The Secret Circle

A series on the CW based on a book trilogy by L.J. Smith, who also created The Vampire Diaries.

Cassie Blake thought she was just a normal girl, until her mother is murdered by a witch who makes it look like a gas explosion. She moves in with her grandmother, and soon comes to the attention of five of her new classmates. They're all children of witches, and explain to Cassie that her mother was a witch too. And with Cassie in town, they now have a full "circle" of six members, meaning their powers have increased dramatically. Cassie must decide for herself whether to accept what it appears destiny has in store for her. Meanwhile, her mother's killer is also a resident, and the father of one of the Circle...

"Jake: A storm is coming. *a storm in the sky* Cassie: You think? What gave it away, the clouds or the thunder?"
 * Actor Allusion: Grey Damon plays a character who gets.
 * Adaptation Dye Job: Cassie is a brunette in the books, while Diana is a blonde.
 * Amusement Park of Doom: Described by Faye as the "creepiest place on earth'', with Evil Clown statues and murals, dark and dirty rooms, and not improved by the addition of real corpses.
 * Anyone Can Die: As you'd expect from the team behind The Vampire Diaries. Significantly speaking, it starts with  and continues on through , much to the Circle's grief.
 * //:, though.
 * Badass Grandma: Jane.
 * Bad Powers, Good People: Cassie at first, though fits this more now.
 * Because Destiny Says So: A major theme of the series, with just about everything happening because of it. As well, Adam's father claims that he and Cassie's mother were destined to be together, and things went wrong because that didn't happen.
 * Batman Gambit: Apparently the binding of the new circle's powers is exactly what Dawn Chamberlain and Charles Meade wanted in the first place.
 * Big Bad Ensemble: So far, there's at least both Charles and Dawn -- who often seem on the verge of stabbing each other in the back -- and the witch hunters (especially Eben), neither of whom really seem to know about each other. There's also the threat of demons, along with anything else that may come up.
 * Big Bad Duumvirate:  and Eben are the real Big Bad(s) in the season finale.
 * Break the Cutie: In the past few episodes, Diana . Cassie has suffered just as much, though, what with.
 * But Now I Must Go: Jake does this after saving Cassie, though he soon returns.
 * does the same in "Family", since.
 * The Chessmaster: Blackwell to the extreme. Not only does he seem to have a plan for everything, "Prom" reveals that he.
 * Dawson Casting: Played straight, naturally. The youngest cast member of the main cast, Britt Robertson, is 21 and the oldest, Jessica Parker Kennedy is 27.
 * Demonic Possession:
 * Demoted to Extra: Nick was Cassie's love interest in the books. In the series he is quickly  and replaced by his older brother Jake (who wasn't in the books).
 * Jane was also prominent in the first nine episodes. Since then, she's only appeared a couple of times.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Cassie certainly is this.


 * Faye is equally snarky.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: Charles is horrified when  and the other witch hunters are genuinely afraid of Eben.
 * Evil All Along:, though this was fairly obvious to some people.
 * Evil Sounds Deep: A side effect of Demonic Possession, natch.
 * Fake American: Phoebe Tonkin, the actress who plays Faye, is actually from Australia.
 * Louis Hunter and Jessica Parker Kennedy are from Australia and Canada, respectively.
 * Natasha Henstridge is Canadian as well.
 * Fantastic Drug: The concoction Nick and Faye were taking in Episode 2. Magic itself could also count.
 * "Medallion" introduces us to a magical "enhancer" called Devil's Spirit.
 * Five-Man Band
 * The Hero: Cassie
 * The Lancer: Faye
 * The Smart Guy: Diana
 * The Big Guy: Adam
 * The Chick: Melissa
 * The Sixth Ranger: Nick . Jake seems to be a more traditional type.
 * Team Dad:  and  actual dad.
 * Hair of Gold: Cassie in the TV show. Diana in the books.
 * Heel Face Turn: Jake.
 * He Who Fights Monsters: Eben seems to have become this from fighting
 * Hot Witch: All four female members of the Circle. Also Dawn and Charles' mother, Kate.
 * Hugh Mann: Abaddon doesn't do an especially good job pretending to be, and ends up holding Nick at scissor-point to make the others obey when they catch on.
 * Hypocrite:
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: Cassie.
 * I Just Want to Be Special: Faye.
 * Jerkass: Nick, at first; also Callum.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Faye, most definitely so far...at least where Melissa is concerned.
 * Killed Off for Real: See Anyone Can Die above.
 * Kill It with Fire: ; also the demon snakes.
 * Kill It with Water:
 * Love Triangle: Type 10. Adam is in a relationship with Diana, but has UST with Cassie.
 * Morality Pet: Melissa for Faye.
 * Interestingly Diana for Cassie.
 * Murder Is the Best Solution: Cassie seem to think this in the latest episodes but before killing someone a Morality Pet stops her.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Cassie and Faye.
 * Offscreen Teleportation: One moment  is tied up and lying on the couch, then the camera and the characters look away for a second. When they look back, she's untied and standing next to them. It's not clear if this is done by magic or demonic speed, but it's a fairly creepy moment.
 * Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Phoebe Tonkin pulls off a pretty convincing American accent, but you can detect the barest hint of her Australian accent on certain words. It's especially evident if you're familiar with her voice from her other major role.
 * Nick's Aussie comes out when.
 * Parental Abandonment: Several of the main characters have a parent that is dead or that has not been mentioned. Cassie, Jake and Nick have lost both of their parents.
 * Playing Against Type: Chris Zylka usually plays Brainless Beauty types. Not so much here.
 * Playing Gertrude: Occurs naturally with Dawson Casting. The most egregious examples are Cassie and her mother and Charles Meade and his mother, both only thirteen years apart.
 * To be fair, Cassie's mother did have her in high school so this isn't that bad.
 * Playing with Fire:
 * Redemption Equals Death:  in the season finale, though.
 * Refusal of the Call: Cassie, at first.
 * Screwed by the Network: Despite decent ratings, the show was cancelled by The CW after one season. Apparently, it's not even going to get a DVD release.
 * Six-Student Clique
 * Shipper on Deck: Ethan is a hardcore Cassie and Adam shipper, believing that they're destined to be together. He even convinces.
 * Shirtless Scene: Nick. Lampshaded by Cassie when she wonders if he even owns a shirt.
 * Single Line of Descent: The coven are all descendants of six witch families (twelve in the books). How six families managed to intermarry for 300 years without inbreeding is a hefty bit of Fridge Logic. It's later explained that there are other witches and circles within Chance Harbor, allowing for new blood to enter the coven, and while the Circle is made of six witch families, the previous Circle contained twelve witches (a member from each of the families and their spouse).
 * The Reveal: In "Balcoin", Isaac tells us that . This is just one of many during the series, though...
 * "Crystal" reveals the child to be.
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Faye.
 * Token Evil Teammate: Faye is a subversion: she has all the surface traits, but doesn't want to hurt anyone and is scared of losing control of her powers.
 * Troubled but Cute: Nick, Jake.
 * True Companions: The members of the Circle, but some more reluctantly than others. (Faye in particular wasn't much of a team player at first.) Of course, in their case they don't really have a choice, since their powers only work when two or more of them are together.
 * Wham! Episode: "Witness", which ups the HSQ with its revelations that.
 * "Crystal" kills off  and reveals that   is Cassie's half-sister.
 * "Traitor" reveals that  and has killed a number of the witch hunters.
 * "Prom" kills  off for good and reveals that   -- oh, and.
 * "Family" outdoes them all, fitting for a season finale -- ...oh, and  . However, it seems that   It's a shame the show's been canceled.
 * Wham! Line: Specifically, the moment in "Crystal" when.
 * Witch Species
 * You Killed My Parents: Jake gets his revenge on  in "Family" -- and it was a long time coming.
 * You Killed My Parents: Jake gets his revenge on  in "Family" -- and it was a long time coming.