Sabrina Spellman has cast her spooky spell over Netflix in a dark, twisted new tale.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, it's Jan here and today I'm talking all about the Chilling
Adventures of Sabrina, what the Season 1 ending really means, some crucial details you might
have missed in the finale, and my season 2 theories.
Keep watching till the end where I'll explain why we might see feline Salem actually speak
next season.
Spoilers ahead, so take care if you're not all caught up or if you prefer tap here to
watch my spoiler-free review.
All season Sabrina resists pledging her allegiance to the Dark Lord, but when Miss Wardwell resurrects
the Greendale 13 who in turn summon the Red Angel of Death, Sabrina is pressured into
signing her name in the Book of the Beast.
Doing this moves Sabrina's powers to a new level, allowing her to summon forth hellfire
which burns the souls of the reanimated witches.
Now, there's an interesting detail here which you'll need to look carefully at because the
scene is quite dark, but as Sabrina completes her transformation into a full witch, you
can see white streaks taking over her hair.
We can appreciate that more fully in the final shot of the episode and it's actually a nice
nod to Sabrina's white hair in the comics.
Sabrina's definitely embraced her darker nature, strutting along and seemingly leading the
Weird Sisters now, and you can see Nicholas Scratch's rather concerned reaction when he
sees this, which is understandable when you consider the sisters' nefarious deeds this
season.
Also revealed in the finale is why Miss Wardwell, aka Lilith or Madame Satan, worked so hard
to manipulate Sabrina into signing her name in the Book of the Beast.
By securing Sabrina's allegiance, Madame Satan believes she'll soon reign as Queen of Hell
as a reward.
Her familiar Stolas, however, points out that it seems more likely that Satan's true plan
is to groom Sabrina to sit on the throne by his side.
Madame Satan's clearly displeased with this idea and snaps the crow's neck, indicating
that, if that does happen, she'll deal with Sabrina in a similar fashion.
If we go back over the season there's plenty of clues that suggest the Dark Lord has a
more particular interest in Sabrina than Lilith might like to think.
Consider how powerful Sabrina became after signing her name in the book.
When she summoned hellfire against the Greendale 13, she became only the fourth witch in history
to ever achieve that.
There seems to be something about Sabrina that makes her of special interest to Satan.
Remember that the marriage of Edward Spellman to the mortal Diana was approved via a special
dispensation with Satan himself even blessing the union, but Edward had to offer his child
in exchange.
Perhaps Satan's interested in her human half because it could afford him some additional
power or hold over the mortal world.
Let me know if you've got any theories.
Madame Satan will prove no pushover though next season as she's still got Brina fooled
that Miss Wardwell is just a regular witch and I think she'll be able to continue tricking
Sabrina into thinking she's a helpful ally for some time.
However, something I noticed in Wardwell's final scene is that she has the Red Angel
of Death figurine displayed prominently on her mantelpiece.
That seems to be the same figure that Ambrose found when he discovered the Greendale 13
had been resurrected.
And if Sabrina or Ambrose notice it next season, they might realise there's something up with
Miss Wardwell.
Another twist at the end of the season was when we discover that Zelda has stolen away
Father Blackwood's daughter to raise her together with Hilda.
Zelda lied to Blackwood about the child because she was actually the first born and therefore
his rightful heir.
Lady Blackwood had previously told Zelda that her husband really wanted a male heir and
so Zelda feared for the baby girl's safety.
It's quite possible Blackwood might deliberately harm the new baby if he knew she was the first
born over her younger twin brother.
"The Church of Night is ours, boys."
"This is the Dark Lord's sign."
"His blessing... that we are in the right."
"Hail to my firstborn son."
"Hail Judas."
"Hail Judas!"
A quick side note here, notice how horrified Ambrose is at what's going on in this scene,
which will likely put him in conflict next season with his boyfriend Luke, who seems
to be all on board with Blackwood's new warlock supremacy movement.
Going back to Blackwood's twin daughter, there's another potential kink in Zelda's plan to
raise a girl who might challenge Blackwood's attempt to establish an all-male hierarchy
at the Church of Night; and that is Prudence.
This season Prudence discovered that she's Blackwood's daughter but, because she was
born out of wedlock, her claim as his heir comes second to Blackwood's children born
of his wife.
However, remember what Sabrina told Pru:
"If you were Father Blackwood's daughter, you could one day lay claim to the Church
of Night, this school, everything, but you'd have to get rid of his legitimate heirs first."
What if Prudence decides to hatch her own plot to dispatch both of Blackwood's legitimate
children?
It really feels the show is setting up some serious battles over who runs the Church of
Night next season.
One mystery set up this season that I'm hoping we'll get some answers to in season 2 is what
really happened with Sabrina's parents?
Zelda and Hilda repeatedly insist there was no foul play involved in their death; however,
the Weird Sisters dropped a big hint that that's probably not the case:
"You don't want what happened to your mother and father to happen to you."
"What did you say?"
"The accident... that took their lives...
It would be tragic if a similar one befell you."
Father Blackwood definitely had issues with Edward Spellman's ideas about reforming the
Church of Night and we know that Madame Satan also resents Sabrina's parents.
When the Mother of Demons takes over Miss Wardwell's body she curses Edward and calls
Diana a "mortal sow".
In the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comics, Madame Satan and Edward Spellman were originally
lovers until he betrayed her in favour of Diana, and it'll be interesting to see whether
that also becomes part of Madam Satan's backstory in the TV show.
Like Sabrina, Aunt Hilda discovers a new path for herself by the end of the season when
she strikes up a relationship with bookstore owner Dr Cerberus.
With Hilda's confidence in herself growing, she decides she wants some more autonomy from
her sister and announces she's moving out of the room they share together.
But there's a hint that things won't play out so smoothly, because as Dr Cerberus walks
away from the Spellman house, his eyes flash for a split second, suggesting there's another
side to the bookstore owner.
In Greek mythology, Cerberus was a multi-headed dog who kept watch over the gates to the Underworld,
and whatever Dr Cerberus's true nature is, it'll be interesting to see what part he plays
next season.
As for Sabrina's romantic situation, although she clearly still loves Harvey, in the final
scene they share together she tells him that something dark has awakened inside her so
it's not safe for her to be around him.
This is a familiar trope we've seen many times in film and TV, especially for superheroes,
for example, Spider-Man decides it's too dangerous for him to be with Mary Jane.
But these things never really work out and so even if Sabrina has a fling with Nick,
her true feelings will probably remain with Harvey.
And this love triangle could be dangerous if Nick ends up falling for Sabrina.
Nick previously said he was jealous of how mortals love each other and he seems to have
a special affection for Brina.
A hot topic for many fans of the old-school Sabrina sitcom is her cat Salem who, in this
new series, only spoke out loud briefly in season 1, and that was in his goblin form
when he introduced himself as her familiar.
However, when we hear Madame Satan's crow talking to her in the finale, I think the
showrunners may be teasing the possibility of a talking Salem in season 2.
I don't expect we'll be getting the kind of sassy and sarcastic wit that was so iconic
in Sabrina The Teenage Witch as it probably wouldn't fit the tone of this new show.
But I think some more Salem talking moments would help develop his character a bit more
and give us more insight into his personality.
There's been a lot of talk about a Riverdale crossover with Sabrina and there were lots
of references to the popular CW show in the first season of Chilling Adventures plus a
surprise cameo which I talk more about in my other Sabrina video.
There's a card for that here plus a link in the video description below.
I suspect that for the moment in season 2, any crossover would be limited to a cameo
again because a full-on crossover might be tricky to pull off given the differing aesthetics
of the two shows.
However, Sabrina or Harvey could turn up briefly in Riverdale to set up a more substantial
crossover in the future.
And with Riverdale seeming to go full-on supernatural in Season 3, a cameo like this could be feasible
to pull off.
Let me know if you've got any thoughts on how the shows could cross over.
Now, what were your favourite moments this season?
And do you have any theories or things you'd like to see next on Chilling Adventures?
For example, do you want a talking Salem in season 2?
I've added a poll where you can vote – just tap in the top right of this video and after
you've cast your vote you'll be able to see the results.
The winners of my Halloween merch competition are on the screen now.
If that's you then send me an email with your details so I can send you the prize.
Tap left to watch my top 10 differences between the new Sabrina and her 1990s sitcom or tap
right for another video you're sure to like.
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Thanks for watching and see ya next time.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!