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Five Thoughts on The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina‘s “Chapter Eight: The Burial”

By | January 9th, 2019
Posted in Television | % Comments

Welcome one and all to Multiversity’s very own ‘Witching Hour,’ in which we take a look at Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Join me every Wednesday for a recap of the first season. After the holiday break we’re back with three more episodes as well as the holiday special. Last time we left off, Agatha and Dorcas of the weird sisters used that voodoo doll magic to try and kill the Kinkle brothers. Spoilers ahead.

1. Cave In at The Kinkle Mine

The Kinkle Mine is one of the staples of this show so far. The whole town arrives on the scene to help with rescue attempts. And even the students at the Academy of Unseen Arts know all about the tragedy. Given that Agatha and Dorkus commit the act, though, I’m sure they love sharing their tale. The Kinkle Mine is to Sabrina what the Hellmouth was to Buffy. We’ve already seen some spooky shit down there and there’s pretty hard evidence that the mine is where the Devil hangs his hat. As much as “Chapter Seven” was about Greendale’s history, we really didn’t see much of that with the Kinkles. We see three generations of Kinkles hunt and kill a familiar disguised as a stag, and we Prudence mentions that the Kinkle family were witch hunters, but beyond that, Harvey’s family isn’t as explored as much as Susie and Roz and it’s a shame.

It’s known that the mine was established centuries ago when the Greendale Thirteen were persecuted, but why did the Kinkles inherit it? What secrets did they know of Greendale’s witch community. Earlier this season, Ambrose’s story kicked off with a murder thought to have been perpetrated by a witch hunter. And guess what? His father was killed by witch hunters, we learn. If nothing else, that thrown away plot thread was a missed opportunity and something that I hope is explored later down the line. I want to know what modern day witch hunters are like, if they know about covens similar to the Church of Night? Hell, do they know about demons like Batibat or Ms. Wardwell? While they may have a history as witch hunters, the Kinkles are a family on the brink of falling apart, and in an episode such as this when both father and son deal with grief in different ways, it would have been cool to delve into that a bit more.

2. The Insurance!

It’s been established that Harvey’s dad is kind of an asshole. Actually, he’s a real dick. This guy has a heart so cold that he didn’t even wait for the search party to conclude before declaring his son dead and cashing in on that insurance money. He’s an all around classy guy, right? From bullying his sons to taking his sweet ass time to get to the mine in the first place, Mr. Kinkle is the worst. It’s the guy’s favored son and he plans Tommy’s funeral only two days after the accident. Ice. Cold.

Harvey gets a moment to not be “chicken shit” and he tells his dad that he’s a piece of shit, and it’s probably Harvey’s best moment of the entire series so far.

3. Dark Magic

Clearly, Sabrina is kind of a special witch. She’s a half-breed, she is the daughter of a High Priest of the Church of Night, and she’s hand picked by the Devil himself to bring about some kind of apocalypse. She’s performed and exorcism, solved a magical Rubik’s cube with a sleep demon in it, and helped banish said demon once again. She’s also incredibly young. It’s easy to forget how old Sabrina is supposed to be, as Kernan Shipka brings a level of maturity and confidence to the teenage witch–she did grow up on the set of Mad Men. It’s also her confidence that makes her decisions so frustrating sometimes. Sometimes Sabrina is a little overconfident and we see this throughout the next couple of episodes. As I said last time, the show starts to pick up steam with these last few episodes as Sabrina deals with forces that may be much to powerful for her.

She has all the help a teenage witch can ask for. I mean Zelda and Hilda have her back no matter what. She was raised by the two women. Ambrose is an imprisoned young warlock who has dealt with some dark magic, but this girl still thinks it’s a good idea to do some casual necromancy. We learn an interesting little tidbit about Hilda can come back to life after Zelda murders her time and time again.

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According to Hilda, the plot in which Zelda buries her has soil from the garden of Cain and it’s supposedly soaked with Abel’s blood which brings about all kinds of mysterious magic linked to life and death.

“But poor Harvey!” Sabrina defies everything her mentors tell her and just goes for it. And boy does she go for it.

4. The Book of The Dead

Despite all the warnings Sabrina devises a plan to raise Tommy Kinkle from the grave. Guess who’s there to help again? Ms. Wardwell just happens to have a Book of the Dead. Wardwell tells her exactly where to find it. But even if she could perform the nessecary spell, the ritual comes with a price, much like all the other magic we’ve seen in the show. “You’re many things Sabrina Spellman, but a killer’s not one of them,” says Wardwell.

5. Blood For Blood

Thanks to Roz and her visions, Sabrina discovers that the accident in the mine was caused by Prudence’s lackeys and she goes full on spirit of vengeance. Prudence agrees to take part because she wants to be Queen B once more. Sabrina steals Wardwell’s book as the demoness looks on in dark approval.

“Unholy shit, it’s working” says Nick Scratch as Sabrina begins the sacrificial spell. Surrounded by a small circle of witches, Sabrina slits Agatha’s throat and invokes Tommy’s spirit to rise. It’s an incredibly significant moment for Sabrina. She crosses a hard line and Ambrose calls her out on it. In fact, he completely goes ballistic questioning why she thinks the universe will grant her special privileges. What’s coming is a hard lesson that she must learn, that in fact the universe doesn’t adhere to her whims.


//TAGS | Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Matt Garza

Matt was born and raised on the south side of Chicago, but is really a Cubs fan. When he's not reading comics , he's most likely sleeping next to his dog. He does not breathe actual fire. Despite several warnings, he will never stop giving the children in his family superhero clothing. You can find him on Twitter here.

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