Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Season 4/ Episode 7 “Chapter Thirty-Five: The Endless” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

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The OG Sabrina aunties are back, AND SALEM! But, with Sabrina Morningstar trying to fight an Eldritch Terror, will she find any of them of help?

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Director(s)	Kevin Rodney Sullivan
Writer(s)	Donna Thorland, Matthew Barry
Aired (Netflix)	12/31/2020
Introduced This Episode
Salem Saberhagen	Luke Cook

This content contains pertinent spoilers. Also, images and text may contain affiliate links, which, if a purchase is made, we’ll earn money or products from the company.

Recap

Welcome To A Scripted World – Sabrina, OG Zelda, OG Hilda, Harvey, Roz, Theo, Salem

So, Sabrina Morningstar is revisited, and she ends up in a scripted, self-contained, think Truman Show world. One where she walks downstairs or to another set to work and sleeps in her room, built on the very same soundstage. It’s weird, but she just goes along with everything after finding out there are no exits.

 

What helps is OG Zelda, and OG Hilda are rather kind and helpful. Even Harvey, despite him not prepping Sabrina for a French kiss, is also rather nice and presents valuable information that comes rather handy. As for the rest? Well, Theo and Roz are stuck somewhere in CAOS season 2, and Salem? Well, they aren’t voiced by the one we’re familiar with and, to make matters worse, it’s less animatronic and looks like a cheap Etsy replica.

The Endless – Salem, Ambrose, Sabrina

But rather than have Salem just be a nostalgic prop, he actually ends up being a key part to all this. You see, Salem is The Endless and seems to have been having Ambrose chop up unruly cast members to feed everyone. With Sabrina learning this, Salem appears to be the enemy, but he ends up becoming an ally.

The Void – Sabrina, Caliban, Nick, Salem, OG Zelda, OG Hilda, CAOS Hilda, CAOS Zelda

Why? Well, because of The Void. Another Eldritch Terror that was somehow written into Salem’s script, with him thinking because The Endless and The Void are opposites but equal, there was nothing to worry about. They even had Caliban, who Sabrina is happy to see, create sets for its arrival. Alongside that OG Zelda and Hilda try to calm everyone down and remind them all shows, once a year, have notable events like this.

However, in the long run, it’s learned the Void is all-consuming, and despite Salem’s assumed control, it doesn’t exist to the extent he thought. In fact, from the OG aunties to Nick and others, they are servants of The Void and start killing and consuming everyone. Leading to Sabrina, with Salem, escaping the doomed parallel world together, with Salem creating scenarios for people to fall or get out of the way.

Review

Highlight

Roz’s Jokes About Her Storyline

I don’t know whether we should see it as intentional or not, but how Roz was written as the Black best friend who’d be lucky to get a boyfriend, never mind a storyline, wasn’t lost on me. Though I must admit, was that a joke at the expense of the Melissa Joan-Hart version of Sabrina, or just a recognition of how tokenism still exists?

On The Fence

The Nostalgia Didn’t Hit Like Expected

I wouldn’t say the nostalgia didn’t hit as expected since the OG aunties were made into villains, but more so that it isn’t like the CAOS aunties are bad. At this point, they are two separate takes, and both can be appreciated, but when put side by side, it’s hard to not like the new versions a bit better.

CAOS Zelda being a biting and shady figure, is fun. Also, CAOS Hilda not being a dumb and boozy blonde but sweet, vulnerable, and a touch naïve reminds you of how the characters evolved and honestly became better.

And maybe, if they weren’t placed next to each other, you could appreciate the OGs more, but this episode made it hard. Though perhaps the bigger disappointment was, despite the gains in technology, Salem looked worse than he did in the 90s, and even though Nick Bakay, the original Salem, last did the voice in 2019, he wasn’t brought on with the OG aunties.

Now, maybe there is a reason for that I’m not aware of? Either way, it sort of clipped the nostalgia train off tracks.

A Lukewarm Build To A Series Finale

On Instagram, you can learn the fifth season would have been about witches at war, so whether or not there will be a series finale vibe to the next episode is hard to say. The only thing that feels clear to use is that this didn’t feel like something to get you hyped for the finale. It seems more so like a middle of the season type episode, and it leaves us feeling that the last episode is going to be a terrible swan song.

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