Charmed/Dead Man Dating

Dead Man Dating
Season 1, Episode 4
Airdate	October 28, 1998
Production Number	4398005
Written by	Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Directed by	Richard Compton
Stream
← 1x03 Thank You for Not Morphing	1x05 → Dream Sorcerer
Charmed — Season One

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Dead Man Dating is the fourth episode of the first season of Charmed.

Starring: Shannen Doherty (Prue Halliwell), Holly Marie Combs (Piper Halliwell), T.W. King (Inspector Andy Trudeau)

and Alyssa Milano (Phoebe Halliwell)

Guest Starring: John Cho (Mark Chao), Patricia Harty (Mrs. Correy), Elizabeth Sung (Mrs. Chao), William Francis McGuire (Nick Correy), Joe Hoe (Tony Wong), Todd Newton (Yama)

Co-Starring: Sherrie Rose (Susan Trudeau), Randelle Grenachia (Frankie)

Plot Overview

The ghost of a Chinese-American man, Mark, asks for help, sidelining Piper's dilema of whether or not to throw Prue a surprise birthday party. Tony Wong, the head of a Chinatown triad, killed Mark. To fake his own death, Wong then put his ring on Mark's finger and burned the body. Mark isn't sure how or why he died, and he tells Piper that if he isn't properly buried soon, Chinese legend says Yama, the Gatekeeper of Hell, will take his soul. But no one can make arrangements because neither his mother nor the police know he's dead. Piper and Mark visit the scene of the murder and run into Yama who is ready to collect another soul. Piper freezes him so that she and Mark can escape and bring the killer to justice.

Piper and Mark see Mark's death reported on television, but the victim is identified as Tony Wong. They now know who they're after, and Phoebe gets a premonition about Wong's whereabouts. Piper and Mark seek him out, and she photographs Wong with the newspaper headline about his death. She then leaves the picture for Andy. Wong kidnaps Piper, but is killed when the police follow up on the anonymous tip. Yama captures Wong's soul, but Piper intercedes with the Gatekeeper on Mark's behalf. Mark is finally identified and buried, and escorted to the beyond by his deceased father. Before he leaves, Mark convinces Prue to embrace every birthday, because nobody ever knows how many they have left. Piper mourns Mark and what might have been if they had met before he became a ghost, but takes his advice to heart, when she goes ahead with Prue's surprise birthday party.

In the meantime, to make money for a proper birthday present for Prue, Phoebe gets a job as a hotel psychic. She gets a real premonition, but may not be able to save the victim of a future accident because he thinks she's a crazy stalker. Determined not to lose her innocent, Phoebe intervenes anyway and saves the man from death by the pink Cadillac she saw in her premonition. Her efforts make her more appreciative of the Charmed Ones' duty to protect the innocent.