With one episode left before the midseason finale of The Secret Circle, the group (minus Melissa) finds itself dealing with a jealous Faye while stuck at her grandfather’s house. Sexual tension hangs like a fog inside the house, and unfortunately this causes the other important storylines to lose focus as the slow progression towards mysteries being answered moves forward by a fraction of an inch.
Charles in Charge
No matter how much psychological analysis was put into my reasoning for why the emotional wreck of a man that killed Nick would not even consider going near a dead body anytime soon, turns out the shoes at the end of the previous episode actually did belong to Charles, not Blackwell (If you could see my face right now you would know what true disappointment looks like). And now that Charles is in possession of a crystal once more he seems to be back to his good old self; as in the “I’m gonna whistle while watching Cassie’s mother die in a fire” Charles, not the “I’m gonna look like a wounded puppy whenever Dawn talks down to me” Charles. So much for his decency… For starters, he finally stands up to Dawn as she continues to try and exude power over him, and then he practically spits on Grandma Blake now that he has some power back. Granted she was also sleeping so he gets docked a few points for that.
However, the threat of controlling Gma Blake remains. For now it just seems that Charles and Dawn wanted to erase her thoughts of what she came across the night before, but then when Charles is talking at Gma Blake he makes it sound as if she will be his puppet. He probably has plans for her in the episodes to come, but it can only last so long considering Cassie picks up on something not adding up at the end of the episode when Gma Blake said that she never was inside Henry’s house even though Cassie found her scarf in there (granted based on how well Cassie retained her suspicion of Jake from last week’s episode, she will probably forget all about this as well). Like Jake, I still believe that Charles will find his way back from the dark side before all is said and done, but I have to admit that it is nice having this side of Charles rearing its ugly head again.
Melissa Who?
Don’t worry, for those in the viewing audience keeping track of the circle members, Melissa did not get knocked off during the off-air days last week, but it felt like some lazy story writing that led to the idea that Melissa’s mother took her out of town. It is possible that writing this many characters with their own emotions and development (or lack there of) is getting the best of the writers when it comes to where everyone fits into the episodes, so here the simple choice was made to just have fewer points of view. After all, had Melissa been there Faye would have someone to try holding her back from going off the deep end.
Road to the Insane Asylum
Since Jake has come back to Chance Harbor Faye has already been exhibiting some jealousy issues because of the tension between Cassie and Jake. This is still as strong as ever, but now Faye can add hallucinations to reasons why she might need to be on medication. But before she has to set an appointment up with a psychiatrist, her reasons for the hallucinations come to the forefront. It turns out that everything she is seeing and hearing, from the seaweed in the bathtub to the little girl running around in a yellow raincoat, is residual magic left over from her dead grandfather. However, it is not here to flicker lights or move objects, it is a more directed energy that created these images from Faye’s memory in order to lead her to his body in the exact same location in which he rescued her from the water when she was a child.
With the preview for next week promoting the “last chance to scream” with the final episode before the winter hiatus, The Secret Circle throws haunting into the mix with these hallucinations. Unfortunately it was not really done as effectively as it could have been. It is understandable that Faye was the only one seeing the images at first, but had the show wanted to really go the route of scares then the hallucinations should have affected all of the members of the circle, or at least been a more prominent element of the show (as opposed to the group’s hormones). Cassie eventually sees them as well, but only because it was more convenient for her to use her stronger power to pull the body from the depths at which it was being held off the dock. (Side note – how nice is it that Cassie can do magic without spells!? No more ridiculous chants! Well, at least this week anyway.)
Sexual Healing
In a slump of boredom the group decides the best idea would be to play Truth or Dare, and as drunken teenagers often do, they make it all about sex. Diana ends up with her shirt off, we learn that sleeping with two guys in high school doesn’t make Faye a whore, Cassie kisses Jake, and Diana and Adam end up having sex. But more on that later.
Before we circle around to home plate, let’s take a closer look at the two standing on first base. Seeing as Cassie has completely forgotten that she is supposed to be weary, the alcohol and magic produced sexual tension creates the perfect opportunity for a make-out session. Though it is short lived as Jake pushes her away, it’s still clear that sometime before the end she is going to turn Jake against the witch hunters. Then again I have been wrong before, so don’t hold me to that.
Now back to home plate. After Adam looks away from the kiss between Cassie and Jake, he follows Diana as she storms outside and into the secluded shed where they can have some angry alone time. Long story short, Adam complains some more about not wanting to be away from her, and as much as Diana puts up a “I can’t be with you because I respect myself” front, two seconds later they are ripping each others’ clothes off. Though I am a fan of the relationship side of shows, it just feels like too much is going on with feelings being thrown all over the place, which is starting to become detrimental to the rest of the show in terms of story development. Instead, what they should do is get Adam and Diana back together ASAP so that we don’t have to deal with that story line, leaving more time to develop Cassie as a character so that we care who she ends up with. Adam can look longingly at her from a distance, but with him tied up with Diana then a possible relationship between Cassie and Jake might go a little smoother.
Final Thoughts
I don’t know about you, but tonight seemed like an episode full of missed opportunities and sloppy story progression as more time was spent on the teen drama and less on the through line that connects the season as a whole. Maybe it’s just me, but I would have liked more time with the hallucinations if the show is really trying to continue on the horror path. Also, this week I could have definitely had less romance because that time could have been better spent on the previous genre choice, or possibly in the cars because who doesn’t love road trips?
What did you guys think? Were any of you disappointed by how this episode turned out like I was? Are you sick of Faye always being crazy? Or are you waiting for her to seriously crack? (Maybe there will be an investigation into Henry’s death and Faye will learn that Dawn killed him!) Do you want to smack Cassie upside the head for being an idiot and forgetting that Jake is a suspicious individual? Were you upset that no matter how agitating Faye can be no one was decent enough to try to stop her from driving drunk? Do you also think they need to start adding some happier colors to their wardrobes? Let me know!
