In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.
Cassie's still reading the letter her mother left for her, as well has thumbing through her family's book of spells. Everybody's hair has grown longer since the pilot was filmed. Like, say, Melissa, who wakes up in bed at Nick's house. Cassie has been playing around with her powers and the results have been surprising. She asks for a candle to light and the sun gets brighter. She tries to close shirtless Nick's curtains and ends up slamming shut his window and breaking it. She's still not talking to Grandma about any of it. Faye's granddad, Dawn's father-in-law, drops by for a visit and it feels like there's unfinished business.
Mortal girls try to make friends with Cassie at school and Faye tries to tell her that all of the non-magic people are boring, but Cassie doesn't want to be friends with anyone in the Circle. Most of these bitches are in Chemistry class together, which is terrifying. Faye makes the beaker at Cassie's work station explode and she does the same right back, but bigger. Awesome. She meets Adam at the creepy old house later and reminds her that no one can know that they're witches. He tells her they found out they were witches because Diana had access to her family's book. A whole bunch of the old Circle died when they were trying to have their Binding Ceremony, which will apparently diminish individual powers but make them stronger as a whole.
Ethan meets with Henry, Faye's granddad, and tells him that Charlie almost drowned him on dry land. Henry reminds him that his Circle was stripped of their powers. Charlie didn't get the memo! Diana tried to talk Faye into the idea of the Binding Circle, but she doesn't want to harness her power. Cassie and Adam power a light bulb together, but she can also do it by herself. Then, she gets hot and bothered with Adam and his eyes that are CONSTANTLY trying to do bad things to her and the light bulb explodes.
At the local fair, Cassie helps sell tickets and becomes friends with normal Sally. Faye and Melissa compete at some ring-tossing game and it looks like Henry catches them doing magic. Diana catches up with Cassie and tells her that, if they bind the Circle, she'll be able to stop making things explode.
Henry tells Dawn that the new Circle is practicing and she later yells at Charlie that they have to be careful. A crystal holds all the power that that Circle has and he returns it to her. Diana is starting to get a little concerned about the amount of time that Adam and Cassie spend together. Likewise, Melissa's feeling jealous about Faye and Nick flirting with each other, then embarrassed with Faye tells her that she wouldn't touch Nick with a 10-foot magic wand.
At a dance on the water, Faye and Cassie get into an argument and Sally, the girl with no magic, comes Cassie's defense and Faye (accidentally, girl doesn't know WHAT she can do) pushes poor Sally through a guardrail and onto rocks. Dawn sees the accident and runs to the girl and puts the crystal on her skin, which makes her alive again. Faye feels horrible about it. Cassie agrees to bind the Circle, so that they won't hurt anyone else. Henry is onto Dawn and confronts her about having a crystal. He demands the crystal from her, but instead she makes him have a heart attack. Presumably dead grandpa.
Diana asks Adam if she should worry about him and Cassie. He kisses her and is all, NO! Then, he drives beside Cassie as she walks and commends her decision help with the binding. Then, he drives her to the beach. Unfortunately, their magic teenage heat makes the overhead streetlight burst. They all meet at the beach and try to bind this shiz. Each family represents one of the four elements, including blood and metal. Metal is interesting. Diana leads a spell as they all stand in a circle. They begin around a campfire and start to get nervous when the fire leaps as Diana reads the binding literature. Spooky teenagers!
Want more? The full recap starts right below!We see Cassie rereading the letter that she found from her mother, along with her family's book of spells, which looks like it was edited and illustrated by the team at McSweeney's. Nice job there. And, the ink and pictures and binding have held up remarkably well all these hundreds of years. The letter says that Cassie has great powers and people are going to come for her. Her mother hoped that keeping the secret about her reality would keep her safe, but she has only left her alone. She tells Cassie be wary of people, even those who claim to be friends (Looking at you, Grandma) and that her power is the only thing that can keep her safe. Cassie looks across the room at an unlit candle and gets an idea. She walks up to it and says, "Give me light," just like God did that one time. It doesn't seem to work, but she thinks real hard and says it louder. No fire on the candle, but the sun starts to shine brightly. She smiles but the smile fades as she begins to see how complicated this all might get.
Nick wakes up naked and tells the person he's with that she needs to leave. It's Melissa and her hair has grown tremendously since the pilot. I like the change. Magic is awesome. She tries to get some morning lovin' going on but he reminds her that his aunt is a Jesus freak. She feels dejected. He asks if things worked out with Cassie and the girls, but she reminds him that he's part of this too. She thinks that Faye's monsoon scared the crap out of her. Melissa says that Faye doesn't want to do the Binding Ceremony -- which I've capped because they talk it like that and I respect these witches. She asks him to keep their fling private and he asks if she thinks he'd want to brag about her. RUDE! What is that supposed to mean? That witch is hot! Anyway, she reacts accordingly and it's sad because she's still just wearing her bra and her jeans. He throws her shirt to her and seems a little embarrassed for her.
Melissa leaves and he starts shirtlessly staring at Cassie from across the way. She sees him and wonders aloud if he owns a shirt. She obviously knows he owns a shirt. Better question would be if the house across the way has a no shirt policy. That's an actual question. Cassie decides to try to close his curtains as she's apparently already comfortable using magic in her daily life. Instead, she shatters his window. Focus, Cassie. She runs downstairs and tells her Grandma (hair also longer) that she doesn't need to talk about anything. Granny KNOWS.
At the Boathouse, Adam is working when his hot piece of a drunk dad wanders in. Adam tells him that the Sea Fair is setting up for the weekend. Adam asks what's up with him and Charlie. Ethan says he's a punk, but Adam reminds him that Charlie's on the town council and is Diana's father. He asks Ethan to make an effort to get along. I think we're past that moment.
Faye and Dawn have a tense moment at home. They're an odd pair. Faye is outwardly bitchy with hints that she's probably not all that bad, while her mom appears to be this super-nurturing person and is probably much worse. If these ladies share The Secret Cycle, it's amazing that house hasn't burned to the ground. They have a conflict about Faye's outfit being too revealing, but Faye tells her to just live vicariously through her, because apparently the real Dawn has a hidden freak flag. She goes to leave and her Grandpa Henry is at the door. It's Faye's dead dad's dad. Faye leaves and Dawn asks him if everything is OK and he can stay as long as he wants. He reminds her that it's his home. Reunions!
At school, Cassie is walking through the hall real nervous-like. Class President Sally introduces herself to Cassie and tells her that she could help her with the Fair the day. Faye tears her away and says that Sally is lame. Then, she thanks Cassie for stopping the storm. She says that they just need to practice their powers. She also mentions that Cassie should say no when Diana approaches her about the Binding. Cassie asks why not and Faye says that it means Diana will be their dictator. Cassie tells her to buzz off.
Dawn is on the phone with Charlie. She asks him why Henry is in town, which obviously she would know better than Charlie. She asks if he thinks Henry is on to them but he doubts it. She says that Henry blames her for Tom (her dead baby daddy) being dead.
Cassie is in Chemistry. Adam and she share EYES. Melissa and Faye are lab partners. They start mixing some stuff and Faye casts a spell to make their beeker's contents boil. Then, she does it to Cassie, who looks around like, "Who lit the match?" She realizes that it's Faye, who just smiles. Then, her beeker bursts, because either Faye is just horrible at magic or is super trying to piss Cassie off. So, Cassie makes an even bigger flame under Faye's beeker and it explodes in an even bigger way. Cassie runs out of the classroom, because you can apparently do that where she came from. That shit can NOT fly in Chance Harbor. Anyway, I guess it does fly, because Adam follows her. She's freaked because her anger made her explode that beeker and she doesn't know how to control it. He tells her that she can't -- by herself. He can help her though. Smooth move, Chester.
Adam takes Cassie to the abandoned house and she asks why they come there. Answer: because it's abandoned. No one can know about them. He tells her that they found out that they were witches when Diana found her family's book. Cassie doesn't let on that she has hers. The others aren't available because witchcraft was abolished after the deaths of Adam's mom, Cassie's dad, Faye's dad, Diana's mom, Melissa's mom and both of Nick's parents. Some thanks for creating Chance Harbor's early '90s baby boom, huh? Cassie doesn't know anything about the accident. The official story is that they were partying on a boat and there was a fire. Diana thinks it's because they didn't bind the circle. So much bureaucracy for this magic stuff, huh? The line of thinking is that every witch is born into a circle and a bound circle is the only way to utilize the powers and still be able to control their effects. Cassie laments that it feels like she's living in a Harry Potter movie and Adam scoffs, "He has a wand." New drinking game: every time somebody something that could easily be heard as a sexual comment, shoot your witch's brew. Adam says that this magic stuff is not all bad.
Ethan is telling Henry that Charlie almost killed him earlier. Henry reminds him that all of the people in his Circle were stripped of their powers. He doesn't seem to like Ethan that much, but Ethan insists that Charlie was using magic. He says that he was talking to Cassie about her mother and Charlie must have been afraid that he would say something stupid, which he assures Henry he did not do.
Diana catches up with Faye and Melissa and says that Adam took the blame for the Chemistry class hoo-ha, but it was ANOTHER close call. She insists that they should bind the Circle, but Faye's not having it. Melissa suggests that it might be helpful to not have a lot of stray energy floating around, but still no. Diana insists that it's selfish not to bind, but she is great with being selfish.
Adam does this weird experiment thing where he makes Cassie hold a light bulb and tells her to focus on energy and try to light that thing. It only works in fits until he looks deep her eyes and tells her to breath. Then, things get thick and the light bulb bursts. Sexual tension! Then, Cassie dashes, which I notice she does a lot.
It's time for the Sea Fair! Cassie goes with Grandma then meets up with Sally, who seems like a really sweet girl. She agrees to sell tickets to help. Faye and Melissa are cheating at a ring tossing game, which doesn't seem like that much fun. Henry sees them winning like crazy and is suspicious. Diana finds Cassie and says that they need her. She's not game.
Nick and Faye do this weird potion thing that he made from herbs and spices. Faye continues her line about how they need to practice their magic more instead of binding. The drug takes effect and makes them all giggly and Melissa is uncomfortable and leaves.
Back at the Fair, Henry tells Dawn that Ethan claims that Charlie tried to kill him. He also says that he saw the kids practicing magic. Dawn insists that they're not doing it, but Henry says that he will take care of it. Dawn says that she will help. , she's bitching out Charlie for hurting Ethan. She tells him to give her the crystal. It's the only power they have now and they can't use it up. He gives her a crystal that looks like those things you use to stop your pits from sweating.
At the Boathouse, Cassie is selling tickets. She asks Ethan to clarify what he was saying about her mother earlier. He says that it's astrological lore about their families being on a crash course. He brushes it off and just says that he was just really attracted to her mother. You can tell it's making her think of her feelings when she's around Adam. Later, Adam finds her and says that he's supposed to convince her to bind. She asks what he told Diana about their kiss in the woods and he says he told her he was just helping Cassie focus (Drink!). She seems to be coming around to binding though because she doesn't want the exploding beekers and whatnot. Diana and Faye watch from afar and Faye says it looks like she's about to lose her boyfriend. Uh oh.
That night, the Fair is still raging. There's a dance party and Faye is getting down with Nick, who is a jerk. He tries to get handsy with her and she shoots him down. She goes to Melissa and says that she would have to leave her self-esteem at the door in order to hit it with Nick. Ouch. And, she didn't even mean to do that. Cassie shows up and Faye gets in her way as she's looking for Sally. Faye wants to do some more magic and Cassie tells her to get away. Then, it starts to thunder. Faye wants to play. Cassie tells her to stop, but Faye tells her to stop it herself. Sally shows up and Cassie goes to leave with her, but Faye stops her. Sally tells Faye to lay off and she pushes Sally, which unfortunately sends her flying off of the pier. Faye's giant face tells us that she clearly didn't mean for that to happen. Cassie runs to help her but Sally's head has hit a rock and Cassie screams that she's not breathing. Dawn runs down and sends Cassie away. She fakes CPR while she holds that crystal to Sally's head and whispers in her ear. She comes gasping back to life as Henry looks on.
Later, Charlie asks Dawn why she wasted part of their crystal. She says that they aren't going to let innocent children die. Charlie rightly points out that Dawn has an interesting set of rules. Dawn says that the accident was Faye's fault and the guilt would have killed her. She asks what he would have done if that had happened to Diana and he looks like he's this close to going, "Eh." But, maybe he's just thinking.
So, Faye has ruined another lovely night out at the Boathouse. Diana tells her that the paramedics said Sally will be OK. Faye's crying and says that she didn't mean for the accident to happen. She just couldn't control what she was feeling. Cassie is sold -- they should have the Binding Ceremony. No one else can get hurt. It would be wrong. She says that she doesn't want to be connected to them anymore than they want to be connected to her, but it's the right thing to do. Diana seems very pleased. They're going to meet at the beach at midnight.
Dawn is having a glass of wine at home, when Henry is there. He realizes that Dawn is the person behind a lot of this. He knows she used a crystal. He says there's no place for witchcraft in this world. She says that he just doesn't remember what it felt like to practice, but he insists that she give him the crystal. She has a better idea, she says as she holds the crystal in her hands. Why doesn't he take a load off? Because, it would be horrible if he had another heart attack. He then starts to have a heart attack. He slumps to the floor as she's talking about his arteries hardening and stuff. Christmas won't be the same. Before his last moment, she tells him that she loved his son.
Adam is driving Diana somewhere. He congratulates her for getting everybody's Bind on. She seems anxious and he asks her what it is. She says that she doesn't know what she's doing, even if she pretends that she does. She asks if she has anything to worry about with him and Cassie. "Why would you ask that?" he scoffs. Dick. She tells him that she's insecure and she loves him. He kisses her and says that he loves her too. That's bullshit. I feel really bad for Diana now.
Faye gets home and Dawn tells him that Henry left. She must have had some help getting that guy out of the house! She asks if Faye had been drinking earlier and that's why the Sally episode occurred. She says that things got out of hand. She reminds Faye that she's the principal and Faye apologizes for embarrassing her. Dawn hugs her and says that that could have been her that fell.
Cassie is walking to the beach and Adam drives along side her and tries to get her to get into his ride. She's playing coy but finally gets in. Immediately, a street lamp explodes overhead. These kids have got mojo busting out everywhere. On the beach, Adam and Cassie join the others around a campfire. How Faye got out of her house after all that is beyond me. "Fire. Earth. Metal. Air. Water. Blood." Those are the elements that Diana recites, along with some fancy witch words. She asks the Circle if they accept the Bind and they agree. Then, the camp fire shoots into the air. So, it looks like these guys think that binding is going to make them more in control, while Henry was trying to stop them from binding. What's real!
Jeff Long is a writer/performer in Brooklyn. He can be reached at jeff.long75@gmail.com or followed on Twitter at @jblong.