I have read about this series for quite some time but only got the chance to watch it during last weekend. To the best of my understanding, it was a darker version of the popular comedy series back in the 90s titled Sabrina the Teenage Witch which I watched quite frequently then. Well let us move on to the series now.
Brief Story Line
Sabrina Spellman (Kiernan Shipka - Mad Men TV series etc) seemed like a normal teenage girl and went to Baxter High in the small town of Greendale. She lived with her 2 aunts, the gentle & caring Hilda (Lucy Davis - Wonder Woman etc) and the very firm Zelda (Miranda Otto - Annabelle: Creation etc) plus Sabrina's cousin Ambrose (Chance Perdomo). But what outside people did not know including her loving boyfriend Harvey Kinkle (Ross Lynch - Status Update etc) and best friend Roz (Jaz Sinclair - Slender Man etc), Sabrina was actually a half witch.
On her 16th birthday, Sabrina was supposed to join the coven where her aunts and cousin were members of, called Church of Night with its high priest Father Blackwood (Richard Coyle - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time etc). However, Sabrina was really reluctant due to the requirement to leave behind her mortal life & friends, not to mention there were other young witches called Weird Sisters who really dislike her, namely Prudence (Tati Gabrielle) and Agatha (Adeline Rudolph).
Meanwhile at school, there was a rather mysterious teacher Ms. Wardwell (Michelle Gomez) who seemed to take a very clear interest and hidden agenda on Sabrina. So what would happen to Sabrina's life? Find them all in this very interesting and sometimes frightening supernatural horror series.
End of Brief Story Line
OK, I got to admit that when I started to watch this series, especially the first few episodes, it did not seem to be interesting enough for me. I was even in the state of a bit disinterested and confused of what the series real premise. Was it only Sabrina's doubt of joining the coven, or was it a forbidden love story between witch and mortal? But after episode 4 and so on, the pace started to really pick up and it was much clearer on the main plot. And what really interested me was there were the additional side stories & some bit of mystery which involved every character in this series that were really intriguing.
As the story progressed and we got to know a bit more on the many characters, the show became even darker. The 5th episode was one of my favorites as it had a real smart sense as well as 6th episode which felt a lot like a horror movie as it was terrifying and had a lot of jump scare scenes. But then the pace felt a little bit slower, until the 9th and ultimately the season finale of 10th episode which gave a sense that the second season would be even darker. There was also a special Christmas episode where it occurred after the 10th episode. So be sure not to got it backwards and watch that special episode first (like I almost did when watching the series for the first time).
Based on what I read in the internet, this series was based on comic books of the same title published by Archie Horror (imprint of Archie comics). So the comic book itself was a different version of the comedic style of Sabrina The Teenage Witch comic that was adapted into the Sitcom I mentioned above. Since it was set in the same universe of Archie & friends, this series originally was intended as the spin off to the popular CW series Riverdale, but it was decided later on it would not have any relation since this series was produced by Netflix. However, the city Riverdale was mentioned few times in here, though there was no mention of the characters. This series is co-executive producer Greg Berlanti who happened to be the producer of Riverdale, Titans, Dawson's Creeks, various DC comics series (Arrowverse) and many more.
This series was categorized as supernatural horror which I thought was really perfect as it had numerous supernatural elements plus some horrific images. There were some references to the satanic worshiping which may not be to the liking of very religious people, but if we are able to distinguish fiction from reality and remember that we are only watching series for entertainment purpose, then we should be able to enjoy it.
Of all the large cast whose names were credited in the fun opening credits (with spooky theme song), my most favorite characters were definitely Sabrina herself (played very well by Kiernan Sipka) and of course the two aunties who were convincingly portrayed by Lucy Davis as the bubbly Hilda and Miranda Otto as the loyal to the coven Zelda. The appearance of the black cat Salem also sort of complete the whole cast (I remember the cat often provided comical comments as he could speak in the 90s adaptation). One thing that I did not really get was why Sabrina's other best friend Susie (Lachlan Watson) and another member of the Weird Sisters, Dorcas (Abigail Cowen) were not part of the cast shown in the opening credit, since they always showed up together with the other characters anyway. Oh, there was also a guest star who appeared few times as Mr Hawthorne the principal of Baxter High who was played by one of my favorite sitcom actor Bronson Pinchott (famously known as Balki in Perfect Strangers TV series).
Overall, this was an interesting and intriguing supernatural horror series which was very dark and not your average teenagers story. It had some mysteries and interesting side stories of the whole cast. The performance of lead characters were quite awesome, and it had brief romance but not the R rated type with violence & nude scenes. The second season had premiered on Netflix entirely on 5th April 2019, so there is no need to wait too long to watch what happened next. So if you are looking for this kind of series, then this should be able to satisfy you, but if you do not like to have your image of the funny Sabrina from the 90s series ruined by her dark portrayal, then this might not be the best option. Personally for me, I had quite a lot of fun watching this series and it is a much needed variety in my growing list of series to watch.
Mike's movie moments rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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