by Ryan J. Downey
Plenty of teenage girls would love to discover a bunch of magical powers lying dormant within. But not Cassie on "The Secret Circle." She wants nothing to do with the guys and gals who've explained to her that she's the missing link to their magic carpet ride around the boat town of Chance Harbor, where generations of witches have been up to tricks of the sometimes-lethal variety for years.
The second episode of the series from the producers of "The Vampire Diaries" (based, like that CW show, on young adult novels by L.J. Smith) finds newcomer Cassie still rejecting what everyone was telling her last week was her destiny "written in the stars," including a forbidden romance with Adam. The dude has a girlfriend, yet he and Cassie keep ending up in some electric situations—including some magical moments that involve, you know, light bulbs and actual electricity.
Adam's girlfriend, Diana, is the de facto leader of the small-town circle. This week, she's increasingly concerned about the newfound power they've all been dealing with since Cassie's arrival (as she should be after Faye's chemistry class prank). She wants to "bind" the circle (hence the episode's title which apparently isn't a reference to the 1996 movie), which would essentially limit all of the explosive craziness Faye is hellbent on exploring. You see, the resident bad-girl doesn't see a need for limits, rules or "binding" of any kind.
The episode opens with some half-naked conversation between Melissa and jerky/ lurker/stalker-ish Nick, who are carrying on a secret romance of their own. The eye candy was great, but what was most interesting about "Bound" was the continued unraveling and exploration of the mysteries surrounding Chance Harbor's adults, including Faye's grandfather.
It turns out after somebody died back in the '90s, the last circle was stripped of their powers. Who is capable of doing that? Maybe a group referred to as "the Elders." Faye's mom and the villainous Charles, who killed Cassie's mom last week, are definitely still up to something. It turns out they've been juicing up on magic here and there thanks to a neat little crystal.
Crystals can apparently revive someone from death, or near death at least, which we learn after the increasingly "The Craft"-like Faye nearly kills a non-magical girl (guest star Logan Browning) basically for the crime of befriending Cassie, and Faye's mom has to bring her back into the land of the living.
What's the master plan for the scheming adults? Does it involve shutting down the current circle, turning all of them evil or using them in some other nefarious way? They certainly brought Cassie to town for a reason and did so in a pretty brutal way, what with the whole parent-offing thing. Speaking of Cassie's departed parents, what exactly happened to her father, anyway? And who knows what exactly out of all of the characters we've introduced? Will Cassie get close to Adam only to learn he's been holding back?
Cassie is moving closer and closer to accepting who she truly is (hence agreeing to the binding) and what that all means. But for the immediate future, well, life is still a witch. (Sorry).
What did you think of "Secret Circle"'s second episode? What are the parents up to? When will Adam and Cassie give in to their feelings for one another? Why hasn't Cassie revealed she has a book yet? Sound off in the comments and on Twitter!
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