It's time for a feast, but its grotesque origin has Sabrina horrified and wanting to end, while her friends do some digging into their family trees.
Sabrina and Harvey chat about Thanksgiving; the Spellman family does little, but Harvey will be joining his dad and grandpa in drinking and hunting.
At first inviting him in, Sabrina notices bloody entrails on the door and finds an excuse to usher Harvey away, confusing him in the process. Inside, she asks what it's for; Hilda and Ambrose fetch cleaning supplies while Zelda explains it's a message from the Council they'll be participating in the Feast of Feasts. She goes on to describe it as one of their holiest holidays, similar to Thanksgiving, but with a different menu, and honoring the great sacrifice of the witch Freya. Zelda calls her a queen amongst witches, and Hilda explains she was part of the 14 earliest Greendale witches who were chased out of town. Ambrose and Zelda continue that she, the youngest witch, slit her own throat so the others could eat her body, as the male mortals had hunted all the forest animals. Sabrina is disgusted, and while Ambrose meekly tries to shrug it off, Zelda says it's a way of honoring Satan. They horrify Sabrina further by explaining 14 houses in the coven are chosen, and a lottery picks one female to be the "queen" and be eaten. Zelda says their place is just to participate, not question the tradition, and though Sabrina calls it murder, Ambrose says as ritual sacrifice it's slightly different. With Hilda excommunicated, only Zelda and Sabrina can be picked; the former volunteers for the lottery, but the horrified Sabrina is worried she'd get picked. Pointing out how few Spellmans are left, she says she doesn't want to lose her aunt like she lost her parents. Though she finds it sweet, Zelda says she and Hilda have never been picked, so she's not worried, and declares they'll be participating. In school, Wardwell, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, tasks the kids with learning about their own family history, singling Harvey out about the mines. Sabrina approaches her wondering if the feast can be stopped, and the two agree to research it, though Wardwell seems more interested in Harvey's research. At home, Harvey asks his grandpa (Michael Hogan) about their past; he explains they weren't always miners, but started out as the hunter Von Kunkles. When the winter Zelda described came, and the townspeople believed some strangers who lived on the outskirts of town were tunneling in the hills. The strangers claimed the townsfolk stole their land, so the Von Kunkles were chosen to chase them away, taking their land in the process. Harvey asks what happened to the people, and his grandpa, in a rather creepy way, says he'll show him what happened when they go hunting. Susie's dad helps her look through history Jesse had kept. She is surprised to learn Dorothea Putnam dressed as a man in the frontier days, and finds her journals. Roz visits her Nana Ruth ( L. Scott Caldwell), but when she brings up their history, the woman says she thought Roz came to her worrying about her faith. She says Roz's father didn't tell her, but rather "the cunning" did, saying it's a hunch that develops while others, like her dad, remain blind. Hers started when she was Roz's age, and she claims Roz's should be starting up now, if it hasn't already.
At the academy, Sabrina learns Prudence is one of the selected 14, horrified when she finds out her fellow witch is excited to be sacrificed.
She pushes past them to talk to Nick, who is against the fest and says Edward was, too; he banned it, but Blackwood reinstated it upon becoming High Priest. He asks if Sabrina was chosen and she tells him about Zelda's decision, but wonders how her aunt would feel about the feast if it were her selected instead. The lottery night arrives, and Blackwood gives a sermon about putting the coven over oneself, but Sabrina bursts in as they prepare, volunteering to take place. Zelda is appalled, and the girl claims she's just upholding tradition, unless her aunt feels like admitting it's barbaric, like Edward believed. When given the option to agree, Zelda shrinks back and sticks with tradition, allowing the surprised Sabrina to take her place as the girls draw their lots. The women burn their papers, and though Sabrina's draws attention with red smoke, it turns out Prudence has been selected. Later at home, Zelda scolds Sabrina for her actions, and reveals she's been picked as handmaiden, which Ambrose says is better anyway. They explain the handmaiden follows the queen's every order during a three-day period of fasting for the others, and Ambrose darkly jokes that Prudence is getting her just desserts by becoming dessert. Prudence then arrives to stay at the house, demanding a buttermilk bath and a plate of macaroons. While Sabrina bathes her, Prudence asks if this is her first time eating witch, seeming confused when Sabrina offers to help her escape. She claims she'll become a part of every witch in the coven once they've eaten her, while her soul will enter the Dark Lord's heart until the apocalypse. Sabrina wonders if this or nothing happens after death; Prudence asks if this is what she believes regardless of what she knows, saying it's sad she has no faith in anything. That night, Sabrina wakes to find Ambrose and Prudence having an orgy in his room, and Nick is a part of it because no one can refuse Prudence at this time. Nick suggests that Sabrina join them, then offers to go her room with her, leaving her stunned, so Prudence tells her to either join them or leave, which she obviously does.
The next day, Sabrina admits to Prudence she isn't sure what happens after death, but believes life is precious. Prudence stays firm she'll get eternal life through the ritual.
Though Prudence wants Sabrina to follow tradition and stay near her, the half-witch has to go to Baxter High, and suggests Prudence come with her, since there are boys. At the school, Hawthorne invites Wardwell to his house for Thanksgiving, but she brushes him off, saying she has her own rituals. Sabrina introduces Prudence to her friends, and though eager to search for boys, the latter is interested when Susie talks about Dorothea, who was a pirate and helped women escape religious persecution in Scotland, as Prudence knows about her. Things go less smoothly when Harvey shares what his grandpa told him, as Prudence snarls that a blood atonement is needed, so Sabrina drags her away. Prudence rants about the school and says she and her sisters would kill witch hunters, so Sabrina threatens to tear her apart if she comes after Harvey, and Wardwell enters. In her office, Sabrina begs her to talk sense into Prudence, but the latter is skeptical of taking advice from an excommunicate. Wardwell reveals what she learned from her research: a witch who rejected the feast crown lives in the Greendale woods. ​Prudence is unsure, but Sabrina says there should be no harm in listening to the woman if her faith is strong. She agrees, but only if the other Weird Sisters join her. At the Spellmans,' Mrs. Kemper picks up Connor's ashes, upset as he loved Thanksgiving. The police have no leads, but she found occult objects in his room. She worries that Connor was murdered for being part of a Satanic cult, so Ambrose gets her to agree to bring the objects to him so he can "help." Meanwhile in the woods, the women find the witch Dezmelda (Abby Ross), and to their surprise, she says she ran from her priest, not Satan. Dezmelda explains she and the others in the lottery were children, younger than them. She breaks down, so Wardwell continues that the night before the feast, her priest claimed the Dark Lord told him to "initiate her," so she ran. Prudence claims this isn't how Blackwood is, but Sabrina points out he's the one telling her to do this, not the Dark Lord, and as he's like them, he can wrong and sin. Elsewhere, Harvey and his family trek through the same area, "Moon Valley," and when the find a deer, his grandpa decides he should do the honors as it's his first hunt. Prudence is surprised Sabrina thinks Blackwood has ulterior motives; she feels he'd gain nothing from her death, and he raised her like a daughter. Sabrina thinks this makes it worse, but Prudence says he's working for the Dark Lord and she wants this. A gunshot gets their attention, and Dezmelda tells them to leave. They find the deer from before, and realize it's a familiar, so they cloak it and themselves from the men by forming a pentagram around it. Sabrina is surprised to see Harvey walk up, and though the others are angered and claim this is a clear sign Harvey is a witch hunter, Sabrina is sure he isn't. Prudence asks why this is any different from her believing in Blackwood. After the disastrous meeting, Sabrina learns what happened from Harvey, and as her friends learn about themselves, she makes a discovery about Prudence that could stop the feast once and for all.
This episode got me a lot more interested in Sabrina's friends while also improving the Weird Sisters as characters.
With Sabrina's friends, we're beginning to see signs of a strange chance group of characters who are actually connected through their past. At the moment, of course, the most by chance thing is that Sabrina is dating a guy who is descended from witch hunters, but Harvey is a way of showing that people aren't their ancestors. The story his grandpa told also explains why Harvey apparently saw Satan in the mines, and Jesse was possessed there, since they originally belonged to witches. His grandpa says they were digging the hills, so it seems they were actually digging a tunnel to hell, like Wardwell says the mines are rumored to lead to. With Susie there isn't much learned about Dorothea yet, but considering Susie mentioned religious persecution and Prudence knows about Dorothea, it's safe to say the Putnam woman was helping witches. Then there's Roz, who now has the intriguing prospect of developing some kind of sixth sense like her nana has, in spite of her blindness. I got a sort of Game of Thrones vibe from a moment where Roz's nana tells her she'll go blind but will see important things, as it reminded me of the Three-Eyed Raven telling Bran Stark that he'll never walk again, but he'll fly. So far the series mostly does a good job showing the cult mindset involved with the church, as people are expected to go along with traditions rather than question them. As they are already living rather dark lives, being willing to eat a person doesn't seem an extreme shock, especially when they view it as something that saved witches. However, I do find it strange that at the start of the series, the characters went on and on about their church being that of free-will, including Sabrina's aunts, only for both of them to show discomfort with things but no ability to fight back. Hilda told Sabrina there wasn't much choice for girls when she was young, and Zelda directly says they're meant to take part in the feast, not question it, despite obviously feeling anxious about it and not wanting Sabrina to participate. I liked getting to see another side to the Weird Sisters this episode, with Prudence having to explain and question her beliefs and the others getting bigger roles. Previously, they had only bullied Sabrina, but in this episode Prudence actually has some meaningful conversations with her about faith and death. The others actually get some stuff to do as well, especially later in the episode, which I definitely like better than how they've mostly chewed scenery until now. The revelation Sabrina has about Prudence adds an interesting dynamic to her character, and leads everyone to an intelligent move in helping her survive. The way she makes her revelation is rather silly, however, as a person ends up randomly spilling their guts about what they're doing out of nowhere. It felt odd to me and like Sabrina was directly told the coming twist, essentially spoonfeeding her and we as the audience the answer. On a technical note, I really liked the makeup job done for Abby Ross as Dezmerelda, as while it was obviously a makeup job and the fake eye wasn't incredible, it works rather well as an old-age makeup. I was surprised to find Ross is actually rather young and definitely looks it, because the Dezmerelda look has her ancient and her voice even sounds weathered. The touch with the colored smoke at the lottery was also a nice touch, with how the red of Sabrina's at first makes you thinks she's been chosen, only to learn she's been made the handmaiden while Prudence's white smoke makes her the queen. Dark histories are emerging now, and Harvey now definitely has a target on his back, making things all the more dangerous for Sabrina and her friends.
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AuthorI love the entertainment side of things. Video games, tv shows, superheroes and movies are my passion and I'd love to get the news out for things I enjoy. My contact page has links to my social media, so if you enjoy what I have to say, likes, shares, comments, and follows are always greatly appreciated! Archives
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