Sabrina: Season 2 review… it could be better after season 3…

Sabrina Spellman has had one hell of a turn around from season one. The new sexier season one series of a fav childhood drama bounced onto our screens with all the ‘boiling, pop and bang’ of a cauldron exploding. Netflix’s witchy tale from Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, helmer of the entirety of TV’s Archie Comics universe, gained a lot of positive attention in its first season, mainly thanks to its subversive darkness of the show.

This second season and nine episodes in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part 2, which hit Netflix, put America’s favorite teenage witch through the wringer, from a deadly scuffle with a gorgeous werewolf to a series of uncomfortable revelations about her father-turned-husband.

Truly, Part 2 proved time and again that we should never even try to predict what this show is going to throw at us. From magically choreographed musical numbers to school-sanctioned orgies in the woods, Part 2 was a series of unexpected delights.

With a newfound willingness to embrace her witchy heritage after signing the Book of the Beast in the season one finale, Sabrina finds herself increasingly pulling away from her mortal life.

But can she truly break the bonds that tie her to her humanity?

Does she? We hear you all ask. (Well, you just have to watch!) Welcome back to Greendale where the darkness keeps on growing. And believe me, there are some serious clouds on Sabrina’s ‘silver’ horizon.

The episodes pick up right where we left off at the end of Part 1 (ignoring that snappy, Christmas special), with Sabrina, trying to take down the Dark Lord/Lucifer/The Devil/Satan/whatever you want to call him, from inside the Church of Night.

As things get underway, Sabrina is now devoting herself to her studies at the Academy of Unseen Arts. She remains eager to do things her way — much to the eternal consternation of Father Blackwood (Richard Coyle, now less campy and more sinister). Challenging the status quo (she wants to be ‘Headboy,’ sorry, we mean, ‘Headgirl’) of how things are done at the Academy — or, more fittingly, how they should be done.

Sabrina is more powerful and self-assured then we have ever seen her before. And thus seen as a threat by the patriarchal forces that control her world, and everyone continues to look fabulous as they traverse through worlds dark and mysterious while balancing daily life.

Shipka does an incredible job at showing her evolution as the episodes progress. As we saw at the end of season one when Harvey (Ross Lynch) and Sabrina parted ways when he told her he wanted nothing to do with magic, we see different relationships in both the mortal and magic world take new heights when Sabrina is torn between the two.

But something feels amiss. And at times, the feminist-leaning dimension of the show is too blunt and its emotional center is somewhat, rendered hollow.

The character’s motivations feel (well never there in the beginning), giving the sense that their lives are being pushed in various directions simply because the plot requires it (say, the Love Plot between her ex and her friend).

Hence, Sabrina’s mortal friends feel lacking in the second season and at best to the story, taking time away from where the show truly shines: in its cheeky, expansive consideration of the world of witches and Sabrina’s place among them.

Except, specifically Susie (Lachlan Watson). At the end of the first season, Susie still hasn’t completely grasped who she is? She doesn’t have the support or confidence to identify herself yet, but as we have seen on their journey so far, the character slowly finds themselves and becomes comfortable in their own skin. (We like the touch, the story that goes with Lachlan Watson’s character and plays a non-binary character.)

DELIGHTS:

Culturedemandsgeeks love the acting in this show, love the seductive tone, the layers that it allows a young woman to revel in her badness and her goodness.

Each time Sabrina swerves into such uneven territory, it finds its way back to its strengths as a visually rich, darkly comical, and immensely fun to watch.

Our favourite character in the series is Principal Wardwell (Michelle Gomez). She’s not just a principal or a witch, but Lilith, mother of demons and a dark goddess figure have evolved, playing a sarcastic but sometimes caring individual.

But the big questions we have…

Why is she so hell-bent on being by Satan’s side that she would manipulate the lives of an entire town and doom a young girl to the very life she’s trying to escape?

While Miranda Otto and Lucy Davis being particular standouts as Sabrina’s caring, gloriously odd aunts are gloriously funny and enigmatic in their love for their niece.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Overall, character development in this season is more flat than the first because the plot progresses at uneven paces, picking up wildly at the end. More obscure and violent than the first season and a tad slower in storytelling. Yet Kiernan Shipka remains fresh as Sabrina.

Keep on casting those spells, Sabrine, ’cause Culturedemandsgeeks will keep on following.

4/5 STARS