Following last night's highly-anticipated premiere of The Secret Circle, reviews and recaps of the show are coming in thick and fast and one thing is for sure - people are already falling under Charles' spell! The reaction to Gale's performance in the Pilot has been wonderful, unsurprisingly, and here are just a few of the comments about him so far:

"Cut to the same mysterious car pulling up in front of Cassie’s house. Out of the car comes a man that from this day forward I will fondly call “Tall, Dark, and Scary” (portrayed by Gale Harold, Queer as Folk) aka – as we later learn – Charles Meade. Mr. Meade, I mean TDS, has possibly one of the most memorable TV entrances ever as he proceeds to cause Cassie’s house to go up in flames by lighting a few matches. I should mention that these matches never touch the house but as each one is lit, another rope of fire spreads across Cassie’s home, engulfing it in an enormous inferno, with Cassie’s mom still inside, helpless."

The Secret Circle Season Premiere Recap 9/15/11

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"My favorite character on the show so far, played by Gale Harold, is Charles Meade. He’s got serious swagger; you can tell he’s King **** around town. He’s hot, he’s charming and he’s secretly evil, which is the best kind of evil."

The Secret Circle. Charles in Charge.

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"Then the casting started, and Britt Robertson, who I've adored since the pilot of Life Unexpected, signed up. And she was joined by more and more people I was excited about, like Gale Harold and Thomas Dekker.

Praise also has to go to the cast, both older and younger. It is nice to see some intriguing adult characters - Ethan, Charles and Dawn are all people I want to see more of. And it's fun that Charles and Dawn, at least, are the villains - teens always want to fight against adults, so it's good, solid wish-fulfilment stuff (once the characters inevitably realise what's going on, of course)."

'The Secret Circle': First impressions

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"What was your favorite scene from the premiere?

Eric: Everything with Gale Harold as Charles. What a creepy, perfect villain."

The Secret Circle Round Table: Series Premiere