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As would be expected, the reappearance of Nick creates a lot of conversation. Melissa is eager to look at the development as a positive thing, but everyone reminds her that he's probably just a demon in a Nick shell at this point.
Cassie has to go to the high school alone to look for Adam's family's crystal. Security there is really weak. She's performing this blood trick thing when she sees a vision of her mother calling out for Elizabeth. Charlie gives Diana a necklace that belonged to her mother. But, enough with all that fluff -- it's prom night!
Nick shows up at 7 Briar Hill and tells Melissa that he wants the crystals -- he says he's dying. Then, Adam gets there and Nick throws Melissa to the ground and runs away. Diana sees Grant at the coffee shop and asks him to meet her at her house later. Charles gets this weird phone call (with some magic help from John) that replays the fire in the kitchen scene that happened to Amelia. He's being haunted.
Diana and Cassie do the blood spell thing and see their mothers in high school. They were all still in high school with babies? They see an argument that their mothers had -- Elizabeth blamed Amelia for bringing John in the Circle.
Adam and Melissa share a dance in the hallway of prom. On the floor, Jake and Faye have a slow dance. Jake blames himself for Nick's death but Faye tries to convince him that he wasn't at fault.
Diana and Cassie see another scene, this one with Amelia talking to Adam's grandfather. It becomes clear that John had manipulated all of them in order to create his own Circle. He made sure that all of their parents conceived when they did. When they come out of the vision, Diana's all judgmental about how Cassie is to blame for John being in their lives.
Meanwhile, Nick had busted into prom by killing a security guard. He finds the crystal and almost kills Adam in the process. Diana goes home to find Charlie huddled in the corner of the kitchen. While he's mumbling, it becomes clear to her that he killed Amelia. She wanders onto the street while it's raining and is comforted by Grant, just as John was about to pounce. Not sure what he had in mind.
The Circle follows Nick to some junkyard. He's there to give the crystal to Eben, though Eben is more interested in the demon that's propping up Nick's bones. Cassie uses magic to knock the crystal away from Nick's hand, but then Eben tosses her over several cars. John shows up to stand off against Eben, while Nick struggles with Jake over the crystal. Nick is about to choke Jake to death when poor Melissa comes along and stabs him in the back. I think he's really dead this time. John shows up and says that Eben is gone... and he has taken FAYE!
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously on The Secret Circle, the whole show happened. Lots of hairstyle changes in one short year. We start the show proper at 7 Briar Hill. Jake is trying to convince Melissa that they saw Jake. She doesn't believe it's possible but Blackwell pops up and says that the demon may have kept Jake's body alive. Well, that was really just not offered as a possibility. And, if the way to kill a demon is to kill its host, what EXACTLY does it take to kill a demon? In any case, Melissa is kind of excited now, though Cassie warns her that he might be the Nick that they know. He might be dangerous and anti-social... which, is actually the Nick that we know. Is he still cute? That's what's really important here. Let's just keep it to witchy brass tacks. Faye says, bone dry, that Nick definitely seems more into massacring people than he used to. Melissa points out that he was killing witch hunters. Jake says that he acted like an animal and Melissa counters that he's probably scared and freaked out. Now Jake's the one freaking out. He screams that whatever that thing was, it wasn't Nick. Melissa says that it's not that black and white. Poor thing. He really screamed at her. She leaves the room and Adam reminds Jake that Melissa loved Jake. Diana moves to follow her and John tries to talk to her and she's not having it. She tells Cassie that she doesn't trust Blackwell any more than she did before. She leaves and John reminds Cassie that they need Diana to create the crystal school. He tells her that her blood (Balcoin) will help her find the last remaining crystal at the high school. He reassures her that he wants what is best for her and her Circle.
, she's at the high school, just walking through the halls. Great security they have there. She cuts her finger and the accompanying sound effect seems a little exaggerated, like maybe she wouldn't have had a finger afterwards. She starts to make the sign on the floor the way John instructed, when suddenly a girl in a sun dress comes stomping down the hall. Cassie looks at her. "Mom?" She has a crystal in her hand and she's looking for Elizabeth, Diana's mom. Then she disappears. Cassie tells Diana about the scene a bit later. She thinks that maybe together they could see more of their mothers. That just seems like SUCH a stretch to me. Something happened out of the ordinary, so you immediately leap to doing this other specific thing to make more unordinary stuff happen? Diana says that she doesn't want anything to do with dark magic and Cassie tells her that they only need her blood. In that case! She agrees. They'll do it the night at the prom.
Faye and Jake are at his place, and she tells him that he was really harsh to Melissa. He's agitated and doesn't seem ready to talk. He grabs a knife from a special box. As protection. From his demon brother.
The morning, Diana is getting ready for school when Charlie walks in. He says that she missed his "world famous grilled cheese" the evening before. Sounds like Diana has always been a little dramatic. There is NO WAY Charlie makes a grilled cheese that would be world famous. Fuck that. I bet his grilled cheese is only passable. Maybe pretty good. Just not world famous. Dumb bitch. She tells him that she was with Cassie the night before working on a report. He asks if Blackwell was there and she reassures him that she's keeping her distance. Now, with Blackwell as part of the discussion, they're all acknowledging that they're witches, right? Why not a little open dialogue about all of that? He asks if she's going to the prom and gives her necklace of her mother's to wear. He offers to drive her to school and she says that she's fine driving herself but then notices that he seems dejected and accepts his offer.
At school, Cassie is telling Adam about what she and Diana are planning to do that night at prom. He asks her if she needs a ride to the event and Faye butts in and says no way. First it's a ride to prom, then she's slow dancing with a dead Jake (ha, ha -- joking about the "curse" on the Blakes and Conants). He's coming as her date. Melissa points out that Jake and Faye were supposed to be prom dates two years prior. Faye suggests that they get a limo and champagne, but no one seems into it. Diana gets out of her car and Dawn approaches the car after she gets out. Charlie thinks it's dangerous for John to have the crystal skull. He says they are vulnerable without powers and she "kids" that it's rude to suggest that doesn't have powers? Is she talking sexxxually? Because none of us were going there. But, I think she just did.
Later, Melissa is at 7 Briar Hill, alone, and Nick is there. He tells her that he needs her help. He needs her help. He's all decayed-looking but still CUTE AS HELL. Melissa asks him if he remembers her. She wants to make him better but he tells her that he's dying. Then, Adam walks in and he freaks out and pushes Melissa really hard and runs out.
John shows up at Dawn's house. He asks what she did to make Charlie stay in town. She says that she reminded him that Diana is safer from witch hunters with the Circle. He says that Charlie is the problem then. This freaks Dawn out and she reminds him that everyone saw them fighting at the coffee shop. If he does anything to Charlie, everyone will know it's him. He says that he won't lay a hand on Charlie. There are other ways to break the bond between him and Diana -- ways to expose him for who he really is. Wait. So, he knows that Charlie killed Amelia? Because that's what that sound like. Or, he knows that he killed Nick. He was present for Jane, but that was really John's fault. He could have been like, "F to the Yiz-I, that bottle ain't for me." Anyway, I wish they would establish just what the hell John knows. He leaves and Dawn calls Charlie.
At Briar Hill, Nick's appearance hasn't hampered Faye's mood. She pops some bubbly. Jake comes in from searching for Nick -- no luck. Melissa keeps insisting that the real Nick was somewhere in there (I agree, right?) but they're not having it. They say Nick would never have hurt Melissa (physically) and that he's all demon-no Nick. Time to go to prom!
Diana and Cassie are grabbing coffee before prom/time-traveling and Grant's sitting in the shop. Diana is hesitant because she thinks he's done with her after all of weirdness of their last date, but Cassie pushes her to say hi. He's in town because his boss has business in Chance Harbor (someone has business in Chance Harbor!) and he didn't call her because he says that he was avoiding her. Diana points out that he's in the place where she's always hanging out and he says that he's just really bad at avoidance. Cute. He asks her to dinner and she says that it's prom night. He asks if the lucky guy is "the little guy from the boathouse," meaning Adam. Heh. She says she's going solo. Cassie gets a text announcing that Nick attacked Melissa and rushes Diana to come with her. She invites Grant to her house later. Damn.
Charlie gets a phone call. It's not a person. It's Amelia and Cassie's last conversation... and John is standing outside.
At prom, the kids are all business, though Faye would like to have a little more fun. Dawn tries to call Charlie, but he's still getting weird phone calls. Then, just like he perpetrated on Amelia, his kitchen goes up in flames. He even slips and hits his head on the floor whereupon he pleads for Amelia to forgive him and he covers his eyes. It was all an ILLUSION. John walks away and he uncovers his eyes and everything is fine.
Diana and Cassie cut their fingers and rub them on the floor in an abandoned classroom. I hope they have some Bactine lying around. Nothing happens at first and Cassie says that Diana isn't concentrating. Diana says that maybe they need to connect physically and Cassie's all, "I think I'd know..." when Diana grabs her hand and boom! They're back in ancient times. 1995, to be precise. Ye Olde Garbage is playing as our score. They see Amelia rushing through the hall. She approaches Elizabeth at her locker and Diana is enchanted. Amelia tells Elizabeth to stay away from the Boatyard. She tells her to take Diana and leave town, which clues Cassie into the fact that her mother knew what was going to go down that day at the Boatyard.
Nick approaches the school from the back. A security guard asks what he's doing and he breaks the guy's neck. I don't think that's as easy as they make it look on TV. Also, is everybody super freaked out about the mass murders that are happening in Chance Harbor? No one else finds this shit ever? I can understand the amusement park murders going undetected for a while (though I'd imagine there would have to be some sort of search for the missing; except, no one mentioned Luke's absence and he went to their freaking school), but someone HAS to talk about the dead security guard or I call bullshit.
Back in 1995, Amelia tells Elizabeth that John is dangerous. Elizabeth is really pissed off at her. She says that it's her fault John is in their midst. Then, Amelia drops the bomb that she knows Diana is John's. Whoa. Elizabeth says it was a mistake but she doesn't regret it because it gave her the greatest gift blah. She holds her necklace, which... wait for this... is the SAME ONE Diana got that morning. She says that if anything bad happens then it's Amelia's fault, that she's done listening to Amelia and then leaves/disappears. Diana asks where she went and Cassie offers the hooey that she was only part of the "psychic imprint" of this "event" and once she left the crystal, she left the picture. I do not believe that Cassie Blake talks about psychic imprints. I don't. They follow Amelia.
Adam and Melissa are standing in the hall and Melissa says that they're never going to fall love. He tells her that things will get better. Melissa says that having magic hasn't been fun, so he tells her to look at an intercom speakers. Then, it starts playing the music that is playing on the dance floor. They look at the lights and they get moody like they're on the floor. Then, he takes her hand and they dance. Sweet!
On the floor, Jake is preoccupied and Faye says that going to prom with him isn't as fun as she had hoped. She reminds him that he ditched her for prom years earlier and she waited for him for hours. He seems almost impressed that she waited for him. Then, she makes him dance with her. She says that he needs to talk about his feelings about Nick. He thinks it's his fault Nick died. She says that they were all there when Nick died, so they could be blamed as well. He needs to let go of the self-hatred. I agree, but it's SO PRETTY when he hates himself.
Cassie and Diana follow Amelia into Mr. Conant's (Adam's grandfather) classroom. She's returning his crystal to him. She tells him that she's leaving Chance Harbor. He magically shuts the door and makes her sit. She tells him that Ethan was turning John over to the witch hunters currently. She says that he made the six girls in her Circle get pregnant. He used magic to make the other girls conceive. Ew. Mr. Conant deduces that he was trying to create a Circle centered on Balcoin blood. As she's leaving, she says that he should tell Ethan that she doesn't love him, though it's a lie. Cassie knows now that her pops is using her. She and Diana come out of the past. Cassie is upset. She says that Diana is right about Blackwell and apologizes to her. Diana says that she should apologize to the Circle and it's Cassie's fault that he's in their lives. She says that her mother is dead because of Amelia. Hmm. She didn't force him to sleep with Blackwell AND she warned her about what was going down. Just saying. Diana stomps out as Melissa and Adam come in. She tells them what she learned about John and that she knows where the last crystal is. Shit. Nick heard them. It's a race to the trophy case, which is where the crystal is. They go in different directions.
Dawn sees a shadowy figure racing towards her and reminds him that there's no running in the halls. He comes closer to the light and she sees that it's Nick and, seriously, Henstridge pulls out the fucking movie star that's still in her. Her response, "Nick?" and the face when he runs past her -- AWESOME STUFF. She has really kinda found a groove in the last few episodes and seeing where her character goes is one of the things that really interests me about another season of this show. We should be finding out any day now, right?
Faye and Jake join in the chase. Adam gets to the case first and starts to open it when Nick jumps him and breaks the case and grabs the crystal. Then they're all chasing him. Meanwhile, Diana goes home and finds Charlie cowering on the floor in the kitchen. He tells her that he has done terrible things. He tells her to pack his things. He says that Amelia is haunting him and essentially admits to killing her. We really hear a lot of Diana's breathing, which is of course labored. She walks forlornly onto the street and is just walking in traffic and luckily the first car that approaches is Grant's. He gets out and she falls into his arms crying and we see that Blackwell had been approaching her as well.
They follow Nick to an abandoned junkyard. Faye points out that it's always some spooky, dirty place with Nick. They split up and start searching. Jake and Faye are together and he apologizes for not having shown up for prom those several years before. Funny joke: she thinks he's apologizing for the junkyard and says, "It's not your junkyard."
Cassie, Melissa and Adam see Nick try to trade with Eben the crystal for the demon inside of him, which essentially keeping him alive, or at least animated. Cassie comes out, dark magic blaring, and starts all these cars up. Then, she pulls the crystal from Nick's hand. When she picks it up, Eben sends her flying over some cars and for some reason it's kind of comical and probably fatal. She is still human, right? John shows up and says that he will handle Eben. Everyone is going to find Nick, but Faye stays behind to watch after John? I know. Nick and Jake struggle (their first time onscreen together!). Jake has a knife and they're going round. He drops the knife and Nick starts choking him. Then, Melissa stabs him from behind. Nick's dead again. She says that they were right and being demon-possessed is no way to live. Sure, you say that when you don't have a demon. John shows up and picks the crystal up off of the ground. He says that Ebe got away... WITH FAYE. He took her! On the bright side, they can build the skull and save her -- that is, if you trust him at all at this point, which I do NOT. I totally trust his tailor though. Daddy's looking fly.
Jeff Long is a writer/performer in Brooklyn. He can be reached at jeff.long75@gmail.com and followed on Twitter at @jblong.