The show's boss Andrew Miller claims the four-episode arc was crafted for the dead guy to be a 'sort of romantic hero' in the end, saying they knew it was going to be him from the beginning.
- Oct 15, 2011
AceShowbiz - While death is inevitable in any kind of stories, it is unusual for a show to kill of a major character early in its first season. Thus, it was quite a shocker when newbie "The Secret Circle" saw [SPOILER ALERT!] the demise of Nick in its fourth episose. Talking to TVLine, executive producer Andrew Miller has defended the bold move taken for Louis Hunter's character.
"... with Nick, we wanted to craft a four-episode arc where he starts as being this kind of mysterious, sort of jerk. And in a very short period, we wanted to take him from that place to this sort of romantic hero," he opened up about their intention for the ill-fated character. "And it just seemed like he was the best guy to do it with."
"And particularly with his relationship with Melissa, which became one of our favorite storylines, it felt like he was the perfect guy to do it with because we could make a very concise arc - a kind of coming-of-age and then, unfortunately, meeting a horrible end," Miller added, noting that they realized all the stories are just starting on the show.
Although admitting it was a hard decision to make, Miller said they always knew it was going to be Nick from the beginning. On how Hunter reacted to the plan made for his character, the actor/writer gushed, "Louis [Hunter] is a terrific actor and was really great about it and understood where we were going." He went on revealing that the rest of the cast "was very sad about the whole thing,... but they were great about it."
Preparing viewers to see a lot of grief, Miller dished that "the next episode really explores what it means to lose someone." He went on sharing, "You can't look at magic the same way again after something like this happens to someone you love. That will affect how they proceed and what their goals are for their gifts."
One person who will have a hard time coping with the loss is none other than Melissa who will be very devastated. Being left by someone who really understood her and "could see that she was more than just an appendage to Faye", she will change her way seeing Faye and some other characters.
On how Nick's death affects Melissa and Faye who had their differences over Nick, Miller elaborated, "Faye and Melissa will struggle to find the right balance, how to help each other through this tragedy. And in finding that balance, hopefully, their relationship will get stronger - but it may take a little while."
The death will also affect the parents in the story "very, very deeply," the "Nothing" star gushed. "It will cause them - at least some of them - to question what they're doing and how to move forward. And that could become a problem in their relationship in ways they didn't anticipate."
Overall, Miller thought the tragedy "felt like a turning point because we wanted to set the story in a certain direction." He added, "And it just felt like you couldn't do that without really grounding the reality of the show and setting up a real sense of consequences for actions."
"The Secret Circle" airs every Thursday at 9/8c on The CW. It has recently received a full season order, along with the network's other freshmen, "Ringer" and "Hart of Dixie".
