By John Keegan

I'll give the writers credit for being relatively clever; the characters constantly joke about how their prom activities don't exactly match the typical teenage experience.  And for that matter, they talk about how they are ultimately outsiders that will never have a normal life.  I'd be tempted to invite them to Mystic Falls, where they would blend in just fine.

By John Keegan

It’s becoming apparent that the writers for “The Secret Circle” have had a plan in mind over the course of the season, if only in terms of overall broad strokes and how it should all fit together.  It’s also apparent to me that they just couldn’t make a potentially interesting story work with a miscast lead character and inconsistent execution.  Things have been better since the arrival of John Blackwell, but it still feels like the show is grasping at straws.

By John Keegan

This far into the season, I’m still of the opinion that the writers are struggling to shove the narrative towards some semblance of a grand unifying conclusion, even if the various plot points don’t necessarily gel very well.  We finally get a resolution to a long-standing mystery, and there’s some clarification to the overall generational conflict, but all the meandering, fits, and false starts of the season have left me cold.

By John Keegan

It’s telling that we’re this close to the end of the season, and yet I still feel like this series/season hasn’t figured out where it wants to go or how to wrap all the various threats and problems into one manageable package.  Some attempt is made in this episode to combine a few plot threads, but it’s not particularly convincing.

By John Keegan

In an episode seemingly designed to bring some sense of clarity to the series, at least in terms of who is ultimately the one behind all the various threats, there was quite a bit of messiness.  At least the writers managed to deal with some of the loose ends, even if it still feels like they are flying by the seat of their pants.

by John Keegan

The winter cliffhanger for “The Secret Circle” didn’t exactly inspire much confidence in the direction the story was going, and sure enough, this episode seems to meander around a bit.  There are some big moments, but they just don’t seem to have the same impact.

By John Keegan

The writers have been hinting at the reveal of John Blackwell for so long, in relation to Cassie’s infusion of dark power, that it was probably inevitable that the eventual arrival of the man would be a disappointment.  And sure enough, I found very little interesting about Blackwell.  If anything, I was left with the notion that he was as terribly miscast as Cassie.