[TV Review] The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018-2020)

Rather than a retro ‘60s comic book queen or a ‘90s sitcom with a teenager and a talking cat, Sabrina Spellman of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (CAOS) is a 21st century witch with 17th century problems. In the human world, she’s a normal teenager. At home, she lives with her aunties Zelda and Hilda and her cousin Ambrose, all practicing witches preparing her to sign her soul away to Satan so she can gain her full powers. Sabrina is understandably cautious about such an undertaking, thus creating the central conflict for season one and, arguably, the best of the series.

As with the ‘90s sitcom, Sabrina’s supernatural side neatly grafts onto her experiences navigating teenage girlhood. The book signing ceremony is to take place on her 16th birthday, a significant year for many American teenagers, and her main concern about her witch identity is whether or not she will be accepted by her friends and peers. Adolescence is scary for lots of reasons—new feelings, new relationships, beauty standards, blatant sexism, etc.

Part One has its issues, but it ties these themes together well and adds a spooky twist to well-known lore. It also introduces one of the show’s strongest points—costume and set design. Sabrina often dresses in ‘60s-inspired attire as a nod to the original character. Her house is replete with romantic candlelight, dark shading and tons of witchy herbs, spells and books. 

However, Part One is built on a shaky foundation the writers can’t uphold. In effect, CAOS fails to establish a solid throughline and the script crumbles under random storylines which are mashed together in the hopes of a satisfying product.

After Sabrina refuses to sign the book, her aunts are angry and disappointed. Aunt Zelda, ever the traditionalist, thinks that she’s failed her coven by raising a niece so against their beliefs. Eventually, Sabrina agrees to attend her witch and human schools part time. At The Academy of Unseen Arts she faces Father Blackwood, headmaster, leader of the coven, and raging misogynist.

The sexist hierarchy of the coven brings into question witchcraft’s role in the series. Usually, witchcraft serves as an aberrant form of power mostly or exclusively accessible to women. The show seems conscious of this as well, with Sabrina and her human friends starting an on-the-nose feminist club called WICCA (Women’s Intersectional and Creative Association) and having Sabrina stand against Blackwood’s chauvinism throughout the series.

So, why, then, is she cool with everyone following Satan?

To clarify, Lucifer of CAOS is not a misunderstood bad boy or a representative against Christian authority (or, he is, but not in a revolutionary way). He is pure evil. He eats babies, forces witches to give them his souls and wants ownership of Sabrina. His only redeeming quality is that he’s stereotypically attractive.

The show’s inability to establish a consistent moral compass is its undoing. Without making the coven definitively subversive, it’s difficult to justify the witches as good, especially considering that they sell their souls for power. 

In Part two, a group of angels mimicking “doorbell missionaries” lay siege on Sabrina’s magical school, killing several students in a mission to eradicate Satanic witches. While this introduces interesting ideas about Christianity, the show’s larger context makes it difficult to move forward with them.

As stated before, witchcraft is not an inherently feminist act in the CAOS universe. Even the female witches are sexist and push against Sabrina’s more radical policies. This, paired with Satan’s unambiguous evil, makes the audience reconsider the angels—who Sabrina ultimately massacres in a brilliant scene involving fire and levitation.

By Part Three, Sabrina has signed the book through necessity, trapped Satan away, revealed her witch identity to her friends and unseated Father Blackwood in favor of her Aunt Zelda. Rather than the devil, they now worship Lilith, Satan’s former henchwoman.

One of several new challenges is a group of Pagans operating under the guise of a traveling carnival. At this point, the coven’s subversiveness is more apparent, but the presence of the Pagans stifles this progress. The Pagans fall into several stereotypes—the most egregious equating them to circus freaks. There is a woman who dances sensually with a snake, a fortune teller, and a ringleader-- all with indeterminate accents. The whole plot is rife with orientalism. 

They also worship a deity that gains power through virgin sacrifice, but it’s not like the coven can claim superiority in this department either.

These moral plot holes decrease the story’s momentum. In Part One, the show introduces a few key players to wreak havoc on Greendale. There’s Satan, of course, who poses the greatest threat, Lilith, his loyal follower, and Father Blackwood, the school’s headmaster. As the story plays out, Satan devolves into more of a wacky nuisance (save for a few instances) and Lilith ends up siding with the coven—leaving Father Blackwood as the best option for an explosive finale.

While not the most powerful, Blackwood is a compelling antagonist. He goes from an annoying headmaster to a tyrannical anti-Pope and, finally, a crazed religious fanatic. However, by figuratively castrating Satan, the show removes Blackwood’s power source as well, leaving him with the weakest plotline of the series—the Eldritch Terrors. 

An ode to Lovecraft, The Eldritch Terrors are a horror-sci/fi hybrid ill-fitted to the show’s mystical leanings. They have nothing to do with Satan, God or witchcraft. Rather, they affect the fabric of reality, twisting time and memory and introducing the Sabrina multiverse. 

By the end, Sabrina is forced to make a blood sacrifice to save the world from the incoming terrors. In an act equating her with Christ, she accepts her fate, bleeds out, and closes the portal just as she dies. 

It’s a frustrating conclusion given the witches’ multiple links to reincarnation, but it’s also fitting. Without a clear sense of morality, the show quickly loses its momentum. Sabrina’s unexpected death matches the moribund movement of CAOS. A lack of clear plot or clear morals the show sacrifices its hero in an abrupt end.

RELATED ARTICLES

---

---

EXPLORE

---

MORE ARTICLES

---

---