Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Season 4 Review

SPOILER ALERT

Hello to all you fellow mortals out there! If you happened to stumble across this review, you have either journeyed along with Sabrina through her adventures and are seeking other people’s thoughts on ‘THAT ENDING’ or you are considering watching the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina! All are welcome and here is your warning that this review is full of spoilers and my thoughts on the Season as a whole. You have been warned so proceed with caution. As always the thoughts and views in this review are my own.  

Before we head into Season Four let’s have a quick recap of two biggest aspects of Season 3 that foreshadowed Season 4. The first being Father Blackwood unleashing the Eldritch Terrors onto the Spellmans, Greendale and hoping to end the world as we know it! The second being the existence of two Sabrinas. But how does this foreshadow season 4? We have the threat Sabrina, her coven and her friends must overcome to save the world; it also gave some eager fans a year to google search and read up on the Eldritch Terrors. While the existence of two Sabrinas makes everything right for her in her ‘world’, the viewer has to side with Ambrose and that the very existence of two Sabrinas in the same universe is a recipe for disaster. With these two large plotlines for season 4 there are only two options on how to watch this Season. One, marathon it in one go or, two take your time with it. Personally, I took my time with it since the plot was jam packed. Season 4 is made up of eight episodes and it took me four days to watch them all; breaking it down to two episodes a day. 

Let’s kick off with the overall plots of Season 4. In true Chilling Adventures of Sabrina fashion, we are met with a jam pack plot from the opening moments of Season 4. The writers of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina are known for over filling their plot lines to keep us all entertained! Season 4 is no different but, with the writers at the time season 4 was being written not knowing the future of the show, it seems they didn’t want any stone left unturned! Word broke in July of last year that Season 4 would be Sabrina’s last! In terms of the overall story, the cinematography and the acting, I enjoyed this season as a whole. However, with two large plots and numerous sub plots, I found in parts I had to refocus my energy into focusing on the episode and not lose interest in it! This is the first time it has happened for me with any season of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. One major disappointment I had with the final season was this jam packed storyline. I personally felt like some stories didn’t get the ending they deserved while other aspects got glossed over to get the main plots back to the forefront of the episode!

The Eldritch Terrors are the eight entities that Sabrina, her coven and her friends must overcome to save the Earth from total destruction. Since they are entities and not just bad characters, it can be seen that they are a bigger threat and scarier to come up against. The Eldritch Terrors are based on a collection of myths and legends but, in Sabrina, the Eldritch terrors (horrors) are designed mainly with the works of American Horror Author H.P Lovecraft in mind. Blackwood even refers to himself as Reverend Lovecraft in his new Church. The important thing to remember about the Eldritch Terrors is that there are eight of them. 

The eight terrors in order of appearance are: The Darkness, The Uninvited, The Weird, The Perverse, The Cosmic, The Returned, The Endless and The Void. Eight in total and broken down, it is one Eldritch Terror to conquer per Episode. With the time constraint, did they do each Eldritch Terror justice? Honestly, I don’t think so as, for some of them, it seemed rushed but some were done brilliantly in the time restriction. I would have loved to have seen two part episodes or even longer episodes to make sure the terrors were done justice along with the subplots the writers included!

Two Sabrinas… Two Sabrina’s? Yes you heard that right! Sabrina Spellman in the mortal realm with the black headband and Sabrina Morningstar with the red headband! The yin and yang of each other it seems once we start seeing the two interact! One thing the writers did from the get go, that made me clap mentally in appreciation, was that in episodes one and two of the new season, Sabrina Spellman seems lost, empty and alone. She says it herself on numerous occasions this season that she feels empty. Despite her feelings being summed up this way, these descriptions can also act as a foretelling of what is going to happen in future episodes as it is obvious that the Eldritch Terrors will use her as a vessel because; she is both powerful and feeling empty and lost inside. 

We learn very quickly that the existence of two Sabrinas is signaling to the end of this world as we know it as other worlds begin to hurdle their way towards theirs in episode six. This backs up what Ambrose’s first thoughts and warnings were when Sabrina Spellman told him! What have we learned ladies and gentlemen? Y’all should be listening to Ambrose and taking into consideration what he says! The heroine’s end circumstances for both Sabrinas were created by their own demise but I still enjoyed that they sacrificed themselves to save the world. One thing I would have liked to have seen was if the two Sabrina had learned about Caliban’s betrayal, him trying to kill Lilith’s unborn child and his stopping at nothing to be king of hell. I would have loved to have seen that smackdown when Sabrina Morningstar learned her love hadn’t changed at all!

The first of the sub plots that I adore is Lilith and Mary’s stories! Let’s be real Madame Satan herself killed it in every Season! Between her vast knowledge that Sabrina always needed and her stellar outfit choices, Lilith is a character I really developed a soft spot for! Season 4 saw her pregnant, fighting to keep her baby safe through an early delivery forced by Calaban and her turning to the witches to keep her and her baby safe. One plot twist I should have seen coming which I didn’t was, Lilith trying to serve up Lucifer her own child as a feast! It was in some ways poetic that Lilith turned on Lucifer yet again by doing the same unspeakable thing he did to her, serving up with her husband Adam as a meal! I won’t spoil Lilith’s end that she so fittingly got but, I will say I am happy with how it all played out in a matter of moments! Yaaassss oh Mother of Demons! 

Mary has seemed to be such a lost soul since season two but, this season, we see her story slightly develop into a devoted servant of the Church of the Pilgrims of the Night. I found it rather fitting that it was Mary reading from Father Blackwood’s unholy book who acts as the narrator/guide of the episode finale which, in my opinion, acted as an echo to season one where Sabrina turned to her for guidance, even though it was Lilith in disguise. The final scenes for both these characters seem to be parallel to one another and somewhat the same, all at the same time. On one side, you have Lilith finally claiming the throne in Hell while Mary is leading the congregation in the Church of the Pilgrims of the Night. One has to think that if The Chilling of Sabrina continued would we have been met with two female forces that would both in their own right be forced to be reckoned with? Or, would Mary have stayed a meek and discipline based character? 

The second subplot I have summed up as The Blackwoods. I have a split opinion on this one. Father Blackwood, the same old Father Blackwood since season 1 in my opinion. Was I surprised when he showed up to the Mountain to “help” Sabrina defeat The Void within her? No. By the end of Season 4 was I a little tired of him being a recurring force that causes MOST of the problems? Yes. I cheered during his final demise when Prudence decided to use a chainsaw to cut him into pieces and hide those pieces around the world, you know what that means… No resurrecting Father Blackwood if the show ever did come back; or it could mean a difficult quest for someone! On the flip side, you have Prudence and I enjoyed what the writers did with her character this season! A new trio of Weird Sisters? Heck yes! She got Agatha back! And she got to FINALLY got to torture and ‘do the deed’, separate her father because, as we know, with the Mark of Cain he cannot be killed! Vengeance is sweet and it had a character name this season, that name was Prudence! 

In terms of the aspects of the story involving Lucifer, I have a bee in my bonnet and I just want to sit down with the writers and figure it out! Did they just decide the happenings or previous character flaws for these characters to finish some smaller plot twists with them or did they simply run out of time? Hear me out before thinking I have dived a bit too far into the Sabrina universe. Lucifer’s sole task for ages was to get his daughter to be the Queen of Hell. Now I know Sabrina Morningstar was the Queen of Hell but when she was sent into the alternate universe to battle The Endless, even though Lucifer went into his usual temper tantrum moment, he still treated Sabrina Spellman like she was dead to him. At the end of the day, the two Sabrinas are the same person, so there shouldn’t be a big deal. I get that Lucifer mourned the loss of Sabrina Morningstar and wanted her body for proper burial but why oh why didn’t he try get Sabrina Spellman to replace her and not go down the “YOU ARE DEAD TO ME” route? Thoughts anyone?

In terms of character development this season, two major character developments or lack of this season really stood out to me. The first is where the writer’s decided to take Roz’s character. Let’s be real Roz is the sweet, smart and overall good egg of a best friend! Her cunning made her that extra bit special and always played a role in Sabrina before now but I found it fitting that she wasn’t just a ‘cunning woman’ and was actually a witch all along! A seer to be exact! I adored the development of being afraid of what Harvey would think, to beginning to come into her own with her powers to being a badass by the final episode. The icing on the cake, for me, was Roz becoming one of the Weird Sisters.

In contrast, Nicholas’ lack of redeeming himself by earning Sabrina’s trust back and allowing their relationship to get back on track organically! Another pet peeve I had with this season was Nick and Sabrina’s relationship. Don’t get me wrong, I liked his speech of still being in love with Sabrina, them being Endgame and him willing to wait… What I didn’t like was how they rushed said relationship in episode five. I know they were constrained with time but I would have loved to have seen an awkward Nick trying to be overly confident in Baxter High trying to woo back Sabrina in front of all the ‘mortals’. I am also well aware of Sabrina still pining over Nick up to this moment but it just felt like it could have been written better if it was given more time! One redeeming factor of their love story being shown as the unconditional love it rightfully deserved was shown in the last few moments of the season. I shall talk more about that below when summing up my thoughts on ‘THAT ENDING’ 

Let’s talk about the teenage elephant in the room: the romantic relationships. With so much happening this season, it was a nice aspect to have the main characters relationships to still play a part this season. With deaths, characters coming back from the dead and the coming of the end it was nice to see most of our beloved characters were left happy. Helda finally married Dr. Cee, Harvey and Roz (despite the first shock and resentment) became stronger than ever while Theo tried to let Robin go in the hopes of him surviving. Well, you know what they say ‘If you love someone set them free’ if it’s meant to be they’ll find a way back and that is just what happened! I was delighted when Theo admitted to wanting Robin back. On the flip side, the one character they did the dirty on was Zelda! I know they’ll be waiting for Zelda on the other side but, still! I would have liked to have seen her with a happy romantic ending and not picking up the pieces of everything as per usual! Overall though, I felt Theo, Robin and Harvey’s character primarily were only used for this theme within the series. Sure, they helped out during crucial moments of the series but they didn’t live up to their potential. 

Although I have picked apart different plots and subplots of the final season, there was one episode this season that really stood out for me! Episode 6: The Returned was by far my favourite episode. The episode was fun in general and kept me enthralled with all its twists and turns. The biggest plot twist of the season was in this episode and was by far one of my favourite moments. The reveal of who Mambo Marie actually was! I don’t think anyone saw it coming until she was standing in front of Zelda telling her and us the truth. The parting gift of the dog was a nice touch! This episode also saw the return of Dorcas, leading to Agatha regaining her sanity; thanks to Dorcas for that one, you need to see it to believe it. It was a sweet moment for The Original Weird Sisters!

Another aspect I enjoyed this season was Episode 7. While Sabrina Spellman is worrying about Sabrina Morningstar in her world, we join Sabrina Morningstar in the alternate world that is ruled by ‘The Endless’. The episode is a massive nod towards Sabrina the Teenage Witch from the 1990’s but with twists of its own. It was lovely to see the original Helda and Zelda doing their thing again in the Sabrina universe! It was also fitting that, by the end of the episode, we learn they are the physical manifestations of the final Eldritch Terror ‘The Void’. 

What would this review be without my favourite character? Ambrose has won that title hands down in every Season of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina for me. I like to put it down to the fact that if I were a character in the series, I would be on Ambrose’s level in terms of acknowledging and enjoying soaking up said knowledge! He is also used as the voice of reason or for foreshadowing what will happen, usually in the worst case scenario. Some of my favourite lines this season and all the information we needed to know to understand the Eldritch Terrors came from him! If they ever decide to do a spin off or continue the series, I hope he is in it! 

We have talked about everything else, so drum roll please… Let’s talk about ‘THAT ENDING’. I think like a lot of Sabrina fans going into the final season, we knew characters had to die that would make sure their ending was final… But, I don’t think any of us saw THAT ending coming! 

Let’s start with the Gospels of Eldritch written by Father Blackwood. Repeat after me ‘Ad Moriam Faustus Gloriam’ this translates from Latin to: ‘Faustus to die in glory’. Menacing isn’t it? We learn that Blackwood wrote these Gospels before they actually happened, meaning he knew what was going to happen. That in itself is a creepy thought now throw in the fact that the Church of the Pilgrims of the Night has grown at least three times in size compared to the first scene of its congregation; this might spell trouble for Sabrina in the future. Be it in a research mission to reassemble Blackwood or some of the Church teachings that could spell trouble in the future for the Spellmans. 

Who was the woman standing near Sabrina as she died in the veil? It’s the Spellman’s Banshee! I know a lot of people thought it was the Goddess Hecate but it was the family’s Banshee. We’ve seen her in previous seasons. That is why Helda was so upset and knew what is about to happen to Sabrina. 

Where is Sabrina? Symbolism is something I specialized in during my time at University. For this scene you need to focus on what is around Sabrina and not the words ‘Here After’. Sabrina is in a white open space surrounded by three pictures. For me, these pictures speak three words in particular Hell, Earth and Heaven! Looks like Sabrina has found herself in limbo! How did Nick end up there? I’d like to think it was his love for Sabrina that called him to her after he passed in the Sea of Sorrows but, with them both stuck in this ‘limbo’ place, is a rescue mission easier or harder for their friends and family? Was it a place granted to them by The Void or the Goddess they worship? 

One thing you cannot forget about this season is the gift Baron Samedi gave to Zelda before leaving for the afterlife. If Zelda ever needed him or needed anything from him all she needed to do was to shake it and it would summon him! Could this be an answer to getting back Sabrina? If they did get back Sabrina could they bring back Nick too and which Sabrina would be resurrected? 

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Where do we go from here? Who knows dear readers. The writers of the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina left the ending so open that we could pick up exactly where we left off in the future if the series ever got picked up by another company! They also left it in a way that could be seen as final but I honestly believe this is not the end for the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. There are so many stories left to be told!