- "We can change the world."
- ―John Blackwell
| "Family" | |
|---|---|
| |
| Air date | May 10th, 2012 |
| Writers | Andrew Miller; Andrea Newman |
| Director | Dave Barrett |
| Producers | Jae Marchant; Roger Grant; Don Whitehead; Holly Henderson; Dana Baratta; Dave Barrett; David Ehrman; Andrea Newman; Leslie Morgenstein; Gina Girolamo; Andrew Miller; Kevin Williamson |
| Starring | Britt Robertson; Thomas Dekker; Gale Harold; Phoebe Tonkin; Shelley Hennig; Jessica Parker Kennedy; Chris Zylka; Natasha Henstridge |
| Episode guide | |
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"Family" is the twenty-second episode of season one of the supernatural fantasy series The Secret Circle and the final episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by David Barrett and written by Andrew Miller and Andrea Newman. It first aired on the CW Network on Thursday, May 10th, 2012 at 9:00 pm.
Synopsis
Eben kidnaps Faye Chamberlain and brings her back to the boathouse where he has one of his witch hunters keeping guard over her. Adam, Jake and Melissa track them down and try to come up with a plan to take down Eben, even without John Blackwell's help. Cassie feels that it is too dangerous, so she convinces Diana to help her find their father.
They find John on the beach and he is now in possession of all six crystals. He explains that the only way to reassemble the crystal skull is by destroying the individual crystals using Balcoin dark magic. However, in order to completely access their dark magic, the circle must be broken. Reluctantly, they agree and they each in turn destroy the six crystals by burning them and tossing them into the water. The energy from the crystals reforms as the crystal skull. Cassie takes hold of it and is nearly overwhelmed by it's power. John takes possession of the skull and now reveals his true motives.
He brings them back to the abandoned house where Cassie and Diana are placed inside of a warded circle. John reveals that he has no intention of using the skull to fight off Eben. In truth, he exacerbated the entire witch hunter schism in order to galvanize the other members of the circle into helping him locate the crystals. The power of the skull in fact lies within it's ability to kill other witches. John intends on using this to kill all of the other members of the circle, leaving only Cassie and Diana. He also reveals that there are other Balcoin children out there, and once they are all joined, he will lead his dark magic circle to new heights by exterminating all lesser witches.
Faye gets rescued.
Back at the boat yard, Faye manages to escape and uses her phone to call her mother. Dawn Chamberlain and Charles Meade are desperate to save their daughters, so they call upon the aid of Charles' mother, Kate. Kate cannot restore their original power, but instead gives her a portion of her own. While Dawn and Charles make their way to the boat, Adam, Jake and Melissa are already on board and run into Faye. The partial circle, now broken fight up against Eben, but he captures them and binds them to a stake and lights it on fire. As Eben gleefully watches the young witches scream in pain, Charles approaches him from behind and begins reciting the Rites of Exorcism. While Eben is distracted, Dawn enters the room and uses her regained power to snuff the flames. Charles exorcises the demons from Eben's body. The demons flee Eben's body and enter Charles. Just then, Jake approaches Eben and stabs him through the chest with a dagger, killing him. Charles knows that he cannot contain the demons, so he jumps off the side of the boat into the water with the intent of drowning himself.
Meanwhile, John Blackwell activates the crystal skull and Adam, Jake, Melissa, Faye and Dawn double over in pain and begin burning from the inside out. At the abandoned house, Cassie turns towards Diana and makes as if she is going to kill her. The intensity of the situation forces Diana to activate her dark magic abilities. Together, they break free of the circle and take hold of the crystal skull. Cassie casts a counter-spell that reverses the skull's effects. All of the dark power channels into John Blackwell, turning him into an ashen-faced corpse. Once she is done with the skull, the other witches cease to be in pain.
After everything settles down, the circle convenes and decides on what they must do next. Collectively, they decide that it is not yet time to re-bind the circle. They know that the crystal skull is too powerful for any one witch to possess, so they entrust Adam with it's disposal. Alone however, Adam holds the skull close to him and a smile of temptation crosses his face. Diana can no longer deal with the stress of being part of the circle, so she leaves with Grant. Charles Meade has apparently survived his demonic ordeal, but appears to be in a comatose state. His mother keeps steady vigil over him. Cassie realizes that the Balcoin symbol that was once on John Blackwell's palm is now on her palm as well. Miles away, Diana notices the exact same thing on her hand. In the hills overlooking Chance Harbor, four youths - all bearing the Balcoin mark - look down upon the town.
Cast
Principal Cast
Guest Stars
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Joe Lando | John Blackwell |
| Tim Phillipps | Grant |
| Sammi Rotibi | Eben |
| Jared Keeso | Witch-hunter |
| Stepfanie Kramer | Kate Meade |
Notes & Trivia
- The Secret Circle was developed by Andrew Miller. It is based upon the book by author L.J. Smith.
- Director David Barrett is credited as Dave Barrett in this episode.
- The CW Network announced the cancellation of The Secret Circle the day after this episode aired, thus making this the final episode of the series.
- This episode was recorded on April 8th-April 13th, 2012.
- Final appearances of all characters.
- Death of John Blackwell.
- Death of Eben.
- First and only appearance of the completed crystal skull.
- Kate Meade appeared last in "Darkness".
- First and only appearance of the remaining four Balcoin children. Their identities remain unknown, though it is confirmed that none of them are from Chance Harbor.
- Early scuttlebutt concerning this episode implied that there would be a high body count for the season finale. However, only Eben and John Blackwell are killed in this episode.
Quotes
- Cassie Blake: He'll trade Faye for one crystal.
- Adam Conant: Okay. We do it.
- Jake Armstrong: Cause you trust Eben? He'll never give Faye up! The only chance Faye has is if we kill Eben before he hurts her. The only way to do that is with the crystal skull.
- Diana Meade: Are you sure? The only reason you think that is because Blackwell told us. We know we can't trust him.
....
- Diana Meade: What are you doing?!?
- Cassie Blake: Killing you.
....
- Dawn Chamberlain: Something terrible is happening, Charles.
- Charles Meade: We're the ones who brought Cassie Blake back home. We have to get our powers back, and help The circle. And there's only one person, that can make that happen.
....
- John Blackwell: Time has come for cleansing.
....
- Jake Armstrong: You're the one that gets burned!
Featured music
| Song | Artist |
|---|---|
| "Amongster" | Polica |
| "Skin Graph" | Silversun Pickups |
| "Vessel" | Zola Jesus |
| "We Are Fine" | Sharon Van Etten |
Recommendations
See also
External Links
 This article pertains to an episode from The Secret Circle television series. This template will categorize articles that include it into the Secret Circle/Episodes category. Episodes
"Pilot" • "Bound" • "Loner" • "Heather" • "Slither" • "Wake" • "Masked" • "Beneath" • "Balcoin" • "Darkness" • "Fire/Ice" • "Witness" • "Medallion" • "Valentine" • "Return" • "Lucky" • "Curse" • "Sacrifice" • "Crystal" • "Traitor" • "Prom" • "Family" Main characters
Supporting characters
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