The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is back with season two, premiering on Netflix’s streaming service on April 5th. The first episode, “Chapter Twelve: The Epiphany,” picks up after the events of season one and the holiday episode, “Chapter Eleven: A Midwinter’s Tale.”
The show wastes no time getting into the frequently highlighted themes of challenging institutional politics and battling equality issues. At the Witch Academy, Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka) goes for Head Boy, which is traditionally a position held by a male as the title suggests. Meanwhile, back at Baxter High, Susie (Lachlan Watson) tells friends and family to now call him Theo, and tries out for the boys’ basketball team. This is the first of a series of parallels the show sets up between Baxter High and the Witch Academy.
While I’m all for shattering glass ceilings, it is hard to rally behind Theo getting on the basketball team when he has no athletic abilities. The show doesn’t set this scenario up in a way that makes us sympathetic to that, especially when Sabrina magically alters Theo’s abilities during try outs, which seems completely undeserved.
In “Chapter Thirteen: The Passion of Sabrina Spellman,” we discover that Satan has a grand plan for Sabrina, much to the dismay of Mary Wardwell/Madam Satan/Lilith (Michelle Gomez). Convinced that Sabrina will always choose the light, Wardwell and the Dark Lord test her, and he calls on Sabrina to do his bidding. The first test was one of the best, unexpected comedic moments of the entire series.
More parallels continue as both schools have plays which require Sabrina and Nick (Gavin Leatherwood) and Roz (Jaz Sinclair) and Harvey (Ross Lynch) to have romantic kisses. “Chapter Fourteen: Lupercalia” furthers the two relationships as they celebrate the lusty holiday Lupercalia and Valentine’s Day. Considering Sabrina’s ultimate, life-changing devotion to all things Harvey Kinkle throughout the first season, her brief moments of jealousy just don’t feel like enough. On the flip side, her budding relationship with Nick is way more exciting and helps their character development, so it is hard to complain too much about this arrangement.
While “Chapter Fifteen: Doctor Cerberus’s House of Horror” doesn’t further the plot in any significant way, it is a break from the series norm, weaving fantasy and reality as a tarot card reader tells each character what horrors their futures could hold. The readings exploit the character’s fears or concerns, such as Theo’s transition, Roz’s loss of vision, and Zelda (Miranda Otto) hiding her soon-to-be husband’s baby from him. It was a whimsical, one-off episode and while it could be seen as filler, it was fun regardless.
The first three episodes are heavy on doing away with social norms, misogyny, and bigotry, and while that is never a bad thing, at times it just feels forced. Roz and Harvey having an entire conversation about dating in front of large blackboards covered in facts about birth control and egg and sperm drawings is just too on the nose. Also, Theo didn’t get a chance to be a fleshed out character; it seemed that his transition was the only reason he existed at times. Thankfully in later episodes, we get to see actress Lachlan Watson shine.
Sabrina has gone from a witch whose soul is her own to a witch whose name is in the Book of the Beast. Gone are the cutesy plaid outfits (which are missed) as she sports a Buffy-type wardrobe of reds and blacks. She changes not only in clothing, but also by opting to be at the Academy more and Baxter less. While it made her mortal friends a tad insignificant at times, diving into this witchy world is a welcome change. It was almost like seeing Hogwarts for the first time; you want to be there and explore every inch. The environment is more intoxicating and feels less safe, but in a great way.
While episodes 1-4 aren’t without missteps, they are definitely a fun and charming ride back to Greendale. Praise Satan!
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