For being a show about a group of sexy witches, The Secret Circle sure is deathly serious. They may let Faye out of her cage once and a while to bring a little snark to the proceedings, but other than that, The Secret Circle has turned its nose up at levity and light. It may help the horror movie-ish scenes retain a little oomph, but in turn, it can often make an episode feel a little lifeless and stuffy. In “Valentine”, though, there was a little weight lifted off of the show and it responded very well, as this was the first time (maybe ever) that The Secret Circle was allowed to breathe.
The show got in a double-whammy, in that the humor came from a girl’s night slumber party that allowed Faye, Diana, and Melissa to bounce off one another. It was nice to not only be reminded of why these people became friends in the first place, but separate the group into its two most agreeable chunks. Without Jake, Adam, and Cassie, the complicated threesome got into a little bit of trouble, with Melissa’s new Devil’s Spirit habit popping up again, only this time bringing Diana into the fold. Usually, a show resorting to so-and-so-under-the-influence humor falls flat with me, but I was so glad to be able to laugh and enjoy myself during an episode of The Secret Circle that it didn’t bother me in the least. (Diana, especially, benefited from finally letting go and not worry about Adam for once.) The magical equivalent of cocaine was used almost like a “social lubricant”, bringing out issues the three girls had amongst themselves in terms of territory and their past blow-ups, which gave it a purpose beyond “LOL THEY’RE HIGH”. You got a little window into the circle before The Secret Circle, including the Diana-turning-her-back-on-Melissa drama from a few weeks ago, and another reminder that behind her perfect hair and withering putdowns, Faye loves/is protective of Melissa.
For me to be able to care about the fate of the circle (and, by extension, The Secret Circle), the show needed/needs to continue to mine the relationships these people have together and show the type of bonds they have. A night like the slumber party may seem light/unimportant, but it’s a necessary bit of world building that can add tension to the show’s more dark moments. If, say, Melissa was in danger, you’d want to be like “I bet Faye’s a wreck. I hope she’s okay or Diana will be crushed.”, not shrugging your shoulders and going to make some popcorn, you know?
The members of the circle may be descended from a long line of powerful witches, but they’re so much more than that and giving the characters extra shading can never be wrong. Which is why I enjoyed Adam so much in “Valentine”, as Thomas Dekker finally got to do something more than brood, whisper-growl, and disapprove of something Cassie did. Of course, there had to be the requisite lovey dovey scenes, including a cringe-y final moment on the boat that had crying and talk of Cassie’s amazingness (no, really), but Adam got to expand a little bit tonight. Aside from a brief moment where he made fun of Cassie to himself, that came in the form of his possession by an army of pissed off Nidaros witches. Having been killed by John Blackwell, they were coming for the medallion, as Cassie had reactivated it at the end of last week’s episode; Dekker got to be menacing and intense, a lumbering departure for the typical wet blanket and proof that he can do much more than they’re letting him at the moment. I only wish the final confrontation could have went longer before he changed back, as Adam’s only seeming to exist for the love triangle these days. He has no real platonic connection to any member of the circle and his only interactions with his dad are more of the child-parenting-the-parent variety, so the little bit of range we got tonight was incredibly refreshing.
Thankfully, the love triangle seems to be winding down the angst, considering the fact that Jake and Faye are (deliciously) hooking up and Adam and Cassie seem to be (kind of) on the same page. There was little time for booty touching in “Valentine”, though, considering the hooded spirits that were gunning for Cassie and all. I liked that it allowed another look at Blackwell and really shook Cassie away from this idealized version of a father she had in her head, but man, is the girl dumb. I don’t know if it’s because I’m not a teenage girl or I’m not a witch (…or am I?), but the entire episode was frustrating in terms of Cassie’s naivete. I don’t expect her to go from scared, confused young girl to Buffy the Nidaro Slayer overnight or anything; I just wish that our heroine, the character we spend the most time with, was easy to root for. I want her to find out about her lineage, but running after faceless hooded beings, including going off by yourself to an abandoned church, felt less like innocence and more like stupidity. I could buy that she’s so desperate to find answers about her father that she got blinded by that, though common sense has to come into play some time or another. Chasing after something potentially lethal by yourself in the (dark but really beautiful) woods when you have no idea what it is or how to control your power is silly and it’s a miracle nothing happened to her.
Props to you, Cassie, for thinking to destroy the medallion.
Now get it together.
Though I had to pull out a side-eye or two, “Valentine” would go in my top 2-3 episodes of The Secret Circle list. It had a lot of humor, explored the dynamics between the members of the circle, and offered up a few answers/moments of character backstory, stamped by a cliffhanger ending that hints that the show may soon be taking it to the next level. With the new visitor in town arriving at a time where Faye’s power is unknowingly being drained (by Lee’s “power totem”), the circle should find itself pushed to the limits in the coming weeks, a prospect I’m both intrigued and disturbed by. Cassie may be a bad witch, but one cannonball can’t bring down an entire town, especially if the only other weapon you have are stones. The circle’s fragmentation has resulted in a lot less group magic, thereby making the fact that they’re bound a lot less pivotal than I expected earlier in the season. Had they been practicing and learning more about their capabilities, I’d think that the members of The Secret Circle could take down any man or beast that dare enter Chance Harbor, but it looks like they’ll have to wing it in order to keep their circle (and one another) alive until this next storm passes.
Thoughts, Quotes, & Observations:
-“I wear slinky lingerie because I like feeling slinky.”
-“There’s extra sparkle in your attitude today.”
-“Me and that creepy doll are gonna change your life.”
-“Okay. Ahem. Circle up.”
-“You’re the most sacred witch in all the land.”
-“You’re not a hot pizza guy.”
-I went on about Cassie being dumb, but at least she didn’t give the medallion to Isaac, who would have turned on them in a second. Part of that, to me, played into her distrust of Jake.
-For those curious, Nidaros was the name of a town in Norway during the Middle Ages. Look at The Secret Circle bringing in some history.
-The hooded guys were suitably creepy, especially when you didn’t think they were there and the camera would pan over/out to show them. Nice direction, show.
-Cassie’s little freak out at the church made me think of this scene from I Know What You Did Last Summer.
-Your regular reviewer, Mark O. Estes, is being chased in the woods of Chance Harbor by dead witch ghosts. After I go save him, he should be back in action.
-Next week on The Secret Circle: Somebody evil (nudge nudge) shows up on Cassie’s doorstep, Eben and the other witch hunters make their return, and Melissa spends more time with Callum.
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