By Darby Good | News Editor
Season three of Netflix’s original show “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” premiered on Jan. 24 and proved that the show only gets better. A fourth season was confirmed back in 2018, and season three’s ending leaves room for the show to continue to grow.
After season two I wasn’t sure what else the show’s writers could come up with to continue the theme of high stakes and inventive solutions without getting old. Two episodes into the newest season I had already been proven wrong.
The show’s creators have done a fantastic job on expanding the world Sabrina lives in and creating room for the ceiling to only get higher. This show has no limits and yet it still gets bigger.
This season offers viewers a closer look into hell. In the last two seasons, hell is somewhere the characters talk about and is essential to the witch’s coven. Until this point, hell is all talk and season three instantly jumps off the deep end into the fiery pit.
With each season, Sabrina is battling the same question but is staring into different evils: “Do I choose power or Greendale?” The evils she faces this season are fascinating to watch, and they force Sabrina to realize those darker power-driven parts of her personality.
One of my favorite things in the show is that the protagonist is flawed. While she cares about her family, friends and coven, Sabrina is also on a search for power. Sometimes she puts this search for power above everything and creates some of her own problems.
During Sabrina’s chase for power, her family attempts to put the Church of Night back together. Following the events of season two, the coven’s numbers have seriously dwindled, and Zelda is determined to replenish her coven’s former strength.
The Fright Club at Baxter High is a more central point to the story in season three. While in previous seasons Sabrina’s mortal friends tended to fall into the background, this season did a great job of keeping them close to all the action throughout all eight episodes. When different threats come to Greendale, and when approaching hell, Sabrina is able to rely on her friends from Baxter High.
Each season has a different set of episode types. While other shows have classic Christmas or Thanksgiving episodes, “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” always has at least one episode about a random witch holiday that is cinematically gorgeous to watch.
Last year it was the witch equivalent to Valentine’s Day: Lupercalia, and this year it was the equivalent to Easter: The Hare Moon. Both with their own dark twists.
This season, similar to Part 1, ties in classic horror movies to this modern version of “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.” For example, the series incorporates almost exact quotes from Steven King’s “Pet Semetary” and references to classic horror films.
By the end of the season my mind was honestly blown. I’m still trying to comprehend what I watched, but what I do know is that I can’t wait to see what happens next.
