The Secret Circle is still a show in its infancy. The writers haven't figured out the week-to-week structure or the character dynamics. Melissa floats between various characters. Faye was introduced as the antagonist in the group. The writers dropped that part of Faye for several episodes. Now, she's back as the antagonist. It seems like the writers aren't sure whether or not they're interested enough in Diana and Adam, or Adam and Cassie. One scene depicts an earnest and longing-for-Cassie, and then the next scene depicts Adam gazing at Diana, and her dance partner, in envy. The episodic narrative is always a bit too thin. "Fire/Ice" told a story about power and the costs of obtaining that power, but it was thin. The characters weren't affected until the fourth or fifth act (maybe the third, since I doubt TSC is a six act show...maybe I'll count next week). I'm just trying to convey my opinion that the episode was problematic.
Genre shows have always used their supernatural worlds to explore the basics of adolescence: sex, desire, jealousy, etc. The metaphor of sexual desire was strong tonight. I mean, the episode is titled "Fire/Ice." Faye enlisted the con-artist/voodoo expert Lee LeBeque to help her obtain solo power. Faye's motivations, at least, are consistent with the previous episodes. Faye never wanted to bind the circle, even though she nearly caused a Tsunami to hit the small, picturesque town of Chance Harbor, Washington in episode two. Faye didn't like the amount of power Cassie possessed, so she figured no one would mind if she took some from her. Lee and Faye went to the high school dance and executed the spell in a classroom. The entire relationship between Lee and Faye's predicated on sexual desire and attraction. Lee unzipped her dress to access her five major energy points. Beforehand, Faye told him that sex wasn't part of the deal; he told her that WHEN they have sex it won't be part of a deal. The spell reached its climax, fire erupted around the magical mark in the classroom, and the power transferred to Faye.
However, the spell went wrong. Everyone but Cassie experienced a loss of power. When a witch in this show loses their power, they experience a spell of dizziness and eventually faint. When a witch possesses too much power, he or she is infinitely more dangerous. As I've opined before, the power's connected with the mind. The mind of teenager is impulsive, stupid, and prone to major mistakes. Faye's use of power is impulsive, stupid and prone to major mistakes. In this instance, she lit the school gymnasium on fire. She drew power from Diana, Adam and Melissa, which put their lives in danger. Faye immediately reversed the spell once she learned what happened to her friends. The rest of the circle attacked her like a pack of angry koala bears. Faye defended herself because she's a strong-willed and confident person. The girl pointed out how Cassie's infinitely more dangerous than her, and how the group turns a blind eye whenever Cassie accidentally releases a demon that kills someone (not true of course because Charles murdered nick), steals boyfriends, or nearly kills Adam because he made her mad. Sooner or late, something will give and no one will be able to ignore Cassie.
Of course, Cassie's dark magic is a vague trait of her makeup. Cassie searched for information about her father, Jon Blackwell, but only found the deed to a house, specifically the abandoned house the circle uses for their meetings. The basement had a marking on the ceiling, a symbol for dark magic. Cassie demanded Faye return the spell she took from her Book Of Shadows. She wants to figure out how to rid herself of dark magic. Adam and Diana were cautious, worried about the effects, for Cassie, of tapping into the kind of energy and power needed to remove already potent energy and power. And so the episode ended without progress for Cassie. The only glimpse of dark magic happened through Faye. None of the characters understood it; therefore, the audience can't understand it.
Next week's episode promises to tell the story of the infamous boat fire. I hope I can glean key information from the episode. Currently, I feel like there's very little substance in The Secret Circle.
Some other thoughts:
-I used to love high school dances. I used to love any episode that used a high school dance as a setting. I don't love fictional high school dances anymore. The Fire/Ice dance was extremely uninteresting until Faye accidentally lit the gym on fire. Adam and Diana talked entirely too long about their former relationship and how it relates to Cassie. The actresses looked pretty in their dresses though.
-Cassie and Adam kissed in the basement. Earlier, Adam confided his affections for her during a conversation with his father. Jake descended the stairs just in time to disrupt the long-term possibilities of that kiss.
-Usually, TV shows can get away with an absent character. Dawn didn't appear in the episode and it wasn't natural, because she's the principal of the high school, and the school nearly burnt down. The writers chose the wrong episode let Natasha Henstridge sit on the bench.
-Holly Henderson & Don Whitehead wrote the episode. Joshua Butler directed it.
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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