History Series / TheSecretCircle

* BlackMagic: John Blackwell and his two daughters, Cassie and Diana all possess dark magic due to their ancestry. Dark magic is the most deadly and dangerous form of magic.

* DawsonCasting: Played straight, naturally. The youngest cast member of the main cast, Creator/BrittRobertson, is 21 and the oldest, Creator/JessicaParkerKennedy is 27. The rest of the cast members include Thomas Dekker who's 24, Creator/PhoebeTonkin who's 23, Creator/LouisHunter who's 22, Creator/ChrisZylka who's 27, and Creator/ShelleyHennig who's 25. Not to mention Creator/AdamHarrington plays the younger version of Ethan from the 90s (Adam Harrington is 42).

* FakeAmerican: Phoebe Tonkin, the actress who plays Faye, is actually from Australia.
** Louis Hunter and Jessica Parker Kennedy are from Australia and Canada, respectively.
** Natasha Henstridge is Canadian as well.

* PlayingAgainstType: Chris Zylka usually plays BrainlessBeauty types. Not so much here.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: Despite decent ratings, the show was cancelled by Creator/TheCW after one season. Apparently, [[KickTheDog it's not even going to get a DVD release]].
** Though the complete series is available for streaming on {{Creator/Netflix}}

* SeparatedAtBirthCasting: Creator/AndreaBrooks, who plays the teenage version of Amelia looks likes she could be Britt Robertson's twin.

** [[TriangRelations Type 10.]] Adam is in a relationship with Diana, but has {{UST}} with Cassie. [[spoiler: Diana breaks up with him in "Wake" because of it.]]

* TheChick: Cassie of course. She's the central figure of the series.

%%* Five Man Band
%%** TheHero: Cassie
%%** TheLancer: Faye
%%** TheSmartGuy: Diana
%%** TheBigGuy: Adam
%%** TheChick: Melissa
%%** TheSixthRanger: Nick [[spoiler: before he dies]]. Jake seems to be a more traditional type.
%%** TeamDad: [[spoiler: John Blackwell, who is Cassie's]] and [[spoiler:Diana's]] actual dad.
%%* FreudianTrio:
%%** Cassie (Ego)
%%** Diana (Superego)
%%** Faye (Id)

* BathtubScene: In "Beneath" Faye takes a bath in her grandpa's cabin to try to relax. At first it looks like a {{fanservice}} scene with her [[BathKick stretching]] her [[ShesGotLegs legs]] out of the tub, but soon [[InterruptedBath her bath gets interrupted]] by all bathwater suddenly being replaced by mud and seaweeds and Faye screams in panic. FadeToBlack and we come back to a [[ModestyTowel towel clad]] Faye checking the now normal bathtub along with Diana and Cassie, who despite being witches, just assume Faye was drunk and imagined the whole thing.

* PlayingGertrude: Occurs naturally with DawsonCasting. The most egregious examples are Cassie and her mother and Charles Meade and ''his'' mother, both only thirteen years apart.
** To be fair, Cassie's mother did have her in high school so this isn't that bad.

* ActorAllusion: In "Bound" Faye (Creator/PhoebeTonkin) mentions that she doesn't want to "save turtles" as a reference to her former role as mermaid Cleo in ''Series/H2OJustAddWater'', who indeed saved turtles from nets.

** "Family" [[UpToEleven outdoes them all]], fitting for a season finale -- [[spoiler: the Circle gets unbound by the creation of the Crystal Skull, Jake kills Eben and Charles drowns himself to get rid of the demons, Blackwell plans to kill all witches without Balcoin blood and build a Circle of pure darkness, and Cassie and Diana manage to turn the tables on him after the latter's own dark magic is unleashed]]...oh, and [[spoiler: Diana leaves with Grant at the end, unable to handle everything that's happened, though not before making some kind of peace with Cassie]]. However, it seems that [[spoiler: the other four Balcoin witches have arrived in Chance Harbor and are already connected to Cassie and Diana...]] It's a shame the show's been canceled.

* HotWitch: All of the witches we see end up being a HeadTurningBeauty. It's unclear if this is an attribute of the WitchSpecies or just HollywoodBeautyStandards.

* WitchSpecies: In this case it was AdaptationDisplacement. The books were written by a practicing Neo-Pagan who wanted to depict their practices and beliefs accurately, only with a little exaggeration of how often something supernatural actually happens.

%%* FiveManBand

* SeparatedAtBirthCasting: Andrea Brooks, who plays the teenage version of Amelia looks likes she could be Britt Robertson's twin.

%%* SixStudentClique:
%%** The Head - Cassie
%%** The Muscle - Adam
%%** The Quirk - Nick
%%** The Pretty One - Melissa
%%** The Smart One - Diana
%%** The Wild One - Faye

* BathtubScene: In "Beneath" Faye takes a bath in her grandpa's cabin to try to relax. At first it looks like a {{fanservice}} scene with her [[BathKick stretching]] her [[ShesGotLegs legs]] out of the tub, but soon [[InterruptedBath her bath gets interrupted]] by all bathwater suddenly being replaced by mud and seaweeds and Faye screams in panic. CutToBlack and we come back to a [[ModestyTowel towel clad]] Faye checking the now normal bathtub along with Diana and Cassie, who despite being witches, just assume Faye was drunk and imagined the whole thing.

A series on the CW based on a book trilogy by L.J. Smith, who also created ''Literature/TheVampireDiaries''.

Slightly longer version: Following the death of her mother, Cassie Blake (Britt Robertson) moves to Chance Harbor, Washington to live with her grandmother. Her attempts to adjust to the new town are crushed when five of her classmates, Adam Conant (Thomas Dekker), Diana Meade (Creator/ShelleyHennig), Faye Chamberlain (Creator/PhoebeTonkin), Melissa Glaser (Creator/JessicaParkerKennedy), and Nick Armstrong (Louis Hunter), reveal to Cassie that she comes from a long line of witches and is the final member of their coven; with her they are able to unlock the full extent of their powers. Initially Cassie refuses to believe that she is a witch, even after Adam helps her to unlock her powers. It is only after she discovers an old leather-bound book of spells left to her by her late mother, Amelia, that Cassie begins to accept her power. Inside the book is a message to Cassie explaining that she kept their real family history and her powers a secret in order to keep her safe; as the circle soon finds out, their powers attract dark and dangerous attention that constantly puts them in harm's way.

* AdaptationDyeJob: Cassie is a brunette in the books but on the show, she is blonde.

* [[{{Antihero}} AntiHero / AntiHeroine]]: Almost all of the characters on the show fit this criteria of anti-heroes, with the exception of Adam and Diana.

** Faye could be classified as a Type III or a Type IV.

* [[spoiler:BackFromTheDead]]/[[spoiler:CameBackWrong]]/[[spoiler:FaceHeelTurn]]: [[spoiler:Nick]], though [[spoiler: Melissa finishes him off to save Jake]].
* BadPowersGoodPeople: Cassie at first, though [[spoiler:Diana]] fits this more now.
* BeautyBrainsAndBrawn:
** Beauty - Cassie
** Brains - Diana
** Brawn - Faye

* BatmanGambit: Apparently the binding of the new circle's powers is exactly what Dawn Chamberlain and Charles Meade wanted in the first place.

* BigBadEnsemble: So far, there's at least both Charles and Dawn -- who often seem on the verge of stabbing each other in the back -- and the [[KnightTemplar witch hunters]] (especially Eben), neither of whom really seem to know about each other. There's also the threat of demons, along with anything else that may come up.

* DawsonCasting: Played straight, naturally. The youngest cast member of the main cast, Britt Robertson, is 21 and the oldest, Jessica Parker Kennedy is 27. The rest of the cast members include Thomas Dekker who's 24, Phoebe Tonkin who's 23, Louis Hunter who's 22, Chris Zylka who's 27, and Shelly Hennig who's 25.
** Not to mention Adam Harrington plays the younger version of Ethan from the 90s (Adam Harrington is 42).
* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler: Heather had been possessed by the demon Abaddon, which is why Cassie's mother put a binding spell on her. Heather eventually dies after being run over by a car and the demon then proceeds to possess Melissa at the end of episode 4, before eventually being killed while possessing Nick.]]
* DemotedToExtra: Nick was Cassie's love interest in the books. In the series he is quickly [[spoiler: killed off]] and replaced by his older brother Jake (who wasn't in the books).
** Jane was also prominent in the first nine episodes. Since then, she's only appeared a couple of times [[spoiler: before getting killed off like Nick]].

-->'''Jake''': A storm is coming. *a storm in the sky*
-->'''Cassie''': You think? What gave it away, the clouds or the thunder?
** Faye is equally snarky.
** Jake is also a snarky individual.
** Even Adam has his witty moments.

* FantasticDrug: The concoction Nick and Faye were taking in Episode 2. [[AddictiveMagic Magic itself could also count.]]

* FiveManBand
** TheHero: Cassie
** TheLancer: Faye
** TheSmartGuy: Diana
** TheBigGuy: Adam
** TheChick: Melissa
** TheSixthRanger: Nick [[spoiler: before he dies]]. Jake seems to be a more traditional type.
** TeamDad: [[spoiler: John Blackwell, who is Cassie's]] and [[spoiler:Diana's]] actual dad.
* FreudianTrio:
** Cassie (Ego)
** Diana (Superego)
** Faye (Id)

* HeelFaceTurn: Jake.

* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Faye.
* {{Jerkass}}: Nick, at first; also Callum.
** Jake as well. Although, like Nick, he changes and evolves as a person.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Faye, most definitely so far...at least where Melissa is concerned.

* KilledOffForReal: See AnyoneCanDie above.

* LoveTriangle: [[TriangRelations Type 10.]] Adam is in a relationship with Diana, but has {{UST}} with Cassie. [[spoiler: Diana breaks up with him in "Wake" because of it.]]
** Also, there was a love triangle between Adam/Cassie/Jake later on in the season.
* MoralityPet: Melissa for Faye.
** Interestingly Diana for Cassie.
** Also, Adam for Cassie. Adam prevents Cassie from going over the edge, especially in regards to her Dark Magic. Adam, along with Diana, is one of the few people who can actually get through to Cassie.
** Diana for Charles.
** Cassie for Jake.
** Melissa for Nick.
* MsFanservice: Each of the girls gets a turn at winding up in her undies or just a ModestyBedsheet, particularly Melissa in the first few episodes.
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Cassie seem to think this in the latest episodes but before killing someone a MoralityPet stops her.

** Phoebe Tonkin pulls off a pretty convincing American accent, but you can detect the barest hint of her Australian accent on certain words. It's especially evident if you're familiar with her voice from [[Series/H2OJustAddWater her other major role]].

** Shelley Hennig and Britt Robertson both have noticeable Southern accents despite being from Washington and California.

* RedOniBlueOni:
** Cassie (Red) and Diana (Blue)
** Cassie (Blue) and Faye (Red)
** Diana (Blue) and Faye (Red)
** Faye (Red) and Melissa (Blue)
** Adam (Blue) and Jake (Red)
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Charles]] in the season finale, though [[spoiler: he may still be alive -- we see him in a catatonic state at the end of the episode, with his mother doing something to his body]].
** [[spoiler: this is likely to be the same binding spell that Cassie's mother had placed on the demon host in the show previously. So he's still alive, just catatonic.]]
* RefusalOfTheCall: Cassie, at first.

* SixStudentClique:
** The Head - Cassie
** The Muscle - Adam
** The Quirk - Nick
** The Pretty One - Melissa
** The Smart One - Diana
** The Wild One - Faye

* ShirtlessScene: Nick. Lampshaded by Cassie when she wonders [[WalkingShirtlessScene if he even owns a shirt]].

* TheReveal: In "Balcoin", Isaac tells us that [[spoiler: not only is Cassie the child of John Blackwell, but someone else in the Circle is as well]]. This is just one of many during the series, though...
** "Crystal" reveals the child to be [[spoiler: Diana]].

* TroubledButCute: Nick, Jake.

* WitchSpecies
* [[YouKilledMyFather You Killed My Parents]]: Jake gets his revenge on [[spoiler: Eben]] in "Family" -- and it was a long time coming.