Praise Santa and Happy Winter Solstice one and all as we have been gifted with the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinter’s Tale holiday special!! For those of you like me, you inhaled those first 10 episodes of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and wanted more. The show ended after a big moment and it left us wondering if the Midwinter’s Tale special would touch on anything of it or act as a stand-alone. I can attest, this was definitely a Yuletide treat.

The special follows Sabrina, Hilda, Zelda and Ambrose after the events of the last episode. They are celebrating the Winter Solstice. They tell ghost stories and light a Yule log to keep malevolent spirits at bay until the longest night of the year is over. For anyone who grew up pagan or in some European households, you know the tradition of the Yule log well. In my house, we would use apiece of the last year’s log to light the current one.

Sabrina decides on the Solstice night to do a séance to speak with her mother, Diana, who is stuck in Limbo  but Lilith won’t keep her hands out of it and puts out the Yule log, letting all kinds of baddies into the Spellman home. This stand alone episode sees all of the familiar faces like Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Davis, Miranda Otto, Chance Perdomo and more.

I loved the episode because they touch on a few themes that tie the episode in with the series but mostly it is just fun holiday that features frolicking, kidnapping and attempted murder. This stand-alone has the same heavy darkness in feel that the first season ended with and Shipka plays a darker Sabrina that welcomes her magic and a little bit of darkness more than before. My only complaint is how much they tried to fit into less than an hour. Because this was just a special, they tried to fit what could have been three whole episodes into one. There are nearly three storylines and disasters that occur during the Midwinter’s Tale and, while it does end up connecting, it just seemed a little bit rushed.

Also, I can’t let you leave without talking about the amazing opening animated sequence and adorable Archie Comics style slide they included. It was fast but it was nice little bit for fans of the series and fans to all of the stories in the Archie universe. Overall, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinter’s Tale was a lot of fun and again it left us wanting more of the show. We hope everyone has a wonderful Winter Solstice, a happy Yuletide season and Satan bless us, everyone.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinter’s Tale will launch globally on Netflix December 14.

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D.D. Crowley

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