Sabrina The Teenage Witch in an Endless World
Episode 7 of Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina Season 4 starts with Morningstar entering the other world and greeted by the alternate versions of Hilda and Zelda. Only, it looks like she is in a tv show; canned laughter is included and Faustus is the director. Her aunts explain that they live on the sets and tell her there is one rule: “Always come to work prepared.” If they don’t, they get a strike and after three, end up in the green room. Morningstar explains how she ended up there but the aunties are very confused. Unfortunately, she soon realizes that her witchcraft doesn’t work in that universe either. She decides to explore but soon sees that she is not able to leave the set and everything around her is just a prop. The next morning, Melvin wakes Morningstar and tells her she is needed on set. As she dons her insect costume, she sees that her original aunts are stand-ins. As soon as they start shooting, Morningstar gets confused with her lines when Salem starts talking. She then gets her first strike as they tell her he is the star of the show. Afterwards, Morningstar goes back to her room and wonders what is happening. She tries to remember what the terrors are and is surprised when she finds Salem in her room. She asks for his help in finding her mirror and to learn more about the terrors. In the next scene they shoot, Morningstar gets another strike when Harvey kisses her. She is surprised that they are dating as they are not in the other world. They all correct her and as they get back to filming, the kiss resumes. Harvey then asks her to come over to her house and she accepts. Back in her room, Morningstar confides to Hilda about her conflicting feelings and reveals she is married with Caliban from hell. Hilda thinks she is talking about another show and reassures her that this one is amazing and the longest running ever. She explains that the show is the only thing that exists for her and not to fight it. Morningstar and Harvey have dinner together and share cans of tuna. She notices his drawings of the terrors and asks him about it. He is not sure what they are then suggest that they rehearse for the next scene. As they do, Morningstar realizes that it all feels very familiar as she remembers that this is a conversation they had the night before her 16th birthday. She then asks him to see previous episodes and he shows her the pilot. As she watches, she realizes again that it happened for real in the other cosmos. She soon becomes upset and decides to call it a night. Determined to find out the truth, Morningstar heads into the green room and finds Ambrose. He tells her that he is making cat food using dead bodies for the consumption of an eldritch terror, the Endless. She quickly realizes that Salem is the Endless as cats have nine lives and are immortal. Everyone is his play thing and he keeps them there to stop him from being bored. The next morning, Morningstar wakes up and it is the same day again. Her scene this time is with Roz who reveals that she is going blind. As it turns out, she is also going blind in real life as it is what the writer has decided. Morningstar speaks to her stand-in aunties who mention that they used to play her Aunts but were quickly replaced. Morningstar is relieved to see Caliban working on set and in charge of construction. She reveals that in another dimension, they are married which makes him happy. He tells her he is working on an appliance for the next episode: a vacuum which she realizes is the void. She tries getting him to stop but he is not allowed to. She then rushes over to Harvey and asks him for tomorrow’s script pages. After grabbing the pages from Mrs Wardwell’s house, Morningstar gathers everyone to tell them about the void and what is going to happen the next day. The aunties have trouble believing her as they know that the end of each season of a show always brings a big shocking twist. The stand-in aunties however are not too sure and asks Morningstar to take them with her if she manages to leave through the magic mirror. As a new day begins, Morningstar notices that her calendar now stops on the 15th. On set, Sabrina learns that Harvey has been sent to the green room and Nick is now replacing him. She confronts Faustus about the new script, the void and how she doesn’t agree with how it is written. He tells her only the head writer, Salem, can change the script. Morningstar rushes over to the high school to confront Salem about the writing of the latest episode. She warns him that the void will consume everything, including the Endless. Salem replies that he knows that the Endless and the Void have always coexisted together and they are opposites – or equals in some respect. Morningstar insists that the void will consume the cosmos and shows him that the script ends after the void arrives. Back on stage, Morningstar purposely says the wrong lines but instead of being banished to the green room, Salem agrees with what Morningstar wants to do. The aunties get up and tells them to stay put until the void arrives, which makes Sabrina realize that they are servants of the void. Morningstar and Salem run away with her Aunts, who now look disfigured. Thankfully, Salem changes the writing and he slows them down. She arrives in the green room and finds Caliban, Harvey, Ambrose and the stand-in aunties have been killed. Sabrina and Salem carry on running as the void approaches, growling. They arrive to the mirror and jump in just as the episode ends.
The Episode Review
The penultimate of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is so far the strongest one in the series, bringing us a cleverly written chapter full of twists and tense moments. The original aunts from Sabrina The Teenage Witch are back again for a full episode this time and are a great addition to the series. Both kept some of the characteristics of their original characters before turning evil at the end. Talking Salem – everyone’s favourite – was also present but it was a shame Nick Bakay didn’t reprise his role to voice the cat. It is clear that this episode serves as a way to set the scene for the finale with the Void being the final terror; the worst of them all. With one episode left, the series will have a tough job rounding everyone’s stories out as it’s spent very little time with many of its secondary characters. It runs the risk of feeling rushed as the season has concentrated so far on giving us monsters of the week instead. The fourth part of the series has been quite enjoyable so far but I can’t help feeling that the writers probably had more in-store had they been given another season. For now though, this penultimate chapter is worth watching for fans of the show and the original one too, thanks to the nostalgia and its clever story.
