by Ryan Downey
As the resident bad boy over on "The Vampire Diaries" gets nicer, the heroine of "The Secret Circle" turns on the dark!
Last night was a CW-supernatural-soap-watchers' dream as both "The Vampire Diaries" and "The Secret Circle," which share executive producers, returned with juicy mid-season premieres that set Twitter accounts ablaze. Plenty of little kids these days get "half birthdays," and us avid televised-drama fans get "mid-season finales" and "mid-season premieres," and we certainly aren't complaining.
"Secret Circle" came back with guns (spells?) blazing, perhaps invigorated by the official full season pickup order from the network, alongside the addition of Jake (Chris Zylka) as an official series regular. The crafty teen witch tale (based on a series of books by the same author as "TVD") got almost all of the talky exposition out of the way with the first few slow-boiling episodes and is now in full blown, rapidly expanding mythology mode. Last night's excellent episode, "Darkness," introduced another elder, another witch hunter, an expanded storyline for favorite frenemy Faye and a step toward the dark side for Cassie worthy of Anakin Skywalker himself.
Cassie casts a spell that strangles her once and future crush Adam like Darth Vader force choking that back talking empire guy in "A New Hope." And that's only the beginning of the depths of her dark mojo in the appropriately titled mid-season premiere. We're assuming she still has the hots for witch-turned-witch-hunter Jake, but she violently kills him—in a dream, anyway—this episode.
Chance Harbor is a town full of magic, not the least of which seems to be the ability to produce so many powerful grandmothers. With Cassie's own grandmother still a bit woozy and de-clawed, newcomer Kate steps in to fill the powerful matriarch role. Grandmother to Diana and mother to guilt-ridden villain Charles, her arrival on the scene complicates the faux relationship between her son and Faye's mother, Dawn. Did we mention the part where she tries to bury Cassie alive in the woods yet? No? We're getting there.
Before the attempted murder, there is a nice dinner. Cassie comes by Diana's house for a friendly sleepover and has a nice chat with Kate, who has made it clear to her son Charles and his supposed girlfriend Dawn that she isn't buying their "romance" for a second.
In the mid-season finale, "Balcoin," we learned about the dark power that runs in Cassie's family. (Hollywood Crush is still of the opinion that her supposedly deceased father will turn up alive at some point.) With Jake seemingly gone from everywhere but her dreams, Cassie turns to her first crush Adam to confide the truth about herself. But it's hard to keep a lid on that sort of news, especially in such a tight circle (ahem) of people, let alone a coven of witches. While at the Secret Circle Clubhouse doing some internet research on evil, Adam sheepishly tells Diana about Cassie's secret. Cassie arrives and angrily (kind of accidentally) chokes Adam almost to death.
The members of the Circle react to Cassie's dark linage in different ways. Diana and Adam want to help her deal with it somehow, but it drives frenemy Faye even further away. Cassie's non-Circle dependent power is exactly the type of thing Faye wants for herself. After all, Faye is the bad attitude bad girl. Cassie is still the blond newcomer who seemed like a goody two shoes. Why should she get to have the super powerful dark side? Of course we should all remember the ominous words of the witch hunter in November: "Cassie Blake is not the only child of Blackwell in the Circle." Could Faye be Cassie's sister? Is the Secret Sibling in the Circle? And when will Jake spill this bombshell to Cassie? We don't get any answer to these questions in "Darkness," but there's plenty of fun instead.
Melissa is still distraught over the death of her sort-of boyfriend Nick, who viewers know was drown by Charles after being possessed by a serpent demon, in a bit of stellar storytelling which established early that "The Secret Circle" ain't afraid to kill a major cast member. Melissa's despondency makes her the perfect pawn for Faye, who is looking for a partner in crime to break away from the Circle to do some magic of a more independent style. Dime store voodoo man Lee, better known to "Friday Night Lights" fans as Hastings, pretends to have the skills to give 'em some extra juice but turns out to be a con man whose strongest power is maybe his ability to smolder. Which explains why the "ritual" he performs to give Faye a bunch of power involves a lot of inappropriate touching. She's angry when she figures out his ruse, but he promises to call upon some actual magic and do right by her the next time.
Remember when we said this episode introduced a new elder and witch hunter? Did we neglect to mention they were one in the same? Diana unwittingly brings Cassie right into a trap, thinking her grandmother has good intentions for her friend late at night in the woods. Wrong! Her plan instead involves the whole burying-her-alive thing, which was naturally totally uncool. Kate seems to think Cassie won't be able to keep her dark side in check and will turn evil like her father. So her solution is, well, evil, apparently.
How do you get yourself out of a casket that's been magically buried? When you're filled with dark magic, you just sort of will yourself out of it and watch what happens. And what happens is pretty dang awesome, as Almost-Evil Cassie shoots herself back to safety.
We expect Cassie to feel all remorseful after being "forced" to go dark to save herself. But deliciously, that isn't the case at all. "I liked it," she says, almost beaming. "The feeling of power. I know that isn't right. But it felt really good."
Will Cassie turn fully to the dark side? Probably not, but if "Darkness" is any indication, it sure will be fun watching her flirt with it. Kate tells Charles not only that she knows about his involvement in Jake's death and other scheming, but that Cassie may be "the one," Skywalker style, who can balance the scales between good and evil. Meanwhile, Jake is back (in a non-dream state) and brooding in Cassie's backyard. For a new series regular, he deserves some more screen time. And we suspect he'll be getting it.
"Just how powerful are you?" Diana asks Cassie just before the episode finishes. We're wondering the same thing!
What did you think of the return episode of "Secret Circle"? Is Cassie going to go full dark? Do you think a romance could brew between Faye and voodoo guy? Ready for more Jake? Sound off in the comments and on Twitter!
** Hollywood Crush Twitter