The Secret Circle - Season 1 Episode 22 - Family - Recap

The season finale of The Secret Circle brings on the twists and turns (and the crystal skulls) and delivers an ending with multiple cliffhangers. I had a blast!

Diana and her cute-but-annoying beau are chilling in his car when she finally decides to look at her missed calls and texts. Faye gets bullied by a witch hunter as Eben fetches her cell phone. Meanwhile, the circle is still kind of reeling over the fact that Blackwell manipulated the entire creation of their circle and seem at odds about whether or not they trust him enough to even warrant working with him. Eben calls Cassie and tells her that if she doesn’t bring him the crystal, then Faye is going to end up just like her parents… dead! Oh snap. He did not just play that card.

Jake thinks that the only way they are getting Faye back is if they use the power of the crystal skull to kill Eben (and the six demons possessing him). And of course, in order to do that, they need Blackwell. After they save Faye, the plan is to use the strength of their circle to deal with Blackwell. These kids really do make some very questionable choices.

Charles tells Dawn that he thinks Amelia is haunting him, and she tells him that this was just Blackwell’s plan all along. He really is a psycho, isn’t he? Charles says they need to get their powers back to help the circle. He’s such a great father figure, what with killing his friend in a fire and all. Hey, at least he’s trying to earn back his brownie points by doing some good deeds.

Cassie and Diana seek out Blackwell while Melissa, Adam, and Jake scope out the boat. Blackwell says that in order to create the crystal skull, they have to destroy each of the family crystals so that the energy will form back to its original shape. This will mean unbinding the circle, though. All those episodes in the beginning forming that circle, and they are just going to toss it out the window. Cassie pretty much makes the decision that they’re going to destroy the crystals without the consent of the rest of the circle. After doing some kooky ritual, they toss the crystals into the lake.

Jake wants to head into the boat to make sure Faye is okay, but the others protest a bit. Their powers come flooding back, and they don’t realize it until Adam accidentally knocks Jake to his feet. Inside the boat, Faye manages to break free from her chains and knocks the guy guarding her unconscious, taking back her phone.

Dawn and Charles go to his mother in the hopes that she will be able to help them regain their powers, just as Faye calls her mom in desperation. She tells her mom that she knows she’s a witch and that Eben and the hunters have got the place surrounded so she can’t escape. Faye knocks out the guy again after he tries to capture her and is cut off from her mom. Dawn also finds out that the power her and Charles possessed cannot be restored, but his mother is willing to give them hers.

Cassie picks up the blob of energy from the lake “as it’s still forming”, overwhelmed by it’s power. Cassie and Diana put their hands together and fully form it from a blob of energy into the crystal skull. At least it’s not actually an alien like in Indiana Jones. Melissa can’t get ahold of Cassie, so Adam leaves to go find her and Diana. Melissa and Jake set out to rescue Faye. Cassie gets possessive over the skull, and suddenly I feel like I’m watching a witch-themed version of Lord of the Rings. The magic is super-advanced, and it takes more than a little convincing for Cassie to give it up. Blackwell knocks out both Diana and Cassie with his magic. No!

Charles is taken aback when he finds out his mom knew all along that Diana wasn’t really his child, and I love how he’s on a little quest for redemption now! Jake and Melissa find Faye almost right away; Jake and Faye have a super cute reunion kiss up until Eben shows up and knocks the three of them to the ground. When Cassie and Diana come to, they realize in horror that Blackwell has them both trapped inside a circle barrier. He says everything he’s doing is for Cassie and Diana, and that they shouldn’t worry about the others. What the hell! Meanwhile, Eben has Jake, Diana, and Faye all tied up and starts a fire around them. Deja vu all over again on this boat!

Charles and Dawn show up on the boat just as they see the smoke. When they come across Eben, the two of them split up as Charles attempts to face Eben head-on and pull the demons from his body using magic. Those worms are so gross. Dawn puts out the fire and saves everyone as the worms crawl inside of Charles and demons overtake his body. This can’t be happening. The others leave as Jake stabs Eben in the chest. That’s definitely some solid payback for killing his parents and Nick. After Charles says to tell Diana he loves her, he jumps off the boat and into the water. There is no way he’s dead, that fall couldn’t possibly have killed him! At least I hope not…

Cassie figures out that Blackwell never planned to kill Eben in the first place. His plan all along was to kill all the witches… every single witch without Balcoin blood. There are four others in different places, so Blackwell’s plan is to build a pure and perfect circle made only of Balcoin blood. When Adam limps in, Blackwell roughs him up quite a bit. The skull really starts burning all the other witches in a very painful manner from the inside. I can’t watch Adam and Jake writhing on the ground, that’s just not right. Cassie strangles Diana to unleash her dark magic and the two of them break out of the barrier. For a second there, she totally looked like a deranged lunatic. Together, Diana and Cassie overpower Blackwell and kill him with the crystal skull, reversing his spell. He better be dead for real this time!

When they all regroup, Cassie can’t apologize enough for trusting Blackwell. It took him dying for you to realize that he was a manipulative creeper? Really? They decide that Adam should get rid of the crystal skull. Cassie wants to bind their circle again as protection from the other Balcoins, but Diana dashes her hopes when she tells her that she’s leaving for good. Seeing her non-reaction with what happened to Charles kind of pissed me off. She just has no reaction to her (fake) father sacrificing himself for her? That’s just poppycock. Jake and Faye have a really cute moment when the circle disperses. I love them as a couple now more than ever!

Closing montage time now, complete with cliffhangers! Diana meets up with her nameless-and-thus-far-unimportant-hubby and decides to leave with him. She has a creepy marking on her hand, and so does Cassie; the same one on Blackwell’s hand! Faye and Melissa celebrate with some alcohol and great music, obviously back to using magic for anything and everything. Charles is still alive, his mother cutting his arm open in a puzzling-looking ritual. Jake gets a note from his grandpa about other circles coming together along with a package that contains a weird vial-type thing. Adam isn’t hiding the skull, but looks as if he’s being completely consumed by it’s power. The closing scene of season 1 gives us a from-behind look at the four other witches with Balcoin blood.

I want season 2 now! I can safely say almost every character was given a cliffhanger with their storyline. CW, please renew The Secret Circle!