Sometimes, it seems lazy to compare a fantasy series to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As a hardcore fan of the Scooby Gang, it’s easy to notice the way that Joss Whedon’s horror-comedy-teen soap hybrid has inspired generations of writers. But calling out the similarities often feels like a cliche and, prior to the halfway point of its freshmen season, calling The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Netflix’s answer to Buffy felt silly — especially since it also called early Tim Burton, Charmed, and True Blood to mind. But Episode 5, ‘Dreams in a Witch House,’ doubles down on allusions to the world’s most famous slayer — and the similarities is impossible to ignore. But, while going toe-to-toe with a legend is a brave choice, it mostly turns out well for Sabrina & co.
This episode of the series finds Sabrina visited by a terrifying demon who plagues its victims with horrible nightmares, trapping them in the dream to wreak havoc based on their biggest, most deeply-seated fears. As Sabrina, Ambrose, and her aunts are tormented by grisly, deeply disturbing visions, Mrs. Waldwell explores Spellman Mortuary, hoping to save Sabrina for mysterious reasons. This storyline, of course, calls to mind “Restless,” the seminal episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer where the main characters were also tormented by dreams.
First things first, this episode is the first time the series has embraced its horror roots to great affect. This is a seriously gnarly hour of television, with plenty of gore, body horror, and a surprisingly nasty murder played for the darkest of laughs. It all works — it’s fun to see the show embrace its weirdness instead of walking the line between “teen soap” and “fantasy series.” While the series has made several obvious allusions to Evil Dead and The Exorcist, this episode evoked directors of the genre moreso than their films. One moment definitely called to mind the likes of Cronenberg or Verhoeven, while the campier moments felt like particularly grotesque tips of the hat to John Waters.
These dreams all tap into deeper fears felt by the characters. Sabrina is afraid of being rejected by her human peers; Ambrose is afraid of dying alone, trapped in the house; Hilda is terrified of being compared to her sister for the rest of her life; Zelda is worried about misinterpreting the Satanic text she loves and losing her twin in the process. While these themes are disappointingly spelt out to the audience via dialogue, it also offers the best character development of the series so far.
But, this episode, like all the others, is in desperate need of editing. Netflix milks Sabrina for every minute possible, and the pacing suffers as a result. In this particular episode, the nightmares go on for disproportionate amounts of time, taking too long to set-up a story that we all know the thematic punch-line to. It’s also a strange creative decision for Netflix to devote a full hour of its ten-episode season to a bottle episode; this throws off the overarching story.
That being said, this episode continues to showcase the series’ strongest assets: great, campy acting and some stunning production design. While the teen cast is uniformly strong, but unremarkable, the two best performers in the cast have great material to work with here. As Aunt Zelda, Mirando Otto is an absolute blast, making a meal out of every frame she appears in. In this episode, she’s tasked with committing a particularly heinous act of violence, and then crying when the Dark Lord doesn’t ask her to dance, and somehow make both moments strangely funny — she pulls it off without a sweat. Meanwhile, Michelle Gomez can deliver a laugh with just a quick look. As her character awkwardly walks in and out of the other characters’ dreams, trying to find Sabrina, her every movement and exaggerated glance is hilarious. These two actresses are having so much fun, and that’s transferred to the audience with ease.
Five episodes in, and Sabrina still seems to be finding its footing as an overall series. It’s annoying for the show to take a break from its main arc at the midway point for what is essentially a monster-of-the-week special that shoves in some much needed character development. But, it also reveals that the writers know what works best for them: horror, camp, and some great character actresses. Hopefully the second half of the season will use them well.
Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
