- Network: Netflix
- Series Premiere Date: Oct 26, 2018
- Summary: Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka) juggles life as a sophomore at Baxter High and as a witch with her Aunts Hilda (Lucy Davis) and Zelda (Miranda Otto) in this darker coming-of-age series based on the comic book series of the same name.
- Genre(s): Drama
- Season 1 premiere date: Oct 26, 2018
- Episode Length: 60
- More Details and Credits »
Score distribution:
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Positive: 12 out of 15
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Mixed: 3 out of 15
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Negative: 0 out of 15
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There are a lot of surprising things about Sabrina, the fall’s first truly binge-worthy new show. It’s a delight and an obsession, and the scariest thing about it is just how good it is.
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The ominous setting plays into the high stakes facing Sabrina and her friends, while the efficient scripts and lavish production design build an immersive, exciting space to explore them. To say it’s the best “Sabrina” yet is a bit reductive, but it’s certainly a new series worth screaming about.
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Aguirre-Sacasa applies a light touch all around, building up the bigger themes without sacrificing character-driven moments--and without giving into the excessive twists that threw Riverdale off course in its sophomore season.
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The star is Kiernan Shipka, Sally from “Mad Men,” and she brings an appealingly sincere touch as she mixes phrases such as “dark baptism” into her teen lexicon. Her aunts, played by Miranda Otto and Lucy Davis, are kooky excellence. The show, “Riverdale”-adjacent, also has a great retro look with vestiges of foggy, pulpy horror.
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The ingredients aren't always in proper proportion, yet enough of the magic works in this series to keep you under its spell, episode after episode. The acting styles can be all over the place as well, and still, due to the strong cast, it doesn't undo the spell.
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After five episodes of foundation-laying that could, if I'm being generous, have been dispatched in two, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina finally kicks into gear. There's a narrative momentum to the season's end that has me looking forward to a much more fully realized, and already ordered, second season.
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A stylish if juvenile supernatural thriller. I was hoping for more whimsy and wonder--and frankly chills--amid the hocus-pocus, not to mention a bit less mythological mumbo-jumbo. But by the midpoint of the 10-epsiode season, the show finds its stride. [15-28 Oct 2018, p.9]
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