The Secret Circle "Balcoin" Review

Balcoin's not a made up word. The name was used by Jon Blackwell before he and his family changed their names to Blackwell. The word balcoin was synonymous with dark magic, so the family needed to distance themselves for their own safety. I don't know why I chose to write about the back story of Balcoin in the beginning but there's no going back now. "Balcoin" was very much an episode devoted to moving chess pieces into places for the next run of episodes. In between the moving parts were some genuine emotional beats for Cassie as she struggled to deal with the non-relationship she had with her father; however, those beats were told in one scene, which made that development seem like an after-thought.

Through nine episodes, The Secret Circle remains a series with growing pains. Some episodes have worked well while others have not. Now, the previous sentence won't blow the minds of anyone reading. Every TV show produces some great episodes and not so great episodes. The Secret Circle's biggest struggles could derail the series in the long-run. The biggest issue with the show is characterization and dialogue. The scripts lack the wit and humor every genre show needs. The teenagers rarely get together to hang out or simply talk. Of course, one wouldn't be entertained to watch teenagers actually act like teenagers because that'd be boring. I mean, the characters never have fun conversations with each other. Lines are delivered like the fate of the world's in the balance and their inflection's the key to saving the world. They're brought together by life-or-death situations involving demon possession or witch-hunters or pissed-off people with an axe to grind because of the boat fire incident.

Cassie's the only developed character in the entire story. Faye, Melissa, Diana, and Adam's development have been sacrificed for Cassie's development, which is bad. I watched Adam swoop in as a hero to rescue Cassie from the head witch hunter's boat and realized that I know nothing about the character. As much as I enjoy Phoebe Tonkin's portrayal of Faye, the character itself doesn't have much to do on a weekly basis. The energy Tonkin brings isn't matched by her fellow actors. None of the other characters are written well enough to bounce off Faye. The relationship dynamics suck on this show.

In fact, characters are only defined through their affections for other characters. For example, Jake's feelings for Cassie trumped his desire for revenge. The truth that he feels quite deeply for the girl seemed to suggest that the audience should not hate him so much because he helped Faye and Adam save Cassie from captivity. Likewise, Melissa's cousin came to Chance Harbor to assist the family with some type of party (Between TVD, Revenge, and TSC, parties have worn out their welcome in The Foot). Melissa tearfully told him about how her boyfriend died when explaining the reason for her depression. Her cousin reacted like she was tearful over the last cookie being eaten. Matters became worse when Diana saw him, looked lustful and like a woman who saw 'rebound guy' over his head, but Melissa banned her friend from using her cousin as a rebound guy. Their entire story was devoted to a tertiary character who probably won't hang around for much longer.

Faye and Dawn were involved in the beginning of what should be a terrific arc, if indeed Andrew Miller, Kevin Williamson and the rest of the writers commit to the arc. Faye confronted her mother about her disdain for Henry. Dawn tried to deny her disdain for Faye's grandfather but her daughter wouldn't buy her feeble excuses. It might take months for the series to bring the teenagers to awareness about Dawn and Charles. At least the arc's begun, though. Speaking of Dawn, she's fond of throwing Charles under the proverbial Chance Harbor boats. I haven't figured out if my annoyance with Dawn stems from the writing or Natasha Henstridge's performance. Anyway, Jane revealed an interesting fact about Dawn. Namely, that she was obsessed with Jon Blackwell and the dark magic. Charles wanted more information but Dawn wouldn't indulge his interests.

The dark magic business was the most important part of the episode. Its existence drove the A story, after all. I'd comment more, but the writers preferred to keep the dark magic exposition away in "Balcoin." Jane's memory wipe had complications that resulted in the Dawn-Jon Blackwell connection becoming known. The witch hunters might fear dark magic but their council might desire dark magic. Dark magic is sought after because of its immense power. Jake swore to the head witch hunter that Cassie could control the dark magic. Head witch hunter shook his head in disgust and promised Jake that the dark magic would destroy the circle instead of saving it. You see, there's another one with Balcoin magic within the circle. Who? No idea. The most obvious one is Faye, so it won't be her. Also, the most interesting part of the hour happened during the previews for the show's January 5 return--Cassie, after using her dark magic, sat in a daze and remarked that the power felt really good. I'm on board for a few episodes of Crazy Cassie.

Through nine episodes, I don't particularly care about any of the characters. I'm not invested in any of the relationships. Maybe 15 year old Chris would be rooting for Cassie and Adam but 24 year old Chris doesn't give a damn. I just want strong characters, strong storytelling, good dialogue, etc. Essentially, I want a polished genre show. The Secret Circle's far from a polished series. Great genre shows, besides LOST, didn't become great until their second season, so TSC has time to improve the weak dialogue and characterization. I'll watch and write about the show when it returns in 2012, though. Until then...

Andrew Miller & Andrea Newman wrote "Balcoin." Brad Turner directed it.

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