Follow the Red Brick Road
The third season of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is finally here and opens with a strong first episode, setting the scene for what’s to come for this new chapter. With some big changes and new challenges for Sabrina and the people around her, the show remains original and fresh as the first episode shows us a darker version of the Wizard of Oz. Episode 1 of Season 3 begins with Sabrina walking through a dark cavern while someone whispers “Welcome To Hell”. She suddenly finds Nick encased in rock and casts a spell to free him. As they manage to escape together, she hugs him but he turns into Satan; we see that this was all a dream. In the morning, Sabrina heads down for breakfast where the students from the academy have been staying at the Spellman’s for the past month after what happened with Blackwood. However, Zelda tells them it’s time to reopen the school and decides to be the new Director (or Directrix as she calls it). After talking to her aunts, Sabrina heads to the gates of hell and attempts to open them, which is something she’s been trying to do every day since Nick became trapped. Heading to school, Sabrina visits Dorian who may have a painting that could also be a portal to hell. He decides to let her use it in exchange for bringing back a Flower of Evil. Sabrina, with the help of Roz, Harvey and Theo, head to hell and go through the painting portal, landing in the Shores of Sorrow. They’re greeted by a man who tells them the way to Pandemonium and to follow the trail of blood. We then cut to New Orleans where Prudence and Ambrose have finally managed to track down Blackwood. Prudence demands to know where her brother and sister are and as she decides to stab him, they see that it was actually one of Blackwood’s judas boys with a glamour. Back in hell, the group reach the Field of Witness and see multiple bodies hanging on crosses like scarecrows, as birds pecks at their flesh. Suddenly, Theo recognises one of them as her uncle Jesse and rushes towards him. Sabrina puts a protection spell on him before going back on the red road while Lillith learns that Sabrina is in hell. Sabrina and the trio reach the Forest of Torment and split up to find the Flower of Evil. When Sabrina and Roz find it, a deranged Tin-man, who looks like Harvey’s brother, starts attacking him. This prompts Sabrina to rush over and shoot him. Back in New Orleans, Prudence decides to seek another type of magic – voodoo. They visit a woman named Mambo Marie in order to find Blackwood. As they perform blood magic, they learn that Blackwood is hiding in Scotland. As we cut back to hell, the group arrive in a hellish version of Baxter High and are faced by a ghoulish Principal Hawthorne, who traps them at their desks. In the academy, the council arrives and Hilda, using a glamour to make her look like Blackwood, does her best to keep the subterfuge. The council members explain that some other members have reported losses in power and virility and ask him if he has experienced anything like it. The Fake Blackwood suggests they pray to the Dark Lord. This meeting prompts Zelda to decide to tell the truth to her coven about Lilith and Satan. As Lillith hears the prayer, Sabrina and her friends arrive in the throne room. Sabrina sees Nick but Lillith stops her. We then see the internal struggle Nick has been dealing with, as he constantly has to wrestle with Satan to stop him from escaping. They all sit down around the table where Lillith agrees to free Nick if Sabrina crowns her again in front of the three Kings of Hell. The Three Kings arrive but reject Lillith’s claim to the throne as she was Lucifer’s mistress. Instead, they present the Prince of Hell, Caliban, who has been molded to rule. He claims he’ll do what Lucifer failed to do, which is to conquer earth. As Sabrina looks into Nick’s eyes, she’s transported into their realm. There, she meets with Lucifer who tells her that she’s the only one who can restore the balance of Hell or it will affect Earth too. Returning to the throne room, Sabrina declares herself Queen of Hell with Lillith as her Regent. However, the Kings don’t accept it and as they all leave, Lillith agrees to release Nick. Back home, Sabrina decides to keep Nick in a circle of salt while she figures out how to deal with Lucifer. The third season is finally here and with it, some interesting changes for our dark witch. As the series carries on with its dark and chilling tone, the first episode brings us a hellish version of the Wizard of Oz; a twisted, dark version of this age-old tale. With Sabrina now the Queen of Hell, it leaves things wide open for the season ahead which promises to be captivating as we discover how she’ll deal with her new title. For now though, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina sets the scenes with a decent season opener.
