All Hell Breaks Loose (Charmed)

For the Supernatural episodes, see All Hell Breaks Loose (Supernatural).

For the album by thrash metal band Destruction, see All Hell Breaks Loose (album).

"All Hell Breaks Loose (Charmed)"

All Hell Breaks Loose is the third season finale of The WB drama series, Charmed.

Synopsis

Piper and Prue have to protect a doctor, who is followed by a demon assassin named Shax for having saved too many lives. The doctor can't believe demons exist and thinks all this is a joke... until Shax enters and throws first Prue, then Piper through a wall, shattering it and almost killing the sisters. Luckily, Phoebe arrives, hurts the demon with a spell, scares him away and calls for Leo to heal Piper and Prue.

Phoebe then goes to the Underworld to help Cole fight the evil he holds within, and Leo consults the Elders about whether or not Phoebe vanquished Shax. Piper and Prue have a suspicion that she did not, and walk the streets in an attempt to find and vanquish a weakened Shax. They finally find him, Prue deflects one of his attacks at him, and Piper blasts him, not killing him, but Shax disappears. The sisters feel they weren't seen, however a news reporter shooting a story not far from there captures and live broadcasts the battle.

The story follows the footage back to the TV station, where it's decided to check out the sisters and air the footage again. It then goes to Darryl at the police station where a superior tells him the rumors about the Halliwells must be true, alluding to the news broadcast seen across the room. Darryl is shocked and immediately phones Prue and Piper about their exposure.

The girls keep in mind that Shax is still alive and might be a danger to the doctor. They join him in the hospital, but when they come out, Shax appears, and Piper and Prue have no other option than reciting the vanquishing spell in front of the hospital and several people. They all applaud when the demon is dead. Once again, the battle is captured by video camera.

Both video records are shown on TV and cause a sensation. A large crowd forms in front of the Manor which consist of journalists, believers, curious people, and a girl named Alice who believes herself to be a witch (though she isn't one). While Piper and Prue discuss what they will do about all this, Alice blasts into the house looking to join their coven, but Prue throws her out with her powers. Alice claims that Piper and Prue are bad witches to the reporter outside. Some time later, Prue and Piper hear a gunshot, and Piper suddenly bleeds and falls. We then discover that Alice has shot her in the stomach with a rifle and she is captured by the SFPD. Prue has to take her to the hospital, but the crowd holds her back. She has to use her powers to throw people out of her way. Piper finally dies in the hospital emergency room under the care of the doctor they saved earlier.

The Source learns about all of this and informs Cole when he comes to see him. The Source is in trouble too: by exposing themselves, evil is also exposed. Cole, Leo and Phoebe end by finding a risky solution: they have to contact Tempus and have him rewind time. The Source tells them that Tempus is weak now and could die in process. The Source finally accepts, but with one condition: Phoebe will not be affected, but must remain in the underworld for all time.

In the hospital, special forces break in. Prue blocks the door to the operating room where her sister's dead body lies. She's about to be shot the minute later, but just as a bullet is about to strike her, time then rewinds to Shax's initial attack. He manages to throw Prue and Piper through the wall just like before. Unfortunately, with Phoebe and Leo in the Underworld, there is no one there to heal the mortally wounded sisters or stop Shax before he can kill the doctor. His mission successfully completed this time, Shax breaks glass in the door of the manor as he flies out in a whirlwind. Final words spoken on the episode were Shax's "The End".

Book of Shadows

Enemies

• Shax: see Shax.

Spells

• To Vanquish Shax: Evil wind that blows, that which forms below. No longer may you dwell, death takes you with this spell

Trivia

• The title of this episode is a play on words to te phrase All Hell Breaks Loose
• This is Shannen Doherty's 66th and final appearence in the series.
• Piper and Prue each die in this episode.
• Michael Bailey Smith who appeared as Belthazor in the past, starred as both Shax and The Source in this episode.
• This is the first and last time in the series that Prue uses her power on innocents.

International titles

• French : Adieux (Farewell)
• German: Das Ende (The End)
• Italian: Il Segreto Svelato (The Unveiled Secret)
• Spanish: El Infierno Se Desata (Spain). De regreso en el tiempo (Latin America)