THE SECRET CIRCLE: “The Crystal” – A Talisman for Good or Evil?

The official synopsis for this week’s The Secret Circle reads: To protect themselves from the witch hunters, Jake, Cassie and Faye seek out Jake’s grandfather Royce, to find his family’s crystal and are confronted with disturbing theories about the events of sixteen years ago. Meanwhile, Diana tries to balance her pursuit of the Glaser crystal with Melissa and Adam with her romantic life with Grant, who demands to know what she’s hiding. At the same time, Callum attempts to re-insert himself into Melissa’s life. Charles and Jane plot their move against Blackwell.

Crystals aren’t the only things the circle finds in their quest. As Melissa and Faye search a trunk which contains bills and such, they come across Dawn’s diary. In it, Faye discovers that her mother was in love with John Blackwell back in the day before Faye came along, but while she was married to Tom and Blackwell was married to Amelia. This leads her to believe that she is the “other Blackwell child” among the circle.

As Jake, Cassie and Faye head out to search through Jake’s grandfather’s house they discover drawings, papers, books and all other forms of documentation on Cassie’s circle as well as others. He has followed the history of the circles since the very first witches which were scattered in order to save themselves from hunters. What Royce has discovered is that John Blackwell was completely focused on making children, thereby strengthening the Balcoin bloodline. His ultimate purpose is in destroying the hunters once and for all.

Meanwhile, Charles shows up at Cassie’s house where Jane has returned and they are plotting to kill John Blackwell. Jane has invited him for coffee and she is spelling a chair for him to sit in that will render him powerless. Then she will kill him using the same method Jake did when he killed Calvin. She has the jar hidden in the wall behind a sconce and it contains a ring once worn by Blackwell and some of his blood. Jane concocted this 16 years ago, saying that she should have killed him when she had the chance. “I underestimated the hold he had on Amelia, and on all of you,” she tells Charles. They both vow not to make the same mistake again.

Back at Royce’s house, he is telling the group that 300 years ago 18 witches escaped the witch trials and spit into three circles, spreading out across the country. One of them settled in Chance Harbor and this is where Cassie’s circle is descended from. Royce says that 16 years ago, a Balcoin descendant tried to corrupt the Chance Harbor circle, telling them lies, teaching them dark magic and pushing them to confront the witch hunters. This ended in the massacre on the boat. Blackwell, realizing that his only chance at a truly powerful circle would have to come from within the circle. This is why he wanted to create children – to form a circle that was steeped in dark magic. If the two other circles could be made dark and all three join together, they would be powerful enough to tip the balance between good and evil. Royce says that it’s too late to save Cassie’s circle because they are bound. When Cassie asks if having the crystals will help to save her circle, he tells them that the crystals are far too dangerous for anyone to have. In the wrong hands, they are deadly. His is hidden in a mine and spelled so that no witch with dark magic can go near it.

We find out what the crystals, when put together, will be. They are all part of a crystal skull that is the most powerful weapon of destruction ever created. So of course, Cassie, Faye and Jake call the others to go after Royce’s crystal. He has a map to where it’s hidden on his wall, among all his drawings. Just at that point, a window is shattered and the group find the map has been stolen. The thief? Callum.

Cassie had been taking pictures of Royce’s wall with her cell camera, so she has the map and sends it out to Adam, Melissa and Diana, and tell them to meet them at the mine before Callum gets there.

As we look back in on Jane and Charles with Blackmore, Jane has succeeded in trapping John and Charles hands her the witch killing thingy. First, Jane wants to know if he is truly the one who killed Amelia. She has the crystal and it will turn black if he is lying. It doesn’t turn so she believes him and doesn’t want to go through with killing him, but Charles is determined. He drops the match in the jar but it’s Jane who falls over dead. So now Charles has murdered Cassie’s mother and grandmother. how do you think she’s going to handle this news?

Adam and Melissa retrieve the crystal before Callum gets to the mine, but he’s got a gun and persuades them to give him the crystal. The rest of the circle arrive and catch Callum and Jake marks him before telling him to hit the road for good.

In the final scenes, Diana tells Cassie that after they finish with the witch hunter thing, she’s taking a break from this life. She wants normal. Cassie tries to talk her out of it, then asks her why she didn’t show up at the mine. Diana tells her she did but she couldn’t go in. She had the same reaction Cassie had when she got to the entrance of the mine. She couldn’t breathe. Guess what?!

Next week on The Secret Circle, when a crystal is magically stolen from the abandoned house, the Circle decides it was the traitor witch working with Eben so Jake calls for a meeting with Isaac to see if they can get him to change sides. Cassie’s loose grasp on her dark magic threatens to destroy any possible alliance when their pursuit of the traitor leads them to the “Creepiest Place on Earth.” Meanwhile, Faye and Jake work together to steal Dawn’s crystal, Melissa and Adam pair up and uncover a new magic trick. Meanwhile, a frustrated Diana reaches out to Charles for help in Traitor.

Watch The Secret Circle Thursday nights at 9/8c, on the CW.