Photo: Netflix
Sabrina Spellman is a full-blown witch in a new season of CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA, having signed her name in the Book of the Book of the Beast at the end of the first season. During a visit to the set in Vancouver, we spoke with Kiernan Shipka (Sabrina), Miranda Otto (Zelda), Chance Perdomo (Ambrose), Ross Lynch (Harvey), Richard Coyle (Father Blackwood), Adeline Rudolph (Agatha), Jaz Sinclair (Roz), Lachlan Watson (Susie/Theo), Gavin Leatherwood (Nick) about what’s to come in part 2.
The Theme of Part 2. If season 1 was all about Sabrina coming to terms with her witchy side, then what is the main arc of part 2? Various castmembers reiterated that the new episodes are about “Sabrina now learning how to control all that new power that she’s gotten, because in season 1 she still had a lot of power and she was messing with things, but it kind of never went her way. It was always going the Devil’s way, whether she knew it or not. So it’s a little bit more of that. She has so much more power now and she’s figuring out how to use it well,” Lynch said. When it comes to magic, Shipka said that “I think that everything has a price is something that you’re always going to hear in this show. You’re always going to hear that everything has a price and that when you use magic, other things happen. Sabrina is becoming more aware of that, and her using her powers knowing that becomes more apparent. But sometimes she still goes too far and sometimes she feels like she could have done something. I think it’s about her just finding her own power, living her own destiny, and being more in control of her powers in the second season, just because she’s gaining confidence and strength as she gets older.”
Sabrina Embraces Her Dark Side and Rebels Against the Church of Night. “I think she’s embracing [her dark side], personally. I think that her duality is strong. I think there’s a strong part of her that’s mortal. But I do think there’s that dark side in her and playing with that has been super fun. I think she’s really excited about it right now. She’s pumped on it,” Shipka said when asked whether Sabrina is embracing everything that comes from signing her name in the Book of the Beast. Keep an eye out for how her outward appearance also speaks to this embracing of her dark side. “Sabrina’s definitely got a different style this season as she embraces the dark side. She’s definitely embracing that in her style as well. She’s going for a lot of darker colors and edgier looks, edgier makeup. One of the main differences between Sabrina is what she wears and how she presents herself in the second season.” As for her decision to sign the Book, Shipka hints that “her signing the book was definitely strategic. It definitely wasn’t surrendering, by any means. If anything, I think it was taking a step forward in her agenda. It was just what needed to be done. Sabrina definitely doesn’t agree with the antics of the Church of Night and fights strongly to change that. I think that’s pretty much always on her mind, to a certain extent.”
Father Blackwood. Sabrina signing the book means that Blackwood will have to “deal with Sabrina in his day-to-day life whereas before it was she was kind of at a distance. Now he’s responsible for her pastoral care as the headmaster of the academy. So she’s much more closer into his orbit than before,” Coyle said. And as for whether he sees her as a genuine threat to him, Coyle admitted “Yeah, she definitely is. His personal feelings aside, he can recognize that there’s something about her that is not ordinary That the Dark Lord has a major interest in her in a way that he would not have an interest in a regular standard the teenage witch.” As for how Blackwood continues to adjust to be a father, Coyle said that “I think it’s kind of like holding a mirror up to Blackwood in terms of his ego and his vanity.” And as one of the few people who truly knows Ms. Wardwell, Coyle hinted that she and Blackwood “don’t see eye-to-eye in the way that they carry the Dark Lord’s message. They have very different personal agendas, which keep them apart and keep them at loggerheads, so it’s not like they’re working [together]. They’re on the same team in a way, but they’re not working together. They’re working at odds to one another.”
Beyond the Church of Night. The witchy world is going to open up in part 2. Coyle hinted that “you get to see further at the wider world and that it’s not just the Church of Night. The Church of Night is a coven and then there are a whole bunch of churches of darkness and so there’s a power, power hierarchy.”
The Kinkle Family and the Witch Hunters. While Harvey had a tumultuous relationship with his father in the first season, Lynch said that the eggnog Sabrina gave to Harvey’s father will ensure that the father-son relationship continues to improve in part 2. And expect to see Harvey take a trip to Sabrina’s witchy acadamy, and we’re also going to see him witness a few more magical acts. “I think he does notice the brilliance of the magic, although he doesn’t like it, still,” Lynch admitted. We also learned that Harvey’s family were witch hunters in the first season, but how will that play into part 2? According to Lynch, Harvey’s personal connection “hasn’t come in a lot, as far as the Kinkle family is concerned, but witch hunters do play a part in the second season, in a cool way.” Coyle also hinted that the witch hunters are “a major threat because they threaten the whole of the structure of the coven but also they’re hell bent on destruction [and] destroying the whole witch side of that community.”
The Spellman Family. Zelda’s “journey in the second season is very much about attaining power. Like try to realize some of her ambitions. She’s attracted to power like a moth to a flame really,” Otto says. And this, of course, means that she’ll grow closer to Father Blackwood. Meanwhle, Perdomo hinted that “Ambrose’s past definitely comes to haunt him, to the point where he must do something about it. I really don’t want to give that away, because it has repercussions, not just the season coming, but seasons following that. If Ambrose’s past is a cauldron, it’s beginning to bubble.” And as for the relationshpi between the cousins, Perdomo said that “Their relationship is unchanged, but the dynamic must change, because Ambrose is out [of the house], and Sabrina herself has new, heightened powers and abilities. She is more integrated into her witching society, as is Ambrose. So it’s more of a question of ‘Who are we as family, and who are we as family in this new world?’ Because she’s going completely [in] one direction, while I’m going in another direction. Ambrose is, by association, with Father Blackwood, right? And Sabrina constantly opposes that. But in truth, Ambrose’s loyalty lies with Sabrina and lies with [their] family. So yeah. The dynamic changes, but their loving relationship remains unchanged.”
The Weird Sisters and Sabrina. “I think it was a little bit a tease of [the Weird Sisters] kind of letting [Sabrina into our group in season 1], but then still, throughout [part 2], you will see us kind of going between helping her and then not helping her. And I think there is still, at the end of the day, that grudge against her for her love for mortals. So that theme still proceeds throughout [part 2]. She does join us in certain aspects, but is she really part of our crew? No. We’re still the three Weird Sisters that kind of stick together,” Rudolph said. Shipka also said that “I think that the Weird Sisters and Sabrina have always had a really complex relationship. That definitely doesn’t die in the second season. We definitely see a lot of them, but I don’t think that it’s smooth 24/7. It’s no Rosalind/Susie[/Sabrina] relationship. It’s definitely something a bit more complicated and rocky, which is interesting. But, we do see a lot of them.” And when asked specifically about Prudence and Sabrina, Shipka said that “I think that there’s always been a minor power struggle between Prudence and Sabrina to a certain extent. The way it plays out — I don’t want to spoil too much or give too much away — but they definitely have their moments where they support each other, and then there are moments where they feel like they’re really against each other. I think it’s just sort of a rocky ride for them.”
Sabrina’s Relationship With Her Mortal Friends. Sabrina, Roz and Susie were very close at the beginning of the first season, but a lot of the events that happened drove a wedge between the trio, even those Roz and Susie accepted her being a witchy. Sinclair said that “we pretty much just accept her because she’s our best friend and her actions haven’t led us to believe she’s anything but a good person. But then, in season 2, once I lose my vision, I start to think, like, ‘Well, if witches did this to me, then they can’t be good, which means you can’t be good, which means you might not be my friend.’ So Roz definitely starts to question Sabrina’s morality in the second season.” But Watson hinted that “We definitely band together to help Sabrina a lot more than the first season. I think in the first season it was a lot of Sabrina was banding together and helping us. And I think in part 2 we really get to return the favor. So that’s been really fun.”
Roz’s Journey With Her Powers. When asked how Roz will adjust to her powers in part 2, Sinclair explained that “I think, with Roz, it’s just not something that she ever considered. She didn’t grow up around witches, so supernatural abilities aren’t something that she ever considered. I don’t feel like it’s something she rejects, but it’s also not necessarily something that she welcomes, because she kind of just wants to be a kid. But I feel like Roz does a really good job of balancing being a normal kid and then also having these abilities and it’s kind of more casual in the second season when I talk about the Cunning. It’s just like, ‘I just kind of know sh*t sometimes that people didn’t tell me and I’ll just say it,’ which is really fun because it implies I’m getting information all the time and you just don’t know what I know and what I don’t know, which is really fun for me to play with.”
Susie’s Transition. As a non-binary actor, Watson will be taking their character on a journey in part 2 as Susie transisitions from a female (Susie) to a male (Theo). Watson says that this opportunity has been “kind of indescribable. It’s something that I never really thought would happen. It’s never something that I thought I would be able to do in my lifetime. And it’s always something that I wanted to do.” And much like Sabrina is trying to learn who she is with her powers in season 2, Theo is also going on a journey, Watson explains. “In season 2 it’s definitely a journey to understand that it’s not about the label, it’s not about who you are, it’s about the person inside. It’s whether or not you, in and of yourself, are still a good person — if you’re the same.” And how will Susie/Theo’s friends feel? Sinclair hinted that “Roz and Susie’s relationship is really solid in the second season, especially in the beginning with Susie and her transition to Theo. Harvey and Roz are really there because Sabrina is a lot more at the witch academy, so the friends are more focused in their each other’s relationships than with Sabrina, so — in those important moments, like with Roz’s blindness and Susie’s transition — it’s really the friends leaning on each other in a really lovely way, I think.”
Nick Scratch. Expect to learn more about Nick in part 2. According to Leatherwood, “We’ll definitely touch on like more of his background. It comes up in the middle of the second part. You hear who his familiar is and her story and their relationship. It’s really fun stuff actually.” Nick’s opinions about the Church of Night will also shift as Sabrina becomes more involved in his world. “I think his perspective of everything shifts when Sabrina comes into play. He sees how misogynistic and sort of regressive the whole witch community, or this particular witch academy has sort of been, and when Sabrina comes into that, he starts to see that things need to be shaken up a bit.”
Another Holiday. We saw the witchy version of Christmas in the holiday special episode and we’ll also get a chance to see another holiday in an upcoming episode — Valentine’s Day. Or “Lupercalia”, as the witches call it. Rudolph hinted that “It’s this beautiful episode where it’s a three-day process of finding your match. The female witches dance around the warlocks, and we do this beautiful dance and sit on a guy’s lap, and then, basically, we pick them.”
A new season of CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA premieres on Netflix on Friday, April 5.
