Episode synopsis
Chapter Eleven – A Midwinter’s Tale: As the winter solstice approaches, Sabrina orchestrates an emotional seance with serious consequences, and Susie’s merry plans turn menacing.
Cast
Kiernan Shipka…Sabrina Spellman
Miranda Otto…Zelda Spellman
Lucy Davis…Hilda Spellman
Chance Perdomo…Ambrose Spellman
Ross Lynch…Harvey Kinkle
Michelle Gomez…Mary Wardwell
Jaz Sinclair…Rosalind Walker
Tati Gabrielle…Prudence Night
Adeline Rudolph…Agatha
Abigail Cowen …Dorcas
Lachlan Watson…Susie Putnam
Heather Doerksen…Gryla
Best character
Zelda is actually quite wholesome in this episode. I love how she acts with baby Leticia, although her game of peekaboo was a little menacing.
Best supporting character
I’ve got to give this to the mischievous spirit children who literally drop a ring of knives from the ceiling around Hilda’s head. Nothing creepier than spirit children constantly giggling whilst they throw knives at you and steal your baby.
Favourite scene
*I do not own the rights to any videos in this post, no copyright infringement was intended. All rights go to the production studio*
The seance scene was really cool. It was great to see Agatha get to be more of a prominent character. Her and Dorcas don’t get many lines in the first season, but I love them both and I’m so glad they become series regulars.
The ‘baby in the oven scene’ was literally crazy, but it’s a great scene to show the spirit children. The video I’ve linked shows them first taking the baby and then Hilda finding her in the oven. I shouldn’t laugh at the fact that it’s called ‘Infant in the Oven’ but it is quite a funny title, isn’t it?
Best quotes and one liners
ZELDA: Ambrose, need I remind you of the High Priest’s rather Herod-like tendencies when it comes to baby girls?
AMBROSE: And I’ll read A Christmas Carol. Even Auntie Zee can appreciate that story.
ZELDA: I like the ghosts in it.
AMBROSE: Well, Christmas is the best time for ghost stories.
MS WARDWELL: A demoness’s work is never done, is it?
SABRINA: So you’re allowed to kidnap babies, but I’m not allowed to want to contact my own mother?
SABRINA: Who’s Gryla?
ZELDA: A very dangerous witch. During a famine, she and another woman from her coven made a pact. They would eat their own children to survive.
SABRINA: Seriously, what is it with witches and cannibalism?
Best musical moment
I enjoy the classic Christmas carols playing over sinister scenes. It’s a great combination of two things I enjoy.
Final thoughts and fun facts
I was reluctant to review this episode because as I’m writing this it’s March and I’m very far from feeling festive. However, it is classed as an actual episode of season one, with some slight plot developments, so you can’t really skip it. I’m fine with festive content this early in the year, but I know a lot of people aren’t. So, sorry if it’s not your thing.
This episode felt very random at the time, and even more so now. I love a Christmas special, but it just seems weird to have one for this show. It’s great that they fit it into the overall plot, but the pacing is very rushed and it feels like an entirely different show. Well… to begin with. Everything is too ‘merry and bright’ for the first half, but no worries, that wonderful Sabrina darkness creeps in.
When Mary Wardwell makes gingerbread voodoo dolls of Sabrina and her aunts, the faces on the cookies are made to look like the original comic book versions of the characters. Also, I am obsessed with the gingerbread version of the Spellman Mortuary.
Sabrina’s line, “And Satan bless us, everyone!” is a reference to Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, where Tiny Tim says “God bless us everyone!”. This is the book Ambrose reads to the family.
I completely forgot this episode is the first time you visit Dorian’s. It’s one of my favourite settings.
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Like this post? Why not read this one too: ARC Review: The Cherished by Patricia Ward