by Ryan J. Downey
Jake has returned to "The Secret Circle" in a major way and more importantly set the stage for the return of a major player we haven't even seen: Cassie's father! Last night's episode, "Witness," ended with Cassie and Jake's discovery that her father isn't in his casket. As Hollywood Crush (and reader's of L.J. Smith's books) has long suspected, John Blackwell is in fact alive and kicking somewhere.
The big boat fire from 16 years ago that we've been hearing about since the teen witch series began finally had a bit of a big reveal, as well. It turns out that the fire wasn't set by the Circle's predecessors at all, but rather, witch hunters! Jake was instrumental in Cassie uncovering these revelations (and was with her when she discovered the animal bones buried in Blackwell's phony grave) in a magical way.
Last week's episode ended with Jake descending the basement stairs at the Secret Circle Clubhouse just as Cassie and Adam had finally started to make out. Chris Zylka was added as a series regular a while back, so it's about time he started showing up in more scenes!
This week picked up immediately from there. "What the hell are you doing here?" demands Adam. "Keeping an eye on Cassie," Jake retorts. Cassie quickly realizes it must've been Jake who rescued her and Melissa from the school fire. Adam isn't impressed.
"So you're an avenging angel now. Don't you usually stay hidden in the shadows?" he asks, none too subtly.
"Don't you usually have a different girlfriend?" Jake shoots back.
Jake has come back to Chance Harbor to warn Cassie about the witch hunters who are still after her. He's not happy about seeing her kissing Adam (and Adam makes it clear that he's not happy he's back in town), but Jake has more important matters on his mind. He says the council of witch hunters has a ritual that involves dark magic that they are planning to use to kill Cassie, as her Balcoin bloodline makes her too powerful to take out the conventional way. The last time they used this ritual was to (try) to wipe out John Blackwell. Adam tells Jake to stay away from Cassie. But for some reason, she trusts him. She later tracks him down to get some more information.
Jake tells Cassie that he actually witnessed (hence the episode's title!) the big fire 16 years ago as a kid. The two of them take a mystical journey to the past at the shipyard scene of the crime. Jake has trouble staying there but Cassie sticks around long enough to see plenty.
Jake's parents are there; Adam's dad (who has claimed he wasn't around for the fire) shows up, as well, along with a guy named Evan (who in the present day is on the council); he murders Jake's dad. The witch hunters are next trying to kill Blackwell when someone named Lucy somehow sees future Cassie's astral projection and tries to kick her out of the past by nearly suffocating her with magic. Adam and Diana (who are really working hard to try to stay friends in the aftermath of their breakup) discover Jake and Cassie at the Secret Circle Clubhouse (a.k.a. Blackwell's old hangout) and are shocked to discover a catatonic Cassie writhing in pain. Jake makes his way back into the past to try and save her. He arrives just in time for the pair of them to watch Blackwell cast a spell that destroys all of the witch hunters.
Chance Harbor's adults had plenty to do this week in the present, as well. Adam's dad must be just as much of a sucker for a pretty girl as his son, because he's easily manipulated against Charles by Dawn, who is all kinds of irritated that she can't work Charles like a puppet anymore. Dawn is able to convince Ethan to go after Charles' magic crystal. Remember when Charles was bullying Ethan toward the beginning of this series? Well, turnabout is fair play. Ethan ends up with the crystal and decides he'd rather keep it for himself than turn it over to Faye's mom Dawn.
Speaking of Faye, she's still hanging out with her new friend Lee this week, eager to break away from the goody-two shoes in her Circle. A guy named Callum drops by Lee's garage to buy some "Devil's Spirit." He and Lee seem to be frenemies. Devil's Spirit is some sort of magical drug, strong enough to have done some damage to Lee's ex-girlfriend, Eva. Faye just can't seem to keep away from bad dudes: before we know it, she's all mixed up with this Callum character and hoping to get some of that Devil's Spirit in her system, too. He hands her some and as he walks away, says, "Call me if you develop any more needs." She tells him "don't hold your breath." But she seems all too happy to have her hands on the stuff. Could Devil's Spirit really be the key to doing more solo magic that she's looking for?
Cassie finds her father's old necklace in the present-day shipyard and after having a conversation about their non-love life (why must these characters always so earnestly declare they can't be together?), she confesses her new theory to Jake: She thinks her dad is alive. This is how they end up grave digging at the Chance Harbor cemetery. Unless John Blackwell was part werewolf (this ain't "The Vampire Diaries," after all), the dead dog skeleton in the casket definitely isn't him. Since news broke of the casting of Joe Lando ("Melrose Place"), we know Cassie's theory to be 100 percent correct. Blackwell is most definitely alive. And we'll see more of him soon!
What did you think of last night's "Secret Circle"? How will Cassie's dad return to Chance Harbor? Is Faye headed down a dangerous, drug-addled road? Leave your thoughts and theories in the comments or tweet us!
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