As far as series premieres go, I thought it was pretty decent. It's one of the most talked about premieres over the summer that gave just enough to the audience to keep them watching. Especially if you are regular to the series created by Kevin Williamson, who is also an executive producer on "The Vampire Diaries".
A book series from popular young adult author L.J. Smith, "The Secret Circle" follows the story of teenage Cassie, who moves in with her grandmother after her mother is murdered.
When Cassie moves back to her mother's hometown, she finds herself surrounded by her mother's old friends and their children, only to find out these six families are all witches. With her bloodlines return, the powers of the second generation have grown exponentially and start conflicts among the circle of these six powerful teens. However, as usual in the fantasy genre, all is not as it seems. Not only do these powers seem to have some sort of addiction that go along with them, but the parents are not as unaware at the teens believe. It seems that two of the surviving adult generation magic circle murdered Cassie's mother to bring her back to this town for a purpose. Obviously, what exactly that purpose is will be the story line of this season.
Although it is not the best series premiere I have ever watched, it definitely served up a couple very interesting details that will keep me watching. The most mysterious of those is the tune that Cassie found herself always humming, that is also the song that plays with the title card. I feel like there that little tune is going to end up being very important later and more than just a song. I am already wondering what the rules of this world are. Obviously, there are going to be limitations to the magic they are able to perform and how exactly that summon those powers. I already find myself thinking about how it works.
But I do think the best thing so far about this series is something that me and many others get a little annoyed with about "The Vampire Diaries". Finally, we have a show where the supernatural characters, act like supernatural characters. Obviously, they have secrets to keep. But they know they are not exactly human, and nor do they act like it. But sadly, the only acting performance that I didn't feel was up to par was Brittany Robertson, who plays the lead Cassie Blake. In a show where we definitely need to be rooting for this main character, I am not on her side yet. In fact, I am on Diana's team, portrayed by Shelley Hennig. I want Cassie to just get over it and the join the Circle already. Even though we are only one episode into the story, I feel like Diana should be the hero of this story, especially with her creepy villain father to contend with.
I also like Adam, portrayed by Thomas Dekker, and Diana's boyfriend. Living and taking care of a drunk father, the audience feels sympathy for him before his second scene of the episode is even over, and it's obvious that there is some type of really special and magical connection between his and Cassie's families.
Overall, a decent premiere episode.
Stay tuned as week continue to discuss CW's fantasy thursday nights in more depth on our weekly podcast.
