How the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina season 3 finale sets up Part 4
Two – or possibly three – heads are better than one... **CONTAINS SPOILERS**
As Chilling Adventures of Sabrina rounds off its abridged third season, it was all kicking off in Greendale when Netflix’s show (quite literally) took the titular teenage witch to Hell.
Juggling life at Baxter High, the Academy of the Unseen Arts, and the small task of ruling over Hell itself, Kiernan Shipka’s crafty witch also had to deal with the usual teenage angst of boys and boogeymen.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part 3 culminated in its Lost-inspired finale of time travel trickery that saw the Fright Club banish those villainous Pagans and Sabrina save her nearest and dearest from the penultimate episode’s very own Red Wedding. However, there’s something wicked this way comes as Chapter Twenty-Eight: Sabrina Is Legend put the pieces in place for an even darker Part 4.
Although all seems well in the most dangerous town since Sunnydale kicked the bucket, Sabrina’s pure intentions tease big trouble in the next run of episodes. For those who need a refresher, Sabrina went with the whole “two heads are better than one” mantra to join forces with her past self through a complicated time loop. If Back to the Future, Looper, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Avengers: Endgame and the millions of other time travel movies have taught us anything, it’s that this sort of move will end in disaster.
Now that there are two Sabrinas, the show has axed its tried-and-tested trope of the young witch balancing her mortal and occult sides. It will be interesting to see how the two Sabrinas evolve as they effectively become separate characters: a hint of what’s to come neatly appeared in the finale’s epic Hell montage.
With Lilith reminding Hell Sabrina that all queens must be battle-ready, her fiery final scene saw Sabrina step into her war paint. There was some beautiful imagery as Hell Sabrina went full Elizabeth I and took her seat in the bowels of the underworld.
With daddy dearest and Lilith by her side, it’s a fair assumption Hell Sabrina will take her fight to the land of the living in Part 4. How this plays out remains to be seen, but with a cuckoo clock falling off the wall in the Spellman home, there’s another hint that time is running out for the family.
For Easter egg hunters, the finale could contain a clever nod to the fan-favourite Sabrina the Teenage Witch from the ‘90s. Sadly, there was no cameo from Melissa Joan Hart or an animatronic Salem – however, showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa paid homage to the whole Family Secret saga...
In Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the big twist explained that every Spellman has an evil twin. This led to the reveal of Katrina Spellman and that iconic volcano shoving scene. Will Chilling Adventures follow suit and should we start calling Hell Queen Sabrina Katrina?
It’s not all doom and gloom though. The finale had a huge cheer for the LGBTQ+ community as Aunt Zelda locked lips with newcomer Mambo Marie. In a show that’s always juggled a complicated web of relationships, it looks like the two could be the next power couple as they rule over the newly formed Order of Hecate.
Elsewhere, fans mustn't forget Zelda’s former flame as Richard Coyle’s enigmatic Father Blackwood is back in business. Poor Faustus had a run of bad luck in Part 3 but emerged in the finale, ready for action, and minus his knotted dreadlocks. One of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s biggest flaws was how Part 3 threw a smorgasbord of villains at viewers without giving them time to evolve.
Thankfully, Blackwood has now cemented himself as the show’s big bad -- instead of the sometimes pantomime villain he’s been portrayed as.
Blackwood’s tiny tots are a little older and free from their dollhouse, he’s recruited an unhinged Agatha to his cause, and released whatever was in that Death Stranding egg. While it’s unclear what the embryo represents, let’s remember it was a major key to Part 3’s time travel conundrum.
Spitballing ideas here, what if the embryo is actually Sabrina herself? It’s not too much of a reach to imagine this is the titular teen in her foetal state and there will be three versions of herself locking horns in Part 4.
Elsewhere, Blackwood’s promise that it will be the end the Spellmans suggests the egg has a blood tie to the family. Young Hilda, Young Zelda, maybe a baby version of Edward that will be raised on the dark side? With demonic eggs and multiple versions of the troublesome teens, Sabrina(s) will definitely have her/their plates full in Part 4.
Ambrose warned Sabrina that her actions will have consequences, meaning broken cuckoo clocks will be the least of the worrisome witch’s problems when Chilling Adventures of Sabrina returns to Netflix...
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part 3 is streaming now on Netflix
