Pilot Thoughts: The Secret Circle

I've always been a fan of witches and witchcraft. In my youth I was all over witch-centric films and TV shows like The Craft, Practical Magic, and Charmed. Hell, my favorite character on my favorite show played a witch! So when I heard that the CW was going to do with witches what they did with vampires (The Vampire Diaries) and upper East Side spoiled brats (Gossip Girl) then I knew I would give it a chance even though I'm probably a decade and a penis away from their prime demographic.

And thus how I came to watch the premiere of The Secret Circle. Here's the thing though, I think I liked it. I found the main girl (played by Brittany Robertson) not as blank or cloying as would be typical in a show of this nature and I, as a viewer, felt connected to her pretty quickly. It helped that the opening scenes featured her mom dying in a fire (shades of Supernatural) and then the rest of the episode was her trying to make it in a new school with people wanting her to reluctantly face her destiny (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). There's even a cute boy (Thomas Dekker) she may like, but he has a girlfriend who isn't a total bitch so she can't hate hate her.! THE HORROR! Okay, that last part was me poking a bit of fun, but there's definitely something I found fascinating about the show. Maybe it's the adults and their secrets. Of course, I was less than shocked to find Natasha Henstridge's character team up with "evil" Gale Harold (does he play any other kind of character) in the end and I'm looking forward to seeing what their endgame actually is. Their mysterious and violent past intrigue me enough to the point that I think I'll be able to handle all of the teen drama stuff.

So while it wasn't love at first sight, if they don't forget about the adults and the main character remains engaging, and they don't shy away from frequently featuring magicks then I'm tentatively in. B