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The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina – The New Witch in Town

8/10

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Episode Title: Chapter One: October Country

Episode Number: Pilot

Airdate: 10/26/2018

Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Magic, Mystery, Romance, School, Supernatural, Thriller

Network: Netflix

Current Schedule: Seasonal

Status: ongoing

Production Company: Berlanti Productions

Director(s): Lee Toland Krieger

Writer(s): Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

Cast: Kiernan Shipka, Ross Lynch, Miranda Otto, Lucy Davis, Chance Perdomo, Michelle Gomez, Tati Gabrielle, Richare Coyle and Bronson Pinchot

Recap

Sharing the same universe as the CW television series Riverdale, this series follows the adventures of Sabrina Spellman. Born half witch, half human, Sabrina must decide which side to devote herself to by her 16th birthday. Torn between the two worlds, Sabrina must also discover the truth behind her parent's deaths. With it's dark storylines and thriller scenes, this ain't your parent's Archie Comics.

Review

Sabrina Spellman seems like your average American girl. She goes to high school, has a devoted boyfriend named Harvey Kinkle, and has quirky loyal friends Rosalind Walker and Susie Putnam at her constant side. When she goes home, however, things are not all as they seem. Living with her aunts Zelda and Hilda Spellman, as well as her cousin Ambrose Spellman, Sabrina is also immersed into the world of witchcraft and the supernatural. It’s here that we discover that Sabrina’s father was a powerful warlock, highly regarded in the supernatural world. This was tarnished, however, when he fell in love with Sabrina’s human mother. The two mysteriously died sometime after Sabrina was born, leaving her to be raised by her father’s sisters. She must keep her magical world secret from humans under strict witch law, for fear that the Salem witch murders to reoccur.

A constant thorn on her side are the sinister Weird Sisters, a trio of witches who constantly taunt Sabrina for being a half-breed. They try to scare Sabrina from attending the witch academy with a curse. Sabrina has enough magical sense to cleanse herself of the curse, and to have her aunts know what had happened. Telling Sabrina to stay clear of the Weird Sisters, they remind Sabrina of just how important her 16th birthday is. It is the day that she must choose to officially become a witch under a special ceremony called the Dark Baptism. She does this by swearing devotion to the devil by signing her name in his book with her own blood. It’s a day Sabrina dreads as it means that she will never see her boyfriend or friends again.

Sabrina also has an issue with devoting herself over to anyone, let alone a supernatural being. She asks her aunts why she must make such a decision, but from them she gets no support, as they tell her that it is a custom and that she must fulfill it. She takes time to herself by trying to summon a familiar for herself. A familiar is a goblin who shape shifts itself into a pet. The familiar and the witch, if they form a bond, then devote themselves to each other as protectors. After casting her calling spell, a familiar answers her call and takes the shape of a black cat named Salem. Salem aides Sabrina immediately as a dark witch has taken possession of one of Sabrina’s school teachers. After a couple attempts to kill Sabrina, Salem was able to stop each attempt from happening.

Sabrina’s aunts are uneasy when they learn that Sabrina is having second thoughts about devoting herself to her witch heritage, so they call in the Father Faustus Blackwood, head priest of their witch community, to help convince Sabrina of her true calling.

Sabrina asks him several questions, to which the silver tongued Blackwood has a pleasing answer to. Seeing that she has the attention of a person in authority, Sabrina then asks if her parent’s deaths were accidental or murder. Blackwood says that their deaths were extensively looked into, and that it was deemed an accident. Before he leaves, Sabrina’s cousin Ambrose shows Blackwood something that he’s discovered. After taking in the dead body of a local boy for witchly rituals, Ambrose discovers that the body has the markings of a warlock upon it. Blackwood agrees that the boy was a warlock, but as he was raised by humans, was most likely unaware that he was a witch. The idea that the boy was killed by a witch hunter then becomes likely.

Final Thoughts

I really liked the pilot for the Sabrina series. As the actors from the original Melissa Joan Hart series can attest...

The series was dark and brooding, but still had enough heart to keep the series grounded. The witches in this series are not the nature loving Wiccas we usually see. Sabrina and her ilk are proud dark followers of the devil, and make no qualms about it. It's interesting to see Sabrina go from giggling school girl, to starring down three dark witches without so much as a flinch. It's as if she's truly embraced her human and witch ties on multiple levels. When she sees Salem's true form, she doesn't run and hide. She stands her ground and asks who he is. This girl ain't no push over, and that's freakin' awesome to see.

I also like that her relationship with Harvey isn't overly hokey either. They seem as if they honestly like each other and aren't going for the usual tropes that typical high school couples constantly have on television. i.e. pushing for sex, jealousy, cheating, etc. Their most concerning points are making sure the other knows they love them, and being able to see each other for Sabrina's birthday. Like I said, this Sabrina seems very grounded in both worlds and doesn't seem to want to conform to what's expected of her. I'm really looking forward to seeing what this world has in store for her and her family/friends.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina – The New Witch in Town
  • Writing - 8/10
    8/10
  • Storyline - 8/10
    8/10
  • Acting - 7/10
    7/10
  • Music - 8/10
    8/10
  • Production - 9/10
    9/10
8/10
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