Sabrina's success with the Acheron unleashes a sleep demon who is intent on torturing the Spellmans with nightmares and terrorizing the world.
While reading, Zelda recommends her sister put down her raunchy novel and read the Satanic bible, in light of her excommunication.
While glad Sabrina's back, Zelda suggests Hilda find something to do since she was so affected by the time away, horrified to learn she plans to work at Cerberus's bookstore. Sabrina interrupts with news of the demon she saw from the Acheron; Zelda says they can put it back, but the girl realizes she left the puzzle in her room. They escape into a hidden passage as the demon bangs on the door, meeting Ambrose downstairs, and Zelda says they first have to seal the demon in the house. After their spell, the furious demon (Megan Leitch) enters, recognizing their scent as Spellmans, becoming further enraged when she realizes they've sealed her in. Having been trapped for 70 years, she declares her intention to get revenge and then plague the world with nightmares; Hilda realizes she's a sleep demon. Zelda seals the demon in an urn and the group sits for tea. While proud of Sabrina for solving the Acheron, she warns to not open things without knowing their contents. Sabrina wonders why Edward would trap a demon within it, and Hilda reveals he suffered from insomnia; they only now realize his claim of a sleep demon was true. Ambrose notes Edward should've known someone would free the demon eventually, but Zelda thinks he believed no one would be able to solve the puzzle. Sabrina shares the secret involving the drawing of Diana, and though Hilda is proud of her for solving what full-witches couldn't, Zelda says it almost got them killed. While heading to bed, Hilda explains to Sabrina if they hadn't sealed the demon, she would've put them to sleep, then separated and tortured them with nightmares. As it turns out, this has already happened, and while the demon prepares dreams that will become nightmares, Ms. Wardwell, watching from the mirror, calls to her. Recognizing the "Mother of Demons," the sleep demon, Batibat, says she was left to rot. Wardwell orders her not to hurt Sabrina, but she snarls that her nightmares will break one of them so she can learn the unbinding spell, then she'll slaughter them. As Wardwell warns her again, Batibat notices Salem and moves to attack him. Wardwell forbids her from doing anything, so Batibat shatters the mirror.
In her dream, Sabrina is at school where the Weird Sisters declare they'll win prom queen, but Nicholas Scratch claims they're jealous of her beauty, charm, and intellect.
He tries to ask her to prom, but Harvey arrives, and mentioning college might soon separate them, he surprises her by proposing. Suddenly home, Zelda orders her to not say yes, bringing up that while her parents were unconventional, they're now dead, suggesting Sabrina look into Nick. Sabrina claims to love Harvey the way Edward loved Diana, so Hilda tells her to be honest with him, but Zelda says their marriage will only cause her pain and suffering. We cut again to the wedding day, where Sabrina tells Harvey she's a witch and says the deja vu he feels is a result of her having told him before and making him forget. He feels as though part of him always remembered, and confirms he'll always love her no matter what, even if his brother and dad are busy in the mines while they wed. Later, Nick approaches and compliments her beauty, then says it's not too late for them to be together, as they should be, but she says she couldn't hurt Harvey. Nick then disappears and Edward shows up to walk her down the aisle, with a hodgepodge room of guests and Father Blackwood officiating the marriage. As he proceeds, Harvey's father enters with a spiked mace, and Harvey starts choking Sabrina. As he asks why she told him, the mortals urge him to kill her and the magic side of the room sits by and stares. Harvey forces Sabrina into an iron maiden, and as her blood drips out, Batibat appears to taunt her, promising to release her if she shares the spell to unseal the house. In the real world, Batibat searches for Salem, finding herself in Ambrose's room, where he dreams that Hilda arrives with news of a brutal stabbing death. The victim, a shut-in with no friends or anyone to mourn him, turns out to be him, though Hilda doesn't recognize him and leaves him to do the autopsy. A buzz-saw in hand, Ambrose carves himself open, quoting Hamlet's famous speech to "Yorick," removes the heart, and begins to devour it. Hilda returns and asks how it tastes and he says it's bitter. She explains the High Priest has arrived, and as he cleans and leaves, he bumps into Ms. Wardwell. Meditating in the real world, she's in the wrong dream and runs off, as Ambrose goes to see Blackwood, who reveals his imprisonment is over. They provide him money and clothes so he can travel, but as he goes outside, Batibat rushes in and stabs him to death, and he finds himself as the body from before. Unable to do anything, he can only sit as Batibat enters, demanding the spell in exchange for freedom from his torment, believing either he or Hilda will break first.
Hilda, meanwhile, dreams that Hawthorne calls her to the school, where he applauds her for being so involved in such a model student.
He agrees when Hilda says Zelda doesn't care as much, and begins flirting. Wardwell bursts in looking for Sabrina, but they both hurry her away. Kissing Hilda's hand, Hawthorne offers to cook for her. As she prepares later, Zelda mocks her for being a virgin and insults her clothes. As the taunting continues, Hilda snaps, yelling at and slapping Zelda, who ends up with her mouth stitched shut. On her date later, Hilda goes on and on about Zelda, then asks about Hawthorne; he explains he had a brother who was stillborn. They toast to each other, and he takes her home after she gets drunk, helping her crawl up the stairs to bed. She is suddenly in another room as he tells her he absorbed his stillborn brother in the womb. Saying he's found someone like them and wants to introduce her, he opens his shirt, revealing a twisted, grotesque face and other human features on his torso. She then looks to her side and finds Zelda, with her mouth still sewn shut, and is horrified to realize they're stitched together at the side. They fall to the ground and Batibat comes demanding the spell, and we cut to Zelda's dream, where she tells a group of kids a dark take on the story of Eden. The Weird Sisters enter and claim Satan has chosen to come to her house for a celebration. She calls to Hilda, scoffing at her suggestion of a vegetable dinner, and decides to cook a fat child from the group. When the Dark Lord (Richard Coyle) arrives, he is angered to learn the child Zelda used was not a Christian; he declares he'll only eat Hilda's vegetable dish. As the Dark Lord flirts with Hilda, Zelda grows upset and covers her ears, pounding at her head; she sits at the banister enraged as Hilda sees the Dark Lord off. She then fetches her shovel and kills Hilda. Crying that her sister never loved him and didn't even want to join the church, she drags the body away. The Dark Lord returns later looking for Hilda, and sees through Zelda's lie of not knowing her sister's whereabouts. She claims it's just a game they play. To her horror, the Dark Lord reveals Hilda is gone forever this time, and as she breaks down, Batibat arrives to demand the spell. With everyone trapped and suffering, Wardwell finds Sabrina, giving the girl a chance to show what she can do and save everyone.
Horror is brought out full-force in this episode, and it's definitely done effectively and made me feel the characters' terror at times.
Each person's nightmare in this episode is obviously tied to issues they've had in other episodes; Sabrina kicks things off with her fear of her two sides colliding. So far, those around Sabrina have acted like she can only choose one life, and she has worried what would happen if she told her mortal friends about her magic. Sabrina seems to fear rejection from both sides; after her news disgusts Harvey, all her friends want her killed, and the magic folk ignore her cries for help. This is all enhanced with the color scheme as well; as Harvey proposes, a red filter leaks over everything, and remains present throughout the nightmare. As red is associated with the Dark Lord, Sabrina's fears represent her fear of more embracing her magical side and the consequences, worrying that the Dark Lord will cause her life to fall into chaos. The use of color is important throughout this episode; Ambrose's dream then involves shades of blue as he carves himself up. Ambrose has been stuck at home for years, and as a result feels lonely and desires companionship, and blue is so often used to represent sadness. With only his aunts and cousin, Ambrose seems to actually feel completely alone; just like in his dream, he is his own companion but is hurting himself. His own psyche must be attacking him at this point as his thoughts get to him, and he's willing to take any risk to see others, like his astral date. Then there's Hilda, whose dream is veiled in green, signifying her jealousy toward her more-successful sister and desire to find her own happiness. Surprisingly, Hilda has apparently never been with a man, and like Sabrina, didn't want to join the Church of Night. There is a lot Hilda's holding back, and the disgusting reveal about Hawthorne suggests she fears finding a man who will have some problem. Her fate entwined with Zelda shows she feels like she's stuck in her sister's shadow, and is unable to achieve what she has or find success and joy. This brings us to Zelda, who true to her lavish attitude, gets a purple filter as her dream starts out good with the Dark Lord himself arriving. Curiously, the Dark Lord is played by the same actor who plays Father Blackwood this time; perhaps because Zelda is so devoted to Satan but has a thing for the priest. Along with the royalty of purple comes arrogance, and this dream reveals that while Zelda is arrogant, it comes from her own jealousy and regrets. Purple is sometimes used for toxicity, like in "Pokemon," and Zelda is coming to realize the pain her toxicity inflicted on her sister as they grew up. She seems paranoid that those she looks up to, like Satan, will prefer her sister, a sort of inferiority complex, and her rage then takes over. Arrogant due to her status as the older sibling, Zelda does whatever she wants to Hilda, but is starting to realize how much she truly cares for the woman. There is a lot of gruesome imagery in this episode, so it's definitely not one for the squeamish; Sabrina is locked in an iron maiden, Ambrose gives himself an autopsy, Hilda is stitched to Zelda, and Zelda brutally murders Hilda again. Excellent performances bolster this imagery, Kiernan Shipke and Miranda Otto. Shipke seems terrified and in pain during Sabrina's nightmare, especially when we return to her, and Otto seems a broken mess when her dream takes a turn. Interestingly, one might assume like the Batibat that Hilda or Ambrose would break first, when in fact Zelda seems shattered as a result of her own actions. While everyone else's nightmares were fears about what could happen to themselves, Zelda's realization lay in how she has hurt those around her. The Batibat was an excellent antagonist to draw out the characters' personalities, and parts with Wardwell were entertaining as she tries to help Sabrina. In doing so, however, Sabrina is bound to wonder what's going on, and the inquisitive girl is looking for answers.
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