The Secret Circle 1.18 Review – The Battle Lines Have Been Drawn…

Well, thanks for that crazy cliffhanger, The Secret Circle. Now hurry your ass back on our TV screens, pronto.

Tonight’s episode of The Secret Circle not only set the stage for the last four episodes of the season, but also labeled the enemy Cassie and company must face along the way. Although, I’m still not sure if Eben and the Witch Hunters are the only foes on the battlefield at this time. We also have the Elders, Dawn and Charles, and John Blackwell all having something planned for The Circle and its’ power, but whether if this will all play into the overall endgame for this season is left to be seen. I, for one, believe that the April 19th episode, Crystal, will attempt to tie all of those strings together in a nicely, woven thread, which is why that date can’t get here quick enough. But enough on the future. Let’s focus on tonight’s top events.

The Demons are Back! The Demons are Back!

Tonight saw the return to the scariest and most dangerous evil the Circle has ever faced since The Secret Circle has been on the air. The fact that they were only regulated as pawns to Eben and John only sullied their reputation a bit in my eyes, but here’s hoping that the demons rip Eben to shreds for trying to use them as puppets in his war against the witches. Which brings me to my next point…

Eben The Hypocritical Witch Hunter and His Witch Familiar

For Eben to hate everything that a witch stands for, the man sure loves using their magic and other forms of witchcraft to destroy the very people he despises. Seriously, he takes the concept of “fight fire with fire” to a whole other level, which puts him high up on my ‘Please eradicate this fool from my presence…’ list. However, I really wouldn’t mind knowing who in the hell is helping this man kill their own kind. I know Jake went turncoat for a minute, but I can understand his reasoning. It has to be someone not related to the Circle members current and past, because who would really want to have a hand in killing their own children?

Liar, Liar…

John’s lies are unraveling exponentially faster than any secret on LOST. At that rate, Bad Boy Blackwell will eventually be fully caught bare-assed and Cassie won’t be able to naïvely ignore that her pops is, in some capacity, roguish as hell. With that said, John does exudes some compassion for Cassie and her well-being to the point that you somewhat have to believe that he is in fact trying to protect his daughter, no matter the cost. But is John’s protection of Cassie paternal or materialistic? Now, that’s the question we should be asking ourselves at this stage of the game.

Most notably, John showcased his power tonight to the Circle and it was nothing short than both amazing and frightening. Just imagine how bad he was with Dawn, Charles, and Amelia back in the day, which I hope we get a chance to see sooner than later.

Also, wonder who was the poor soul that John sacrificed to bring the demons to Chance Harbor? Has their name already been mentioned? And why on earth would John want to raise demons 16 years earlier? Could it this be connected with how the previous Circle were able to not only have kids so young, but also at the same time?

Relationships Simply Suck For Our Coven

You can’t have an episode of The Secret Circle without having angst-y drama on the relationship side of things. Tonight, we found out that while Adam still can’t remember where his love for Cassie went, but that he’s mad as hell about it and was a powder keg waiting to be set off. Personally, I’m a card-carrying member of Anti-Cadam (is that what TSC fans are calling them?) and felt that Thomas Dekker delivered his obliviousness towards Cassie way better than he did actually loving her. Just saying. Nonetheless, I’m sure the two love birds will find themselves in each other’s arms soon enough before the end of the season. I just wish Jake would make a harder play for Cassie in the process.

Now to the other relationship point of the night involving Diana and her new seemingly safe friend Grant, which sort of bored me to tears because he was so clean. Initially when the episode opened, I had pegged Grant as a Witch Hunter, because of the exact timing of the Witch Hunters’ return and him waltzing back in town from ‘his boat.’ Remember, the Witch Hunters have boats as well and I was just sure that the jig would be up for Grant and Diana would have been a damsel in distress by episode’s end. However, that wasn’t the case, but Grant was harboring a secret that upset Diana royally. Turns out that Grant is actually (drumroll folks)… a deck hand. Yay! Right? Wrong.

Diana’s reaction was met with a blank stare from me, because even though he did lie about who he was, his lie didn’t put her life in danger. He could have been another person after the Circle, a Witch Hunter spy, a demon, anything, but instead he was an average joe looking for love. I can understand disappointment, but Diana, in my opinion, took it a tad bit overboard, especially since she herself has yet to tell him about her witchy ways. In short, I was a tad bit let down by that particular story arc tonight, but since I love Diana tremendously, she gets a pass. Plus, let’s face it: after the hellish year she’s had so far, she pretty much needs it.

Time to Take a Stand, Coven!

John Blackwell’s speech to the Circle at the end of the episode had me wondering if Buffy Summers herself was the speechwriter or not. The monologue itself was not only a plan of attack for the Circle, but it also felt like a pep talk for the audience, as well. The one thing that stuck out in Blackwell’s ‘call to arms’ was the lesson on the crystals we’ve seen Dawn, Charles, Ethan, and the Elders wielding most of the season. We now know that the crystals used to part of a whole crystal, which makes me think if connected together will the crystals for the infamous crystal skull from the book series. Also, I hope this revelation will introduce us to Melissa’s folks now. We’ve met everyone else’s parents (sans Nick and Jake’s for obvious reasons) and I think it’s time to include Melissa’s parents into the mix.

And not to get ahead of myself, but I really think Melissa is Cassie’s sister and not Faye, which the trailer for the next episode has led folks to believe. I’ve always thought that Melissa was Cassie’s sister from gate, but the theory seems to have just caught fire as of late, making me glad that I’m not the only subscriber to that idea. Just putting that out there.

Other Honorable Mentions

– Have I not praised how much I’m loving the new Melissa? The writers seem to have found her voice and are using it in the most prodigious fashion. She’s now not only a true member of the Circle, but she’s one of the girls as well. No more putting Melissa in a corner or shipping her off to God knows where for the week. Thank you, writers, for listening to the fans and giving Melissa a purpose finally.

– Diana’s line about agreeing with Faye on Cassie being a drama queen said so much and gave a nice glimpse of how Diana really feels about Cassie. The former leader’s patience is growing slightly thin, so Cassie might want tread easily with Diana in the future.

– As I stated before, the demons are the creepiest aspect of The Secret Circle so far. Anyone who is possessed by one gives off a pretty convincing performance. Although, I couldn’t help wonder if the guy who portrayed Samuel was an extra on The Walking Dead, because he gave full zombie performance tonight as he staggered towards the Circle. Sent chills down my spine, I tell ya.

– The entire subplot with Adam, Melissa, and Faye was very well-played, written, and executed. More of that, please, Secret Circle writers? Please and thank you.

So that’s it for now! Remember, though, that The Secret Circle won’t be back until April 19th with the last four episodes of the season. Any idea on how things will end this year for our Circle?

PHOTOS: The CW/Michael Courtney