One of the biggest issues 'The Secret Circle' has been facing lately is how hard it’s been trying to create a respectable amount of mystery to keep us all interested, and that’s come at the expense of certain characters likeability and appeal. While its usual stuff kept things from getting soft, the writers' decision to give the girls some room to breathe meant that ‘Valentine’ was the best episode the series has had since its hiatus.
In ‘Valentine’ Cassie’s activation of the medallion causes her to become the target of vengeful spirits. Faye organises an anti-Valentine’s day girls’ night to keep their minds off their turbulent love lives but things quickly go south when Melissa and Diana take some Devil’s Spirit to loosen up.
Still following a semi-formulaic structure, ‘Valentine’ kept the series’ major theme of darkness a big part of this week’s offering as Cassie’s brief foray into her father’s world yielded its first major repercussion. While I really loved the way some of it unfolded, my eyes rolled more than once during Thomas Dekker’s ambitious, but slightly comedic portrayal of a possessed Adam. But for the first time in ages I’m finally excited about all of the dense mythology the show has started to touch on.
This week’s greatest moments, however, came in the form of an all girls night, complete with boy talk, and a pillow fight and everything (though sadly lacking in a decent game of “light as a feather, stiff as a board”). That’s always been one of the things that ‘Circle has held over ‘The Vampire Diaries’; we’re still dealing with teenagers here, why can’t they be excited at the prospect of living in a world filled with magic and eerie mystery? I know a "hot delivery guy" spell would be one of my first casts, that's for sure!
'Valentine' was the first episode in a while to explore the circle dynamics in a way that got each of the characters out of the rut they’ve been in for a few weeks now. Diana is still the greatest surprise. Since the pilot she’s shown the signs of a confident, self assured woman who, despite showing signs of vulnerability early on, has been one of the few straight forward people in the circle. That phone call to Adam was the greatest thing she’s ever done.
It’s great to see the titular love triangle kick off this week, especially considering how stagnant, and downright frustrating it’s been for a while. Now that the writers have finally decided to give Cassie and Adam a proper shot, I’m curious to know how it’ll all go down with the others. While, excitement wise, the whole thing is rather monotonous, Jake’s easy rapport and sizzling chemistry with Faye is what will keep all things romantic interesting in the coming weeks.
Still sporting a few small glitches, ‘The Secret Circle’ is once again proving itself to be great television, even if it’s all coming together at an annoyingly steady pace. Ugh, I hate being so impatient...
8.5/10
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