Thursday 11 April 2019

Half Witch, Half Mortal, All Kinds of Chaos


So, Sabrina, not like the 90s show I loved way back when. But it wasn't all shock and horror. As soon as it was announced I went out and read The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (vol 1) of course. I was prepared for something very different to the previous TV show. There were similar characters, yes but other than that, this was completely other worldly another realm.

SPOILERS

By now, anyone who loves witches, supernatural goings on, Sabrina, TV would have seen the first season of the aptly shortened name CAOS so I won't get bogged down with the Dark Baptism and all that jazz. Let's jump straight into the deep dark end of the satanic pool.

First off, I am beyond pleased that the second season, part two was so quick on the heels of part one. After the cliffhanger of last season with Sabrina going full witch and getting the white hair and eveyrthing, my impatience to see what happens next had reached a high. BUT the teasers teased a very different season to what we got. Playing up a love triangle that turned out to be square and then nothing really. The impending doom of the world and the Dark Lord himself appearing in his Heavenly form were not to be expected, just Sabrina trying to balance her mortal life and witch times.

I really enjoyed season two, even if Salem still didn't talk, but there were some things lacking such as, more time with Hilda and her developments, more time with Ambrose apart from him gasping and sitting down heavily in chairs, more about Sabrina's parents would have also been interesting to unfold and maybe, dare I say it, more explaination about Roz's 'cunning'. BUT what did happen was brilliant for th most part.

Immediate thoughts....
-Noboby is buying this second rate forced romance between Roz and Harvey - its dull and boring, they were more interesting apart.
-Are we not going to find out more about the ghost that Theo talks to?? Seriously, why has this been dropped. And speaking of dropping things...
-Throwback to season 1 with all those mysterious deaths, are we just letting that go now?
-Lillith was out of the picture for most of the season, which was a shame, hope shes back in season 3
-What's with all the betraying familiars?? Is Salem and Hilda's spiders the only loyal ones?
-Can't believe Blackwood cool aided the entire coven
-And the last line 'let's go to hell and bring back my boyfriend' - no, Sabrina, no.

Now for the more serious comments. As I said before, this season did not go the way I expected. Steering away from teenage dramas and highschool issues, Sabrina and Harvey's unresolved feelings were quickly dealt with very early on, as well as cementing the new couple, that really doesn't work, Roz and Harvey. Why not have new characters come in for them? Sabrina also spent most of her time at the academy and with Nick. After the Lupercalia episode, the series seemed to settle down and get into the real story, Sabrina's destiny, Blackwood's my misogynistic plan and why is Dorian Gray in Greendale. The last one was mainly for me as its really odd. Although the joke that everything is in Greendale is played up so the show knows.

Sabrina's destiny, to rise up within the church and fulfil a prophecy, taking her place by the Dark Lord, was part of season one. Sabrina continues her 'good' works, challenging the patriarchy, believing that because she's half witch/mortal rules don't apply to her. But when the Order of Innocence aka Angels come hunting souls, she literally wears a crown of thorns, is hit by three arrows and levitates in the air. She also brings the dead back to life and sets fires to those angels. She becomes Hell's herald and continues to perform 'miracles' until the Dark Lord's plan is revealed. Satanic mythology as well as influence from the Bible is used throughout and with ease in the show. Tapping into the Church of Night's religion and the rules and regulations the church follows is actually quite fascinating, especially with the arrival of the anti-pope, perfectly casting Ray Wise in the role. Magic, witchcraft and religion alike are combined into a large melting pot that actually make you more curious about the classes they teach at the academy. What I am trying to say is, I think its amazing that the show went all the way with Sabrina being the prophet for the Dark Lord and its also why I'm a little disappointed, it didn't play out longer.

The show was stunted in it's teen romantic entanglement choices (dull) but for calling out the misogynistic ways of the church and making a spectacle of the Dark Lord and wanting to open the gates of hell was brilliant. The other issues were tackled in the form of character development, when Theo Putnam joined the basketball team. Handled with care, Theo's story unfolded in parts but out of all the mortal friends, he actually had story. In fact, apart from this part of the season, the mortal kids weren't around much, or maybe I didn't notice them.

With quite a few cliffhangers, the show is now left with no Dark Lord (maybe), barely a Church of Night and Sabrina, with powers restored but still thinks its a great idea to go back to hell after the gang literally just left the gates. Come on 'Brina, you can do better.