S01.E04: Chapter Four: Witch Academy

[Athena]

Quote

Sabrina takes a weekend trip. Father Blackwood poses a pivotal question. Roz and Susie stage an impromptu -- and unnerving -- sleepover.

 

[twoods]

So far this show is okay. Some parts are good and other parts drag on that I usually FF them. It’s darker than I expected it to be. Ambrose is my favorite character so far, but the cliche mean witch girls are really annoying. The actress that plays Sabrina has similar acting styles to Lily Reinhart on  Riverdale so that took a while to get used to. I’m wondering how they will explain her being at the Academy for a long period of time since her friends and boyfriend think she is at some fair for the weekend.

[Blue Plastic]

This episode is dragging for me.  I don't care at all for the story with the mines and Susie, Roz, and Harvey trying to find out what's going on with that.  Yeah, whatever, Harvey as a child saw the Dark Lord, but this is just a really boring way to go about that aspect of the story.

[Lebanna]

Constance Blackwood? Oh no, show. Don't invite comparisons when you won't come off well.

Ok, the religious stuff was slightly more toned down at least.

So this was the obligatory very special 'bullying is bad' episode. So glad that we got to spend a whole hour learning that picking on the other children is not kind. Although we kind of had that whole plot for the first two hours as well. So perhaps we might take that lesson as learned and move on?

Susie has a creepy uncle who saw something nasty in the woodshed (sorry, the mine). Well, who doesn't.

The only surprise was that whatsherface is Blackwood's daughter, when it was implied earlier that they don't have kids. 

Also, does anyone know why the Spellman sisters are from different continents? Is this a Parent Trap situation, or what? And who are Ambrose's parents? He's Sabina's cousin, not her brother, but have the aunts mentioned another sibling? Did I miss something here?

[roctavia]

3 hours ago, Lebanna said:

The only surprise was that whatsherface is Blackwood's daughter, when it was implied earlier that they don't have kids. 

Also, does anyone know why the Spellman sisters are from different continents? Is this a Parent Trap situation, or what? And who are Ambrose's parents? He's Sabina's cousin, not her brother, but have the aunts mentioned another sibling? Did I miss something here?

Is she his daughter? I though she called him father because that is his preist-like title... Father Blackwood.... 

[Minneapple]

I've gotten up to this episode and it's the weakest one of the show so far. The witch Mean Girls were annoying and their constant yelling at Sabrina about her dad needed to stop. Prudence and her minions are the worst part of the show.

[Scarlett45]

6 hours ago, Lebanna said:

And who are Ambrose's parents? He's Sabina's cousin, not her brother, but have the aunts mentioned another sibling? Did I miss something here?

I’m assuming Ambrose isn’t a 1st cousin to Sabrina. He may be her first cousin once removed (or a second cousin, or more distantly related) and calls the Aunts “Aunt” out of the age difference/respect etc. 

I have a first cousin once removed who’s 84 (her dad was the eldest sibling, my grandfather was closer to the youngest) and I was raised to call her “Aunt”. Given how small the witch community probably is, most of the witches and warlocks are probably distantly related. 

[AngelKitty]

4 hours ago, roctavia said:

Is she his daughter? I though she called him father because that is his preist-like title... Father Blackwood.... 

This is what I thought too.

So Salem is a globlin.

I predict the demon from the puzzle is friendly, the demon possessing Susie's uncle is not. ?

Ambrose is quite likable and I was scared for him during his outing when the little birdies started showing up. I like that Ambrose has his own mystery to solve but I'm wondering how large of a witch community there is that there are warlocks living near each other yet don't know about each other.

I guess I'm just inured to the mean girls. They seem to appear in every teen show or movie. I'm glad they've addressed it and Sabrina has stood up to them and hopefully we can move on now.

Nick Scratch, another fun name turns up.

I had to look up Gehenna because I remembered that word from a C.J. Cherryh novel. Anyway, wikipedia says it is the valley where some kings sacrificed their children by fire and became cursed, the valley, not the kings.

My face had a smile on it during most of this episode and I even jumped. Twice. So, I am being happily entertained.

[starri]

9 hours ago, Lebanna said:

Also, does anyone know why the Spellman sisters are from different continents?

This was the first time that I actually registered that Hilda and Zelda have different accents.  Because until I remembered Faustus reminding Zelda about how she'd harrowed "her sister," I found myself suddenly wondering if they were Sabrina's aunties because they were a couple.  Clearly, Ambrose demonstrates that same-sex relationships are NBD in the witch world.

I know they're going for the same "no specific time period" thing that Riverdale goes for, but was that the first time we've seen a smartphone?

[kitlee625]

2 hours ago, starri said:

I know they're going for the same "no specific time period" thing that Riverdale goes for, but was that the first time we've seen a smartphone?

I think so. Ambrose also has a laptop in episode 1.

 

11 hours ago, Lebanna said:

Also, does anyone know why the Spellman sisters are from different continents? Is this a Parent Trap situation, or what? And who are Ambrose's parents? He's Sabina's cousin, not her brother, but have the aunts mentioned another sibling? Did I miss something here?

I personally don't find the different accents that distracting. They've both been alive for so long, and we don't know that they've been together in the Greendale the whole time. I could imagine Zelda taking care of things at home, while Hilda wandered around England for a few centuries. Which opens up another question - roughly how old are the Spellman sisters?

[Last Time Lord]

Ooh, we get a visit to NotWarts. 

I really enjoyed this episode. I pegged Quintin as a ghost the second time he showed up. 

I do like how Harvey and the rest of Sabrina’s human life are slowly getting dragged into the magical side. 

I think my favorite part was how Missy from Doctor Who spent all that time getting the stuff to be able  to spy on Sabrina... only to get bored by Sabrina and Harvey’s phone call to each other. 

[AnimeMania]

This was probably in a previous episode, but this is the furthest I watched, so I know it is safe to post it here. Did anyone else see Sabrina's mother and father with two babies in a suitcase, one with goat legs and the other normal. This might have been a flash back scene caused by the unreliable apple she bit. This makes me wonder if there were two children born (which I doubt because I don't think Zelda would cover that up when talking to Father Blackwood) or Sabrina's father did a spell to separate the good and evil from the baby. Sabrina might be the good child and the thing in the mine might be the evil Sabrina goat monster. Let me know what episode that was.

[Miles]

11 hours ago, AngelKitty said:

So Salem is a globlin.

That was established in the pilot. we actually saww him in goblin-form for a moment.

[AngelKitty]

1 hour ago, Miles said:

we actually saww him in goblin-form for a moment.

I did see a creature, I just didn't know what it was.

[kitlee625]

3 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

This was probably in a previous episode, but this is the furthest I watched, so I know it is safe to post it here. Did anyone else see Sabrina's mother and father with two babies in a suitcase, one with goat legs and the other normal. This might have been a flash back scene caused by the unreliable apple she bit. This makes me wonder if there were two children born (which I doubt because I don't think Zelda would cover that up when talking to Father Blackwood) or Sabrina's father did a spell to separate the good and evil from the baby. Sabrina might be the good child and the thing in the mine might be the evil Sabrina goat monster. Let me know what episode that was.

I think it was in the pilot. Sabrina has a vision of her parents. I'm not exactly sure about the meaning of the two children here, but I suspect that we're not going to have two Sabrinas, because frankly that defeats the central conflict of the story which is her dual nature. I think that the scene represents that she has both human and satanic sides to her, and she is afraid of her own dark nature.

[Miles]

35 minutes ago, AngelKitty said:

I did see a creature, I just didn't know what it was.

Aunt Zelda mentioned it at the breakfast table beforehand. But easy to miss, I guess.

[JonasArm]

46 minutes ago, AngelKitty said:

I did see a creature, I just didn't know what it was.

It's brief but they mentionned that all the familiars are goblins in animal form.

[AngelKitty]

6 minutes ago, Miles said:

Aunt Zelda mentioned it at the breakfast table beforehand. But easy to miss, I guess.

Damn, I've missed a few things said. My hearing may be going. (Along with many other things. Aging is not a whole lot of fun.)

[kitlee625]

3 minutes ago, AngelKitty said:

Damn, I've missed a few things said. My hearing may be going. (Along with many other things. Aging is not a whole lot of fun.)

The first several episodes had a lot of infodumping in them. I'm in the process of rewatching the show, and there's a lot of details that I'm catching the second time around.

[CrystalBlue]

I'm still enjoying this so far, but this was the draggiest episode.  I'm done with Prudence and her two sidekicks who are The Mean Witches.  Harvey is so boring and I don't feel any chemistry between sweet 16 Sabrina and him.  Wow, Zelda is a witch with a capital B!  I like Hilda better personality-wise.  I love seeing Salem, even if he doesn't talk like he did in the Melissa Joan Hart series Sabrina, The Teenage Witch.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

When Zelda said that her time at the academy were some of the best years of her life, I was like ugh, so she's one of those people who peaked in high school? The last thing we need is the witch version of Al Bundy still talking about how he once scored four touchdowns in a single game.

Quentin being so young confused me because I thought that students didn't begin at the academy until they signed their names in the book on their sixteenth birthdays, so it made sense that he was actually a dead little kid.

I know that lots of people see things like harrowing as a rite of passage but I've always thought hazing was a stupid ritual and the crap that people spout about how it makes you stronger and bonds you as a group blah blah blah - whatever. At least it gave Quentin and the other kids the opportunity for some well deserved revenge. I was shocked that Zelda apologized to Hilda though.

Sabrina isn't always the smartest. Why would she flat out tell Prudence and the other two about Salem? Why tip your hand so much to your enemy? I did laugh when they thought she was totally freaked out and she turned around and told them it wasn't that bad.

I'm glad that Ambrose decided that astral projecting wasn't worth it. I totally understand wanting to get out of the house to hang out with a cute boy, especially after 75 years of house arrest, but dude, do you really want to risk being dragged off to the hereafter? Just invite Luke over to your house to hang out (preferably when you know Zelda will be gone).

[Last Time Lord]

11 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I was shocked that Zelda apologized to Hilda though.

I’m glad she did. It gave her some much needed humanization. 

I’ve just found her to be especially awful in this show, so far, so I’ll gladly take anything that softens the edges. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

6 hours ago, Last Time Lord said:

I’m glad she did. It gave her some much needed humanization. 

I’ve just found her to be especially awful in this show, so far, so I’ll gladly take anything that softens the edges. 

I agree. She has been pretty cold to everyone so far and this was the first real moment of kindness she has shown.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I found myself suddenly wondering if they were Sabrina's aunties because they were a couple.

No, they are definitely sisters. After Zelda killed Hilda and buried her she told her "I am your older sister and it is my right to kill you as many times as I please." Or, words to that affect.

I don't understand how this whole school thing is supposed to work. The judge stipulated last episode that Sabrina is to attend the Academy of Unseen Arts but didn't specify how often. I assumed she would have to transfer there full time. Is she only going to attend on weekends? Every weekend? How is she going to explain that to her friends? Is she going to have to come up with a different story every weekend? 

I also don't understand Miss Wardwell's role in all of this. According to her, she's been tasked by The Dark Lord to  . . . what? Spy on Sabrina and make sure she turns to the dark side? Isn't that also what Father Blackwood is doing? For that matter, isn't that also what Zelda wants? I don't get why they're all at loggerheads if they all have the same goal. Nor do I understand why Father Blackwood wants the Mean Girls to torture Sabrina. That's not exactly going to win her over. Is he actually working against the Dark Lord?

[rainsmom]

5 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

No, they are definitely sisters. After Zelda killed Hilda and buried her she told her "I am your older sister and it is my right to kill you as many times as I please." Or, words to that affect.

I don't understand how this whole school thing is supposed to work. The judge stipulated last episode that Sabrina is to attend the Academy of Unseen Arts but didn't specify how often. I assumed she would have to transfer there full time. Is she only going to attend on weekends? Every weekend? How is she going to explain that to her friends? Is she going to have to come up with a different story every weekend? 

I also don't understand Miss Wardwell's role in all of this. According to her, she's been tasked by The Dark Lord to  . . . what? Spy on Sabrina and make sure she turns to the dark side? Isn't that also what Father Blackwood is doing? For that matter, isn't that also what Zelda wants? I don't get why they're all at loggerheads if they all have the same goal. Nor do I understand why Father Blackwood wants the Mean Girls to torture Sabrina. That's not exactly going to win her over. Is he actually working against the Dark Lord?

Just speculating, but I think he HAS to try to get Sabrina into the Church of the Night, because that's what the Dark Lord wants, but at the same time he's intimidated by her because of her pedigree -- so he wouldn't be terribly upset if the Mean Girls offed her and got her out of his hair.

[millennium]

Ugh, that was tedious with a capital T.   I thought it would never end.   Doesn't seem wise of the show to suddenly discard the high school world it has spent three episodes building.

The mysterious new boy, Nick Scratch, is dreadfully boring.   And what kind of so-called witch doesn't recognize that "Nick" and "Old Scratch" are monikers of the Devil?

The show doesn't seem to know what to do with Miss Wardwell.

I don't care about Harvey or Suzie or the other girl at all.

Edited November 2, 2018 by millennium

[xander874]

Yeah I am totally confused on the school thing. I thought Sabrina would transfer there full time but still live at home and hang out with friends. So, I don't see how she can do both and how she can get a witches education only on the weekends. They needed to explain that better.

[rainsmom]

In the first episode Sabrina was super happy that she had picked her new witch name -- a mixture of her father and mother. I would assume that every other witch also picked a witch name and THOSE are what we get at Witch School.

I doubt Nick was actually named Nick Scratch at birth. He's just honoring the Dark Lord.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

1 hour ago, rainsmom said:

I doubt Nick was actually named Nick Scratch at birth. He's just honoring the Dark Lord.

Praise Satan! (I laugh every time Zelda, Faustus, or one of the other characters says that)

[AnimeMania]

The witches seem to be able to appear anywhere instantly, so I don't see why Sabina couldn't spend plenty of time with her friends as long that wasn't forbidden.

[tennisgurl]

I thought there was something weird about the little kid, but I didnt guess he was a ghost kid who died in some kind of magic hazing (as well as bunch of other ghost kids) so kudos for surprising me on that one. 

Not a bad episode, but it felt weirdly After School Special like. I half expected one of the actors to show up at the end to do a PSA about bullying, and give us a number to call! I did like seeing Dark Hogwarts, even if I am confused as to how Sabrina's schooling is going to go. She had to stay the night a few times, and now she gets to be a commuter student? Is she going to this school, AND her old school? Because, even beyond witchcraft, thats a crap ton of homework!

Nick Scratch huh? Either the kid is some kind of very unsubtle Satan trying to get in good with Sabrina, or magic families are just SUPER obvious when it comes to giving their kids magic sounding names. Does he have a brother named Merlin Von Lucifer? 

It was nice to see a bit of a warmer side of Zelda, or at least a side that loves her family, and hates the idea of children dying because of stupid mean girl crap, and the astral projection with Ambrose was certainly interesting. Although, does this other guy not know what he is? Or does he just not want to mention him being on house arrest? Because I was pretty sure the guy knew what was up. 

[Lady Calypso]

It was really nice to see Zelda humanized here. She's been ruthless, to put it in Hilda's terms, for the last four episodes, to the point where I was considering her to be a villain. So having her show some real positive human emotion was good to see.  Who knew that it would be brought out by the revelation that the harrowings were killing children?

Quintin was adorable. I thought he looked like they were dressing him from an older time, but I dismissed it since this show, much like Riverdale, plays on the concept of time and incorporates a lot of different time periods into the show. 

The Academy stuff was alright. Like most of you, I also was surprised that it does seem like Sabrina is only attending the Academy on the weekends. I'm not sure why the Dark Lord would be pleased with Sabrina getting the best of both worlds, even with the events of the trial last episode. I assumed she'd be forced to attend the Academy full time but perhaps being allowed to visit her friends and family on the weekends. Maybe this is just a transitional period? 

The Mean Witches weren't fun to watch. I've seen caricatures like them play out a thousand times on TV and in movies. Been there, done that, next? Also, Nick the Bad Boy vying for Sabrina's love against Harvey the Good Boy? Also been there, done that so that stuff better have a more interesting dynamic. 

The Harvey/Roz/Susie stuff isn't particularly interesting. 

Ambrose' romance with Luke is well done, although I'm also unsure why Ambrose isn't comfortable telling Luke "Hey, I'm on house arrest because of my actions and we'll need to go on dates at my house." He's clearly in on the magical stuff, seeing as he's a warlock, and he obviously saw Ambrose disappear in the coffee shop.

[Lillith]

I'm curious if anyone else recognized the song the Academy choir was singing? It was sung by the girls in the Manson Family at their trial. I'm fairly sure it was a Charles Manson composition. I remember it from a documentary because they played the girls singing it several times throughout and it stuck in my brain. 

I'm really ambivalent about the show overall. I'm interested enough to keep watching but I'm not bowled over even though I am a fan of much of the cast in other things. 

[HunterHunted]

7 hours ago, Lillith said:

I'm curious if anyone else recognized the song the Academy choir was singing? It was sung by the girls in the Manson Family at their trial. I'm fairly sure it was a Charles Manson composition. I remember it from a documentary because they played the girls singing it several times throughout and it stuck in my brain. 

It was.

https://www.indiewire.com/2018/11/chilling-adventures-of-sabrina-references-easter-eggs-horror-witch-suspiria-1202017636/

[Catfi9ht]

Full Disclosure: I started watching this show with very low expectations. I don't like Riverdale (despise, really) and I didn't like the original Sabrina, but the look of this show intrigued me so I decided to start watching it over Thanksgiving weekend.

It looks like I'm in the minority; I think this was the best episode yet. It had a couple good plot devices that are typical of supernatural-esque shows. (<- supernatural the genre, not the show).

1. the hero solved a supernatural mystery (helping the ghost children)
2. the hero used the mystery solution to solve one of her own problems (using the ghost children to prevent her and other future harrowings)

There are a few good things that I think are better than Riverdale.

1. the teenagers act like teenagers
2. the supporting adult characters are likable
3. the supporting adult characters try to parent the teens

There are still alot of things that need to be explained and better written.

1. sabrina's school schedule (as others have pointed out above)
2. faustus's role: I thought he was supposed to get her to sign the book or has he completely given up and now he just wants to make her miserable?
3. the overall length of the show feels really long and can drag alot at times
4. ms. wardwell's role: what is she supposed to be doing exactly?
5. sabrina's friends are really uninteresting.
6. i hope the mean girls plotline is finally put to rest. girls bullying other girls is a terrible tv trope that i hope dies very soon.

I hope the show uses this episode to find its footing and build upon the ideas it started this episode. If it ties up the loose ends and explains some of the open ended questions, I think it can be an interesting and unique show. However, I'm not getting my hopes up because I don't like the showrunner, but I hope I'm proven wrong and am pleasantly surprised.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

On 11/24/2018 at 2:25 PM, Catfi9ht said:

There are still alot of things that need to be explained and better written.

1. sabrina's school schedule

This FINALLY gets address in S1.E10. There are no plot spoilers but I'm putting it under the spoiler tag since it's from a future episode:

Spoiler

 

Quote

Zelda: Today you'll go to school and you'll talk to your friends and you'll sit in class and answer questions. And then you'll go to the Academy. Then you'll come home and we'll eat supper together. And then you'll go to bed.

It still doesn't address Sabrina being at school all weekend (hence the "selling honey with Aunt Zelda" excuse to Harvey) but it's a partial answer.

[paulvdb]

3 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

This FINALLY gets address in S1.E10. There are no plot spoilers but I'm putting it under the spoiler tag since it's from a future episode:

  Hide contents

 

It still doesn't address Sabrina being at school all weekend (hence the "selling honey with Aunt Zelda" excuse to Harvey) but it's a partial answer.

Spoiler

I thought it was mentioned that the weekend was some sort of orientation, so just a one time thing. But it's been a while since I watched so I may be remembering it wrong.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

6 minutes ago, paulvdb said:

  Hide contents

I thought it was mentioned that the weekend was some sort of orientation, so just a one time thing. But it's been a while since I watched so I may be remembering it wrong.

I went back and checked. When Sabrina asked why she had to be at the academy for three whole nights, Ambrose said it was her induction (and that was it, no further explanation as to why this required her to sleep at the academy for three nights in a row - but I guess the mean girls couldn't do their overnight harrowing quests without having her sleep over).

I'm still confused as to why Quentin and the younger children were killed during the harrowing since they're so much younger than Sabrina. When I initially watched this episode, I assumed that everyone signs the book when they turn 16 and then start attending the academy but that can't be true if kids as young as Quentin were killed while they were being hazed there. I guess that means there are younger kids who attend the school before they turn 16? Nick said he tried to solve the Acheron Configuration for three years so either he's 19 or he started attending the academy before he was 16. These nitpicky details could easily be solved with a one line explanation, show!

[Catfi9ht]

8 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

This FINALLY gets address in S1.E10. There are no plot spoilers but I'm putting it under the spoiler tag since it's from a future episode:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

It still doesn't address Sabrina being at school all weekend (hence the "selling honey with Aunt Zelda" excuse to Harvey) but it's a partial answer.

Thanks for pointing this out. I missed it completely as a throw-away comment while watching the episode.

[Rockstar99435]

On 11/26/2018 at 1:31 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I'm still confused as to why Quentin and the younger children were killed during the harrowing since they're so much younger than Sabrina. When I initially watched this episode, I assumed that everyone signs the book when they turn 16 and then start attending the academy but that can't be true if kids as young as Quentin were killed while they were being hazed there. I guess that means there are younger kids who attend the school before they turn 16? Nick said he tried to solve the Acheron Configuration for three years so either he's 19 or he started attending the academy before he was 16. These nitpicky details could easily be solved with a one line explanation, show!

It could be that back in the day, younger kids were admitted to the school but after so many died, they raised the age of entrance to 16 and then the deaths stopped. Zelda seemed genuinely surprised that witches died from the harrowing, even though she participated in it. 

As for Nick and the 3 orphan sisters, maybe if you're a witch and you don't have parents (or your parents are off doing witch stuff) you go to the academy early.