Seventeen episodes in, we’re finally getting a glimpse of
why Sabrina seems to be such a valuable person to Satan. And no, it’s not her
noble heart.
After a long period of time where it seemed like she was fairly
vulnerable, a witch of no extraordinary talents (if rather unusual willpower),
the show finally went with a big reveal: She’s the Dark Lord’s sword. Do we
know what that means? No, we do not. But having seen her struggle somewhere in
between the mortal world and the hellish one, uncertain where she belongs and what
reflects her true nature, this is a pretty big confirmation that she has a role
to play in Satan’s plans.
It comes after she expresses a great deal of uncertainty
about whether or not the Church is the right place for her. This episode was a
bit of a journey—it seemed like it was going to be about saving Ambrose’s life,
and it was, but as it turns out, Father Blackwood is not the biggest threat
facing him. Instead, a trio of witch hunters appear to wreak havoc. They’re
surprisingly effective for a group of teens, until it’s revealed that they’re
angels, and that’s why ordinary spellwork doesn’t do anything to them. It’s the
first time the show has suggested that Lucifer Morningstar’s followers face an
opposing magical force. And while the Dark Lord doesn’t exactly seem to be the
good guy in any of this, the opposition doesn’t seem very nice either. The
angels torture, maim, and kill, always with the promise, never fulfilled, that
the witches and warlocks can earn their salvation. Sabrina doesn’t get too far
down that path before Roz warns her off, but when Melvin tries, it doesn’t
work.
Given the battle breaking out among these various factions,
the show is increasingly suggesting a world in which power is what matters, not
purity of cause. The Weird Sisters are the most powerful creatures, until
they’re not, and then the angels are the most powerful creatures, and then
Sabrina is. And when her powers are finally revealed, she’s a pretty startling
figure. As Jerathmiel points out, she looks something like Saint Sebastian,
seeing as she’s full of arrows. But the opaque white eyes seems to be more of a
Sabrina special. It all looks pretty terrifying to Harvey, who has finally
started to come around to trusting Sabrina again.
She otherwise has a pretty bumpy ride with the mortals. Roz,
depressed and angry after her sudden blinding, lashes out at Sabrina, who
hasn’t been there for her. It’s bad enough that she wonders if Sabrina has
cursed her. We know she hasn’t, but for an unhappy person who experienced an
unusually coincidental malady around magical creatures, it’s not that much of a
stretch, and it’s not like there isn’t precedent for Sabrina’s powers going
awry, as Harvey points out. That the comfort charm helps Roz save Sabrina
suggests these two have a more benevolent bond than either of them might have
predicted, given their respective family histories.
Two mysteries are also resolved in relatively
straightforward ways. Luke was indeed killed, and Adam was just an ordinary
nice man who loved Mary. That got Adam about as far in this life as being nice
got the real Mary. And now there’s a very angry, vengeful Wardwell left. There
doesn’t seem to be much question of her supporting Satan anymore, and since we
already know how much she resents Sabrina, figuring out who she thinks Satan
loves doesn’t seem to be that much of a mystery. But she also doesn’t know yet
about Sabrina’s whole glowy-eyed levitating act, so it may be that that
particular face-off is going to get a lot more competitive.
And somehow all of this happened while Father Blackwood was
out of town. He’s going to come back to a very changed world. Can he even trust
that his followers will listen to him anymore? Sabrina has given them very
vivid reason to think she’s now the most powerful figure in their church, and it’s
distinctly possible that his efforts to control the Spellman family just got a
lot more difficult.
This episode had almost a finale-ish feel to it, between all
the big reveals and near-deaths. Some parts of it worked better than others—the
battle with the angels is very sudden, which makes it a little harder to invest
fully in them as a foe. And the buildup to the reveal of Sabrina’s powers
involves her, yet again, barging into a conflict with little to no plan. Still,
it’s an ambitious, risk-taking episode, and it’s exciting to see the show kick
in a little extra momentum.
Stray observations
- I didn’t spend that much time on Wardwell’s
misadventures this episode, because Sabrina’s powers seemed like a higher
priority, but wow, that had a bleaker outcome than I expected. - Did Hilda summon that powerful group of beings in her nightgown?
I’m no expert, but maybe it would have gone better if she’d been more prepared
to host. - I see this show takes pace in that mysterious era when
people had cellphones but also used tape decks to listen to audio. I feel like
all the young actors on this show were like, what is that? - Hilda says she’s the only mum Ambrose has ever known. At
some point it would be really nice if they could explain more about his
background? - “Sorry, Sabrina. I was a dick before.” Nick is a real
wordsmith. - Speaking of Hilda, she’s really learning to roll with the
whole incubus thing. - Really enjoyed the shot of Salem escaping with Sabrina.