This season could be described by quoting its first line: ‘Welcome to Hell?’. Or maybe purgatory is more appropriate. 

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is back with a third part. This Netflix adaptation of the Archie Comics series, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, is equipped with a star-studded cast and a hefty budget. Part one, released in 2018, was almost note-perfect whilst part two, released in 2019, was less enthralling but still entertaining. Part three felt sluggish even if it was visually appealing. 

This part begins with a hunt for Sabrina’s (Kiernan Shipka) boyfriend Nick (Gavin Leatherwood), who is trapped in Hell. She is faced by the threat of Prince Caliban (Sam Corlett), who is made from clay but looks real enough to me. Meanwhile, the hunt for Blackwood (Richard Coyle) and Satan (Nelson Leis) is still causing trouble. To add to this endless supply of villains, a group of pagans arrive to stir things up. One aspect, however, from the previous seasons remains: the introductory credits that you think are about to end but never do.

What is enjoyable is that this series is brimming with creativity. With characters ranging from sex demons pimped by Dorian Gray (Jedidiah Goodacre) to a thirsty Judas (Darius Willis) guarding his silver, it never fails to surprise. There are some iconic moments in this season too: Sabrina brings feminism into the satanic world when she reprimands a vampire, telling him ‘Consent; it’s real’. Another favourite moment of mine was when Hilda (Lucy Davis) morphed into a lusty spider and asked her fiancé to fertilise her eggs. 

The favourite characters are back: Kiernan Shipka as Sabrina with her demonic innocence, Michelle Gomez as Lilith with her gigantic hair and Lucy Davis as Hilda with her mumsy yet kick-ass personality. Blackwood turns into a Jack Nicholson-esque psychopath, killing everyone in sight. It is a shame that his complex personality from the first two seasons is now lost: he was far more sinister as the creepy and corrupt High Priest. Chance Perdomo, who plays the intelligent sidekick Ambrose, is an excellent actor but he is in the wrong show. He recites his dialogue as if it is Shakespeare when it is not.

It cannot be ignored that this season seems to have lost tension. Meeting the council of Hell at Pandæmonium and being given a thorough tour of Hell takes the suspense away, compared to when we were previously unaware of what lurks below. Furthermore, the depiction of Hell is not even that terrifying. The throne room is a cross between The Lord of the Rings and Labyrinth and a less scary version of the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz even appears (now that film really is terrifying). There is also a problem with the pacing and reading the episode summaries on Netflix illustrates this. For instance: ‘Sabrina explores a new hobby and a disturbing duty. Elsewhere, Prudence and Ambrose continue their search for Father Blackwood.’ The new hobby is cheerleading and yes, this takes up at least a quarter of the episode. I will not reveal how the season ends, but I will reveal that I rolled my eyes at the open-ended finale: ‘pray Satan’ it will not carry on for another season, I thought. 

Lastly, the terribly lip-synced, random breakouts into songs need to stop. We know that Kiernan Shipka can sing, but this deviates from the ‘horror’ genre and would fit better into the 1996 version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch (think of Sabrina trying to defeat Libby in a ‘battle of the bands’ contest by conjuring up the Backstreet Boys). Also, if Shipka can sing, why autotune the soundtrack to such an extent that it sounds nothing like her? 

To summarize, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is moving closer towards the 1996 version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Maybe that is okay: who didn’t love animatronic Salem? A resounding positive of this series is the nostalgic 90s, Archie Comics feel it provides. Yet, this is not enough to sustain an entire season: there needs to be a driving plot. So, there is no tension, no terror and no taste, but I can almost guarantee you will binge the whole thing. 

Rating = 3/5