Skip to main content
Close

Secret Circle: Series Premiere

By Andrea Pilar Nevil · September 12, 2011

Okay, I’ll admit it. Though it pains me to say this, I love Twilight. I’ve read all of the books, and I’ve definitely attended a midnight showing or two of the movies. And though I know as a film and television elitist I’m “supposed” to frown upon these types of frivolous teen heartthrob/fantasy themes, I guiltily can’t seem to stay away. Even the spin-off entertainment that has developed out of the Twilight phenomenon, such as True Blood or Vampire Diaries has left me with an undeniable thirst for the supernatural that has now been quenched with the CW’s new “teen witch” drama Secret Circle.

Secret Circle revolves around Cassie (Brittany Robertson) who moves to a small town to live with her grandmother after her mother dies in what was believed to be a tragic fire. She immediately meets your typical high school diverse characters; the “bitch,” Faye (Phoebe Tonkin), who immediately intimidates Cassie though she is quickly befriended by Diana (Shelley Hennig) and Adam (Thomas Dekker). We soon learn that these teenagers as well as two others form a covenant of witches descended from past generations, and together their powers will be unstoppable. They reveal this secret to Cassie and, though at first disbelieving, she discovers the power within herself and that her mother’s death may not have been an accident.

This drama has all of the allure of a typical CW show; attractive angst-ridden teens with supernatural abilities set to the backdrop of a small dreary town and “Indie” music. A proven recipe for success among the tween/teen audience, what sets Secret Circle apart from all of the other “teen witch soap operas” is the darker edge to the story usually left out to Disney-fy the idea of witchcraft. From the creators of The Vampire Diaries, Secret Circle doesn’t shy away from the consequences of too much power in the wrong hands. Our heroine loses her mother to murder in the first scene and is later trapped in a burning vehicle herself by one of her so-called “new friends.” Kind of strays away from my happy-go-lucky tweenhood of Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Charmed doesn’t it?

The vampire/witch/werewolf phenomenon doesn’t seem to be dying down. In fact it only seems to expand as every time I drive down Sunset Blvd, billboards show of a new fantasy/romance soon to be plaguing our television or silver screens. Perhaps it allows the shy girl in everyone (or really just girls) to dare to dream that a hunky pensive warlock, or vampire or whatever you’re into will fight for your love and that you have the powers to do something about it. Our (and I reluctantly put myself in this category) unhealthy obsession with the supernatural has led to such incidents as teens biting necks as a sign of affection for their significant other, but mostly it has led to television shows such as Secret Circle that are sure to satisfy our need for magic, at least for the time being.