolves around using her powers for personal gain. First she sees Alec hitting on her, and then when she's buying something at the newsstand, she sees the winning Lotto numbers after an old couple mentions that they're playing because they NEED to win. Phoebe tells them the winning combo and then buys her own ticket to play because why not?
She gets hit on by another dude at Quake, Stefan, who is a famous photographer and it's honestly a fairly cute moment for Phoebe. Stefan is clearly the bad guy even though we won't find out for sure til the redhead he's with gets her youth stolen in a scene or three. But Phoebe's still charming as hell and no, I did not intend that pun.
Phoebe and Piper make the food run to the church and Phoebe is pretty blasé about the whole witch thing, not caring if any of the volunteers overhears her because they wouldn't assume she meant she was an actual, literal witch. Piper is not amused.
Later we'll see Phoebe in another dress, this one allegedly Armani, and both Piper and Prue wonder how the hell she can afford it considering she's broke and up to her eyeballs in debt. We all know she charged it because of her impending Lotto win.
Speaking of Prue, she spends most of this episode torn between her job interview and her thing, whatever it is, with Andy. She just makes it into the elevator at Buckland Auction House (and that feels so wrong to type and say because it is forever called Buckland's after this, I swear, even if the official name may remain Buckland Auction House) and then her cell rings and of course it's Andy wanting to have a private conversation about their -ahem- lovemaking even though he's at work (hell, Brittany's boyfriend/husband/whatever, Max, had just been by to report her missing!) and she's in the building of a potential new employer. Naturally the guy she's standing right by is going to be the guy hiring her later on, but yeah, Prue tries valiantly to have the convo without making it super obvious what it's about and she fails utterly as all the guys in the elevator know what's up. Annoyed, Prue uses her power to bypass all the other floor stops on the elevator as it zooms safely up to the floor she needs.
Prue is also a little perplexed as to why Rex Buckland wants to see her considering she didn't call them for a job. His... secretary, I presume, mentions that he likes the work Prue did at the museum and Prue accepts this as a possibility. Then she's lead into Rex's office and surprise! Cute guy from the elevator who heard her say she wasn't right for the job at all is Rex Buckland. Of course he is.
Rex, as it turns out, just took over the auction house from his father so he wants to make sure that things go smoothly. But he also wants the new blood that Prue was able to bring to the museum, however he's only interested in people who truly want to be there. Prue realizes she's probably sunk her own battleship before she ever made it into the office but as Rex is seeing her out, she turns and explains that she's more than qualified for the job and that while she might not have sought it out, she is most definitely interested. Determined Prue is a force to be reckoned with, truly.
Prue and Andy meet up by accident at Quake when Andy and Darryl (Andy's partner) decide to stakeout the restaurant given that at least two victims were last seen there. There's a thing in the kitchen and Piper freaks out and it's adorable and really shouldn't earn a mention here, but it's fun so here we are.
Anyway, they meet up the next day to discuss the state of their relationship and what sleeping together means. Andy is totally thrilled to be with Prue again and Prue's less jazzed because she's a new witch and she's not stupid. She knows this is going to complicate matters, especially given that Andy is a police inspector. Still, Andy is willing to really hit the brakes and consider their first date hookup to be the end of the previous chapter in their relationship and they can start fresh. Prue's torn between wanting to rekindle her flame with Andy and not wanting to expose her secret. She's saved from having to make any serious answers when her phone goes off and it's Buckland's wanting her to come in for a second interview.
She rushes right over and we're introduced to Hannah Webster, aka the mother from Good Luck, Charlie. Prue is put to the test and given a painting to appraise. She does and finds it fake. They move on to a sculpture but just before Prue can do more than rattle off a bit of trivia about it, Hannah knocks into some scaffolding and a can of paint pours down on Prue. Or it would if she didn't use her powers to deflect it.
Why are there open cans of paint around supposedly expensive pieces of art? Anyone?
Prue never gets a chance to ask this most important question because Rex immediately offers her the job and she accepts. After Prue scampers off, Rex asks Hannah what she thinks. Hannah remarks that either Prue is the luckiest woman alive or she's a witch.
You knew they were gonna be bad guys, right? I do love that upon re-watching, it's super obvious that he hires her because she shows off her powers. The first go round it's a bit more subtle ... well. Not Hannah. Nothing about Hannah is subtle. :P
Piper time! Eventually, Piper scrounges up the courage and makes her way back to the church... and this happens:
Not evil! I swear, this is the cutest thing ever. While I might not love HMC quite as much these days, I do still adore her during her Charmed years and this is one of the many, many reasons why.
As she practically skips down the steps, she sees an old woman wandering by. Because she's Piper the helper, she goes to see what she can do for the woman. She sees some ink on the woman's hand and realizes that somehow, some way, this is Brittany.
When Prue arrives back home, all jazzed about the job offer, she finds Piper and Brittany. Luckily for all involved, Piper spotted something to help ID the monster responsible and also how to defeat him, but they'll need Phoebe. While the sisters are in the attic, Brittany is in the kitchen where she sees the napkin with Stefan's address on it. She faints due to the shock and somehow Piper and Prue hear her even though their on the third floor and she's on the first. Bullshit.
Also, as Piper and Prue rush to save Phoebe from the date from hell, they mention that they need the power of three to pull off this spell. How is it even possibly in the BoS then? Javna keeps getting out of hell to do his week of youth stealing?
Btw, I think I forgot to mention this. Javna/Stefan, is taking these woman to his abandoned warehouse, tying them up on a lighted table, and then staring red eye beams at them until they turn old and he's returned to his handsome, youthful exterior. He also has no problem telling them he's not Stefan but rather Javna and this bit of info they seem to retain even when they forget their own names or where they live or whatever might take them home.
According to the BoS, he does this for a week every... year? I kinda missed that when the cat hopped up for lovings. But there's a counter spell that will send him back to hell, only how did the Halliwells of the past even come across this guy? And why would the power of three exclusively work on it? Seriously, if it required the Po3, then the other Halliwells wouldn't likely know how to pull it off. And if they created the spell, why make something that could only be used when three sisters (cousins?) were born into the family at the same time? Why set yourself up for that kind of failure?
I digress. So Phoebe gets zapped til Prue and Piper break in, and then Prue gets zapped while Piper unties Phoebe. Prue is drawn towards Javna in the weirdest way and cannot get away but we also don't really see her try. And yet when told to grab the mirror he keeps lying around to admire himself after his thievery is done, she can do so easily. She turns his stare back on him and then she and her sisters begin their chant. This spell is lame and clearly keeps tripping everyone up and it feels like they just said fuck it after a take and went with it. Javna goes 'splodey and you can tell Piper is freaked out, Prue's not far behind, and Phoebe's all "SO COOL!"
Outside the cops come to the rescue after good old detective work brought them to the same warehouse. I think one of the things I love best about Andy is that he's not bad at his job. He's not as far as the sisters because he doesn't have magic, but he gets there soon enough that he would have busted Stefan with an old lady Phoebe. Hell, he might've even made it in time to stop Phoebe from being old lady-ified, depending on how long that would take.
Because he's not an idiot, he doesn't exactly believe their story about Phoebe having a date with Stefan but the van broke down right outside the warehouse and instead of going to him for help, she called her sisters. Probably because the van starts up with no trouble at all, huh?
We end the episode at Quake, where Phoebe checks in on Javna's third victim (the redhead) who remembers nothing, and then the Lotto winning numbers are announced and Phoebe's excited until she pulls her ticket out and the numbers all vanish. Prue points out that the book did tell them they couldn't intentionally use their powers for personal gain... and the show ignores the part where Prue did just that earlier with the elevator. Possibly because Rex is ~evil~ and if it gets them closer to an evil that needs vanquishing, it doesn't seem to be personal gain. Could also just be a fumble in the writing. :P But we'll let it slide because Phoebe has a moment of realizing she needs to be a little less reckless, Prue's more willing to admit she likes her power, and Piper is happy they were able to help people.
Overall, I think the main plot is almost as meh as I remember, but the rest of the plots keep the episode as one of the better ones. I love Piper's crisis of faith (as it were), Prue's tentative steps towards Andy, the banter between Andy and Darryl, and the sisterly bond in general. There's a lot that works about this episode. So while I might've gotten overly nitpicky, it's definitely not a bunch of stuff that would come up on a first watch.
Quote time, in case the couple I threw in didn't tide you over:
Join us next week as we confront serious daddy issues.
