In 'Loner' Cassie accepts an invitation to the school dance from jock Luke; Faye tries to find a way to control her powers; and a mysterious man shows up claiming to know about what happened 16 years ago with the previous circle.
The theme of isolation was being given an interesting spin here. Cassie is finding it difficult to adjust to being constantly surrounded by people, especially those interested in her, after spending most of her life as a “loner”. This is made even stranger for her now that she’s been inextricably linked to 5 other people. This idea is explored in even more interesting ways in relation to both Melissa and Faye, the latter even pointing out the former’s dependence on those around her for consolidation. These kinds of dynamics are what’s separating the Secret Circle from the Vampire Diaries right now. While Elena and co. are trying to figure out what they mean to each other, everyone in Chance Harbor is doing the same but also trying to assert who THEY are in all of this. It’s an interesting concept that I’d love to see further down the line.
Even though I found nothing wrong with either Brittany or Thomas’s performances, their lack of chemistry is still tarnishing the potential for an exciting love triangle. All of their shared scenes seem so forced and tired, smashing any perception of a written in the stars romance completely. Despite that, I love Cassie and Diana’s interactions, and their final scene was so honest and sweet. Diana has been such a surprise. I honestly thought I had her figured out by the first episode, but she’s really surpassed my expectations.
Faye still remains the series greatest commodity though. She’s showing even more different sides to her, and in this episode it was essentially her softer side. I find it hard to believe that Melissa would follow Faye around so much if all she did was boss her about, here she displayed how much she really values their friendship, and it was nice to see. There are so many different layers to this girl; she needs her own centric episode soon! It’s obvious that the writers are trying to make her the Damon of the show, but she should grow into an entity all her own, not modeled after another show’s star.
What this episode had over the pilot and Bound was a dramatic amount of action and excitement. This visitor not only brought words of warning, but allowed the circle the chance to exploit their newfound connection and give them the chance to see that though their individual powers were gone, they could still kick some ass. I really loved that scene in the hallway; I got major Charmed/The craft vibes.
I love when a series makes you doubt who the real villains in the story are, and ‘Loner’ brought not just Zachary’s intentions into question, but Dawn and Charles’s motivations as well. I’m glad that they‘re not just straight up after power, but actually want to keep their kids safe too. A one dimensional antagonist can be hard to digest sometimes, but it looks like this series isn’t going to have a problem like that.
I’m not quite sure that there’s enough back story and mystery to fuel a long term story here, which was never a problem with ‘The Vampire Diaries’. It’s still early days though, I’m sure that there is a lot more left to explore, not the least of which is what happened between Amelia and Heather, something I'm dying to find out about. Regardless of my disappointment, the greater picture is still as tantalizing as ever.
7/10
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