News Netflix orders The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina to series

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Enterprise is Great, Dec 1, 2017.

  1. Gryffindorian

    Gryffindorian Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Thank Lucifer! The wait is almost over.
     
  2. Commander Richard

    Commander Richard Yo! Man! Premium Member

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    When I saw that this thread was bumped, I was half expecting a cancellation announcement.
     
  3. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    It's already renewed for a second season. Excuse me, two more parts.
     
  4. Gryffindorian

    Gryffindorian Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Just saw Part 2 Episode 1. Sabrina has become more open to embracing her witch heritage after her Dark Baptism. She has taken a sabbatical from Baxter High and is spending more time at the Academy of Unseen Arts. She even runs as Top Boy against Nick Scratch, a position traditionally held by, well, boys. She's breaking gender barriers like her friend Suzie/Theo, who has joined the school's all male basketball team. But she encounters three demons, whom she initially believes are preventing her from winning the competition. "The half witch must not ascend," they proclaim.
     
  5. Gryffindorian

    Gryffindorian Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The Dark Lord reveals to Ms. Wardwell his plans for Sabrina, much to her dismay. He gives Brina some tasks, at first as simple as "stealing a pack of gum" to later harming others. She initially resists but feels compelled to do his bidding for fear of bad things happening to her loved ones.

    While resisting the Dark Lord's influence on her, Brina tries to maintain a balance between her time at Baxter High and her studies at the Academy, where she ends up partnering with Nick Scratch in a play.
     
  6. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    I'm halfway through the season and I'm loving it as much as the first season.

    I loved the mini-anthology storytelling in the form of Lilith-in-disguise tarot card reading (brilliant performed by the legendary Veronica Cartwright), complete with richly dark endings that deeply affect our heroes. Each story serves as a fascinating parable for each character's current situations and all but one of them felt like a natural progression of how things might actually occur.

    The only one that stood poorly was Theo's, not because of Theo's decisions (which made sense) but how Hilda and Theo's father reacted to Theo's predicament. I find it hard to swallow that they would be so blasé about cutting off Theo's arm, especially Theo's father considering how Theo only just came out to him.

    The shit has really hit the fan! We finally meet the antipope (and of course he was played by Ray Wise) only to have murdered by Blackwood's shadowy machinations. Ambrose is in prison, Sabrina and Nick are expelled from the academy, and Zelda may have finally realized she made a mistake in pursuing a union with Blackwood. On the plus side, we got to see Hilda's casual nastier side by poisoning Shirley Jackson in a long overdue comeuppance!
     
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  7. Gryffindorian

    Gryffindorian Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I'm watching at a rather slow, piecemeal pace as to savor every episode. It was Valentine's Day, with a rather interesting take on the Roman tradition of Lupercalia. I had read that it was festival of fertility that involved women getting whipped by a man donning goat skin, but the Academy and the magic community had a more sensual take on the holiday, with young witches and warlocks pairing up and running in the woods at night.

    It was surprising to see Ms. Wardwell's fiancé; she didn't even know she was engaged! I felt sorry for Nick, whose familiar Amalia was extremely jealous and possessive and had to be put down.
     
  8. Grendelsbayne

    Grendelsbayne Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    My wife and I finished the (half)season yesterday. It was even better than the first season - toned down the campiness just a little to the point where I think the balance is just about perfect now, and had great stories for all the characters. I was actually quite impressed by how far the story went and how quickly, and yet it still all made perfect sense and felt entirely natural AND left the story in a fascinating state that I can't wait to see continue.

    I'm especially loving the religious commentary aspect of the show. So many tv series either keep religion in the background, use it as an extreme ('faith is the only thing that will save you!/religion is EVUL!') or just hyperfocus down to a single person's crisis of faith. The communal struggle to define their faith in a way that's reconcilable with their morality is a really fascinating aspect of the whole 'Churches of Darkness' community. I loved the little moments we got about Ambrose and Zelda and Hilda and the experiences they had growing up in the church.
    And I'm super hyped about the next part of this season where we get to see the Church of Lilith taking shape to be all the things the Church of Night couldn't be. Not to mention the inevitable internacene warfare between our heroes and the Council of the Churches of Darkness.

    The prophecy storyline was so much bigger than I expected and it just worked so perfectly in the end. I loved how Lilith was re-inspired by Sabrina's determination - although, the tarot episode still makes me wonder if she wasn't planning this all along. After all, the 'Fright Club' would never have been able to block the gates of hell if Harvey hadn't seen his vision about lovecraftian sigils nor if Roz were sitting in a hospital somewhere recovering from eye surgery. And what else could Lilith have gotten out of those tarot readings unless it was all just for giggles?

    I also really loved the mandrake spell. Shades of Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer with the perfect bittersweet ending followed by the perfect 'oh sh1t' ending.

    Nicholas Scratch also ends up as Lucifer... sort of. Which I very much expected him to, but they pulled it off in a completely unexpected way, anyway. Because the human body is the most perfect prison in nature (that's kind of funny). I'm not so keen on the 'let's go get my boyfriend out of hell' part, though. I mean, they literally just put him there because it was the only way to save the world... I suppose the idea is if you separate Lucifer and Nicholas in hell, then Lucifer can't just pop back into the real world, but... They don't actually know that. And how are they going to get into and out of hell? And how are they going to separate Nicholas and Lucifer? And isn't the entire idea a giant FU to Lilith?
     
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  9. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    Finished the season (excuse me, part two) and really loved how everything played out.

    After Chapter Sixteen, I figured that would be the big shake-up of the season, but boy was I wrong. While Blackwood and Zelda were off on their honeymoon, witch hunters came to town and not just any ol' witch hunters, but goddamn angelic ones! Shit really hit the fan after Sabrina died and was reborn in a crazy mishmash of Jesus and the Dark Phoenix (complete with her own name check!). Nice to see Spencer Treat Clark popping up, looking perfect as a cruel angelic witch hunter, even if it was for only one episode.

    From there, the rest of the season began its mad dash to finish line, juggling every ball, from Blackwood's machinations to gain more power (including a brief stint as interim antipope) to Sabrina's newly gained non-witchcraft powers to the Dark Lord's ultimate plan for Sabrina to everything else in between (plus a wonderfully creepy role for William B. Davis!). Unfortunately, as a result, certain plot lines fell to the wayside, such as Harvey and Roz's romance and Theo's transition, but I don't mind so much because they need to to breath and grow anyways.

    I like how the season concluded without returning to status quo entirely. Blackwood is on the run (with both of his babies, after being casually reunited with Leticia/Judith) with Ambrose and Prudence hot on his heels. The Academy is essentially dead with only a handful of students surviving Blackwood's mad poisoning and Zelda is now the high priestess. Lilith has departed to reign in hell with Lucifer trapped in Nick's body. Despite some bumps in the road, the core friends are closer than ever before, former the Fright Club...with plans to go to hell. I guess we have our plot for the next two parts!

    However, there was one return to status quo: Lilith sweetly brought Mary Wardwell back to life. But, um, don't tell her about boyfriend...

    While I enjoyed all of the drama, melodrama, romance, horror, and comedy, I have to say my favorite moment of the whole season was the heavy nod to Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1976), one of my favorite films! I had to pause my video because I was laughing so hard.

    I'm also really looking forward those thematic explorations, which the show has already been very good at. I've loved the strong feminist angle the show has taken and the Church of Lilith will be an excellent continuation of that direction.

    That's an excellent point about the Lilith's goals behind the tarot card reading. She definitely seemed to be pushing everyone in a certain direction with those readings but now it seems all the odder that she didn't do one for Hilda. Not until "Next time." I wonder if that's suppose to mean anything.
     
  10. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    io9 has a terrific interview with Lachlan Watson (who is non-binary), where they talk about their work with developing Susie/Theo throughout the two parts.
     
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  11. Gryffindorian

    Gryffindorian Vice Admiral Admiral

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    ^How apropos!

    I watched the attack by the witch hunters who came after Sabrina, et al, and they seemed more like evangelical nutjobs pontificating to their targets, were it not for their supernatural nature and powers. Poor Ms. Wardwell had really gotten attached to Adam that it totally devastated her to see what the Dark Lord did to him.
     
  12. Gryffindorian

    Gryffindorian Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Unholy cow! I continue to be spellbound with every episode.

    As Sabrina discovers newfound powers - resurrection, healing abilities, restoring Roz's sight - she aims to reveal her magical nature to other mortals, believing in her late father's doctrines. But a shocking discovery made by Harvey and Theo about a dark prophecy leads Sabrina to later question Miss Wardwell's motives and see through her machinations. The End of Days, it appears, has been precipitated by Sabrina's actions (exorcism, etc.), unwittingly mirroring the miracles of Jesus.

    Brina's powerful doppelganger is just as sweet and seemingly innocent as she is, the destruction of whom only fulfills the dark prophecy. Meanwhile, Father Blackwood's grip on the church and school continues to tighten, and his recent act of schism to remake the church in his own image alienates witches and warlocks, including Prudence.

    All hell breaks loose.
     
    Last edited: Apr 15, 2019
  13. Awesome Possum

    Awesome Possum Moddin' Admiral

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    I finished the season. I really enjoyed it, still want to hear Salem talk though.
     
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  14. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    Yeah, that's my one major criticism: I want my witty and sarcastic commentary from Salem! Ambrose is wonderful and all, but we need more Salem.
     
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  15. wissaboo

    wissaboo Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I watched the first two episodes and was not feeling it. Seeing you all rave hasade me think I should push on a bit
     
  16. Awesome Possum

    Awesome Possum Moddin' Admiral

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    They all seemed to have a heightened reality like a nightmare, that's how I took it.
     
  17. Gryffindorian

    Gryffindorian Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I finally finished Part 2 over the weekend. Awesome series. Having watched it makes me want to convert to Satanism just for the heck of it! :devil: Why the heaven not? Lucifer looks hot especially when he shows up half naked in Greendale!

    With Lilth/Wardwell's help, Brina and her friends and family successfully defeat the Dark Lord and thereby stop the Apocalypse. He's been trapped in poor Nicholas' body. With Faustus Blackwood on the run and very little of the Academy left, Aunt Zelda will assume leadership as new High Priestess.

    Very good performances all around. Kiernan Shipka is a very talented young actress in the way that she brings so much life into Sabrina. There's no shortage of strong female characters on this show. Kudos to Michelle Gomez (I wonder if she'll return next season), Miranda Otto, and Lucy Davis, who all portray bold women who are unafraid to assert themselves or question male authority, much like Sabrina herself.

    Looking forward to next season. I'm ready for my Dark Baptism!
     
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  18. Janeway’s Girl

    Janeway’s Girl Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    So yesterday I decided to give this another chance and I’m really enjoying it. Halfway through the first season. Praise Satan. :devil:

    The soundtrack is pretty great too.
     
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  19. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I wouldn't mind see chilling vs teenage witch on Hollywood Game Night.

    :)
     
  20. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    Welcome to the Church of Night. :devil:
     
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