Looking for a palate cleanser after all those wholesome Christmas movies saturating every TV channel? We recommend “A Midwinter’s Tale,” a special holiday episode of the Netflix horror series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. It caps off a strong first season for the fledgling series. And Sabrina has just been renewed for a third and fourth season (16 episodes in total), which means we’ll get even more sinister witchy goodness in the future.

The series is based on the comic book series of the same name, part of the Archie Horror imprint, and it’s much, much darker in tone than the original Sabrina the Teenaged Witch comics. Originally intended as a companion series to the CW’s Riverdale—a gleefully Gothic take on the original Archie comic books—Sabrina ended up on Netflix instead. It’s a stronger series for it, evidenced by rave reviews and a rapidly expanding fan base.

(Some spoilers for season 1 below.)

Both series are smart twists on beloved wholesome characters, and neither one takes itself too seriously. But Riverdale feels more like a (highly entertaining) primetime soap opera, whereas Sabrina embraces full-blown horror without bowing to the niceties imposed by network television. There are murders, demons, exorcisms, blood rites, cannibalism, spells, misguided attempts to raise the dead, a cloven-hoofed devil, and even a witch trial where Sabrina is defended by Daniel Webster himself.

Let’s leave aside the obvious fact that real followers of Wicca don’t actually worship Satan.

That’s not to say we don’t get our share of high school melodrama. The pilot episode opens just before half-human, half-witch Sabrina Spellman (Kiernan Shipka, Mad Men) turns sweet sixteen (on Halloween, of course). That’s a significant age for a witch: she’s preparing for her Dark Baptism, a blood ritual where she will sign the Dark Lord’s (i.e., Satan’s) book and fully embrace her witchy nature. But Sabrina—who lost both parents in a mysterious accident and was raised by her aunts—has some lingering doubts, particularly about preserving her free will. She’ll also have to leave her high school and renounce her mortal friends to attend the Academy of Unseen Arts.

Let’s leave aside the obvious fact that real followers of Wicca don’t actually worship Satan; Sabrina is not a documentary. (That said, Netflix just settled a copyright infringement lawsuit by the Satanic Temple because a statue featured on the show bore a strong resemblance to their statue of goat-headed deity Baphomet.) Given the strong parallels the show draws between the patriarchal dominance of both the Dark Lord’s “church” and traditional Christianity—and the fact that Sabrina founds a girls’ support group called WICCA at her high school—I’m betting there’s a future rebellion in the works. Why else would the Dark Lord be so invested in making sure she signs his book?

Sabrina boasts a stellar cast, most notably Lucy Davis (Etta Candy in Wonder Woman) as Sabrina’s warmly addled Aunt Hilda, and Miranda Otto (Eowyn in The Lord of the Rings trilogy) as her strict, traditionalist Aunt Zelda. Michelle Gomez (“Missy” on Doctor Who) seems to be having a blast camping it up as Madam Satan, posing as Sabrina’s teacher and mentor at Baxter High. And self-identified non-binary [corrected] actor Lachlan Watson shines as one of Sabrina’s mortal BFFs, Suzie Portman, who is struggling with her gender identity.

Happy winter solstice!

Reminiscent of the annual Doctor Who Christmas specials, “A Midwinter’s Tale” is more than a holiday placeholder. It both tells a spooky solstice story and sets up several plot points for the future. The deliciously macabre events of Part 1 have strained Sabrina’s friendship with mortal BFFs Suzie and Roz (Jaz Sinclair), and leads to a bitter breakup with her boyfriend Harvey (Ross Lynch). We are not a huge fan of Harvey, who comes from a long line of witchfinders. Hunky teenage warlock Nick Scratch (Gavin Leatherwood) is much more interesting. But Harvey’s beef with Sabrina is entirely justified.

As the winter solstice approaches, Sabrina decides it’s the perfect time to contact her deceased mother with a séance and recruits the Weird Sisters (orphan witches who are her new frenemies) to help. Naturally there are complications: the mischievous “Yule Lads” invade the house and wreak havoc. They are real mythical figures, the sons of an Icelandic ogre named Gryla, said to turn naughty children into stew each Yuletide.

Shipka deserves a great deal of credit for her slyly subversive performance as Sabrina.

Here, Gryla is reimagined as a protector of lost children, which makes her the perfect person to take on a demonic mall Santa Claus—clearly modeled on the legend of Krampus, although going by the Austrian appellation, Bartel. He’s been preying on the children of Greendale for years, preserving their souls in wax and using those figures to decorate his otherwise wholesome Santa display. It’s a fun bit of holiday horror, flanked by all the ongoing interpersonal drama.

Shipka deserves a great deal of credit for her slyly subversive performance as Sabrina, keeping her character poised on the knife-edge between sinister and likable. She’s not a “good girl,” nor is she fully evil (although her ruthless dexterity with a knife gives one pause). Some fans were upset with the sharp turn Sabrina takes toward the dark side in the last few episodes of Part 1. I found it a fascinating development and perfectly in keeping with the character. Teenagers need to test boundaries and sow a few wild oats; when that teenager is a witch, the stakes are a bit higher.

Based on the trailer for the upcoming Part 2, Sabrina will be leaning into her wild side (and her flirtation with Nick Scratch) even more—with more unintended consequences likely to fall as a result. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina returns to Netflix on April 5.

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