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Brain Drain is the 7th episode of the fourth season and the 73rd overall episode of Charmed.

Summary[]

For a complete plot of Brain Drain, go here.
To read the full script of Brain Drain, go here.

When The Source taps into Piper's brain and alters her perception of reality, Phoebe and Paige work quickly before she gives up all of their powers.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Stars[]

Featuring[]

Magical Notes[]

Spells[]

To Vanquish a Chameleon Demon[]

Evil hiding in plain sight,
I use this spell with all my might,
to stop you changing form and shape,
this vanquish seals your fate.

Mind Link[]

Harness your mental energy
by reciting this spell whithin
a circle of candles
Life to Life
And Mind to Mind
Our Spirits now
will intertwine.
We meld our Souls
and journey to
the one whose thoughts
we wish we knew.

To Break a Mind Link[]

Recite this spell
Life from Life
and Mind from Mind
Our spirits now
will disentwine.
We part our souls
and journey home
to let our thoughts
be on their own.

To Relinquish Our Powers[]

From whence they came,
return them now;
vanish the words,
vanish our powers.

Powers[]

  • Shimmering: Type of teleportation used by Cole and Alastair.
  • Molecular Immobilization: Used by Piper to freeze the living room. She also tried to freeze the Source.
  • Molecular Combustion: Used by Piper to blow up Paige's chair and the Grandfather Clock. In Phoebe's premonition, The Source used it to blow up Phoebe and Paige.
  • Transmogrification: Used by Alastair to turn into a lamp.
  • Telekinesis: Used by Alastair to fling Phoebe and Piper.
  • Energy Ball: Used by Cole to attack Alastair, to attack The Source, and to vanquish a Bounty Hunter and The Source's Oracle. Used by the Source to attack Piper.
  • Regeneration: Used by Alastair to heal himself after Cole's energy ball hit him.
  • Flaming: Type of Teleportation used by the Source.
  • Shapeshifting: Used by the Source to shapeshift into Alastair.
  • Incineration: Used by the Source to vanquish Alastair.
  • Divination: Used by the Oracle to show The Source which one of the sisters was the most vulnerable.
  • Invisibility:Used by the Source shapeshifted into Alastair. He used this to follow and spy on Piper.
  • Molecular Adjustment: Used by the Source to adjust to Piper's freezing power.
  • Mind Manipulation: Used by The Source to create an alternate world in Piper's mind.
  • Premonition: Phoebe got a premonition in which she saw Paige and herself getting killed by the Source.
  • Telekinetic Orbing: In Phoebe's premonition, the Source used this power to orb the Book of Shadows to him.
  • Orbing: Type of Teleportation used by Leo and Paige.
  • Electrokinesis: Used by Bounty Hunters to attack Cole and Leo. Leo dodged the bolt, causing one hunter to vanquish his partner.
  • Healing: Used by Leo to heal Piper and Phoebe.

Artifacts[]

Notes and Trivia[]

  • The Source's 'dream world' almost mimics the real world, for example:
    • Paige says, "Got milk? Oooh don't think so." Earlier in the episode, Paige forgot to buy milk.
    • When Phoebe comes to help Piper out, she's eating a cookie, and says to Piper "Not your best." Again earlier in the episode, she was making cookies, and they obviously weren't her best.
    • Afterwards, while Piper is yelling at Phoebe to release her from the strapped bed, Phoebe says "stop obsessing". Earlier in the episode, Phoebe tells Piper that she told her to warn her when she began to obsess over something.
  • The Halliwell Hospital is the manor, devoid of antiques and collectibles, and is painted in aqua and beige, traditional colors for mental institutions. The stain glass windows, the wood stained door frames and moldings, however, have been left the way they were, because it would take too much time for the set crew to restore them back to the original for the next episode.
NormalAgain242

Similar Storyline, Different Shows

  • A season 6 episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", Normal Again, has a very similar plot where Buffy finds herself in a mental hospital, wondering which reality is real. As stated in an issue of Charmed Magazine, the reason for this is because the episode writer offered similar scripts to both shows, with Charmed using the idea first.
    • The "Smallville" episode "Labyrinth" also features a similar plot.
    • The "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Frame of Mind" also features a similar plot before Charmed.
  • In this episode, Cole created the biggest energy ball seen in the series.
  • The Source wanted Piper to cast the To Relinquish Our Powers spell. The sisters destroyed the page with this spell in "Wicca Envy" after Rex Buckland manipulated them into using it.
  • This is the last episode of Ben Guillory as the Source of All Evil. He will be replaced by Peter Woodward in "Charmed and Dangerous" and "Desperate Housewitches".
  • This is the second time Piper has been put into a coma. The first time was in "Awakened".
  • This episode scored 4.8 million viewers and is the third-highest ranked Charmed episode on TV.com after "All Hell Breaks Loose" and "Charmed and Dangerous".
  • Phoebe mentions Piper's “beautiful little girlthey saw in the future. However, Phoebe never saw her or met her, as she was in jail the entire time; only Piper and Prue (albeit on a photograph) did.
  • Leo shows he can project himself into Piper's mind, reversing the Source's influence on his wife. He never displays this ability again.
  • Phoebe does not use her Levitation power and Paige does not use her Telekinetic Orbing power.

Cultural References[]

  • The title is a reference to the "brain drain", the phenomenon of talented and educated people from one country going to another country for better conditions.
  • Paige says, "What do you say we click our heels and get out of this crazy joint?", a reference to the 1939 film, "The Wizard of Oz".
  • Phoebe shakes the nearly empty milk carton at Piper and says "got milk?", a reference to the famous advertising campaign. Phoebe also made a reference to this slogan in "The Fourth Sister".
  • At the end Cole says to Phoebe "Ms. Halliwell are you trying to seduce me?", a reference to the famous phrase in "The Graduate" by Dustin Hoffman.

Continuity Errors[]

  • When Piper was hit by car she is bleeding on the right side of her mouth, but when we see her with the Source, she is bleeding on the left side.
  • In Wicca Envy, the spell had to be chanted separately by every sister to be effective. Here, the Source tried to trick Piper into chanting it three times, but it had no effect, even if Piper still chanted it twice successfully. Also, the Source had no lantern or any other mean to contain their powers.

Gallery[]

Episode Stills[]

Quotes[]

Paige: What the hell happened?
Piper: The freakin' furniture just attacked!

Piper: I'm gonna be so happy when I vanquish your sorry ass.

Piper: Of course that would mean we should stop going after all of his demons, which would be fine by me. It would stop all the constant attacks.
Paige: Am I the only one who think she's bumped her head?

Paige: Got milk? Oooh, don't think so.

Piper: LEO! LEOO!
Paige: Would you stop with the "Leo Leo" you're driving me crazier than I already am.

Paige: Hurry up Looney Tunes. Get me outta here!

Piper: Where's Phoebe?
Paige: Who cares?

Phoebe: Sorry. I had to grab my broom.
Piper: For what?
Phoebe: Well, for flying, silly.

International Titles[]

  • French: Le point faible (The Weak Point)
  • Czech: Vymývání mozku (Brain Drain)
  • Slovak: Vymývanie mozgu (Brain Drain)
  • Russian: Игры разума [Igry razuma] (A Beautiful Mind)
  • Spanish (Spain and Latin America): Lavado de cerebro (Brain Drain)
  • Italian: Una Vita Normale (A Normal Life)
  • Serbian: Моžдано Mртав (Brain Dead)
  • German: Hirngespinste (Phantasms)
  • Hungarian: Agymosás (Brain Drain)
  • Finnish: Aivovuoto (Brain Drain)
Previous Episode:
A Knight to Remember
Next Episode:
Black as Cole
Episodes: Season 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8
Comics: 9 - 10
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