This week’s episode of The Secret Circle, “Heather,” drops all the non-essential characters (except for Melissa and Nick of course) for a story revolving around Heather, a friend of Cassie’s mother, Amelia. 16 years ago she was somehow involved in the mysterious “accident” that our six continue to search for answers about, getting a few steps closer as more details are revealed.
Campy Horror
This Tuesday Scream 4 was released on DVD and Blu-ray, just in time for this week’s episode of The Secret Circle. The Scream series has always been known for a serial killer chasing down characters often in a household setting (including the classic Drew Barrymore scene that started it all), and The Secret Circle takes some notes from this film to learn how to better integrate horror into their episodes. Ok, Cassie and Faye getting attacked in Cassie’s home wasn’t actually that scary, but it was one of the most intense moments in the show so far, passing last week’s potential high school attack by leaps and bounds.
Plus, demonic possession never hurts. Sure, there is no way that Faye did not hear Heather throwing herself around downstairs or tossing Cassie into the refrigerator, and the wire work used to help Heather jump the railing of the stairs looks a little silly, but there is no question that it is creepy. Especially when you throw in chasing a girl to a window in which her last hope is trying to get someone’s attention through it, a disappearing act, and a power outage.
The Ultimate Combo
I think it is safe to say that Cassie isn’t exactly the strong character one would hope for in a protagonist. Maybe it’s the soft voice, the longing glances shared with Adam, or the dominant nature of Diana (who continues to exert her “leader” status in the group in passive aggressive ways, making Adam look pretty weak as man as well), but she has a lot of character to grow into. And as “bad” as Faye is, it is clear that she might be the only one that can help Cassie grow into something more.
In this episode Cassie and Faye become frenemies because each wants something from the other (Cassie needs help freeing Heather, and Faye wants to gander at Cassie’s Book of Shadows). Obviously after the poo hits the fan and Heather ends up being possessed, it is clear that not everything that comes out of this relationship will be a good thing, but the scenes of them together are the most fun of the show as they deal with the horror film scene they find themselves in with a demon, and as they sneak around like a pair of crime solving teen girls in the books my sister used to read (my book collection was more of animal books and Goosebumps, so excuse me for not knowing if The Babysitter’s Club applies here or not), especially because of what Faye brings out in other characters.
The Left Hand of Evil
To nut shell the history of witches, they were always feared because they were believed to be in league with the devil. Though this might not be the case here, Heather states that, “Wherever there are witches, evil follows.”
Which begs the question of why Diana’s book has so much information about this dark magic in which things like snakes are used as vessels of evil and forced into the bodies of individuals (like with what happened to Heather). There are obviously some bad witches out there (i.e. Faye’s mother and Diana’s father), but has black magic been passed down their family lines? Or is it only in the books as notes about this evil magic, and not actually for the use of the reader?
Why this distinction matters is that it continues to play into what Heather says to Cassie. As Cassie pries for more information about the accident, Heather is able to fill in some of the details during a lucid period, including the fact that Cassie’s mother tried to leave the night of the fire in order to protect Cassie (implying that she knew some major bad stuff was going down), but she was unable to because she had to protect Heather before she was possessed. Heather also uses the pronoun “us” when she says this though, implying that other people were there as well (though it may just be the other members of Amelia’s circle). Who called forth the demon, why they did this (or if it was even intentional), or if it just happens naturally as more and more magic is used is still up for debate.
The Demons
During the same conversation in which the quote from Heather above was taken, she continues by saying: “They’d been summoned. They were trying to use your mother's power, her and her friends.” The spacing and wording of this last sentence is a little questionable, so it is unclear as to if “her” refers to Amelia, as in the demons were summoned to use Amelia and the rest of her circle’s power, or if “her” refers to another individual who summoned the demons in order to get to Amelia’s power. Which is again why it is important to know if Faye’s mother was evil back then, or if this is a new quality she has been trying on as of late.
Until this question is answered, or until answers are revealed next week, some other questions surrounding the demon remain, including: Does this demon have an ultimate goal? Is it being controlled by someone else? Or if this is not the case, is it simply a fan of mischievous evil doing? And last but not least, is there more than one?
Melissa and Nick
After weeks of wishing that they would slowly fade away into one of those TV magical moments in which story lines that don’t work are slowly written out, there is finally a reason to have Melissa and Nick in the show. More importantly, there is finally an excuse for all of their “sex” scenes (which is again, how we first find them in yet another episode). Location wise, it puts them right next to Cassie’s house, which works in Faye’s favor when she is being stalked down by a demon.
But more importantly than this need for proximity, the number one reason to finally be excited for these characters (well, at least Melissa anyway) is that Melissa is going to get her moment to shine next week. When the demon climbed up Nicks jacket following Heather’s death (which was an amazingly done stunt and/or CGI work of the actress getting hit by a car), all signs pointed to it choosing him as a host. But instead, it takes the path of the curve ball and slithers into Melissa’s ear instead. Though I would have much rather had the demonic possession happen to Diana, it will still be fun to see how it affects Melissa’s personality. Will it simply do what it did to Heather as she jumped in and out of awareness? Will it give her an attitude towards the other characters, finally getting her character to stand up to Faye and Nick? Who knows, she may just simply throw people through walls and jump staircases as Heather did tonight. We’ll have to wait and see.
Final Thoughts
On the whole, The Secret Circle is still looking for some excitement, and the trailer for next week, which plays out to some True Blood style music, just might be the shot of adrenaline we need as the circle deals with Melissa’s possession. Chances are there will be a happy ending for the circle, but I hope that the demon decides to do more than just look through a furrowed brow as it attacks the others. Chances are it won’t speak and reveal more secrets to unlock the mysteries of the past, but a girl can dream.
So what did you guys think of tonight’s episode? Excited for next week? Leave your thoughts down below, and remember that if you have some insights that others may not have due to having read the book, please mark your comments as containing spoilers. Thanks!
