The Secret Circle: Season 1, Episode 1

Welcome to The Secret Circle Episode Rundowns!

Hey all, Shannon here. Time for a new episode-by-episode run down of thoughts and ideas of one of the shows Suzie & I chat about here at Hexed. We did this last summer with Teen Wolf and it was a lot of fun so I wanted to do it again, and with The Secret Circle being a new series and one of the few witch-centric series it's the one I picked to cover more in depth. We'll be looking at the characters & relationship development, story arcs, lore and of course the use of witchcraft and other supernatural occurrences in Chance Harbour as we follow the adventures of Cassie Blake and The Secret Circle.

The Secret Circle: Season 1, Episode 1 ***SPOILERS here on in***

Episode #1: Pilot

Short summary
We are introduced to Cassie, who on the way home gets car trouble and has to change a tire (and she can - go Cassie!) and her mom is at home and is killed by a fire created by someone we later learn to be Charles. Cassie goes to live with her grandmother (Jane) in Chance Harbour and runs across a variety of young'uns who attempt to recruit her into their group of witches to create a secret circle from the 6 families to have more control over their magic. The group appears to be run by Diana, who was the first (and only so far) of the six to find her family’s journal of spells. The remaining four include Adam (Diana’s boyfriend who also has a strong connection with Cassie), Nick (Cassie’s neighbour), resident bad girl Faye & her best friend Melissa. The teens have all lost at least 1 parent and there was an accident 16 years ago that was covered up, at which point Cassie's mom left town and never brought her there.

General Comments

• I love how Cassie stands her ground and doesn't wallflower into the new crowd
• I like how Jean acknowledges how resourceful teens are
• Magic in the forest was beautiful!
  
• I really hope they don't go the way of that magic is bad or needs to be contains or controlled, and hope that they introduce some preventative, healing or premonition magic.

Locations/Social Events

• Chance Harbour: The shows setting, Cassie moves here to live with her grandmother Jane after her mother Amelia dies. It's where Amelia grew up but never visited with Cassie.
• The Boathouse Grill aka The Boathouse: run by the Conants, Adam works at this harbour side restaurant
• The... Club House? Witch House? An rundown house where the teen witches meet, not sure it has a name yet per se
  

Characters (in order of appearance)
Cassie Blake - series protagonist
Amelia Blake - Cassie's Mom, dies in this episode
The man who kills Cassie’s Mom at the beginning is Charles (also Diana's dad)
Jane Blake - Cassie’s Grandmother, who Cassie goes to live with
Nick - a guy who lives across the street from Cassie
Dawn Chamberlain – school Principal, knew Cassie’s Mom
Adam Conant – resident cute guy, works at Boathouse
Faye Chamberlain - principals daughter, resident bad girl, father dead
Diana Meade – resident nice girl
Ethan - Adam’s Dad, loved Cassie’s Mom, owns The Boathouse, drinks too much
Melissa - Faye's best friend

Characters (by age groups)

The Teens, aka The Witches - They need 6 to form a Circle

• Diana - First to find the book, acts as leader
• Faye
• Melissa
• Adam
• Nick
• Plus they want to recruit Cassie

The Adults, Previous Generation of Witches/Circle

• Dawn Chamberlain (Faye's Mom)
• Charles Meade (Diana's Dad)
• Inferred: Amelia (Cassie's Mom), Cassie's Dad, Nick's Parents

The Elder-Adults, Previous-Previous Generation:

• Jane Blake (Cassie's Grandmother), aware of witchcraft

Relationships

• Diana & Adam have been together for 3 years
• Cassie & Adam definitely have chemistry, but Adam says he loves Diana and it can't happen again
• Ethan loved Amelia (Adam's Dad loved Cassie's Mom), as it was fated in the stars, although Amelia choose another.
• Adam & his Dad have tension over Ethan's drinking
• Diana acts as leader for the group, although there is tension with Faye who says she never agreed to anything

Family Trees
The pilot episode sets up that the circle has to have 1 member from each of the 6 families, so I think it's a good idea to keep an eye on those families as families:

1. Meade's: Diana, Charles + ______ (Diana's mother is assumed dead)
2. Chamberlain’s: Faye, Dawn + _____ (Faye's father is dead)
3. Blake's: Cassie, Jane + _______ (Cassie's father is dead), Amelia (confirmed dead)
4. Conant': Adam, Ethan + ______ (Adam's mother - assumed dead)
5. _______'s: Melissa's family: no light shone here, although it is said in the episode that they all have lost a parent so either 1 or both are assumed dead
6. _______'s: Nick's Family: both parents are said to be dead

Family Books Found (2 out of 6)

1. Diana found her family's book first
2. Cassie found her family's book at the end of this episode

Character Development

• Cassie finds out she's a witch.

Witch Lore - Teens

• The teens ancestors are part of a legacy that dates as far back as 1692 (per Adam)
• A complete circle is 6, 1 from each of the families (per Diana)
• There is a ritual to to bind them to, to control the power (per Diana)
• Each Family has a book, a journal that is that explains has 1000 of spells
• So far the teens can only open locked doors, move curtains, etc
• Diana says no one can know about them, not even their families
• Adam and Faye say with Cassie there the magic is amplified, and that they can't control it

Witch Actions - Teens

• The stars on Cassie's ceiling shimmer (and possibly move?)
• Faye (and Melissa?) lock Cassie's car doors
• Cassie's car starts to go up in flames - unclear if this is Faye, Cassie, Melissa, or combo
• Adam puts fire out in car
• Adam and Cassie make water levitate
• Faye creates a rainstorm, but can't control it
• Cassie quiets the rainstorm
• “A drop of water / As light as air” - Adam/Cassie to levitate water
• “Stars above, give me a sign” - Faye, thunder happens
• “Please sky rain down on me” – Faye, and it does;
• “Make it stop” - Cassie

Witch Lore & Actions - Adults

• Charles drips water from a water bottle onto the pavements on the road, water inside nearby house
• Charles lights matches outside a house, and a fire burns inside
• Jane asks Dawn if the kids are 'practicing' and that a similar thing happened years ago.
• Charles opens the door in front of Dawn

Arc

• Charles threatens Ethan not to talk to Cassie - which means it's likely Ethan knows something.
• Ethan (Adam's Dad) says his and Cassie's families are fated "So, it was written. Our families are written in the stars. We’re destined. It’s always been that way." He also says "Me and Amelia were meant for each other. It’s the same with you and Adam. You don’t want to mess with Fate, bad things happen when you mess with fate”
• Per Adam - their parents had a circle but something went wrong, people died, it was covered up and witchcraft was abolished.
• Per Diana - 16 years ago there was an accident people from the circle died
• Dawn says she doesn't have to get Cassie to do anything, that the Circle will take care of itself

Reveals

• Cassie's a witch (she didn't know)
• Diana, Adam, Faye, Melissa & Nick are witches
• They've all lost a parent
• Cassie finds her family's book, or rather it finds her
• Dawn says Cassie has the gift
• Dawn and Charles appear to be in cahoots in controlling the secrets of the previous circle and watching what will happen with this one

Kill and Saves

• Charles kills Amelia through magic (water and fire to make her slip and set the house on fire from afar).
• Adam saves Cassie after Faye 'tests' her by locking her in car and setting it aflame - he stops fire via magic & gets her out of the car.
• Kill Count: Charles: 1
• Save Count: Adam: 1

Great Quotes

• "We all agreed to take it slow / no you said to take it slow and we all nodded, I didn’t agree to anything" - Diana / Faye
• “This town is a freaking sideshow” – Cassie
• “Hey neighbour, I’m Nick. Also known as the guy in the window” - Nick
• “You’re a witch. Full blooded, 100% witch. We all are” – Faye
• “You are one of us, Cassie. I can’t tell you want to do but just know you aren’t alone.” – Adam
• “She is her father’s daughter / Well unfortunately she is her mother’s daughter too” – Charles and Dawn re: Cassie

Questions/Predictions*

Keeping an eye on
Ethan - will he say more, or no? Also he seemed to really know when people were there, before they were there.

Left off at
Cassie notices a panel moving in her room, behind it is the journal for her family. Inside the book there is a card from her mother which reads:

"My Sweet Cassie
You finding this means I’m gone, for that I am so sorry.
I didn’t want you to have this life
Destiny is not easy to run from
I had hoped that keeping this secret kept you safe
But all I’ve done is keep you unprotected
You have incredible power inside you
People will come for it
They will come for you"

Remember you can always also listen to Suzie & I chat about this episode of The Secret Circle on Hexed: Sisterhood of the Supernatural Episdoe #75 here.

* Episode 1-8 run downs are being done retrospectively over the winter break, therefore I'm omitting predictions because hindsight can (appear) to be 20/20!