Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Chapter Two: The Dark Baptism
October 27, 2018 6:03 AM - Season 1, Episode 2 - Subscribe

A legendary guest visits Spellman Mortuary, Ambrose explores a grim revelation, and Sabrina stuns the coven with a shocking announcement.
posted by oh yeah! (7 comments total)
 
I'm not planning on doing individual posts for each episode, but I think this episode deserves a thread of its own. I watched it last night, and I'm not ready to move on to episode 3 without letting out a loud "WTF, show?" about the football jock blackmail subplot.

I mean, it seems like the show wanted us to feel like Sabrina's revenge plot was fine and it was the other witches who took things to a darker scarier level, but Sabrina's plot was vile. Tricking dudes into making out and blackmailing them with the evidence? Under the umbrella of supporting a trans friend?

I only watched an episode or two of Riverdale, was too creeped out by the whole 'Archie + teacher' affair subplot. Is Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa just generally creepy about consent or something?
posted by oh yeah! at 6:32 AM on October 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


Agreed oh yeah!, that was weird and completely unnecessary. I guess the show could make the argument that they were using the boys' homophobia against them but the larger takeaway is "Ha ha, boys making out with boys is embarrassing and gross." There were a million other ways they could have wreaked revenge on the boys without trafficking in homophobia. What's next, embarrassing them by making them wear makeup or put on dresses?

Parts of the show are really interesting but I'm still on the fence as to whether to continue watching (Episodes 1 and 2 were all I got through).
posted by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto at 10:47 AM on October 27, 2018


I guess the show could make the argument that they were using the boys' homophobia against them but the larger takeaway is "Ha ha, boys making out with boys is embarrassing and gross."

It reminds me of the whole 'ha ha, you're going to get raped in prison' trope. No matter how bad the person in question is, that's a farewell to the moral high ground.

Like, if I'm being super charitable maybe they were trying to make for some kind of 'see what it feels like when the tables are turned' poetic justice kind of thing, but, it's still creepily homophobic and jarringly out of place; the kind of thing that I'd expect to cringe at when re-watching a teen movie/show from the 80s/90s, not something to stumble across in a 2018 production. And it's just especially jarring as a solution to a "I must protect my beloved trans friend" dilemma, such a strange juxtaposition.

Parts of the show are really interesting but I'm still on the fence as to whether to continue watching (Episodes 1 and 2 were all I got through).

Pretty sure I will keep going; I took a break and watched something else for the morning/afternoon, but I am still curious to find out where the story goes. But I didn't want to sit on my thoughts about this episode the whole way through.
posted by oh yeah! at 12:55 PM on October 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


"become a famous star like cousin Montgomery" may be my favorite thing about the episode.
posted by rhiannonstone at 5:36 PM on October 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


Sabrina has done two harmful uses of magic--this one and the spider one in the first episode. Both were suggested to her by a demon who murdered her teacher, specifically as part of a scheme to help separate Sabrina from the mortal world (and presumably its morality) and move her closer to Satan.

At first I thought the principle was going to die and that's why the demon teacher encouraged it--Sabrina would have crossed some line--but no, just causing harm was enough.

I felt uncomfortable about both of these scenes in their entirety. Reading the discussion here I do get the annoyance: The tone after the events is more zany pranks from our plucky underdogs. I kind of figured we are going to see the consequences of this sort of thing eventually, if only indirectly. If that's where they're going it might have been easier to pull of as a set up in a book, where the "this is funny" tone could be put into Sabrina's POV instead of the camera's.

I was actually more bothered when she erased her boyfriend's memory because she didn't like his reaction. It was way more insidious, and that wasn't framed as something that needs an eventual reckoning.
posted by mark k at 10:35 AM on October 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


I wanted to like it, but it's too heavy-handed on the "fuck the patriarchy" sentiment for me. I don't like lifting women up by trampling on men, even if they're assholes.
posted by luckynerd at 9:42 PM on October 30, 2018


luckynerd,
it's important to note the distinction between "fuck the patriarchy" and "fuck men". The patriarchy is tool of violence and oppression that must be destroyed on the path towards a just world and it's destruction does not automatically entail any animosity or violence towards men. On the other hand, misandry is no more ethically sound than misogyny and is to be condemned.

I feel like we see the characters in the show mudding the two concepts, but I have hope that the writers are not doing the same.
posted by thedward at 9:39 AM on October 31, 2018 [2 favorites]


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