As last week’s episode of The Secret Circle felt like it paid tribute to the Scream series just in time for the DVD release of the fourth installment with its elements of horror, this week’s episode seems to be taking hints from The Thing (opening in theaters this weekend) with hints of paranoia, a few possessions, and one big death before all is said and done, reminding us that this show actually has stakes.
Three’s A Crowd
Not to be outdone by Melissa and Nick in the sexy-time department (who are once again found in bed together at the start of the episode, albeit for the last time), Diana and Adam decide to have a couples night in, including a far more PG rated version of what was done with whipped cream in Varsity Blues. But before anything too serious could really happen, Cassie comes between the two with incessant texting. Poor Diana, she just can’t win. Though she doesn’t seem too upset due to the nature of the emergency texts, it’s probably a good idea to put one more slip of paper in the “Diana is going to go dark” jar as yet another example as to why this fall from grace is bound to happen. While we have the jar out, we should also throw in the fact that Adam did not verbally say, “I promise” when Diana asks him to promise that she will never lose him at the end of the episode. He’s going to leave you, Diana, and you are going to act accordingly by lashing out.
Demonic Possession
As far as possession goes, Melissa doesn't have anything on Regan MacNeil in The Exorcist. That girl was scary, spouting off horrific things at her mother as she projectile vomited and spun her head around. Here, Melissa just walks around like someone on a bad drug trip until the demon finally takes over, doing whatever it can to get its way. This includes taking a weird, seductive tone with Nick so that he completely forgets that seconds before she was screaming in agony into her locker, as well as possibly coming on to Faye later in the episode. Unfortunately, my hopes were not met when I said I would like it if the demon just brought out a darker version of Melissa since she seems like someone who would have a lot of pent up anger, but instead they were pretty much separated within the body. Granted calling Nick a “worthless loser” was kind of mean.
Taking advantage of the group not picking up on the fact that Melissa is obviously not herself, the group is forced to help the demon open a suitcase containing demon-filled snakes. Why this suitcase was buried out in the woods is beyond me, but I am assuming who had a stash of creatures out there will be answered at some point. One would assume that the Elders would have killed them all had they found them, so my gut is going with Dawn.
Ding Dong the Witch is Dead
As a reminder that this show means serious business (something that episodes past have not always been the most effective in doing), one of the members of the circle dies during this episode. Gasp! But let’s face it, Nick had nothing going for him character wise, so in all honesty he was the most expendable of the six. However, what was unexpected is that Charles Meade (Diana’s father) is the one to carry out the murder. Even though he was able to kill Cassie’s mother without flinching, I was still shocked that he was capable of doing this, even if it was to save Nick from the demon that was possessing him.
Afterwards, Charles does look distraught as to what he was done, especially considering after Dawn Chamberlain (Faye’s mother) tells him it was the right thing to do, he responds, “There’s nothing right about that. I killed a boy. A child. That’s something that should never feel right.” Weird way to break down murder into levels of acceptability, but I’d like to believe that had Cassie and Grandma Blake not shown up when they did, instead of running he would have tried to revive Nick. This might be reaching, but this slight remorse might hint at the chance that sometime down the road he will do something to redeem himself, possibly sacrificing himself for the kids (especially if Dawn never returns his growing feelings for her).
With one witch down for the count, our circle has shrunk down to an estrogen full group of four girls and one guy, and the question has to be asked as to whether or not they are still considered a complete circle. The first couple of episodes made such a big deal that Cassie was needed to complete the circle, but killing Nick shows that six is probably not actually a required number. Granted Grandma Blake could always be an honorary member.
Granny Knows Best
After prying for the majority of the episode by continually letting Cassie know that she can always tell her anything, Cassie finally decides to spill the beans by telling her grandmother that she is a witch. At this point Melissa’s possession has become too much for the circle to handle on their own, so Grandma Blake comes out swinging, dishing out some true witchy power, far stronger than what any of the current circle members can do on their own.
Even during all the action, it is impossible not to realize that Grandma Blake knows a large amount about demons, including an exorcism spell off the top of her head, as well as that demons are repulsed by crystals (which she just so happens to have one of), and that the only way to kill them are with fire or drowning. Clearly she has dealt with demons before, possibly back prior to when the parent’s circle had their powers taken away. At the end of the episode Grandma Blake tells Cassie that she never knew why her mother left or what happened the night of the accident, but this knowledge of demons makes it probable that she isn’t telling Cassie everything, especially considering Dawn’s connection to the demon.
Children Are The Future
Tonight’s episode further reveals some key information about Dawn and Charles. For starters, they are continuing to search for the crystals (6 total) in the hopes of regaining their powers, but their reasons why might not be as nefarious as was once believed. Because there are 6 crystals, one could assume that when the Elders removed the powers from their children they harnessed it in these crystals, so it is possible that they just need the kids to move the power back into their bodies. After all, Charles did say that killing children is horrible, and throughout the episode they keep mentioning that they want to protect the kids, such as when Dawn says: “We’re not equipped yet to protect them from what they might find.” So maybe they aren’t completely evil. But one has to wonder exactly what Dawn meant by “what they might find.” Maybe the fact that she raised a demon!
That’s right, while in Nick’s body the demon comes across Dawn in Adam’s father’s restaurant (who is still MIA, though the preview shows that he will finally be back come next episode), letting the little fact slip that Dawn was the one to summon him. He then continues with, “I just want what you want. The circle, their power,” making projections of where this series plans on going even muddier. Why did Dawn raise this demon? Was it just a side affect of whatever she was trying to do 16 years ago? Or is she really just that evil?
Final Thoughts
Obviously I was wrong when I predicted that this episode would end happily for our circle, and the preview for next week shows a whole lot more trouble heading their way. What did you guys think of tonight’s episode? Were you shocked that they killed off a circle member? Glad to see him go? Getting irritated with how long we have to wait to get real answers about “the accident”? Leave your thoughts down below, and remember that if you have some insights that others may not have due to having read the book, please mark your comments as containing spoilers. Thanks!
