Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
I was reminded of this parody while I was watching the Netflix series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which itself is based on an anodyne TV show that goes back to the character from Archie Comics--a teenage witch. While Sabrina was kid stuff in those days, this is much, much darker.
In this day and age, I was somewhat shocked to see charactesr that openly worship Satan presented as fairly good people. I wasn't displeased, but rather amused as characters say things like "Praise Satan!" or call the Christian god the "false god." I know it pissed off the Satanic church, both for its portrayal of Satanists and the use of their statue of Baphomet, which is actually copyrighted. I'm sure it also pissed off those who regard themselves as witches in the Wiccan community, who do not worship Satan but rather nature itself.
I found its balance between humor and horror quite well done, sometimes straying into the ridiculous but mostly not, and ending its first season with a terrifically scary climax.
Sabrina Spellman (Kiernan Shipka) is a typical sixteen-year-old, except she's half-witch, the son of a high priest of the Church of Night and a mortal women. On her sixteenth birthday she is expected to have her "dark baptism," signing her name in blood in the "Book of Beasts" and swearing fealty to the Dark Lord, who has horns and goat legs (though we never really see him well). Trouble is, Sabrina has a mortal boyfriend (Ross Lynch) and mortal friends, and she doesn't want to leave that world behind. She lives with two witchy aunts, one of them kind and indulging (Lucy Davis), another stricter, by the book witch (Miranda Otto).
The show ends up having a compromise, with Sabrina in both worlds (she actually attends two schools, and it's never explained how she's able to do that). All the while her teacher (Michelle Gomez), who has been possessed by a witch, is manipulating her into embracing the Dark Lord. It's pretty heavy stuff.
Shipka, who previously was little Sally on Mad Men, is a fine young actress, who looks a bit like Emma Watson, which is perfect because her character is like Hermione Granger. She's always about doing the right thing, to the point of self-righteousness. She makes a mistake near the end of the series, dabbling in necromancy, that has grave (pun intended) consequences. At times she's tedious about her principles, which I think was intended. Sabrina can be a pill.
The supporting characters need some work. Richard Coyle is the High Priest, a mixture of a vampire and a British snob (it's never discussed how there are British witches in a New England town--Davis and Otto, sisters, each have different accents). Sabrina has a cousin Ambrose, who is biracial and gay and works as a mortician in the aunts' funeral parlor (a terrific cover for witches). Sabrina's friends only got interesting towards the end, especially Susie, who may or may not be a lesbian or a potential transgender person, who ends up talking to her long-dead aunt.
The show has an interesting look. It's always dark, of course. Even the public school, which ordinarily is the brightest lit place in town, is full of shadows. I was confused by one thing, though, and that's the time period. The characters dress like it's the early '60s, and one could be convinced that that is the time period it's set (there are no computers or televisions, there's hardly any cars) but a few times character use cell phones. I wish they had gone completely '60s, when the character was created.
This is definitely not a show for small children, as many throats are cut. The last episode features thirteen witches who were hanged being resurrected and out for vengeance, and the photography and music make for a chilling hour. Netflix just released a special Christmas episode. Satanists, of course, do not celebrate Christmas, but rather the solstice, where Christmas came from anyway.
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