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 Monday for your weekly recap. Last week Sabrina came face to face with the devil himself, in what was one of the most important episodes of the series. Never has Satan been more present than in last week’s episode. So this week’s episode delves into the romantic lives of our melodramatic teen witches warlocks and mortals. Warning, spoilers ahead
1. Lupercalia
Over the course of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina we’ve seen a few pagan holidays. We’ve seen the importance of Halloween, as it was supposed to be the night in which Sabrina accepted her Dark Baptism, and we’ve witnessed the winter solstice and how Sabrina’s coven celebrate the winter holiday. Now we come to an ancient celebration, which originated in Rome. That celebration of course is Lupercalia. This pagan holiday was celebrated around the time that our modern Valentines Day falls upon. While the show gives us the impression of a darker and sexier (cause witches and warlocks are always more sexy than mortals) of Valentines Day, in actuality the festival was celebrated to avert evil spirits and purify the city, releasing health and fertility. Lupercalia was also called dies Februatus, after the instruments of purification called februa, which gave February its name.
While the ancient world may have celebrated this festival to ward off evil spirits and promote fertility, the Church of Night’s celebration is about teenage witches and warlocks getting down. In Zelda’s words the festival is about “S-E-X.” There are three phases to the celebration of Lupercalia: The Matching, in which all the Academy’s witches perform a complex ritulistic dance. Dorcas desperately tries to be paired with Nick only to be fooled by a glamour. The next phase is a night of unholy abstinence. The witches and warlocks are encouraged to spend the night together with no funny business going on. Then there’s the hunt, the culmination of the three day ritual which Zelda describes as “orgiastic carnality.”
2. So Much Sex
So if you haven’t guessed from the description of Lupercalia, this episode focuses on sex. It’s practically shoved in your face. Literally. Back at Baxter High there are sexual terms written on every single chalk board . There are notes on birth control, pregnancy tests, STI and STD prevention, fertilization, and even a drawing of a fetus in the womb. On second thought, to say that the show shoves sex in your face is a complete understatement. It’s saturated in it. And we definitely see the hormones flying among the teens of Greendale. Hell, even the adults indulge themselves. Sabrina’s aunts give her the talk and Roz and Sabrina have a nice moment to chat about their sexual experiences.
3. Who’s Dating Who
There’s a tonal shift within this episode as we see that Sabrina and Harvey are completely over. Roz, ever the loving friend asks for Sabrina’s blessing to pursue her romantic feelings for Harvey, and you know what’s great? Sabrina is so cool about it. She knows (but does she really?) that she and Harvey are no longer romantically involved. She takes off the necklace he gifted to her letting the audience know it’s over as well and there won’t be any stunts like what happened in “Chapter Thirteen” again.
So now Harvey and Roz are a thing, Sabrina and Nick go through Lupercalia and come out of it closer than they were before. All Nick wants is to see Sabrina as she is in the mortal world. When he asks her to Baxter High’s Valentine’s Day dance, he tells her that seeing her among the mortals is “more magical than at the academy.” Cute right? Nick seems alright. Until we see his fully dressed jealousy-ridden werewolf familiar who raised him, pop up and try to murder our favorite teenage witch–more on that later.
In other relationship news around the town of Greendale we are introduced abruptly to Ms. Wardwell’s main squeeze, Adam. Ironic since Lilith’s first husband was Adam. Don’t worry though, that motif isn’t going anywhere. Adam is played by Alexis Denisof of Buffy, Angel, and Avengers fame. He seems like a nice guy who genuninely loves Mary Wardwell. Too bad she’s dead. The Wardwell we all know and love almost kills him, when he calls her a goddess and gives her a foot rub. He treats her like a queen, one of her truest desires, and for that, keeps him alive, for now.
Continued belowHmm, who else? Oh yeah! A big one. Blackwood proposes to Zelda and she accepts, not out of love, but for the power she believes wlll come with being the High Priest’s wife. Not only that, but after Dr. Cerberus rebukes Hilda’s Valentine, Zelda rebukes her and tries to instill her confidence back in her. Zelda tells her sister that she’s a huntress and to go get her prey. And one last thing that may or may not be romantic, but Billy extends a genuine apology to Theo for being such a dick. Maybe he doesn’t want bad shit happeningh to him anymore, or maybe he likes Theo, but it’s the first time a bully has apologized for their actions on this show.
4. Ah Woo, Werewolves of Greendale
As I mentioned earlier, Sabrina comes face to face with a werewolf. Not only that, but it’s revealed that Dr. Cerberus is actually an incubus, a sex demon and manifests as a werewolf. I like that the show didn’t make an animated creature, but instead used what i thought was some cool animatronics and costume design. It was old school, but I find it ridiculous that Nick’s familiar, Amalia, who we come to know raised him, loved him, and cared for him as one of her own cubs, is dressed like the big bad wolf in Little Red Riding Hood.
Nick is so attached to the wolf that he chains her up, lies to Sabrina and kills an innocent wolf in her stead. When Nick Declares his love for Sabrina Amalia attacks Nick and forces Sabrina’s hand. She stabs the werewolf with a silver dagger several times fatally wounding the creature. Despite this she and Nick grow closer and he gets my seal of approval so far. He has nothing but Sabrina’s best interests at heart. For now.
5. I’m a Little Bored
So far we’re three episodes deep into Sabrina’s second season and we’ve really not seen any more developments. Why is Baxter High still relevent. Sabrina some how manages to end up there every episode now, even though she no longer attends the school. Isn’t there some kind of paperwork that needs to be filled out. Like how can she just come and go? I’m once again screaming at my TV “WHAT YEAR IS IT?!”
While I like to explore the pagan holidays and rituals that are featured in some of the show, I felt this was one of the weakest episodes. Everyone performed adequately, and I enjoyed the werewolves, but this felt like filler. After three pretty important episodes regarding Satan’s plans for Sabrina, throwing us in the midst of a Valentine’s Day themed episode felt a little forced. I wanna know about the Apocalypse, I don’t care who’s dating who at Baxter High. Gimme dat mythos.
Tune in next week as Greendale receives an unusual visitor that has much to tell our beloved cast of characters.
