Original Air Date: 19 January 2012
Adam: So you're an avenging angel now. Don't they usually stay hidden in the shadows?
Jake: Don't you usually have a different girlfriend?
Review: Look who was just revealed to be a power junkie! As it turns out, Ethan might be just as addicted to magic as the Chamberlain women. Poor Charles, remember when we thought he was this show's villain back in the first episodes, when he killed Amelia just to get her daughter into Chance Harbor and bind the circle?
But how did we find out about Ethan's presence in that fatidic day? Well, let's turn our attention to Jake and the reason why he returned to Chance Harbor. It wasn't just his love for Cassie, something everyone is painfully aware of these days. One big revelation this week was that Jake too was present on the ferry that day, but his memory is fuzzy, as he blocked out all the unpleasant stuff. Not unrealistic for a kid who saw his parents die, though it led to some hilarious reactions from the others (hilarious as in a lot of bad acting, especially from Britt Robertson's part, whose facial expressions were so forced that this may just be the thing that will make me stop watching this show).
But let's return to Jake. With Cassie and her dark magic's help, he took her down memory lane to find out what really happened the day of the fire, when both his parents died. It was like watching an ectoplasmic reconstruction, just like in Charlaine Harris' books. Yep, talking True Blood here. But I have a complaint about this: can someone explain to me how was Cassie capable of experiencing things Jake couldn't have seen, and how was she able to continue into Jake's memories without Jake actually being there with her? Talk about major plot holes... The writing is not the best thing about this show.
Finding out the truth about the night when most of the members of the previous circle had died - including Adam and Diana's mothers and Jake's parents, has been an important goal for the kids ever since the pilot. It was also an important step in figuring out their identities as witches and who their enemies were. Because it wasn't their magic gone awry that started the fire, it was the witch hunters who had found a way to kill John Blackwell. Moving forward, this will be an important discovery as they will start dealing with the elders, and an even more important one for their surviving parents as they will try to win their magic back.
It also showed the division in the previous circle. Some of them - the ones that trusted the witch hunters and had promissed to give up practicing - had died in the fire. Others, Dawn and Charles included, were not slaughtered by the hunters and managed to survive. Amelia had not been there because she didn't want to face Blackwell, who betrayed her. And we still have to find out what Ethan's part in all that was and what will his part be moving forward. Maybe he just replaced one addiction - magic - with another one, alcohol, and now he's going back to magic. It will be interesting to follow him down the road.
But the biggest development of them all - and one that will likely change Cassie's world and probably not in a good way - is finding out that John Blackwell, her dark witch father, had survived that night, though everyone thought he was dead as well. So he is most likely still alive somewhere and hiding from the witch hunters, who may be capable now to kill him if they find him, since he doesn't have the necklace anymore (didn't you find it strange how easily Cassie found that?), and will pop up to mess things up for his daughter at some point. Maybe try to sway her to his side. I can't wait to see how that plays out.
The dynamics in the circle are changing. As Diana put it, it is falling apart and everyone is, more or less, going down an individual road. What this will mean for them remains to be seen, but I hope the witch hunters will be back to spice things up. After all, what's a supernatural show without a great oponent for the heroes? And with Jake back in town and Adam's acceptance of his love for Cassie, I can't wait to see how the relationships will change. Since I don't think Adam is in love with her just yet, but only feels that undeniable tie to her, maybe he will back off. Or maybe not.
And while Melissa seems to be the Bonnie of this show, Faye had her own share of trouble as she continued her friendship with the gorgeous Lee. Who, go figure, has a troubled past himself. Unfortunately, having Faye go down the path of drugs is not all that surprising. Purundenga may not be addictive itself, but power is and if that herb will allow Faye to do magic on her own - which somehow I think it will - she may find herself bite more than she can swallow sooner than we thought. But despite all this stuff and despite introducing the sort of dangerous Callum, who should really do something about his hair, I really really don't care about Faye's arc.
To conclude, I have two questions. A brainteaser for you TSC junkies out there: could Jake be the other Blackwell in the circle? I know Cassie's half brother or sister's identity is subject to a lot of speculation, but seeing Jake's mother so into Blackwell raised the idea into my head. The other question is more like a complaint: why can't they ever pronounce the Latin words correctly? If spells are cast by speaking the words out loud, shouldn't they only work if the words are pronounced as they were meant to by the old Romans? I'm really bugged by this.The Secret Circle 1x11: Fire/Ice Back to Season 1
