Over all last night, I was extremely please with the outcome of the series premiere of The Secret Circle. The theme song is both catchy and creepy and works brilliantly with tone of the show. It was both intense and romantic and very quirky.
However before I go into my favorite moments I think I should mention the deviations the show makes from the original book series. In the book, Cassie and here mother on vacation in New England. Originally from California, Cassie has the intentions of returning home. When Cassie's mother reveals that her grandmother, who she hasn't spoken to is ill, both Cassie and her mother move to the town of New Salem to live with her. Cassie moves onto a street called Crowhaven Road which only contains twelve houses (the number of remaining families that moved here from Salem), each belonging to a different member of the circle. Her grandmother is old and frail and the house looks shabbier than most of the other houses.
Switch to the show. Cassie mother is murdered by (as we soon learn) the father of the circle's leader Diana. In the book Diana's father was rarely around. This is the reason Cassie moves to live with her grandmother (who is still very much flambouyant). The house is upbeat and modern but still looks like the home of a witch. Instead of moving to New Salem, MA, Cassie moves to the town of Chance Harbor, WA. Unlike TVD where I think the name Mystic Falls works better for the show, I would have preferred the town to still be called New Salem. But these are minor details.
In the books, the families that moved here from Salem tried to hide their grimoires to prevent their kids from practicing ancient magic, for it was extremely dark and dangerous. They more or less practiced rarely or not at all. In the show, the remaining parents/guardians of the current circle, where members of a circle when they were young as well. A meeting that went terribly wrong, caused the deaths of many of the circle members to the point that the old circle disbanded and did everything in their power to prevent their children from continuing to practice.
The only scene that I was disappointed with was Cassie's initiation. In the book she is dragged blindfolded to a beach where the circle members initiate her before the powers and challenge her with a dagger to test her bravery. In the show, they just blurted out that she was a witch. Not as intense as I would have hoped.
I think some of the most significant changes made to the series were the number of coven members and the name changes of certain characters. The book circle contained twelve members (Diana, Adam, Faye, Deborah, Suzan, Sean, Nick, Chris, Doug, Melanie, Laurel, and Cassie) and in the series the circle only contains six (Diana, Adam, Cassie, Nick, Faye, and character named Melissa).
Now the change I was on the fence about was the first meeting of Cassie and Adam. This will bridge into my favorites of the episode. The scene I was most excited to see was the beach scene where Cassie protected Adam from the guys that were chasing him and he gives her the chalcedony stone for protection. In the show, Adam's first conversational meeting with Cassie was at his father's Boathouse Grill where she is "ambushed" by Faye and Melissa. Cassie gets up and leaves and proceeds to her car where it catches fire and she can't get out. Adam of course saves her which was totally hot and although it was a change I didn't want, I end up loving the scene.
I absolutely loved the raindrop scene. It was very romantic and seductive and brilliantly captured immediate attraction and tension between Cassie and Adam. In the glittering, raindrop filled forest the two almost share a kiss when Cassie comes back to reality and runs away from him.
In the end, I think it was an extremely successful series premiere that had me hooked from the beginning. I can't wait to see what the producers have in store for us...especially when the old coven seems to be practicing again...
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