I finished the Part 2 of the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix. For those of you who don’t know, CAS is the darker Netflix reboot of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Please note: there are spoilers.
In Part 2, we catch up with Sabrina, who signed away her name in the Book of the Beast to save Greendale at the end of Part 1. Sabrina is more confident and less sentimental. She has the “I’ll do it myself” mentality, which was seen in Part 1 but more heavily emphasized in Part 2, like when she told Ms. Wardell she is taking an indefinite leave from Baxter High without telling her aunts. She tries to cut ties with her mortal friends to protect them but learns they can protect themselves and even fight back. Sabrina’s confidence is heightened when her powers go haywire, curing people of disease and taking down the “False God’s” angels. However, her “I’ll do it myself” mentality is dropped when she and her friends find out her true identity, the manipulation taken to allow this destiny to happen, and the plan to stop it.
Part 2 also focuses on the side characters. Roz learns to control her cunning while experiencing full blindness. Harvey is over Sabrina and slowly falls for Roz. Susie comes to accept to present herself in full form, renaming herself Theo, and challenges the gender rules by trying out for the men’s basketball team. Ms. Wardell continues to stop Sabrina from her true destiny, but finds unexpected obstacles along the way. Aunt Hilda finds love and Aunt Zelda is offered a strategic marriage. Prudence fights the line of doing what is right and getting what she feels she deserves. Ambrose questions his loyalty to his family and to the Church of Night, especially after he finds Luke’s death to be connected to Father Blackwood’s greed. Father Blackwood seeks to take power into his own hands, even if means betraying modern moral principles and the devil himself. And let’s not forget the Sabrina-Nick love relationship that is amazing and questionable.
Part 2 was great. I loved the symbolism and how the writers strategically followed the stories of the Bible to create a dark Messiah-like figure out of Sabrina. The twists in the second half of the season were genuinely shocking. I very much appreciated that the writers did not throw Harvey, Roz, and Theo aside and instead deepened the character development to make them an integral part of the season finale. My one issue, the absolute biggest “smack in the face” is Sabrina’s final statement. Why, after Lilith gave you back your powers and freedom along with saving the world, would you want to go back to Hell to save your boyfriend? This whole show has been playing the concept of gender inequality. In the season finale, the females of the Church of Night (er, Church of Lilith) are finally on the top of the chain. Why backtrack Sabrina? She’s a powerful witch with freedom. Why backtrack for a man who not only is holding the spirit of Lucifer but lied and manipulated you on behalf of a pompous devil? I honestly feel the show should have stopped at Part 2, but nope we are being dragged into Part 3. I pray the writers can come up with a very convincing storyline for Sabrina’s backtrack.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina stars Kiernan Shipka, Ross Lynch, Tati Gabrielle, and Gavin Leatherwood.
Zelly & Ol' Hem's 