The Secret Circle - Pilot, S01E10

Televising another book series by Vampire Diaries writer L.J. Smith, and having executive producer Kevin Williamson on board, is pretty sure to make another huge hit. After all, those who like vampires are probably also into witches, and the quality of thought in terms of plot and detail is likely to be as good. And while The Secret Circle seems far more directed at teenagers than the Vampire Diaries, it still has enough elements that a fantasy-loving adult could well take to it too.

The pilot started well. Excellently in fact. When a mysterious man shows up out of nowhere and uses magic to create an inferno and kill a woman we were clearly supposed to like in the first five minutes of a show, you really get the sense that the punches will not be pulled. People will die, and in rather extreme ways, which is great! I don't always like having characters I like die, but it certainly raises the stakes. I hope that the risk and danger incited by this act continue.

On the other hand, I wasn't quite so into the first meetings of our lead cast. I like Cassie (Britt Robertson), and I think she was wonderfully cast. Robertson has a depth of personality that allows her to be complex enough to be interesting. Adam (Thomas Dekker), on the other hand, leaves me quite cold. I don't know what his feelings about Cassie's arrival are, and I can't tell whether that's because the Director is trying to misdirect us, or because Dekker simply isn't consistent. Plus the whole romantic line between him and Cassie seems really forced, and pisses me off because he has a girlfriend. Granted, there really doesn't seem to be anything going on in that relationship anyway, but inconstant is not a term I want to use to label the lead male.

As for the rest of the teenagers, they are a little cookie-cutter at the moment. I can only hope that will develop as we go.

Naturally, I am more interested in the adults of the series, the parents of our teenage heroes, as well as in the secrets and mysteries that they are keeping. What happened 16 years ago? Clearly a whole lot of people died, but I do want to know how and why. What made these people the way they are? The questions that make me want to keep watching are all about the parents, and about how Cassie is going to manage in this new world she has been introduced to.

The show is likely to be a huge success. Pairing it with Vampire Diaries is going to give both shows terrific advantage in terms of keeping their teenage and young adult audiences. Whether the demographic past 25 remains tuned in will simply depend on how things develop. If the mysteries remain interesting and the younger actors flesh their characters out a bit more, it could be quite the enjoyable guilty pleasure.

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