HuffPost TV recently ventured up into the foothills of Vancouver's Brittania Mountain to visit the cast of The CW's freshman series "The Secret Circle" on location.
The weather was chilly at the atmospheric old mine they were filming at for "Crystal," the April 19 episode, and the cast members filming that day -- Britt Robertson, Thomas Dekker, Phoebe Tonkin, Chis Zylka and Jessica Parker Kennedy -- were eager to discuss their magical new series.
We'll have more from our exclusive visit in weeks to come, but since the show returns Thursday (March 15, 9 p.m. EST on The CW) after a month of repeats, we asked the stars to preview what we can expect in this week's episode, titled "Lucky."
In the episodes leading up to the break, we witnessed Cassie (Robertson) and Adam (Dekker) growing closer, and now the two star-crossed witches are an official couple, which, according to Dekker is "nice to play with" after so long giving each other furtive glances and shy smiles.
"In 'Lucky,' we're definitely together, but there are situations in the episode that are already challenging for us, [like]arguments about parental history, and it's interesting to already have a situation challenge us when we're such a new couple," Dekker said. "And in the following episode, you find out more about the 'written in the stars' destiny of our families and what that really means. I had a lot of fun shooting those episodes because Brittany and I got to get into the meat of those characters."
Robertson was equally enthusiastic about the new romance, especially as Cassie has been forced to deal with many of her recent worries on her own, since her grandmother left town to deal with her memory issues. "It’s a great place for Cassie, because she’s always had Diana as her friend and she’s always been able to talk to Diana, but now, she has someone on her side who’s there to protect her and be there for her, and they just have this great love for each other," she said. "It’s the first time you get to see Cassie exploring something very real and very familiar. The audience can see something tangible like a high school romance, and I think it’s really fun to explore that relationship and how new it is. They’re dealing with very mundane issues that everyone goes through -- it’s a very normal relationship. And then the supernatural aspects have their effect on their relationship as well."
Dekker also hinted that his closeness with Cassie might bring out sides of Adam that viewers haven't seen before. "Adam goes through big changes coming up, which has been very exciting," he teased. "He’s been kind of the rock of the show, very still and informative, and in the next couple episodes, his relationship with Cassie takes this really interesting shift for him, and you get to see the different colors that were maybe there before she got to town."
It's safe to assume that said "shift" is tied into the return of John Blackwell (Joe Lando), Cassie's long-lost father, who is set to make waves all over Chance Harbor. Though the circle is rightly suspicious about his intentions at the outset, Robertson admitted that Cassie is just "lurching out for someone to love her," and for now, at least, Blackwell fits that description. "He first came to town and there was a lot of hesitancy; we’ve heard so many horrible things about this man, but he seems to be perfectly harmless. So it’s like, ‘Great, not only do I have my father back, but he’s a good guy.' And he’s a protector, from what she's seen," the actress said. "He’s been very generous with his feelings for her and just trying to be there for all the years that he hasn’t been. I think that’s really encouraging her to try and build a relationship with him. I think you’ll see that relationship continue to blossom as long as he continues to be the way that he is."
Another character who seems desperate for someone to love him is Jake (Zylka), who has been dropped by Cassie and Faye (Tonkin) for other guys in recent weeks, and no longer has any family to fall back on. "Since Isaac has left and there’s not really that father figure that Jake seems to strive so hard to [find] to fill that empty space, Blackwell’s kind of taken that role on," Zylka said when asked about the ongoing alliance between the characters. "Whether or not he’s setting us up or doing good by us, Jake doesn’t care because he has that void filled for the time being."
Sadly, that goodwill won't extend to the rest of the circle's parents, who all have their own checkered history with Blackwell -- especially Adam's father, Ethan (Adam Harrington). "We sort of hinted in 'Witness' that Ethan possibly wasn’t so clean or honest as he has pretended to be," Dekker said. "What that really means, we find out in the next couple of episodes. The arrival of Blackwell, and especially Blackwell becoming so close with our circle, is the most information we’ve gotten from any of our parents, and it’s the closest we’ve gotten to really hearing the truth, and it starts to challenge everything that Adam has believed in his whole life."
In fact, Dekker shared, Blackwell's friction with Ethan becomes the main source of conflict between their children: "When Cassie, with her father, starts to unearth more truths, that’s kind of the challenge that it puts on our relationship of 'Who do we trust?' and it sort of becomes a bit of a competition of which parent is really the villain or the hero ... but I will not reveal which one Ethan is -- it's exciting!"
"Lucky" is also a pivotal episode for Dawn (Natasha Henstridge), Dekker said, as we see her "reveal her true colors and her true past with Blackwell" -- a theme that will carry through to episode 119.
One of the show's lingering questions is the identity of the other Blackwell child, and once the circle finds out about it, there's one obvious suspect who might have a little more investment in the outcome than the others. "Faye is attracted to dark magic, she’s attracted to solo magic, so the idea that there could be another circle member that could have dark magic like Cassie, she’s like, 'Right, I’m gonna find out how this could be me,’" Tonkin admitted. "But it may not necessarily be her."
Fans itching to discover who Cassie's secret sibling is (we're hoping it's not Adam, awk-ward) won't have to wait long, though -- at the time of our interview, Robertson already knew. "It’s weird, it kind of just happened all of a sudden; one day we’re talking about crystals and the next day we know who the child is. It’s like, 'Oh, alright, cool,'" she laughed. "When I was reading it, I was like, ‘What?! This came out of nowhere!' But it’s awesome and it’s great and the audience will find out very soon."
The other storyline in "Lucky" deals with Faye and her growing attraction to gorgeous voodoo practitioner Lee (Grey Damon), since he seems to be keeping a secret or two. "Faye was under the impression that Lee had this girlfriend, Eva, who overdosed on 'Devil’s Spirit,' but we find out that she isn’t dead, she’s just in a coma and that Lee is using Faye’s magic to bring her back," Tonkin said. "In these episodes, Faye is also starting to realize that not only is she trusting Lee to get her magic back, she’s also starting to like Lee in a little bit in a romantic way. Once Faye realizes that she’s starting to have feelings for Lee, around the same time, Eva wakes up, so suddenly there’s another woman, and I think Faye ... she’s not threatened by Eva, but she just doesn’t want her in the picture. "
Even though Tonkin admitted that Faye is drawn to "people who have a dark side," like Lee and Jake, she still has her best friend Melissa (Jessica Parker Kennedy) to try and keep her on the straight and narrow. Parker Kennedy admitted that in the next couple of episodes, "Melissa’s very busy keeping Faye on track, which she always tries to do. Faye is very interested in getting her individual powers back, and she’s basically there to support Faye. Faye goes back to talk to Lee and runs into a girl who claims to be Lee’s girlfriend. Things get a little bit rough after that."
How rough? We'll have to tune in to find out.
"The Secret Circle" airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.
Who do you think the other Blackwell child is? Do you think the rift between their fathers will drive Cassie and Adam apart? Share your predictions below, and come back next week for more from our exclusive "Secret Circle" set visit.