I can’t remember if I ever saw this somewhere, but the Seven Year Witch. Imagine if instead of Cole being the one to interact with Piper, it was Andy. Because Cole and Piper really never had that much interaction going on, he was Phoebe’s lover, Paige’s enemy, Prue’s rival, but he and Piper didn’t have any of that really going on with Cole, they didn’t interact that much, the dynamic was basically just like Prue and Paige’s with Cole, just with Piper instead. (Shout-out tho to 3 out of 4 sisters going I fucking hate you to him, at least someone can see red, share some of that with Pheebs please.)
But Andy? Andy was Piper’s childhood friend too, and we were a thousand percent robbed of seeing them interact together. Not only that, but it’d be a great different storyline to give Piper about her lack of mortal friends. Because Andy was one of their childhood friends, for her and for Prue and for Phoebe, and it quite literally got him killed. Because we never see Piper or Phoebe struggle with guilt (it wasn’t their fault, but still, c’mon) or even grief.
And imagine that it’s because Piper buried it. She realized that magic is what got Andy killed and that means that you can’t have friends as a witch. Still, Piper is someone who connects with others emotionally, she doesn’t need a ton of friends but she still needs someone outside of her sisters and husband, so she tries, but she isn’t able to open up for those friendships and the demon hunting throws enough wrenches that they eventually just. fall apart.
And then Andy shows up, reminding Piper of Prue (and her own fear of leaving her sisters like Prue did, especially with the risk of permanently breaking the Charmed Ones) and how she’s refused herself relationships after a friend’s death. (Worth noting that Piper’s endgame is Leo, who is a) introduced before Andy’s death and b) incapable of dying for majority of the show’s run)
Andy basically calls Piper out on it and we actually get to see her work through the issue, along with Andy never necessarily mentioning Prue but the implication of her is throughout the episode. And then at the very end, when Wyatt’s healing her, Andy gives Piper a gentle smile and just tells her, “Don’t come visit too soon.” and as she’s waking up, he tells her something like “Prue’s so proud of you, Piper.”
Instead of the end scene with Cole and Drake, it’s just Andy watching the sisters at like the Manor or somewhere and he says, “They’re going to be fine.”
And Prue appears next to him, just watching her sisters fondly. “I know. I wish I could be there for them though, especially with what’s coming.” (Gotta give some vague foreshadowing here, of course.)
Andy takes her hand and tells her, “You were, and that helped them become who they are now. They have to take it from here though.”
Probably structured differently, but you know what I mean. Then Piper actually goes and makes friends and connect again, which a) gives us more characters and b) more emotional heartbreaking when Death Becomes Them rolls around about five episodes later and we see Piper confronted with the question of if she really can ever have friends and loved ones as a witch. (Which would probably need another episode to deal with, but tell me that would not be fucking brilliant timing to rip out Piper’s heart.)
