S02.E03: Chapter Fourteen: Lupercalia

[Lady Calypso]

Quote

Love and lust sweep through Greendale as Harvey surprises Rozwith a sweet gift, and Sabrina explores a romantic ritual ... and her feelings for Nick.

 

[AnimeMania]

Ha ha, I wondered if they would pick up Hilda's story line in the post last episode, I guess I wasn't patient enough.

I was just about to ask if Roz was still supposed to go blind in this episode thread, but the pulled that one out in a buzzer beater.

There seems to be a lot of character development without a lot of story development.

[pootlus]

I loved Dorcas' dress in the dark maypole dance, but she raped Nick - or at least that's what it looked like it was heading towards.  Hope it gets addressed.

Glad that Hilda and Zelda are both getting some romance.

[emcmac87]

I love that Lupercalia is a real thing, including the blood on the forehead, then wipe off with wool dipped in milk, while laughing thing. 

[pootlus]

I forgot to mention Alexis Denisof! At least we know what happened to Wesley when he died.  I'm guessing the fact that his character is called Adam is no coincidence?

[AngelKitty]

53 minutes ago, pootlus said:

I forgot to mention Alexis Denisof!

Thank you. I kept thinking I knew who that was but hadn't looked him up yet. He's aged quite well. I hope it's fun to see what's up with him and that statue.

I want this show to be fun but right now it's kind of silly. I mean really, running around half-naked in the cold woods?

And Nick's familiar is a werewolf that stays a wolf?

I'm happy Hilda gets a beau, even if he is possessed by an incubus. Of course, Zelda would have hints on how to be with one.

[Miss Scarlet]

What's with the Jewish imagery in this show? Last episode there were stained glass Stars of David behind Miss Wardwell when she watched the witch play and then in this episode Ambrose blows what's basically a shofar, which is also used in Jewish traditions. I'm not into using this imagery for the "evil" witch world. Have there been any crosses on the show and I've just missed them? 

Edited April 7, 2019 by Miss Scarlet

[paulvdb]

5 hours ago, Miss Scarlet said:

Have there been any crosses on the show and I've just missed them? 

I guess I haven't paid enough attention to notice it, but Adam and Wardwell talked about the things he fixed around the house. One of the things he mentioned was a cross that was upside down.

[lorbeer]

8 hours ago, Miss Scarlet said:

Have there been any crosses on the show and I've just missed them? 

2 hours ago, paulvdb said:

I guess I haven't paid enough attention to notice it, but Adam and Wardwell talked about the things he fixed around the house. One of the things he mentioned was a cross that was upside down.

Also baby Judas has a cross upside down in his basinnet.

[Affogato]

17 hours ago, Miss Scarlet said:

What's with the Jewish imagery in this show? Last episode there were stained glass Stars of David behind Miss Wardwell when she watched the witch play and then in this episode Ambrose blows what's basically a shofar, which is also used in Jewish traditions. I'm not into using this imagery for the "evil" witch world. Have there been any crosses on the show and I've just missed them? 

Lilith is a Jewish mythological figure as are all the demons, etc, from which christanity builds its supernatural world (with the odd sprinkling of babylonian/apinch of greek/etc). It makes sense and would indicate that, perhaps like christianity, both parallel churches are a corruption of the truth that derives from similar roots. 

I had a flash of Denisof looking like James Comey which was oddly disturbing, but his face was in shadow. 

[rubinia]

You know what music kids of today love to dance to? Hall & Oates.

Also, Ros explained her sight as “premonitions where I don’t just see stuff that happened, but stuff that hasn’t happened yet.” Uh, yeah, that’s what a PREmonition is, lol.

[TrininisaScorp]

6 hours ago, rubinia said:

You know what music kids of today love to dance to? Hall & Oates.

There is some crazy anachronistic stuff on this show.  The jamming out to Hall & Oates got me most of all. LOL.

Enjoyed all the Lupercalia parts on the show. The dance of choosing was very prettily done.  

Color me surprised at Ambrose and Prudence.  Man, that's a lot of beauty. 

[SourK]

The detail that I liked most about this episode is that Roz already lost her virginity and has thoughts to share about it. Often, in these kinds of shows, the lead character is the first person to do everything important, so it's nice to see them break that pattern. And it's nice to see two people actually be friends.

On 4/8/2019 at 1:05 AM, TrininisaScorp said:

Enjoyed all the Lupercalia parts on the show. The dance of choosing was very prettily done. 

It was very pretty, but it seems like everyone arranged things to end up with the partners they already had and/or wanted so... why not just do that? Why not let it be a thing where you can bring a date, instead of pretending to pick one at random?

[tennisgurl]

I so want to use "lets get the heaven out of here" sometime, and see if anyone gets the reference. 

We get to pick up two plots from the last round of episodes, both Roz losing her sight, and Hilda and her boyfriend! Glad that he is "just" possessed by a sex demon, and he really does like Hilda. They're cute together, and Hilda likes him so much. And she looked HOT when she went to go and get her groove back!

The Lupercalia stuff was fun, and their May Pole style dance was really pretty and well choreographed. Everyone looked especially beautiful this week as well. Ambrose and Prudence? That is a whole lot of pretty.

[Zuleikha]

Given the orgy scene last season and general attempt at LGBTQ+ inclusivity, I was surprised by how heteronormative the Lupercalia ritual was. What if Luke had been there? Would he and Ambrose have happily split up for respective witches? Are they all pan with no gay or lesbian witches/warlocks?

The Dorcas subplot didn't make sense. We know that Dorcas already had Nick. We also know the Wyrd Sisters have mind control as one of their powers. So why would Dorcas feel so strongly about having him when she already has had him and then, if she did feel so strongly, why didn't they just mind control him into letting her choose him?

I would really like Theo to have a personality beyond trans. The haircut scene was a little weird since it was presented like a big transformation but Theo's hair already read as a male haircut.

[AnimeMania]

2 hours ago, Zuleikha said:

The Dorcas subplot didn't make sense. We know that Dorcas already had Nick.

I thought the show implied that the other 2 Wyrd Sisters had slept with Nick, and this time it would be  Dorcas' turn.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

A+ for Erasure at the beginning of the episode!

I found it hilarious that Hilda couldn't even say the word SEX but she was sitting there reading a bodice ripper called "Desires of Fallen Angels" while they were having this discussion about Lupercalia.

Loved the may pole scene. It was filmed beautifully (although perhaps a few too many closeups). Dorcas is on my shit list though. It's one thing to all dibbies on someone. It's another to shove Sabrina to the floor because you think it's your turn to have a certain boy and then to take a flying leap at him in the woods.

Wesley Wyndham-Pryce! I'm always confused when he has an American accent.

Ambrose's face when Sabrina came down the stairs in her red dress totally cracked me up.

I know that retro is in and the show wanted some songs to reflect the episode's theme, but do today's high school kids really like songs like Hungry Like the Wolf and Man Eater?

I thought it was going to turn out that Hilda's boyfriend was a werewolf, so an incubus is an interesting twist. Love that Zelda already knows how to deal with one.

Ha, OF COURSE Roz had sex for the first time at Bible camp! I liked most of her talk with Sabrina, with the exception of the part where she said that she didn't know what she was doing and then miraculously "my body just sort of took over and knew what to do."

Nick would be in big trouble in my book. Sabrina would have understood if he had just been honest and said that he couldn't bring himself to kill Amalia. Instead, he lied about killing her. It's not about being weak, as he thought. It was about being honest.

On 4/7/2019 at 3:18 PM, rubinia said:

Ros explained her sight as “premonitions where I don’t just see stuff that happened, but stuff that hasn’t happened yet.” Uh, yeah, that’s what a PREmonition is, lol.

Ha, I KNOW! When she said that I was like yeah, when you see stuff that already happened, that's called a memory.

[Zuleikha]

I thought the show implied that the other 2 Wyrd Sisters had slept with Nick, and this time it would be  Dorcas' turn.

When Nick was first introduced as a character, he said that he dated all of the Wyrd Sisters (or maybe it was that he was formally dating Prudence but was sexually involved with all three of them--I forget the wording exactly, but it was explicit). Also, I'm pretty sure Dorcas was present in the witch orgy scene.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

14 hours ago, Zuleikha said:

When Nick was first introduced as a character, he said that he dated all of the Wyrd Sisters (or maybe it was that he was formally dating Prudence but was sexually involved with all three of them--I forget the wording exactly, but it was explicit). Also, I'm pretty sure Dorcas was present in the witch orgy scene.

From S1.E4:

Quote

Nick: I heard you got into a fight with Prudence. 
Sabrina: I did.
Nick: I'll talk to her.
Sabrina: Please don't. That will only make her hate me more. So, did you guys date?
Nick: For a short period of time, yeah. Yeah, I was involved with the sisters.
Sabrina: All three of them? All at once? What happened? 
Nick: Their gifts include mind control. I wasn't sure what was real and what was suggestion.

In this episode, Dorcas said it was her turn to have Nick for Lupercalia (not that she'd never slept with him before):

Quote

Dorcas: Two years ago, Prudence was paired with Nick for Lupercalia. Last year, Agatha was. This year, it's my turn.

[pootlus]

It all sounds very rapey.  Poor Nick.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

22 minutes ago, pootlus said:

It all sounds very rapey.  Poor Nick.

As was the way Dorcas tackled him at the hunt and said he couldn't go find Sabrina until she'd had her turn with him. Gross.

[Zuleikha]

In this episode, Dorcas said it was her turn to have Nick for Lupercalia (not that she'd never slept with him before)

Yeah, I do get that there's a distinction, but it seems weird for her to care so much when she'd already slept with him multiple times. And even if she cared about Lupercalia specifically because of Wyrd Sisters reasons, the tackling part still doesn't work, IMHO. That's not her getting to have him for the Lupercalia ritual, so why both? And why not just work with her sisters to mind control, as already established they can? It would have made much more sense for them to have used mind control at the original May Pole dance than for Dorcas to physically tackle Sabrina.

If Dorcas were actually developed as a character and if the multiple consent violations that happen over and over in the witch world were developed thematically, there could be something interesting. As it is, it feels like poorly thought out, lazy writing to me.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I forgot to mention Alexis Denisof! At least we know what happened to Wesley when he died. 

I spent the whole episode trying to decide if that was him, then failed to watch the closing credits. Thanks.

Can't Hilda fix an Incubus possession? Surely that's something witches can do.

[theatremouse]

On 4/7/2019 at 10:05 PM, TrininisaScorp said:

There is some crazy anachronistic stuff on this show.

I think the show is intentionally ambiguous about exactly when it takes place, or rather it takes place in a generic "current" that has the style of a few different past decades. Didn't they go out of their way to not name the year on several occasions? So I don't know that it really can have anachronisms since it's not tied to a clear specific real timeframe.

[galaxychaser]

Umm did Nick sleep with the wolf on the regular ? 
 

Theo/Susie has no point in the show. At all. 
 

I feel like every show on Netflix has gay/trans characters whether they are needed or not. I don’t know anyone trans. 
 

 

[cleo]

I agree the Theo plot seems completely unrelated and like a weird after school special in the middle of the series. I feel bad saying that bc there is not a lot of positive trans representation in media but this just feels like poor storytelling.

Although I generally feel like the show has sloppy and kind of poor writing over all so in that sense it fits right in.

The scene with Nick and the wolf and Sabrina was quite a WTF scene.

Edited June 19, 2021 by cleo