Sabrina Spellman is part of two worlds: the witch world and mortal world. As her sixteenth birthday nears, she has to decide if she sign her name in the Book of the Beast during her dark baptism which will mean she serves Satan and leaves her mortal life forever. Her home is steeped in magic with her aunts Zelda and Hilda, who have raised her since her parents died in a plane crash, and her cousin Ambrose being witches. Her best friends Susie and Roz plus her beloved boyfriend Harvey are part of her regular, mortal high school and in integral part of her life. How can she choose between two such integral parts of her life?
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina started out as a pitch dark 60's style comic book reimagining of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. The adaptation to television changed quite a bit, making it more appropriate for teens, dialing back the horror elements, changing many characters entirely, and setting the show in present day with a retro flare. The show is a bit of a mixed bag with some unique elements and some that fall flat.
The world of witches is extremely entertaining with its over the top and dramatic nature, rituals, and long list of rules. They worship Satan and seem rather evil, but most situations with anything truly dark are played off comedically or pulled back before anything horrific happens. For instance, cannibalism seems to a typical part of their rituals and done just for fun, but it's either stopped before it happens (even though this particular ritual happens every year) or in a dream and so over the top it isn't taken seriously (even though the meal is a child). There is also an added element where the show says that witches can't love, but we see plenty of witch characters expressing love: Zelda and Hilda for Sabrina, Ambrose and his boyfriend, and the High Priest for his wife and child. I love the aesthetics and creepiness of this brand of fictional Satanism, but the tone is confused and doesn't seem to know if it's supposed to be evil, good, or somewhere in between.
Sabrina is a frustrating character who throws herself into dangerous situations without a thought to who might get hurt or what could go wrong. Her selfishness extends to how she treats her boyfriend and uses magic on him or around him to solve problems. She even goes as far as to commit murder as long is it can be magically reversed. Her main goal is to defeat Satan even while she draws power from him to do magic. Sabrina is more selfish and arrogant, thinking what she's doing is good even as it blows up in her face and hurts everyone around her. The worst instance is when she brings back Harvey's brother from the dead after he died in a mine accident. She didn't know that his soul has be brought back as well and doesn't want to take responsibility for her huge mistake. This chosen one story is a bit of a let down when the person is one of the worst on the show.
The best characters on the show are Zelda and Hilda. Zelda and Hilda are co-dependent and very different from each other. Zelda is completely devout in her faith and strives to be what Satan and the High Priest want her to be. At every turn, she panics that Sabrina is being led on the wrong path. She seems to hate and resent Hilda, but deep down she truly loves and depends on her. Her snarky comments, constant smoking, and fashionable black outfits improve every scene she's in. Hilda is the most sunny and cheerful of the whole show. She's completely supportive of Sabrina and doesn't let her church, her sister, or anything change her at her core. When she becomes excommunicated from the church, she goes on with her life and takes steps to become more independent. I'm eager to see more of these two in the next season.
Other favorites include Sabrina's cousin Ambrose and Madame Satan. Ambrose has so many more problems than Sabrina, but she can only come to him when she needs something instead of thinking of solutions for his house arrest or offering any help at all. His relationship with Luke is the most adorable of the show and the one I care the most about. He's one of the most intriguing characters of the show and he's criminally underutilized at this point. Madame Satan, on the other hand, is in almost every episode behind the scenes, pulling the strings to get Sabrina to turn towards Satan. She takes the form of Mrs. Wardwell, but killed her and essentially puppets her form. Madam Satan saves Sabrina at almost every turn, acting as one part fairy godmother, one part master manipulator. Michelle Gomez infuses the character with confidence, attitude, and a healthy dose of evil.
Sabrina, Susie, and Roz are best friends for years, but Sabrina has been keeping her witch background a secret. Her friends wouldn't really understand her background and make assumptions about it based on the whole Satan thing while her witch family and acquaintances don't understand why she can't let go entirely of her mortal life and friends. Susie and Roz have their own awakenings to latent abilities, but still treat Sabrina poorly when she finally tells them. Her boyfriend Harvery is the only one with a reasonable reaction of betrayal when he finds out how Sabrina continually manipulated him and made his problems worse with magic. Ross Lynch is an amazing actor and he hasn't really been able to show it on the show quite yet.
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina isn't as chilling or horrific as I would like. However, it has an aesthetic and characters that keep me watching despite the very many flaws. Some have complained about the scenes with blurry edges, but I think it gives the show a distinctive style. The colors are absolutely beautiful and the fashions are on point. In every episode, numerous subtle horror film references are in character's clothing or the backgrounds or in set pieces, like the Suspiria skylight in the Spellman home. I hope further seasons will fix some of these problems and let characters shine that didn't get the opportunity quite yet.
My rating: 3.5/5 fishmuffins
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