The Secret Circle’s Chris Zylka recently spoke with Inside TV about the upcoming Season finale and the return of Nick.
Fans of The Secret Circle had no idea Nick (Louis Hunter), who died earlier this season, would somehow return in last week’s episode. But Chris Zylka, who plays Nick’s brother Jake, had suspected it was coming for a while. “Louis secretly was telling Thomas [Dekker, who plays Adam] that they were trying to negotiate something for him to come back awhile ago, and that sparked complete joy in me because Louis and I had never met. Here we play brothers, and all I want to do is meet the guy to kinda get to know him so there was that sense that we knew each other before,” Zylka laughs. “He’s a huge Brando fan, and I love old films, so we definitely bonded over that.” As for Jake’s reaction to Nick’s return: “He’s gonna be typical Jake and cover up his real emotion with some secondary emotion, and then when push comes to shove and he has to show how he really feels, it’s pretty intense and heartfelt,” Zylka says.
Of course, Zylka couldn’t tell us exactly why Nick has returned. “I can tell you that he is more powerful than ever, and there’s a certain reason for his newfound power that’s really kind of exciting. That will come out in [tonight's] episode.” We do know that Nick, like his old Circle, is searching for a crystal at the school — and it just happens to be prom night. Faye (Phoebe Tonkin) takes Jake as her date. ”Jake and Faye are finally getting together in a more romantic way instead of just always hooking up out of nowhere every couple of episodes,” Zylka says, laughing again. “That’s what’s nice about the ‘Prom’ episode is that you’ll see some real moments between the two of them instead of just that every-couple-episode hookup. They are, actually, real people. They do know each other. They do have conversations.” (Now we feel guilty for wanting to ask if there’s time for them to get it on again before the end of the season. “There’s always time for Jake and Faye to get it on,” he says.)
The synopsis for next week’s season finale, “Family,” says that after Faye is attacked by the Witch Hunters, Jake, Melissa (Jessica Parker Kennedy) and Adam set out to save her. What can he tease about that May 10 hour? ”Jake’s gonna have to make decision to protect himself or protect his Circle. In the finale, there are so many cliffhangers that I don’t even know where the character is going, to be honest. People are gonna be left in awe about what the hell is going on with these witches,” he says. “I was excited reading it. One of the most important things in creating a successful show, at least in my novice eyes, is really kinda just pissing off the audience every week in those last couple scenes, that last act, so they’re really genuinely upset that you’ve left them at a place where they don’t know what the hell is going on and they need more. I think the finale definitely does that in really fashionable style. It’s really great.” We will get some kind of resolution on the Blackwell (Joe Lando) mystery: “Blackwell is the new Jake. You never know if he’s telling the truth, if he manipulating everyone. Does he genuinely care for even his daughters? All of those questions will be answered in a huge, huge way in the finale,” Zylka promises.
Chris also spoke with TV Guide
“Nick is back in a big way,” Chris Zylka warns.
How will the Circle feel about Nick’s return? For Jake, it may not be a happy reunion. “Jake’s going to go on an emotional roller coaster in this next episode,” Zylka says. “Typical Jake, he tries to cover up his real emotions. I mean, what would you do if your dead brother came back?”
With Nick’s return, the Circle will discover that Melissa’s (Jessica Parker Kennedy) former fling, who was once inhabited by a demon and drowned by Charles (Gale Harold), is more powerful than ever, which, Zylka says, has to do with the way Nick comes back from death. “Wherever he went, wherever death took him, he is a lot more powerful for a really, really cool reason that’s a surprise.”
Jake will have bigger things to worry about when Faye (Phoebe Tonkin) is attacked by the Witch Hunters and he must team up with Melissa and Adam (Thomas Dekker) to save her. “He’s pretty selfless when it comes to the members of the circle now,” Zylka says, recalling the episode in which Jake was willing to sacrifice himself for Cassie.
But could Jake be the one who ends up in trouble? While discussing the Crystal Skull, Zylka let slip that he wasn’t around for the filming of those particular scenes. Will Jake become Chance Harbor’s latest causality? “There’s tons of death in the finale. It’s a pretty epic episode. To be quite honest, I know the deaths are a pretty big deal right now, but with how strong the cliffhangers are, I think people are going to be more in awe of what happens next, then in awe of who just died,” he says coyly. Ruh-roh!
One thing is certain, the Circle will not be pleased once the truth about John Blackwell’s (Joe Lando) motivations come out. “He’s been trying to manipulate everyone,” Zylka says. “They’ve heard nothing but terrible things about him from the beginning so once those things all turn out to be true, they’re a pretty dangerous circle when they’re all working together and pissed off.