Lucky Charmed
Phoebe is writing a column on online dating. Her first date at P3 seems to be going well, until she gets a premonition that he's really a demon on a killing spree; he eats his victims alive. Piper is on the phone; Pat Benatar was due to play this weekend, but just cancelled. Phoebe warns Piper about the demon, and Piper freezes the scene. However, the demon doesn't freeze; Piper only froze the innocents in the room. When he notices Piper and Phoebe aren't frozen, he realizes he's been caught. Piper blows him up. Piper has worries besides P3; she and Leo have been fighting fairly often since Wyatt's birth.
Outside of P3, a guitarist is begging in the street. A Leprechaun speaks an incantation and the guitarist finds a $50 bill. Moments later, the leprechaun's own luck runs out as the demon Saleel blows him up and steals his Shillelagh. The demon uses the shillelagh to call a rainbow and transport himself away.
Leo is meeting with the Elders and is running late, much to Piper's frustration; it's his turn to watch Wyatt. Phoebe just got a poem from "Cyrano73", guy who's talking to her online. She's only writing the column at the behest of Jason, who recently gave her a raise to convince her to stay. Paige is frustrated; she can't get a spot of demon blood out of one of her sweaters, and on top of that it shrank. She wants to cast a spell to get the blood out and return the sweater to normal size, but Piper warns her that she risks a personal-gain backfire. Leo orbs in and warns the sisters that they're on demon duty—again.
Saleel returns to a cave where two demons, Janna and Jayda, are waiting for him. He holds out two gold nuggets—how leprechauns bestow luck. Saleel is making a play to take over the underworld, and wants Janna and Jayda's support. In return, he bestows Janna and Jayda with good luck
Phoebe is having another chat with "Cyrano", who asks her on a date. She declines. Phoebe's assistant shows up; Jason just spiked her column and wants a new version by tomorrow. Phoebe stomps into Jason's office. Jason tells her that it's obvious she doesn't really want to write it (among other things, she devoted four paragraphs to meteor showers). Phoebe says she thinks the Internet is not an appropriate place to find love. Jason asks her out.
A group of leprechauns are worried about Saleel. He's killed several of their brethren, and they're thinking of going into hiding. One of them, Seamus Fitzpatrick, inspires them to stay and fight.
Paige casts a spell to return her sweater to normal. Leo walks in; Piper was concerned about Paige's talk of casting spells and sent him up to check on her. Paige wants to cast a spell to get her creditors off her back, but Leo warns her about the risks of a backfire. He then reminds her that the Elders have noticed an abnormally high string of bad luck and wants her to check on it. Paige thinks the spell she's written could fix that. She casts it—and finds herself in the realm of the Leprechauns. Seamus is waiting for her; he's been hoping to change their luck as well. Just then, Saleel flings her over a tree branch and goes in on Seamus. Paige orbs Seamus out of harm's way. Seamus summons a rainbow and they both escape, and reach the leprechaun's pot of gold.
Back at the manor, Seamus tells the sisters of the leprechauns' recent troubles with Saleel. Paige wants Seamus to grant her some luck, but Phoebe reminds her that not all luck is good. Seamus points out that nuggets can go either way. Leo agrees, pointing out that bad luck is as important to the world as good. Paige finds Saleel in the Book of Shadows. He's been stealing leprechauns' luck and giving it to other demons. Although he's a low-level demon, he's notoriously hard to find. Seamus wants to grant the sisters enough luck to help them vanquish Saleel, but Piper thinks their way is better. Seamus doesn't think so, and grants luck to Piper. Seconds later, Pat Benatar shows up at the manor with her husband, Neil Giraldo.
Saleel collars a leprechaun; he knows that they've enlisted the sisters' help. The leprechaun offers to give him some luck in exchange for letting him go, but Saleel contemptuously kills him.
Seamus scoffs at how humans view rainbows as pretty objects; they're actually how leprechauns travel. Piper walks in; Pat Benatar is rearranging her schedule to play P3. Phoebe scries, but can't find Saleel. Seamus thinks they need more luck to find him, and grants luck to Paige. Paige orbs away with Piper. Phoebe reluctantly accepts some luck from Seamus. Seconds later, Jason shows up at the door, ready to go on their date. Phoebe tries to wave him off - unsuccessfully, as Seamus forces her to go. Neil recognizes the leprechaun by name.
Piper and Paige are in a casino playing craps and winning lots of money. Piper feels she needs to go back, to quit while they're ahead. Paige bets her entire stake and throws snake eyes, losing it all. Piper believes they've found a way to track down Saleel.
Jason takes Phoebe to the Serendipity Lounge. Phoebe is still skeptical about online dating, but Jason tells her that he ran an online dating service some years back, and that all the couples around them had met online. He tells her to start rewriting her column.
Piper uses the dice to scry for Saleel, while Paige has finished a vanquishing potion. Seamus is skeptical, but Piper says that since he's a reptile demon, they need a snake's eyes to track him. Paige wants more good luck, but Seamus tells her that she has to work for some things as well. Phoebe comes in from her date. The crystal hits on the rock cave. The sisters and Seamus orb there and find Saleel waiting for them. Saleel casts bad luck on them with a stolen pot of gold. Phoebe is about to throw the potion when a bolt of lightning knocks the sisters off their feet. Seamus tries to rainbow away, but Saleel grabs him and kills him before stepping into the rainbow and heading out—leaving Seamus's shillelagh behind.
The sisters' luck has turned sour. Worst of all, P3 has suffered a power failure, and Pat Benatar's concert is in jeopardy. Piper is worried enough that she has Leo orb Wyatt to the Heavens for safekeeping; Leo wasn't affected by the bad-luck curse.
Saleel summons Janna and Jayda and sends them after the sisters.
Piper has made a vanquishing potion, but it nearly burns up in a fire. Paige has found several good-luck charms. Suddenly, they hear a crash—Phoebe fell down reading the latest message from "Cyrano". Phoebe thnks she should accept his request for a date, it could change her luck. Just as she says yes, Janna and Jayda smoke into the manor. Piper tries to blast them, but instead blows part of the railing onto her own head, knocking herself out. Jayda throws an energy ball, but Paige orbs it to her hand and throws it at Janna, vanquishing her. Jayda smokes away with Piper. Saleel is not happy that Piper is still alive, but Jayda plans to use Piper to lure Phoebe and Paige into a trap. She wants to get more good luck, but Saleel decides to keep it for himself and kills Jayda.
Phoebe gets a premonition off Seamus' shillelagh and learns the incantation to call a rainbow. She and Paige rainbow to the leprechauns' lair, where the leprechauns are ready to give up. Phoebe and Paige try to rally them, but the leprechauns are skeptical, because Paige and Phoebe failed to protect Seamus. However, Paige convinces them that Seamus risked his life to go after Saleel, and they should go after him to avenge Seamus's death.
Saleel has set up a snake over Piper's head. Phoebe and Paige orb in. Saleel is waiting for them. Before Saleel can do anything, though, the leprechauns rainbow in. They curse Saleel with bad luck and a meteor strikes him dead. The leprechauns let Paige keep Seamus's old shilelagh.
Pat Benatar is about to go on at P3. Piper is thinking of selling the club; between her Charmed duties and motherhood, she thinks it's too much. However, the Elders have let Leo go on paternity leave.
Phoebe shows up at the lounge to find Jason waiting for her—it turns out he was "Cyrano73".
Tropes:
- Actor Allusion: Phoebe makes a joke about Justin Timberlake appearing on the other side of the door. Alyssa Milano was dating Justin at the time.
- Call-Back: Phoebe once again pretends to have hiccups to hide a premonition.
- Contrived Coincidence: The leprechauns' luck causes this to happen; Pat Benatar for instance has to use Piper's phone just as she needs an act to perform at P3.
- Continuity Nod:
- Piper references Paige's "big boob fiasco" from "Hell Hath No Fury".
- Phoebe's online dating username is "Cinderella29", a nod to Cinderella being established as her favorite fairytale back in "The Three Faces of Phoebe".
- Everything's Better with Rainbows: The leprechauns use the rainbow to teleport. Wyatt also has a mobile with rainbows on it, much to Seamus' confusion.
- Evil Is Hammy: Saleel, Janna and Jayda are so over the top.
- Foreshadowing: The Pat Benatar situation foreshadows that bad luck for some can be good luck for others.
- Noodle Incident: Apparently Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo are already familiar with Seamus who once helped Neil out with some luck.
- Oireland: The leprechauns have pretty much all the Oireland stereotypes you can think of, except for the drinking.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: The Irish accents on most of the leprechauns.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Saleel the antagonist is a reptile demon.
- Ride the Rainbow: Leprechauns use their shillelaghs to summon rainbows to travel by.
- Stripperific: Paige's usual wardrobe gets a nod when she's complaining to Piper about one of her sweaters being shrunk in the wash.Piper: Ahh, come on, you've worn tighter things than that.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Literally. Piper freaks out when a snake gets near her.
