The time has come for Sabrina to sign Satan's book, but she has more doubts than ever despite Father Blackwood's intervention.
It's been a few months, unfortunately, so let's recap! In the previous episode, we covered Sabrina Spellman's half-witch ancestry and how she's struggling to decide if she wants to embrace her magic side, abandoning her friends in the process.
​Wanting her to stay away are the Weird Sisters, while a demon disguised as her teacher, Ms. Wardwell, wants her to sign Satan's book and attend a school for magic. ​Sabrina, torn on what to do, took her cousin's advice to taste a Malum Malus, basically the apple from Eden, but it gave her a horrific vision, making her more unsure. This episode begins where the previous cut off, with Father Blackwood (Richard Coyle) hoping to answer any questions about her upcoming dark baptism. She wonders if signing Satan's book gives him control of her soul and if he could call on her to do his bidding. Blackwood shrugs these off as symbolic gestures and says all religions demand sacrifice, stating she just has to pledge to obey 13 commandments. She is concerned about serving the embodiment of evil, but he, looking bothered when she calls Satan "the Devil," says he's the embodiment of free will. When she brings up Hell and having to leave Harvey; he notes she won't die for a long time and Hell is for mortals, then explains Harvey would age faster than her. Her father, he says, was granted special permission due to being High Priest, and even then there was controversy. Despite what the Weird Sisters told her, Blackwood claims there was nothing to suggest her parents were murdered. To her aunts' horror, Sabrina reveals her trip to get a Malum Malus, but Blackwood shrugs it off, saying such visions are considered inaccurate. Glad she has questions, he suggests she attend the school for answers and challenge what she finds, and if she doesn't like it, she can leave, as the church is based on free will. Zelda assures him her niece will be ready for her baptism, and Sabrina agrees. Ambrose tells Blackwood about Connor Kemper, and the man laments that the boy wasn't even baptized and was alone. Ambrose believes it could be the work of a witch hunter, and though Blackwood finds it unlikely, he agrees to let the council know. Later, Hilda and Sabrina discuss her father, and Hilda says girls didn't have options on the book when she was young; sometimes she dreams of burning the woods down. Watching from the room above in a spider-like form, Zelda is angered at what she hears, saying she and Hilda will be the death of each other.
Sabrina is surprised the next morning to find Harvey in the kitchen, hoping to do something after her birthday; her aunts say they'll play it by ear.
On the way to school, he admits he partially came to meet her aunts, and it bothers her when he says they have all the time in the world to do what they want. At school, Susie finds a group of jocks tearing down their WICCA posters and tries to confront them, but gets beaten and suspended. Susie, aware she can't press charges since she started the fight, relents to give the boys' names; she goes to Wardwell, who points out they're a group of "golden boys." Learning that Sabrina plans to switch schools if this gets solved, Wardwell suggests she recruit a group of the toughest girls she knows and face the boys. Sabrina goes to the woods and summons the Weird Sisters, who, thinking it's about the curse, agree to remove it if she pledges to not attend the academy. She tells them about the boys and, fingers crossed, promises not to go to the school; they agree, but say she has to do most of the work. Back at the house, Zelda surprises Hilda in the garden and whacks her with a hammer, then buries her as the Kempers arrive. Serving tea, Ambrose learns police don't know what happened to Connor or why he was out in the park so late. He becomes interested when Mrs. Kemper says a crowd isn't expected, because Connor's only real friend was his iguana, whom he talked to and seemed to expect responses from. Ambrose shares this with Zelda, who dryly says what she did to Hilda.
The sisters interrupt the jocks hanging out at a store and invite them to party in the mines with them. Once there, Sabrina scares them claiming the mines lead to Hell, and they convince the spooked boys to come with them.
Once in the caves, the girls play music out of nowhere and strip, and after turning off the lights and making out with the boys, we see them standing to the side. Sabrina, armed with a camera, takes a photo of the boys, who are kissing each other, and says the photos go all over school if they hurt Susie or any other girl again. She becomes nervous when Prudence steps out to do more, but she and her sisters don't hurt the boys; they scare them off with demonic forms. Sabrina finds a birdcage nearby; the sisters explain they made the boys impotent, and they'll remain so until Sabrina releases the birds inside. Prudence reveals they know Sabrina lied about their deal, but asks why she's doing this if she's leaving, and why she doesn't stay with her friends. Prudence is shocked to learn Blackwood visited Sabrina, and scoffs at her desire for both powers and freedom, because as a man, the thought terrifies him. Sabrina visits Harvey, who tells her about a Halloween party, and asks if he, in a comic book situation, would give up everything in exchange for superpowers. Knowing this includes Sabrina, he says he wouldn't, as he'd have nothing if he didn't have her. At the Spellman house, a dirt-caked and raspy voiced Hilda returns, angry that Zelda "keeps killing her," with her sister stating it takes her longer each time to return. Zelda claims she, as the older sister, is allowed to do this, and chastises Hilda for giving Sabrina doubts, as her not signing would mean they failed her father and Satan. She continues that Sabrina has no choice, so she should keep her doubts to herself, and Hilda meekly relents. We see that Sabrina is listening nearby.
The next morning, Hilda surprises Sabrina with her mother's wedding dress to use at the baptism, shrugging off an old rule to wear black. She assures Sabrina that she'll be fine and the next day will wake up wondering why there was such a fuss.
Downstairs, Sabrina is horrified to learn Zelda, who is going out with Hilda, told her school she has hives, not caring about her desire to say bye to her friends. Zelda then tasks Ambrose with keeping an eye on Sabrina during this time. At the school, Wardwell is pleased to learn what's going on with Sabrina from the secretary, while our young witches rationalizes that she can keep her friends. To her horror, Ambrose explains relationships with mortals are frowned upon, and after her baptism, it'll be like a veil was dropped; with time passing faster for her friends, she'll wish she could forget them. In tears as he suggests she look forward, she leaves to call Harvey, wanting one last night with her friends. Her aunts, meanwhile, pick up a black goat for her baptism. Harvey arrives that night, dressed in his brother's mining clothes, and Sabrina stuns him in her mom's wedding dress. Ambrose suggests they leave before her aunts get back, and warns Sabrina her baptism's blue flames will burn her if she's late. After a happy greeting from Roz at the party, Sabrina is surprised to learn Susie is excited for a rematch with the jocks, but notes it won't be necessary. The partygoers dance and fix a Halloween cake for Sabrina's birthday, and she asks Harvey to not forget or hate her. Roz calls everyone out to look at the blood moon, so Sabrina, realizing she's going to be late, tells Harvey she loves him and rushes away. With her baptism imminent, Sabrina struggles to make her decision and deal with the consequences of her choice.
So far my favorite thing about this series is probably how dark they actually make it,without cutting away from the action.
Zelda coming in and bludgeoning her sister with a hammer was a massive shock, and the characters acting so normal about it made it funny. The first episode had the part where the real Wardwell was killed, and both moments were shocking and set a dark tone for the story. At this point, I think Hilda might be the character who most has my attention, due to her chipper nature obviously hiding something darker. We see her constantly subservient to her older sister, but it's clear from moments like when she told Sabrina about her dream that she's not sharing all her feelings. I find it interesting how Zelda treats Hilda in this show, as there is sort of a desperate need to be dominant over her sister and do what she wants to her. Both of them mention the lack of choice for girls involved in their church, so Zelda seems to be treating Hilda in this manner as a way of seizing power somewhere. So far Sabrina's friends really just have me rolling my eyes, especially in the party scene when Susie says she's excited to fight the jocks again. These guys are in the wrong with what they're doing, of course, but Susie and Roz just constantly feel like they're talking a big game while doing little. More than that, though, I noticed a technical aspect that bothered me throughout the episode, which is a strange blurring effect on scenes. If you look around the characters this episode, and perhaps others (I haven't checked), everything around them is rather out of focus. Now in a way this is a useful technique; it helps focus the viewer's eye on a certain character or characters, and it seemed to be strongest during moments involving magic, which would be a stylistic choice to tell us witchcraft is occurring. However, at times characters involved in conversations were at least somewhat blurred, and overall it's just something that bothered my eyes. It makes scenes difficult, and at times obnoxious to watch, because nothing is clear enough to view as easily as it should. The overdramatic nature of the show and performances also have me shaking my head at times, but in a way it's enjoyable. I have to be in the right kind of mindset for it not to bother me at times, but the cheesy performances can be fun, as in this episode with Father Blackwood. He has an air of eloquence about him, and while you can tell he's hiding things or lying at times, he's charming enough to keep it secret. He's a pretty good debater, as well, easily keeping up with Sabrina's questions, though I'm interested in how he reacted negatively to hearing his dark lord called "the Devil." Ambrose is another favorite character of mine over all, with a great performance, and the relationship between Sabrina and Harvey is another positive. It really feels like the two care about each other, and Harvey makes a bold and romantic statement by turning down powers if he'd lose her. Now that Sabrina's baptism has come, it's time to see how her decision is going to affect her and her loved ones from here on out.
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