December/January TV Finales - Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Fourth & Final Part)

Oh boy, a once great Netflix title fizzles out with its Fourth & Final Part, the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is now done and dusted.

Based on the Archie comic book series of the same name, originally to air on The CW, the series was intended to be a companion series to Riverdale; however, the project was moved to Netflix and a darker tone was reflected in the first two parts. Filming (like a lot of other CW shows) took place in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The series is yet another Berlanti Productions as Greg Berlanti serves as executive producers, alongside Sarah Schechter, Jon Goldwater, and Lee Toland Krieger.

The show (like the previous Sabrina the Teenage Witch) is centered on the Archie Comics character Sabrina Spellman, portrayed by Kiernan Shipka. The show has a strong and beautiful cast made up of Ross Lynch, Lucy Davis, Chance Perdomo, Michelle Gomez, Jaz Sinclair, Tati Gabrielle, Adeline Rudolph, Lachlan Watson, Gavin Leatherwood, Richard Coyle, and Miranda Otto. 

The last eight episodes landed on Netflix on December 31, 2020. Previously in July, Netflix announced Part IV would be the last.

Both Parts III and IV just happened to landed around holidays in Australia. Part III around Australia Day and the IV on the New Years #StayHome year. Sadly for Sabrina, Cobra Kai launched the next day and Shonda series Bridgerton were grabbing all the headlines, also maybe viewers too.

I enjoyed the series for what it was, it was darker than Riverdale, less camp than the lesser discussed other spinoff Katy Keene however by Part IV it felt like it overstayed it's welcome. Sadly Riverdale still feels like that, yet The CW can't live without one of its only non superhero series.

Like Riverdale there were musical numbers, high school cliches and shirtless men, however sometimes the over arching plot of each season seemed to get lost. The Rotten Tomatoes scores went lower for Part IV but picked up in Part III following a Part II slip.

My favourite part of Part IV was when the OG aunties came to the show part of some multi universe storyline they were running with. Caroline Rhea as Hilda Spellman & Beth Broderick as Zelda Spellman had a bit more than a cameo but did play the aunties back when the OG show ran for 163 episodes. Yes 163!!!

What does the future bring for the Archie comic spin offs? Now Katy Keene is dead and buried as a one and done series, Sabrina is done and dusted and Riverdale is about to enter its fifth season on January 20. This season is said to be shorter (like last season, although that was cut short by COVID) to 19 episodes. Still that is a heck of a lot of high school drama, after Archie himself IRL is 23 years old whilst Veronica Lodge is 26.

So back to Sabrina is it worth eight final episodes. Yes and no, Nick (Gavin Leatherwood) is a dreamboat. The show gets a little repetitive over time. As one door closes at Netflix I am sure others will open. Cobra Kai is on my list to tell you about real soon, Season Three, WOW!