"Return" is the 15th episode of the first season of the
CW television series ''
The Secret Circle
The Secret Circle is a supernatural, young-adult series of books created by L. J. Smith. The narrative follows the character of Cassie Blake as she is initiated into a "Circle" of eleven other teenage witches and the danger that ensues when they ...
''. It aired on February 16, 2012. The episode was written by David Ehrman and directed by
Brad Turner.
Plot
John Blackwell (
Joe Lando
Joseph John Lando (born December 9, 1961) is an American actor, known for playing Jake Harrison on daytime's ''One Life to Live'' (1990–1992) and Byron Sully on the television series ''Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman'' (1993–1998).
Life and c ...
) appears on Cassie's (
Britt Robertson
Brittany Leanna Robertson (born April 18, 1990) is an American actress. She is known for her lead role in '' The First Time'' (2012), and has appeared in the films ''Tomorrowland'' (2015), '' The Space Between Us'' (2017), ''A Dog's Purpose'' ...
) doorstep telling her that he is her father and that he came because he felt her energy when she used the medallion. He asks her not to tell anyone that he is back and to meet him later to talk. Cassie tells Adam (
Thomas Dekker) despite her father's request and Adam tells Cassie to not meet him alone because he doesn't trust him after everything they heard about him.
Cassie meets her father but when he asks for the medallion she realizes that he is here for the medallion and not for her. Saying that Adam was right about him, she leaves. After getting into her car the leader of the witch hunters, Eben (Sammi Rotibi), drugs her and takes her away.
Jake (
Chris Zylka
Chris Zylka (born Christopher Michael Settlemire; born May 9, 1985) is an American actor and model, known for his roles in the films ''Shark Night'' (2011), ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' (2012), Doyce Plunk in the TV series ''Zeke and Luther'' (2009â ...
) is looking for Cassie but he can't find her. Instead, he meets Blackwell. Suspecting that Cassie might be a captive of the witch hunters, Jake runs to find them and trade her life for Blackwell's. Eben is surprised that Blackwell is alive and he accepts the offer. He does not kill Cassie but he does cast a spell on her.
Jake meets Blackwell again and he takes him to the witch hunters. They exchange Cassie for Jake, not for Blackwell, and Jake is wondering why they take him. Eben tells him that Cassie will kill her father so he won't have to do it and then he attempts to kill Jake. The rest of the Circle members get there in time stopping Eben and saving Jake's life.
Meanwhile, Cassie already started the ritual to kill Blackwell. Even if she can understand what she is doing, she can't stop because she is under a spell. The Circle gets there and all together, manage to free Cassie from the spell. They save Blackwell but now they are all wondering how Eben managed to do a spell since he is not a witch.
In the meantime, Callum (
Michael Graziadei
Michael Graziadei (born September 22, 1979) is an American actor, known for his role as Daniel Romalotti on the CBS daytime soap opera ''The Young and the Restless''.
Life and career
Graziadei was born in Germany. He returned to the United Stat ...
) invites Melissa (
Jessica Parker Kennedy
Jessica Parker Kennedy (born October 3, 1984) is a Canadian actress. She played Melissa Glaser on the CW series ''The Secret Circle'', Max on the Starz original series '' Black Sails'' and Nora West-Allen / XS on ''The Flash'', and has also app ...
) and Faye (
Phoebe Tonkin
Phoebe Jane Elizabeth Tonkin (born 12 July 1989) is an Australian actress. She is known for portraying Cleo Sertori in '' H2O: Just Add Water'', Fiona Maxwell in ''Tomorrow, When the War Began'', Faye Chamberlain in ''The Secret Circle'', and H ...
) to a party. Faye declines his offer but Melissa accepts it and goes. In the party, Callum is making a voodoo trick with a totum similar to the one Lee (
Grey Damon
Grey Damon (born September 24, 1987) is an American actor, known for his roles in '' Friday Night Lights'', ''The Nine Lives of Chloe King'' and ''Station 19''. He resides in Los Angeles. Beginning with its premiere on May 28, 2015, Damon co-sta ...
) gave to Faye and he understands that Melissa is a witch.
Faye and Diana (
Shelley Hennig
Shelley Catherine Hennig (born January 2, 1987) is an American actress and model. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Teen Choice Award and two Daytime Emmy Award nominations.
Prior to pursuing an acting career, Hennig compet ...
) worry about Melissa spending time with Callum and they ask Lee's help to find her. When they do, Melissa tells Faye that Lee lied to her and that the totum is not giving energy but takes it instead. Faye is mad at Lee for using her and she leaves him alone.
Later, Lee appears to her house to prove to her that he really cares about her and he is not using her. He breaks the totum in front of her but at the same moment, his girlfriend (
Alexia Fast
Alexia Fast (born 12 September 1992) is a Canadian actress who began her career at the age of seven when she wrote, directed and starred in the short film ''The Red Bridge,'' which premiered at the 2002 Atlantic and Reel to Reel Film ...
) who's in coma, wakes up.
The episode ends with Blackwell visiting Jake and asking him to work with him and help him protect Cassie because he saw that Jake really cares about her.
Reception
Ratings
In its original American broadcast, "Return" was watched by 1.76 million; down 0.06 from the previous episode.
Reviews
"Return" received positive reviews.
Katherine Miller from ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' gave a B− rate to the episode.
Carissa Pavlica from ''TV Fanatic'' rated the episode with 4.5/5 stating that this might have been the best episode of ''The Secret Circle''.
Sarah Maines from ''The TV Chick'' said that the episode successfully built on its momentum from last week. "Overall, another entertaining episode. Two weeks in a row! Secret Circle is on a roll!"
Feature music
In the episode "Return" we can hear the songs:
* "Youth" by
Razika
Razika was a Norwegian alternative indie pop band from Møhlenpris, Bergen with various indie rock, punk, ska and reggae influences. While their early work featured some tracks in English, they primarily composed songs in their native Norwegian. I ...
* "Maniac" by
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (sometimes abbreviated to CYHSY) is the musical project of American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Alec Ounsworth, active since the early 2000s in and out of Philadelphia.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have rel ...
* "As Long As You Like" by Afrobeta
* "I Want You" by Bo Molasses
* "City Girl" by
The Jezabels
The Jezabels are an Australian indie rock band formed in Sydney in 2007. The band consists of lead vocalist Hayley Mary (born Hayley Frances McGlone), lead guitarist Sam Lockwood, pianist and keyboardist Heather Shannon, and drummer and percus ...
* "Fallin" by
JMSN
Christian Berishaj, better known by his stage name JMSN (pronounced Jameson), is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, music engineer and mixer. His debut album, ''Priscilla'', was released in 2012; he wrote an ...
References
External links
*
*
*
{{The Secret Circle
The Secret Circle (TV series) episodes
2012 American television episodes