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alibi_shopI wanted to see this show because Kiernan Shipka is in it; more about that later. The basic setup comes from the recent Archie Comics thing, which was a scarier version of the long-running Sabrina the Teenage Witch and its many spin-offs (I haven't read or seen any of them), so this isn't exactly a case of trying to come up with a new take on a supernatural youth series.
Still, there are a few things that set it apart from Buffy, Charmed, etc. The main one is that the secret world the title character belongs to is not very nice at all: these witches may have been misunderstood and persecuted, but they also kill people without thinking twice, and they literally worship the devil in the old-school sense where there's a horned dude from hell that they sign away their souls to. Having Sabrina be a basically good person who still identifies with that culture is an interesting idea that the show runs with in a few different ways, inconsistently. Sometimes it's a metaphor for arbitrary religious strictures that people grow up with, that they can either reject or redefine for themselves; there's a lot of obvious parody of Catholicism, and most of the witches are very conventional people, even when the convention is cannibalism. Sometimes it's about corrupt authority; there's a slight suggestion that many of their traditions were made up by people, i.e. maybe the devil doesn't even care. And sometimes it just seems like Sabrina is kidding herself and the best thing would be to move 1000 miles away and never see these people again.
The world-building and the intra-witch intrigue aren't too compelling to me; almost everyone is terrible, the rules they operate by are unclear, and I don't really care. But the core characters around Sabrina are a lot better: the two aunts she lives with, who have kind of a recurring Cain and Abel relationship (Lucy Davis as the nice aunt is probably my favorite part of the show), her two non-witch school friends (Jaz Sinclair and Lachlan Watson, playing the most Buffy-like roles but with more interesting personal issues), and Michelle Gomez being entertainingly menacing as a mysterious evil person (even though it's very annoying how the show withholds knowledge of what she's trying to do). Sabrina's boyfriend is a nothing character until pretty late in the series; the actor is okay but he's in a generic role of "doesn't know Sabrina's secret and has a mean dad" (although just the idea of having the main character in any teen show start out in a totally happy relationship is kind of novel and appealing).
The other distinctive thing about it is the look. It's dark, lush, really nicely photographed; I'm not sure why they went so heavy on anamorphic lenses, but all those blurred edges do at least tell you what show you're watching. The visual effects and the monsters are not good, but they're almost never any good on shows like this so it's kind of what you expect.
So, Kiernan Shipka as Sabrina. I like Shipka a lot, her time on Mad Men is some of the best work I've ever seen a child actor do, and I hope she gets lots of chances to do much better material than this. The way Sabrina is written is that she's smart, she loves her boyfriend, she respects her family but she's into questioning authority—and she has no personality besides those things, and no sense of humor. It's enjoyable just to watch Shipka say lines, she does bring strength and clarity to her incredibly boring crappy dialogue, but there isn't nearly enough of a character there to support a show where the main conflict is supposed to be whether Sabrina will decide to be good or kind of bad or what.
It has potential (the last episode is the best) and I'll check it out again if they renew it, but I sure hope they start giving their star more to work with.
Still, there are a few things that set it apart from Buffy, Charmed, etc. The main one is that the secret world the title character belongs to is not very nice at all: these witches may have been misunderstood and persecuted, but they also kill people without thinking twice, and they literally worship the devil in the old-school sense where there's a horned dude from hell that they sign away their souls to. Having Sabrina be a basically good person who still identifies with that culture is an interesting idea that the show runs with in a few different ways, inconsistently. Sometimes it's a metaphor for arbitrary religious strictures that people grow up with, that they can either reject or redefine for themselves; there's a lot of obvious parody of Catholicism, and most of the witches are very conventional people, even when the convention is cannibalism. Sometimes it's about corrupt authority; there's a slight suggestion that many of their traditions were made up by people, i.e. maybe the devil doesn't even care. And sometimes it just seems like Sabrina is kidding herself and the best thing would be to move 1000 miles away and never see these people again.
The world-building and the intra-witch intrigue aren't too compelling to me; almost everyone is terrible, the rules they operate by are unclear, and I don't really care. But the core characters around Sabrina are a lot better: the two aunts she lives with, who have kind of a recurring Cain and Abel relationship (Lucy Davis as the nice aunt is probably my favorite part of the show), her two non-witch school friends (Jaz Sinclair and Lachlan Watson, playing the most Buffy-like roles but with more interesting personal issues), and Michelle Gomez being entertainingly menacing as a mysterious evil person (even though it's very annoying how the show withholds knowledge of what she's trying to do). Sabrina's boyfriend is a nothing character until pretty late in the series; the actor is okay but he's in a generic role of "doesn't know Sabrina's secret and has a mean dad" (although just the idea of having the main character in any teen show start out in a totally happy relationship is kind of novel and appealing).
The other distinctive thing about it is the look. It's dark, lush, really nicely photographed; I'm not sure why they went so heavy on anamorphic lenses, but all those blurred edges do at least tell you what show you're watching. The visual effects and the monsters are not good, but they're almost never any good on shows like this so it's kind of what you expect.
So, Kiernan Shipka as Sabrina. I like Shipka a lot, her time on Mad Men is some of the best work I've ever seen a child actor do, and I hope she gets lots of chances to do much better material than this. The way Sabrina is written is that she's smart, she loves her boyfriend, she respects her family but she's into questioning authority—and she has no personality besides those things, and no sense of humor. It's enjoyable just to watch Shipka say lines, she does bring strength and clarity to her incredibly boring crappy dialogue, but there isn't nearly enough of a character there to support a show where the main conflict is supposed to be whether Sabrina will decide to be good or kind of bad or what.
It has potential (the last episode is the best) and I'll check it out again if they renew it, but I sure hope they start giving their star more to work with.
