Thank You For Not Morphing

Season 1, Episode 3, Aired

Episode Summary

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8.3
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The sisters' estranged father returns, but trouble arises when he teams up with the new neighbors, who are actually shape-shifters trying to steal the Book of Shadows. Meanwhile, a handyman comes to the manor to help the girls.
  • Thank You for Not Morphing

    10
    "Perfect"
    Thank You for Not Morphing was a perfect episode of Charmed because it had a great story which shows the sisters are still discovering themselves and the hidden world around them. I really enjoyed watching as their father returned and tried to warn them about possible threats from evil entities after their powers. There was a lot of character and plot development and it was nice to see the sister's react in a way which definitely fit their birth order. In the end the sisters came to an understanding with their father and he left them with a precious memory from their pasts. I look forward to watching the next episode!!!!!!!!!moreless
  • Piper: So last week we have no Dad, and now we have two?

    7.0
    "Good"
    First of all, let me say that Alyssa is absolutely adorable with the hair just above the shoulders. This episode has a lot more going on than the last one. However, it is also a muddled mess at times. They might have been better off to just deal with Victor wanting the BOS, instead of having the shapeshifter demons at all. On the other hand, the demon subplot is pretty simple and straightforward. Victor's subplot on the other hand is the one full of holes. This is a rather forgettable first portrayal of Victor Bennet, the sisters' father. It isn't the actor's fault, who is quite good. It is the role. It is also probably not his fault that he automatically comes off as slimy, when Daddy 2.0, James Read, came off as honest and nurturing. The biggest issue is that many of the scenes with Victor don't make a lot of sense. He takes a trip down memory lane with Piper and Phoebe, who would have been too young to have anything but faint recollections of their father. He talks like he knows Phoebe, when in reality, he would know nothing about her, as she was a toddler when he left the house. And let me get this straight, knowing what we know later about Victor, he split with Patty over his desire that the sisters lead normal lives, and yet, now that they are witches, he comes back? Very odd. They did have normal lives as long as Grams was alive. So, where was he? The very contrived final scene of the demons and Victor all showing up at once at the manor is frankly uncomfortable. Great job by Phoebe to save the day though. And watching that home video at the end, it is actually pretty obvious that Alyssa Milano is playing their mother in the video. Haha....

    The best minute of the show is probably the last minute when a certain undercover whitelighter is introduced as handyman Leo. Good move... that.moreless
  • Thanks For Nothing

    4.1
    "Poor"
    A mostly sucky episode which doesn't really serve any purpose when looking at it in retrospect and features some terrible direction and some standard Charmed demons.

    This episode marks the first appearance of Victor, the sister's dad, but he doesn't make much of an impression here. He's played by a different actor and he has a different surname. When Victor returns in season three's We All Scream for Ice Cream, he's portrayed by the more convincing James Read. All of the events in this episode seem to have been forgotten about in that episode, since Prue and Victor become buddies again at the end of this one. Obviously, this seemed to have been swept under the carpet for Victor's next appearance.

    The demons in this episode are unbelievable and extremely tedious. The three shapeshifting siblings are unexciting to watch and all tension is diminished by the awful direction by Ellen Pressman. The shot of Victor being thrown against the wall is hilariously lame, and by far one of the worst FX shots used on the show.

    This whole episode is rendered pointless and the reunion between Victor and his daughters is meaningless as the storyline between them seems to of been undone by Victor's next appearance. Avoid.

    Director: Ellen Pressman
    Writers: Zack Estrin, Chris Levinson
    Rating: Dmoreless
  • Prue has father issues, and frankly, I’m kinda bored.

    5.8
    "Mediocre"
    It's a quite average episode, which biggest asset is bringing up some of the history of the charmed ones. The shapshifting neighbours are really boring, and most importantly such bad actors, that I sometimes find myself in pain when watching. The acting in general is bad in this episode, and especially Victor bugged me. He was creepy and I hated how the sisters, even Prue, accepted him in no time, and just welcomed him back to the family. The actor who played Victor was quite bad, and James Read, who will later on play him, is so much better. The most of the episode is silly and frankly quite pointless. It has no character development, brings so new interesting facts about magic to the sisters, it establishes nothing except proving that Charmed's filler episodes often are rather boring. The fact that the episode is horribly directed doesn't make the result better. The script doesn't make much sense either, and it just seems that the writers wanted to establish the sister's history and making us know that they grew up alone without their father.

    Even with these hard word, it's a quite good episode, even in its boring main plot. The sister's interaction is, as it always was in the beginning (and later on, even if we kinda takes it for granted now), very sweet and realistic. The main trio works better and better with each other, and they really feel like sisters. Prue opening up to Andy is also a good thing, and I'm a big fan of their relationship, even if it only lasted for half a season. It also brought us a new character, one that proved be one of the most long-lived and beloved of the series; Leo.
    Overall a slightly boring episode, and indeed a filler; but still sweet and an semi-adventurous episode, which mainly makes us get used to the characters.
    moreless
  • Maybe the worst episode ever!

    7.2
    "Good"
    I don't realy know why some people like this episode! I hated it! And these are the reasons why:

    Firstable the direction was completely AWFUL! Expept some moments,it sucks! The worst scene is the one were Prue is using her telekinisis power against Victor!I Truly hated it! And all the demons scenes the worst ever! Especialy the slow move scenes were comletely disasterous!

    Secondable the acting was bad! The actor who plays Victor s not realy good! I liked better the future Victor! Now the demon Girl ( I thing Syntha or something) was comletely annoying and I hated her from the first moment not because she was playing the evil, but because she was playing A-W-F-U-L! The other two shape-shifters were realy bad too. I didnt liked Holly's acting either! Shannen and Alyssa: the best!

    Now the writting was very good! Cleverly ploted, with very good quotes! I think that if the director was someone alse it could be a great episode! Now you can see why I hate this episode. I think that this one and The Marriage from Hell are the worst of the season!

    Blessed be, Johnmoreless
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • TRIVIA (23)

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    • In future episodes, evil cannot even touch the Book of Shadows (barring special spells), without it flying away. The evil shapeshifter manages to get it all the way to the threshold before it fights back. And, later, the book is handed over to the fake-Victor without any reaction at all from the book.

    • At the party Prue and Andy are talking, when Fritz comes over and starts talking to Andy and Prue leaves. The next shot however shows Fritz standing next to Marhsall and his sister. Where did Andy go?

    • TRIVIA: Ironically Anthony Denison and Alyssa Milano appeared, although seperately, as highly publicized lovers Joey Buttafuoco and Amy Fisher in the competing 1993 made for tv movies Long Island Lolita (Alyssa)and The Amy Fisher Story (Anthony).

    • How is it that the conversation that Prue and "shapeshifter" Andy had never came up when her and the real Andy were sitting in the kitchen talking. Obviously, the real Andy somehow learned of his plans to hang out with Prue rather than her go with her sisters to have dinner with Victor. So wouldn't Andy have originally expressed confusion when Prue discussed their plans, since he was never there and therefore tipped Prue off to something being wrong? While they never discussed the previous visit onscreen, it seems highly unlikely it would not have come up since he somehow managed to wind up spending the evening with her!

    • TRIVIA: Victor says its been twenty years since he last saw his daughters mentioning that Piper and Phoebe were four and one, which puts their current ages at twenty four and twenty one, but no specific age is given for Prue.

    • Phoebe is three years younger than Piper.

    • TRIVIA: This is the first time that a character from a show with magic is referenced. This time being Tabitha, the daughter of Samantha on the 1960's TV series Bewitched.

    • In the scene where the shape shifters are disguised as Piper and Phoebe, "Phoebe" is sitting in the chair and stands up in front of it, between "Piper" and the mailman. When they morph back, the one that was Phoebe is standing behind the couch and walks forward.

    • TRIVIA: In Latinamerica, the translating voices of Leo & Piper (who will later be a couple) will also translate Ariel & Eric (another couple) in the film The Little Mermaid 2.

    • During Phoebe's first trip to the attic, the Book of Shadows does its flipping thing revealing that many pages were actually doubles of previous pages.

    • Prue angrily tells Victor the last thing she saw of him was his back going out the door, but when Barbus, the fear demon returns in season 5's Sympathy for the Demon, Piper's flashback showed Victor leaving the house, being her fear of everyone around her leaving, and Prue was nowhere to be seen.

    • TRIVIA: As a baby, Prue skipped crawling and went straight to walking. At 1, Phoebe could swim but not walk. At 4, Piper had a phase where she only ate white things. Andy and Prue missed (or skipped) their prom.

    • TRIVIA: Featured music in this episode - -Prophecy by Remy Zero

    • When Prue is talking to Andy by the front door somebody is visible sitting in the kitchen wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

    • TRIVIA: This episode features a spell the sisters used to vanquish the Shapeshifters - "In the circle that is home, safety's gone and evils roam, rid all beings from these walls, save sisters three now heed our call".

    • TRIVIA: A shapeshifter touches the Book of Shadows in this episode, but in later episodes the Book will pull itself away from evil beings and not allow them to touch it.

    • TRIVIA: This is the first time that an evil being tries to steal the Book of Shadows.

    • TRIVIA: It is stated for the first time that only the sisters can take the Book of Shadows out of the Manor.

    • TRIVIA: Tony Denison played the girls' father in this episode but was later replaced by James Read. In the video that Victor sent the girls another woman is playing their mother, a role which was later taken over by Finola Hughes. It is highly speculated that it was Alyssa Milano herself who was in the video.

    • TRIVIA: This episode marks the first appearance of Brian Krause as Leo.

    • TRIVIA: In this episode, the sisters' father was mistakenly billed as Victor Halliwell. It was learned in "That '70s Episode" that "Halliwell" is the sisters' mother's last name.

    • When Leo comes to the door to give the sisters the tape, Prue calls him "Mr. White" instead of "Mr. Wyatt."

    • At the beginning of the episode, Prue comes home to find a dog in the house, which turns out to be one of the shape shifters. The dog is shown lurking outside the house before the girls leave for the party, but when they get to the party, all the shape shifters are there, talking to them. If all three of the neighbors were at the party, which one of them was the dog outside?

  • QUOTES (16)

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    • Marshall: I don't know what kind of people you're used to dealing with, but I'd lay serious coin that they aren't willing to rip you into a thousand pieces and dance in your entrails. Victor: Oh, so you're lawyers.

    • Piper: Wait a sec. Last week we had no Dad and now we have two?

    • Prue: Some of us have a job. Phoebe: Some of us have fun. Piper: And some of us are having a really bad hair day.

    • Prue: Um, hi. You must be Mr. Wyatt. Phoebe: The handyman? Leo: Call me Leo. Phoebe: Gladly.

    • Phoebe: I just read from the book, and wham - I am Tabitha.

    • Victor: Always in a hurry, Prue. You skipped crawling and went straight to walking. Prue: Oh, we're sharing memories. Well, I've got one of my own – your back walking out the door.

    • Piper: Okay, we have to call the cops and report it as a break-in. Prue: And tell them what? That someone broke into our house to try and steal our broomsticks?

    • Piper (about Victor): I wonder why he went to you first. I mean, why not Phoebe or me? Prue: Piper, it's not like I won the lotto.

    • Fritz: So, Prue, I hear your friend's a cop. Prue: Inspector, actually. Fritz: Oh, yeah. (to Andy) Well, I got these parking tickets... Andy: Yeah, my focus is mainly homicide, robbery. Fritz: Yeah. Yeah. So I have these parking tickets...

    • Prue: We're, uh, working on their subtlety. Andy: Then it's on to ending hunger and creating world peace, right? Prue: Hmm, what will I do with my Saturday?

    • Phoebe: Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we throw a party and charge admission. It's a great way to make extra cash. Prue: Hey, I have an even better idea. Why don't you just get a job?

    • Prue: Ok, I came, I saw, I was perky. Now I just want my head on a pillow.

    • Piper: Hey look. (she picks the ring up off the floor) It's dad's ring. What's it doing here? Phoebe: It must have slipped off when he, uh... fell. (referring to when Prue made him hit the wall)

    • Phoebe: How big was this dog again? Prue: Huge. Did you see the scratches on the attic door? Piper: What was it doing in the house? Prue: I don't know. Someone obviously left the front door open again. Phoebe: Why do you always assume it was me? What about Piper? Piper: Not it. Phoebe: Well, it's not a big deal. We checked the house and nothing is missing except my Pat Boone Christmas CD. Piper: Now this is really creepy. If there were a dog in the house, then it had to have an owner. No dog I know can open that front door, let alone reach the top shelf. Phoebe: Hey, maybe we should get a security system. Prue: No, they are way too expensive. Besides after what happened, Andy will be checking in every five minutes. Piper: Oh, you told him. Phoebe: Convenient. So what should we do? Prue: Well, either we could rely on our vicious guard cat to protect us or we could remember to lock the doors. (Prue walks in the laundry.) Phoebe: That is a really good idea, Prue. (Phoebe walks over and locks the door. Prue wiggles the door handle. Piper and Phoebe laugh.) Prue: Unlock the door, Phoebe.

    • Prue: So we're agreed? Twenty minutes? Piper: Prue, you can't do a party in twenty minutes. Prue: Watch me. Phoebe: Prue's party tips - meet, greet, and bail.

    • Piper: Why? I mean after all this time? Why here? Why now? Victor: Well, I heard the food here is pretty good, and it is dinner time.

  • NOTES (3)

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    • Actor James Dineen who appears as the shape-shifted mailman also appeared in the original unaired pilot as Inspector Heater who was originally Andy's partner. Once the pilot was picked up the show decided to go another direction and created the character of Darryl.

    • International Episode Titles: Spain: Gracias Por No Cambiar De Forma Czech Republic: Návrat (Return) France: Au nom du père (For the name of the father)

    • This episode scored 6.8 million viewers.

  • ALLUSIONS (3)

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