REVIEWED: SEASON 2 (ALL EPISODES) | WHERE TO WATCH: NETFLIX
“Hail Satan. Hail Judas,” for Sabrina and the rest of the Greendale residents have returned for their second season already! This time the stakes are so much higher and the lows so much lower, but can this live up to the incredibly high benchmark that its first season set?
The story picks up almost immediately after the end of Chapter Eleven: A Midwinter’s Tale, which emphasises that the one-off Christmas special is not just that, but forms a crucial part of the story going forward. Sporting her new look seen in that episode, Sabrina is now deciding to split her time between the Academy of Unseen Arts and Greendale High School, torn between the power she has as a witch and trying to continue her normal life as a teenage girl. However, this sombre mood doesn’t last for overly long, for a very deadly game of cat and mouse forms the majority of the plot of this season. There is a constant power struggle between many of the central and supporting characters that pulls everyone in entirely different directions. The premise for the season is very compelling overall, but does tend to feel a lot like it’s retreading similar ground to the first. As a continuation of storylines that were seen in Season 1, it succeeds very well. As a standalone season it, unfortunately, falls short of its predecessor.
Many of the supporting characters get a lot more of the spotlight this time, with characters like Harvey, Roz, Zelda, Hilda, Ambrose and Suzie getting intertwining subplots that manage to fit in well with the main storyline, leading to an excellent finale. Though Sabrina is the titular character of the series, it is these secondary characters that steal the show this time. There were some very nice new additions to the cast, but they sadly come into the season far too late to get the true character development time they need. With the season only being nine episodes, compared to the ten in Season 1, this means that some quite compelling storylines are left unfulfilled.
Overall, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s sophomore season is enjoyable, but it certainly doesn’t have the same ‘magic’ as the first. While the cast is once again firing on all cylinders, the storyline that weaves throughout is a little lacklustre by comparison. But, by all accounts, it’s still essential viewing!
