I started watching the series, I admit, out of curiosity, having no idea that I would absorb it so quickly. The first season of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina had a perfect October atmosphere, perfectly matching the horror character of the plot. He was light and pleasant, but at the same time he could keep the viewer in suspense. So we can safely say that after such a start, expectations for the next installments were high. Unfortunately, the haste of the creators only made the fans finish the last episode disappointed.
Too much, too fast
In the fourth season of the series, Sabrina and her friends fight the so-called The Ancient Nightmares, unleashed by the main antagonist, Blackwood, threaten the future of Greendale and the world. In the meantime, we also observe the characters’ love dilemmas, we witness family events and typical high school problems. The plot, however, progresses very quickly, the threads mix with each other and it is difficult to find yourself in the presented reality. The display of the series is not impressive, and the episodes mostly have a very similar pattern. Watching the last season, we even have the impression that the creators are trying to dump all possible threads at once.
The too fast pace of plot development is probably due to Netflix’s sudden decision to quit the series. The official reasons for the end of Sabrina Spellman’s story are unknown, although there were rumors that the show was taken over by HBO. The creator of the series, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, also does not exclude that the production will continue in the form of a comic. For now, however, it seems that Kiernan Shipke in the role of a young, resolute witch will not be seen after all. It’s a pity, because the series had great opportunities to take it further.
Why Sabrina?
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is the second creation of Riverdale and takes place in the same universe. The decision to cancel the series seems so unfair that Riverdale is simply an objectively inferior production, yet still being developed. Ignoring the omnipresent criticism, recurring in every episode of “cringe” and an average-quality script, Netflix continues the project and has decided to erase the story of Sabrina, which had far more potential than the Riverdale twins . It came at the expense of the quality of the final season of the series about a teenage witch.
What good?
Of course, the fourth production season also has its advantages. Typically for Netflix, we are dealing with breaking stereotypes, a strong female figure who fights against patriarchy and the representation of the LGBTQ + community. In addition, the season guarantees touching love themes and a wonderful performance by Miranda Otto as Aunt Zelda, which is not to be missed. In the last season, horror elements also looked good, because of the brutality of which you can ask yourself whether it is really a youth series. It was also nice to see a reference to the work of HP Lovecraft, which became the inspiration for one of the previously mentioned nightmares.
Season finale [note, spoilers]
In the last episode of the series, the action sped up even more. It looks as if the creators want to fit the material into the next few episodes in the last 40 minutes. As a result, the presented events, although mostly dramatic, seem simply trivial. There is still the question of the ending. Despite the fact that Sabrina’s mission was successful, Blackwood was defeated and the Abyss was stopped, the main character had to sacrifice her life. Despite the fact that we have dealt with resurrection and saving lives with magic many times in the history of the series, in this case it did not happen, which certainly disappointed most of the fans who were waiting for a sudden twist and a happy recap of the story. After all, we never want to say goodbye to the heroes to whom we have become attached. It was, of course, a touching ending, but despite the fact that the heroine is finally with her lover who, not wanting to live without her, committed suicide, Netflix took a lot of risk in this thread, taking into account the progressive and social nature of the portal. The website has been criticized in the past for presenting this problem. At the time, it was about the show13 Reasons Why Viewers Dislike the Romanticization and Glorification of Suicide as a Solution to All Problems Let’s hope it doesn’t happen this time.
The series as a whole
Overall, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina remains one of my favorite shows after all. The suspenseful plot, romances, magic and nostalgia associated with the character of Sabrina Spellman were definitely worth spending so much time in front of the screen. The story is captivating and the characters are real. They have their advantages and disadvantages, no one is artificial and crystal. It has the form of a teenage classic with a love triangle and fairy-tale romanticism, introducing at the same time elements of the struggle for survival, getting to know herself and searching for the inner strength of the heroine, who instead of waiting to be saved, saves everyone around herself, which in my opinion was missing in series a few years ago for young people.
