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Five Thoughts on The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina‘s “Chapter Thirteen: The Passion of Sabrina Spellman”

By | April 15th, 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 now, every Monday for your weekly recap. Last week, we encountered the three Kings of Hell, as they delivered an ominous message to Sabrina. The episode left us with a mighty cliff hanger as Ms. Wardwell aka Madam Satan, aka Lilith, summoned the Dark Lord to her very own living room. Warning, spoilers ahead.

1. A friendly Wager

Up until now, Satan has been a force behind the scenes in Sabrina. She’s had visions and terribly close calls with the Devil (he possessed Principal Hawthorne, was present at Sabrina’s Dark Baptism, and in Harvey’s nightmares) but we’ve never seen him so present than as he is in this episode. The episode picks up immediately where the last ended. Wardwell has summoned her master in an attempt to clarify her duties on Earth, specifically in regards to Sabrina Spellman.

Satan tells her “The gates of Hell will be opened” and Sabrina will be his Herald and Prophet. Naturally, the mother of demons takes offense to this and tries to convince the Dark Lord that Sabrina is unfit for this particular mission, that her heart will never choose evil over good. Wardwell argues that Sabrina’s time spent with her mortal friends will be a shining light guiding her back from the darkness. All of this is true, and even as events of the episode unfold, Sabrina is still acting selflessly. As usual, she’s arrogant and tries to manipulate the forces around her, but nonetheless, she fights back against the Dark Lord, against the demonic patriarchy so to speak.

Satan and Wardwell make a bet over the nature of Sabrina’s soul. Will she stay on the path of night or will her mortal bonds lead her astray. It’s like some inverted version of The Book of Job. Once again Michelle Gomez shines as Wardwell/Madam Satan/Lilith. She’s so sinister but is also one of Sabrina’s most trusted mentors. Gomez does a masterful job portraying the duplicity of her character and really deserves some recognition for that.

2. Bullying is Bad Everywhere

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina has already shown a progressive way of thinking. Whether the message has feminist overtones, LGBTQ positivity, or any other progressive meaning, it’s clear that the show advocates for a positive and accepting culture.

In this episode we are shown two instances of bullying. We’ve seen this before last season, but it goes deeper this season. Theo, already an outsider to many of the students on the boys basketball team, is really pushed to his limits as he is the brunt of some really terrible harassment at Baxter High. Trying to flourish in his new identity, Theo attempts to change in the boys locker room, only to be gawked at when he tries to change. Of course he goes to Sabrina (cause that’s really helped before) for some magical help. Maybe he thinks that dark magic will help him win the acceptance he’s yearning for. But remember magic has a price. When Billy, Theo’s tormentor and a real asshole, stuffs tampons and maxi pads into his locker, Theo uses a bewitched rope to cause Billy to fall down some stairs. He ends up with a severely broken leg. I would say that Billy deserves this, however, I don’t think Theo’s intention was to hurt Billy that badly. He’s mortified as he and Sabrina watch a custodian mop up the blood from Billy’s leg.

To show us that bullying not only happens in high school, we see Zelda of all people, as the victim of bullying at the Academy of Unseen Arts. She’s put in charge of the school play which tells the origin Lucifer and Lilith’s relationship. It seems Father Blackwood fired Zelda’s predecessor for disagreeing with his vision, and to get even she plays a litany of pranks on Zelda. Not only does she try and kill Zelda, she hexes her into vomiting up her familiar, a toad. Zelda plans to cook the toad and eat it for dinner, but Hilda amusingly tells her to get a yummy pizza instead. That’s not to say that Zelda doesn’t strike back. With Hilda’s help, she turns the tables on her would be tormentor and makes it known loud and clear that she will mess anyone up who tries to prank her again.

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Is this the best message against bullying though? It’s some food for thought, something that I never thought would make me think so hard within this show. How does one combat bullying? Remember, all of magic has a price, and that can be said about bullies and their victims. It’s quite something to chew on.

3. Roz and Harvey Sitting in a Tree

So in order for the show to keep Baxter High relevant, subplots are abound in these first episodes. As we know, Theo has been bullied. But there’s also a budding romance happening on the show. In the last episode Roz had a steamy vision of she and Harvey sharing a passionate kiss, a vision that she gets again when choosing a scene from Romeo and Juliet cause why not pick a play about forbidden love. The two lovebirds are often seen giggling and being chipper as Sabrina takes Hilda’s advice to go back to Baxter High. This subplot is important enough to keep Baxter High in the mix, but kind of tapers off because Roz is missing from the latter half of the episode. It’ll be interesting to see teenage melodrama unfold between these friends, though. But honestly, I really don’t care about Baxter High and would rather spend more time among the witches and warlocks because, well, that’s the show.

4. The Devil is in the Details

During the episode as Sabrina defies the devil a claw mark appears on her back. It looks like she was mauled by a bear. We are told by the ever knowledgeable Ambrose that the mark is indeed called The Devil’s Claw, and it’s a physical manifestation of the Dark Lord’s will power over his servants. The more she defies Satan, the larger the claw mark becomes. The devil asks Sabrina for a simple feat: steal a pack of gum. It’s harmless right? No Sabrina understands the slippery slope that she could go on if she does what he asks. When she first attempts it, Wardwell, executing her plans to win her wager, chastises Sabrina at the very thought of her taking the chewing gum.

Sabrina asks her family if they ever had to carry out any kind of mission from the Dark Lord. Hilda had to push a button in a wooden box and wasn’t told why. It reminds me of that movie where Cameron Diaz pushed a button and somebody somewhere would die and she got a bunch of money. Hilda must have felt the same, as she says she went mad thinking about it. She tells Sabrina that sometimes the Dark Lord asks something of someone just to see if they’d do it. He cares more about their devotion than an actual task. Ambrose’s task seems a little harsher. He had to write a letter to a boy he attended Oxford with. We never know what the contents of the letter are, but judging by Ambrose’s horrified face and unwillingness to discuss, I’m guessing it’s something that weighs heavily on him.

Satan makes his intentions clear to Sabrina when he starts interfering in her friends’ lives. Roz comes down with the chicken pox, while Sabrina sees a Devil’s claw on Harvey’s chest. (Romeo and Juliet really got them going.) She finally gives in, tells the Dark Lord that she’ll steal the gum, but instead he asks her to burn Baxter High. Just as she lights the match, The Dark Lord (unfortunately) stops her.

5. Lilith and Lucifer

The Academy’s play is pretty much the origin story of Lucifer’s fall from grace and the development of his relationship with Lilith. AS Zelda and her predecessor says, Blackwood’s new vision of the play, which he wrote himself, strays from the historically accurate version, making Lilith seem less independent and more subservient to the Dark Lord. However, it does seem to get the gist of things.

Sabrina, having finished the Dark Lord’s bidding is free of her Devil’s claw, only to be told that her soul is still marked, plays a young Lilith and Nick Scratch plays Lucifer. Hey that’s the perfect way to give these two an opportunity to share their first kiss. And boy do they share a first kiss. This happens while Wardwell looks on with intense sentimentality, as Sabrina plays her younger self. Whether she is regretful, or jealous, she’s almost brought to tears and again Gomez is on point in this scene. It’s a nice way to squeeze her origin into the show while also explaining her devotion to the Dark Lord.

As a consolation prize for how well she “played the game” Wardwell’s familiar is resurrected. She vows that she will never let Sabrina become Satan’s herald.

Wow, what an episode. The Devil in the flesh. Now that Sabrina has successfully played chicken with the devil what other plans does he have for her down the road? Join me next week as Sabrina celebrates the Church of Night’s version of Valentines Day.


//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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