This
episode had to be amazing, didn’t it? Just to make it even more awful for me to
say goodbye. Ugh. Family wasn’t altogether shocking; in fact everything that
happened was kind of to be expected. Predictable doesn’t adequately describe
it though, because it was all stuff that had to happen. The Secret Circle was headed in
the right direction, characters were even more appealing than they were before
and the future looked bright. One thing’s for certain: season two would have
been amazing.
In the last
episode of the series, ‘Family’, Cassie and Diana use Blackwell to activate the
crystal skull to save Faye when she’s kidnapped by the circle. Trapped inside,
Faye asks her mother, Dawn for help, who tries to regain her power, but at a
huge cost.
There’s was
very little left to learn in Family. Everything of value had been divulged in
bit and pieces all year, but the way that all of the information was presented here
tied everything up quite nicely, with Blackwell’s full plan reaching fruition,
and the truth about their parents’ deaths making more sense than it did before.
The only new information here was the revelation about the Balcoin circle. The possibilities
it could have provided are endless, and it was a wonderful way of ushering us
into what was supposed to be the show’s sophomore year. With some new blood and
a fresh take on the show’s group dynamics, who knows what could have happened.
Like a lot of
episodes, this one dedicated a lot of time to the exploration of dark magic.
One thing I don’t’ get is what possessed Cassie to hurt Diana like that, even
if she was desperate to get her to stop their father? And why was Diana so
reluctant to use hers? It was great seeing them face Blackwell together, but I
have no idea what the consequences could have been for them individually. Would
Diana have had to fight her inner darkness like Cassie? From what I could derive
from it, the last scene with Cassie seems to point at her becoming a lot more
personal with her own dark magic, probably giving the new Blackwells the
opening they needed. So many questions that can never be answered!
After
watching this episode, I don’t know why the circle wasn’t unbound before. Group
magic was never really used to its full potential at all, just a few mass
chanting sessions here and there, but the solo magic proved far more exciting
and volatile, even just from what we got to see here, not just exploding light bulbs
and floating raindrops. There was a lot of fun to be had with it, and it helped
bring this episode to a satisfying climax.
It’s hard
to analyse any of the cliff-hangers we were left with, considering they’ll
never really go anywhere. I’ve discussed Cassie, and the new Blackwell
off-spring already, but it seems as though Adam was about to follow Cassie down
the seductive magic road. Faye and Melissa’s scene was really great, full of
all that fun and magic that I’ve talked about before, with their solo magic
making things even more fun than it did when they were bound. Charles seems to
be falling into Heather’s footsteps, and Jake’s final scene was a little bit
too vague to derive anything from it, other than the crystals were being
replaced with other annoying magic item. I don’t think Diana would have found
any solace other than a few moments to herself on her trip with Grant. Her bond
with the circle is far too intense, and she’s much too moral to leave the rest
of her circle hanging when they would have undoubtedly gotten themselves in
danger.
Over the past
year I’ve really grown attached to these characters, which is strange
considering how difficult so many others found it to connect with them at all.
Faye was awesome from the start, taking sassy to a whole other level. Cassie
was immediately engaging, even if she went a little brain dead for a while
there. The biggest surprise was Diana, someone who started out so straight
forward, but grew and blossomed into one of the show’s defining personalities. The
parents were a little harder to get used to; popping in and out and muttering
about crystals wasn’t enough to solidify them as integral parts of the cast.
Family was the first episode to bring them into the fold properly, even changing
Charles into a martyr, sacrificing everything for his daughter. If there was
one thing this show did best, it was giving us an easily accessible cast.
Now that it’s
all been said and done, and the show’s fate is sealed, it’s hard to pinpoint
where it all went wrong. Why didn’t it catch on? Was it the lack of Ian
Somerhalder? Not enough carnage? Did you just not connect with the characters,
or was it just not your thing? Despite a few misfires, the Secret Circle’s
first season proved far more cohesive and consistent than the Vampire Diaries’
first attempt. It may not have been as throttling, or as crazily paced, but I
wouldn’t say it was inferior. The Secret Circle had its own identity, it’s just
a shame it wasn’t one that found its own audience. I can’t really blame the CW
for renewing other shows over it either, but I can’t wait to see Beauty and the
Beast tank, just to spite them. I’m not getting my hopes up for it returning in
another format either, which is a shame ‘cause if there’s any other show more
deserving of a second chance, it’s this one.
Family was
exactly the finale this season/series needed. Despite the fact that the circle
was splitting apart, the show itself felt more bound together than it ever had
been before and the prospects for next season were incredibly exciting. I’m
really going miss this show, and Faye, and Diana, hell, I’ll even miss Cassie’s
dark magic/constipation face. RIP The Secret Circle, you’ll be missed. Now, if
you’ll excuse me, I have to go cry into my book of shadows.
10/10
This comment is ridiculous, but based on the photos you use, it's like the leads in both this show and Once Upon a Time are played by the same actress. Freakin' identical! Heh.
ReplyDeleteHaha, that's something I've never noticed until now!
ReplyDeleteThey don't look alike at all, but the two pictures I chose do make it seem that way don't they?!
I think it's actually the one for Prom. She looks like a complete dead ringer for Jennifer Morrison there, even though, as you said, they look nothing alike in reality.
ReplyDelete