Kiernan-Shipka-from-Chilling-Adventures-of-Sabrina

“The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” A Complete Season Review

So…

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina was a decently boring show with sprinkles of excitement every so often. It was nothing like what I was expecting from the previews and it left me wanting more than what I got. I was looking forward to seeing some badass magic and a strong lead character. Instead I got a whiny self-entitled teenager, with very little magic wielding. The show was predictable and none of the characters made me feel much of anything. Even the “oh my gosh” moments were few and far between or so predictable that I saw it coming miles away. This could just be me nitpicking and wanting more from the show, but I felt like something was completely lacking.

No, I did not compare it to the original 90s show, or the cartoon, or even the comic book that this series was based off of. I went in with absolutely zero expectations, aside from hoping that it was going to be as good as its counterpart Riverdale. I was disappointed in almost every aspect of it. Each of the characters were lackluster; they had little depth and a weird predictability to them. Granted, they introduce so many characters that they kind of over saturated the market, which could have been the problem as to why some of them were not fleshed out at all.

Sabrina Spellman

CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA

Let’s talk about Sabrina.

First off, she was selfish as all get out. That kid expected everything to be handed to her, and basically threw a fit if she didn’t get her way. It really shines a bad light on the “millennials” as there is already such a stigma against their actions. This one put it over the edge though. Sabrina would defy her aunts at every opportunity she got. Basically, Hilda or Zelda could have told Sabrina to breathe air and Sabrina would have said “No way I can figure out a way to live without breathing and you’re going to deal with it”.

She had absolutely no regard or respect for her elders. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for sticking it to the patriarchy and for trying to find your own path, but when you literally put people’s lives in danger there’s probably a problem. She broke the laws put in place for centuries and pretty much never paid the consequence. I mean, she KILLED someone for crap’s sake. She didn’t feel bad because “she brought her back” and “it was for love”. Ok seriously. That’s one helluva act for love. She threw off the balance and what happened, her boyfriend broke up with her. That was the biggest consequence of that whole thing. It’s a bit ridiculous.

I found her whole plight uninteresting and bland. There was nothing redeemable about Sabrina at all. She stayed the same and I didn’t see her change or grow at all during the show. Sure, she signed her name in the Book at the end but was it exciting or jaw dropping… nope. It just happened and then she defeated the bad guys. Woo. As the main character I wanted her to be interesting and relatable, and maybe for the younger generation she is. It just wasn’t doing it for me.

CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA
PHOTO CREDIT
Diyah Pera/Netflix

Ok, moving on to the aunts.

Hilda and Zelda were drastically different from Sabrina, and each other, and I actually rather enjoyed their journey. Hilda grew from this meek thing that did whatever her sister said to being a total badass who protected the mortals of Greendale all on her own. She was funny and sweet throughout the show. She tried to help Sabrina no matter what Sabrina put her through and showed compassion towards everyone. Her magic was all earth based and she always had a quick solution to any problem. Her humor had me smiling a lot and I think out of all of the characters she was my favorite.

Zelda was a bit of a different story.

I think Zelda could have been a lot more… powerful. I was always under the impression (yes, from the original show) that Zelda was the more powerful of the two, and they kind of tried to play that off here too. I think Zelda could have shown a lot more of her powers if they had actually decided to have the Spellmans work out the situations as a family unit, but it was definitely the opposite.

Zelda was just trying to be a devout Satanist and was just trying to do right by her church. I can’t fault her for that. What I can fault her for is not being a more hard-hitting aunt or guardian. She has the ability to stop Sabrina from doing all of this stuff but she just lets her. I understand that she wants her to be her own woman and learn and grow on her own, but if it was at the detriment of the Spellman namesake then she clearly should have stopped it.

I will say that the whole thing with Father Blackwood was, again, predictable so I didn’t feel shocked when it happened. It was decently uncharacteristic of her to steal the baby though. That shocked me a bit. I appreciated that they made her be impulsive in that moment. I am interested to see where that goes too. Here’s hoping the next season focuses on the Blackwood twins more than they focus on Sabrina.

Ambrose…

Oh, Ambrose. He was another pretty awesome character, though he too had a hint of predictability. I liked that he was always the one to come up with a solution to Sabrina’s problems, even though he encouraged her to defy the family. It makes sense though, I mean he was arrested for trying to blow up the Vatican. The whole Luke thing was weird. I get that they needed some type of romantic aspect to the show, but is it wrong that I was hoping Luke was the witch hunter that killed that one kid?

Also, they never really went anywhere with that did they? I know they touched on the Kinkle family being hunters, but they didn’t explain that one kid’s death. What an interesting twist it would be if Luke actually was a witch hunter, but was also a wizard and heavily involved in creating this new all male coven? I doubt there will be that much depth to the next season, but a girl can dream.

The misfits;

Susie and Roz. Again, just lackluster. It was cool what they set out to do but there were so many loose ends throughout the whole show. The banned book thing and WICCA were cool, but what ever came of them? Sabrina made a big deal about wanting to stick around the mortal part of her, so she could see those things through. Not only that, but everything seemed too lackadaisical and unmotivated. They never had any resolve for any of their plights. It was a series of a lot of loose ends.

I did like Ms. Wardwell and her change throughout the season. It will be interested to see what they do next with her. I am hoping that they move forward full force with Madam Satan. I want there to be conflict between Satan and Madam Satan! Please let there to be a big battle between the male coven and the female coven! There needs to be some sense of fulfillment to the show! Also, I want Salem to talk!! It is ridiculous that he didn’t talk at all when there was so much opportunity for him to do so. BAH.

Sabrina

He is still so freaking adorable though.

Wrapping it up

All in all, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina has its obvious flaws, but some redeeming moments. I genuinely do not know if I will watch the second season until I hear opinions from those I know felt the same way I did. Hopefully the second season finds its voice and its flow. I know I missed a lot in this review and I really could go on for 1,000 more words but no one wants that! I felt like this season was just missing something and it lacked a sense of fulfillment for me. What did you guys think? Let me know in the comments below!

Stay tuned for the review of the winter special “A Midwinter’s Tale” coming December 14th!

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