The Secret Circle "Pilot" Review

The promotions and previews for The Secret Circle essentially ruined the pilot episode. The initial episode of this supernatural drama involving witches isn't bad. It lays the foundation for the series but there's no reason someone couldn't jump into the second episode without seeing the pilot. I doubt the masses would've been on the edge of their seats wondering what the secret of Chance Harbor, Washington considering the overt reveal of witchcraft in the teaser. The problem was Andrew Miller (or Kevin Williamson) built acts toward revelatory act-breaks that were spoiled in May at the Upfronts.

Aside from that, this is a solid introduction to The Secret Circle. Cassie Blake (Britt Robertson) moves to the town of Chance Harbor, Washington a month after the untimely death (actually, murder) of her mother. Chance Harbor's not an ordinary small town as it's populated by six families of witches connected by stars and fate. Five of her classmates anticipate her arrival because she completes their circle; a circle that increases their power a thousand-fold with the complete six. However, Cassie's unaware of who she is until her fellow witches tell her. Faye (Phoebe Tonkin), the resident impulsive and dangerous teenage witch, tries to unleash Cassie's power but that goes terribly. Following a number of odd events, Diana (Shelley Hennig) brings her to the circle's meeting place where she learns the truth, freaks then resists, even after Adam (Thomas Dekker) helps her connect with her power.

Cassie, though, is more powerful than her fellow witches. Faye's a loose cannon--someone who uses her powers without a single thought to the damage she might cause--and she conjures a severe thunderstorm. When she commands the storm to cease, the storm doesn't listen. Lightning strikes nearly kill Diana. Faye panics until Cassie commands the storm to stop, and the storm stops. She walks away without a word, still resisting the world she's being forced into; however, she'll eventually succumb to the pressure because the adult witches of the town have evil plans brewing. Charlie, Diana's father, is the one who murdered Cassie's mother. Charlie threatens to kill Adam's father. Once upon the parents were in a circle that, at some point, went terribly wrong. Cassie's an important witch because of her tremendous power. With it, Charlie and Dawn can accomplish their evil plans but we all know Cassie will use her power for good.

The love triangle between Adam, Cassie and Diana took off. Diana seems doomed to lose her boyfriend to Cassie because she and Adam's romance has been written in the stars and sealed by fate. I hope the love triangle's on the back-burner but I'm pessimistic because of The CW's history as well as Kevin Williamson's history. The sealed by fate nonsense comes from LJ Smith's books but it gives me flashbacks of the soul mate nonsense between Dawson and Joey that never went away, even after she chose Pacey in the series finale. So, we'll see.

Overall, the pilot episode resembles a Cliff notes version of LJ Smith's source material. Miller or Williamson or both were eager to move past the set-up, and the world building, so the show could move onto more interesting narrative avenues. The pilot suffers from its frantic pace to establish the magic, the characters and the histories. Cassie's the only natural character in the episode, reacting to the news like any normal teenager would. I'm interested in future episodes to see how the writers handle the teenagers response and use of the magic. I hope the storytelling resembles early Buffy if it relies on magic metaphors to tell stories about universal teenage experiences.

Britt Robertson's an insanely pretty young woman. There are moments in the episode when she's completely mesmerizing. The rest of the cast is solid for a CW show. Phoebe Tonkin's been lauded as the breakout actress of the series. I thought Shelley Hennig delivered an underrated performance as the responsible, good-hearted teenager who insists the circle control their power.

I'm going to continue watching the series. I might not write about it every week, though. Kevin Williamson's earned my loyalty.

THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK