For the CW, picking up The Secret Circle and airing it after The Vampire Diaries is a guaranteed success. It's based off a book series by TVD's author, and has many of the same people working on it. The similarities are so striking that I can't imagine a world where The Secret Circle does not get stellar ratings (for CW standards).
From the pilot alone, it is already off to a better start than TVD, which had an awful pilot and first four/five episodes. The Secret Circle, unlike The Vampire Diaries, doesn't dawdle around at the beginning or wallow too much in the teen angst and drama. It gets straight to the point: this is a show about a witch's circle and the main character Cassie completes it. OK, so nothing revolutionary, but it's at least better than the swirling fog and flirting that inhabited the first episode of TVD. There is definitely forward momentum going into the second episode.
At this point, there isn't much more you can say about TSC. The characters are introduced, the setting is established, and the backstory is ready to be revealed. It all feels very familiar. The question going forward is whether TSC can capture the wild unpredictability of the TVD, the shocking plot twists that keep coming episode after episode. We'll just have to wait and see.
Score: 8.5/10
