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Cassie notices early on that Jane is acting strangely. Melissa's cousin comes to town to play and it appears Diana has an old crush on him. Faye is still torn up about her grandfather being dead. Cassie brings Jake to the clubhouse and Faye is there and sees him take a fancy stone without asking. Faye vows to show everyone who he really is. Cassie and Jake find out that the papers Calvin gives her include her family tree on her father's side. No one asks why she doesn't use her father's (John Blackwell) last name. Jake goes to the big boss and tells him that Cassie's power comes from Balcoin, who was like the grandfather of black magic. Big boss says that killing Cassie is no longer an option. Cassie invites Jake to this maritime fundraiser thing and he says no. He says no and that he's not interested, which naturally hurts the poor girl's feelings. Faye recruits Adam to find out what's wrong with Jake.
Charlie and Dawn go to the fundraiser together. She's still trying to get the crystal from him, but he's not having it. Cassie wears the sickest dress to the fundraiser. Before she goes, she asks Jane about the John Blackwell family tree and she goes blank. Then, Jake shows up in a kick-ass suit and apologizes and takes her to the dance where it doesn't look like much money was earned. Diana dances with Melissa's cousin, even though Melissa seems to be attempting some sort of cousin block. Outside the fundraiser, Jake talks to the big boss who says that they are bringing Cassie with them and they are doing so that evening. He goes to Cassie and tells her that her ancestors are monsters and that she should come with him. She's furious that he has been studying her and refuses.
Meanwhile, Cassie gets a text from Adam that tells her that Jake is a witchhunter (he saw Jake talking to the big boss earlier). She tries to get away from him but the big boss and co. kidnap her and knock Jake out (he tries to rescue her -- sweet). Adam confronts him but Faye says he's being honest when he says that he cares about Cassie. Jane makes a remark to Dawn about how she was always obsessed with John Blackwell.
Jake, Faye and Adam go to the dock where big boss has taken Cassie. Jake distracts them with some fancy light bulb spell while Adam tries to free her. There's a fight, because Adam can't do anything without his masculinity being compromised, and Jake gets them off the boat. He leaves with the big boss, even though he just screwed up their plans to off Cassie. The big boss says that Cassie is not the only child of John Blackwell in the Circle! Dude got around. Does this mean that Cassie and Faye are sisters? Perfect.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!I like how they tell the whole story of this show before each episode. Cassie is talking to Jane about the weird map thing that Calvin gave to her before he got killed. They don't understand it. Or, at least, the spell that Jane is under prevents her from talking about it. Jane says that she will check with Henry to see if he understands the document. Um... embarrassing. Yeah, Jane, Henry's dead. Cassie reminds her of this and Jane says that it has just been a stressful week and she isn't sleeping well. Cassie seems completely convinced. NEWSFLASH: you are a witch and apparently there are people far and wide that would like to kill you -- you've already gone on dates with two of them. So, those moments when things aren't feeling totally normal? That's because they are not normal. Also, Jane is a horrible actor. Sorry. It had to be said. These kids on this show act secret circles around her. It's like, "Hi lady playing Jane, this is not a Boniva commercial. Give it some life, please."
At school, Melissa (she's back!) is moping around the hall when someone calls out, "Hey emo girl!" Rude. She turns around, recognizes the guy, then calls him a jerk and hugs him. She asks him what he's doing there and he says that he's helping her father with some sort of party. Wait, Faye said that Melissa's mother took her out of town. Now she has a dad too? I thought all of the members of the Circle lost a parent in the fire? Step-parent? Plot hole? Anyboo, Melissa says that her boyfriend died. Diana walks up and remembers Holden, who is Melissa's cousin, from when they were kids. Melissa reminds Holden that Diana used to have a crush on him back then, which seems an un-Melissa-like bitch move. Like it, though. I think these two girls are fantastic. Diana seems a little like she's on the wrong show, but she's clearly got a buttload of talent. Melissa is kind of becoming one of my favorite young performers. Yay! And with the addition of Holden here, this show just reached the hotness saturation point. Double yay! Holden and Diana have a palpable thing happening.
Faye is hiding out in Dawn's office. She comes in and Faye says that she can't stop thinking about Henry. Dawn says that she's going to the fundraiser that evening, which bothers Faye because she feels that they should still be in mourning. She says that Dawn didn't care about Henry (true) and pushed him away when he was alive (true: especially if "pushing away" includes killing the person). Dawn tells Faye to not speak to her that way. I love that. That's the second or third time she has said that to someone on this show. Dawn says that her history with Henry was complicated and Faye doesn't know all of it.
Later, Faye is sulking at the clubhouse when Jake and Cassie come in. Cassie says that, no, they don't call it the "Scooby-Doo Magic Shack." Eff that, they should totally call it that. Jake says it has a girly Lost Boys vibe. I'd argue that The Lost Boys is plenty girly, but maybe all of the herbs in the Scooby-Doo Magic Shack push it over the top. Faye watches Jake snoop as Cassie goes to "turn on the lights." Lord knows how they have electricity. DON'T THINK ABOUT IT. Anyway, Jake slips something in his pocket. Faye says that she saw that. She strolls down the stairs (The interior design in this "shack" gets more elaborate with each episode) and says that the Jake she knows wouldn't hang around this town like a retiree, but he would hang around to steal. Cassie's there now too. He pulls the stone that he took out of his pocket and says that it's his family's stone and he was going to put it on Nick's grave. Faye tells him not to play the "death card" (YES!) with her and Cassie's all you've gone too far. Dark magic makes Cassie boring. Nick says that, contrary to what Faye's ego might tell her, she doesn't know him. She says that, uh, yeah she does and showing everyone else what a cad he is will do wonders for her ego. Faye for Prez. She walks out and Cassie shows Jake the papers that Calvin gave her. Jake finds a hidden part of the document. It's John Blackwell's family tree. So, "JB" doesn't stand for Jane Blake. Cassie says she's so stupid for not putting that together. That's only the beginning. That he died in the fire with Jake's parents is all she knows about him. She sees that her tree goes back to some dude named Balcoin, which makes Jake look really startled. She wonders how this knowledge protects her. Jake is in a rush to leave suddenly, but Cassie doesn't detect anything at all. Of course not.
Later, Cassie shows the tree to Diana. She says that she's thinking of asking Jake to the fundraiser that evening. Wow. Sounds like lots of funds are going to be raised, what with all of these teenagers attending. Diana is going alone and says that singledom is empowering, when she's not desperately missing Adam. Ew. You're 16. Seriously?
Jake goes to the woods to meet the big boss. There are other dudes sort of spread out in the frame in an artsy and completely purposeless fashion. Jake tells the guy that Cassie is from the Balcoin line. Big boss thought that the Balcoin line had been eradicated, but they had just changed their name to Blackwell. The Balcoin line is like the origins of dark magic. So they are going to have to take care of Cassie in a different way. He says that Jake has feelings for Cassie, which Jake denies. Big boss tells him to stay strong because witchcraft has killed thousands of innocent people and they need to stop it. Wow. That's dangerous. He says that Jake is on the verge of redemption.
Cassie goes to Calvin's shop again. Obviously, he doesn't answer. She goes to Jake's place, where he says he's cleaning out some of Nick's things. He's distant with her and finally she picks up on it. Still, she asks him to the fundraiser and he says no. He tells her he's not interested and is really rude about it, but he's so hot that I'm thinking that having him be rude to me like that would completely make my day. Perhaps even my week. When she leaves, he thrashes his suitcase about, because he can't stand how hot he is either.
Adam's waiting tables and all of the girls are making googly eyes at him because he's a free agent. At least, that's Faye's theory. They always hate each other and I really like that. She tells him that she thinks Jake is up to something. She knows because he's acting engaged with his surroundings. I love that! Later, Melissa and Diana are working with flower decorations and Diana says that Holden is even cuter than when they were kids. Melissa puts the kibosh on that line of thinking. She tells her that Holden is not a rebound guy. Holden comes over and gets Melissa out of the way, ostensibly so he can spend time with Diana.
Charlie picks up Dawn and she tries to get him to give her the crystal again. Things are really tense between them. He suggests they look up some spells in his family's Book of Shadows, now that they know where it is. Dawn says they should lay low because the elders will be watching them. Meanwhile, Cassie is getting dressed (her dress is incredible! I mean, innnnnncredible) and Jake is watching her from door. She takes the family tree downstairs and finds Jane and asks her if she knows anything about the Blackwell family. She doesn't hear the question at first, then says that she never met anyone from that family. Cassie only acts vaguely confused. WHAT ABOUT JOHN BLACKWELL? You never met your own daughter's baby daddy? Stupid. She puts the family tree away, then answers a knock at the door. It's Jake. He's dressed up. He says that he's sorry. He feels something for her too but doesn't know what to do about it. He's like to take her to the fundraiser.
At the fundraiser, Charlie speaks to Jane. He asks her if she's OK and she says she's watching Amelia have fun. He reminds her that it's Cassie and she just looks at him blankly and walks away. This is the wonkiest spell ever. I don't understand what it does. Faye and Adam come in together. He sees Diana and Faye reminds him to watch Jake. Cassie and Jake dance together and, as Adam is watching, she tells Jake that she is trying to imagine her mother dancing with her father. She says that she used to talk to an imaginary version of her father. He tells her that Nick had told him that a blonde, short, strong, survivor had moved door. Sweet? He gets a text suddenly and walks away. Adam follows him.
Holden tells Diana that she's the only girl there that he's not related to, which is completely not true. She resists at first, I guess because she doesn't want Melissa to be angry with her, but Holden gets her to dance. Outside, the big boss says that they are leaving that evening and they are taking Cassie with them. Whoa. What about the fundraiser? Jake is supposed to lure Cassie to them. Adam watches all of this.
Jake goes in and tells Cassie to come with him. Adam tells Faye that Jake is a witch hunter. He recognized big boss. All of the witches gather and start calling Cassie. Meanwhile, Cassie and Jake are in Nick's bedroom. He has his family's Book of Shadows. He shows Cassie and explains that there are pages that explain that her lineage is from dark magic. He says that he's trusting her with this information, while she's upset that he thinks she's from monsters. He asks her to come with him and she says she doesn't want to leave her grandmother or her friends. He says it's for their safety and she reminds him that leaving didn't help Nick. Suddenly, she gets a text. It's from Adam and it says that Jake is a witch hunter. She tries to play it cool but he insists that they leave. She agrees and says that she's just going to pack a few things. She runs door and locks the door behind her, because she's very secure always.
thing we see, Cassie is staring at Jake from the window in her room where she used to see hot dead Nick. Then, big boss is behind her with a knife to her neck! And a tissue over her mouth! Jake screams for her then runs out of his house as dude's are carrying an unconscious Cassie (these witch hunters LOVE the chloroform -- not sure why the knife was necessary, though) to a town car. Then, someone clubs Jake and leaves him knocked out on the sidewalk.
At the gala, Charlie asks Jane if she's alright and she says that she's dizzy. She tells Dawn that it's nice to see her with Charlie, instead of John Blackwell. She says that Amelia always tells her that Dawn worships him. This Blackwell fellow had it ALL. Dawn says they should take Jane home. As they walk away, Charlie says that he knew she had a crush on Blackwell. She says it doesn't matter because he's dead and what's wrong with Jane? He must have done the spell wrong. Heh. He replies that he's sick of accusations from her. She says that, if Jane suffers long-term damage, it's his fault. Um, what about the long-term damage to Henry?
Adam and Faye find unconscious Jake and Adam shakes him awake. He says they need to find Cassie because she's in danger, but Adam is steamed. Faye can tell that he cares about Cassie though. He promises to leave if they help him get Cassie. They drive to a dock and watch the bad guys take Cassie to a boat. They can't do magic on the boat because it's made of ash wood, so Adam sneaks onboard. Jake grabs a light bulb and makes other light bulbs explode around the bad guys. All of this trouble so people can make light bulbs explode. While the bad guys are confounded about the light bulbs, Adam reaches Cassie and frees her. They're trying to get out when bad guys grab Adam. Jake frees them and he and Cassie and Faye start running away. They make the pier behind them catch fire so that the bad guys can't catch up with them. Jake is onboard with the bad guy and explains that Cassie can fight the dark magic. The big boss says that he effed up. Cassie isn't the only child of John Blackwell in the Circle. Then, after Diana and Melissa arrive, they watch the boat depart with Jake. Dude, this means that Cassie and Faye are sisters, right? Also, when is Charlie going to get it for killing Amelia? We're not going to forget about that, are we?
Jeff Long is a writer/performer in Brooklyn. He can be reached at jeff.long75@gmail.com and followed on Twitter at @jblong.
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