Chilling Adventures of Sabrina season 1, episode 2 recap: The Dark Baptism

The second episode of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is like a tension filled movie.

Although a little bit shorter than the pilot, “The Dark Baptism” still runs for almost a full hour. While the previous episode had a few lulls, this hour absolutely full of edge-of-your-seat suspense. If Chilling Adventures of Sabrina ended here, the young witch would’ve gotten her happy ending with an act of heroic defiance. However, this is only the second episode and it seems like things are only going to get more complicated.

Pick up where the first episode left off, “The Dark Baptism” has Father Blackwood trying to convince Sabrina to sign away her soul. She’s not entirely sure how she feels about serving the devil, or the dark lord, considering he’s the representation of evil. Father Blackwood tries to assuage these fears by promising she would have free will the entire time. In fact, if she doesn’t like walking the Path of the Night then she’s free to change her mind and return to her mortal life.

This seems to be enough to tilt Sabrina in the direction of going through with the aforementioned event. While Zelda sees her indecision as a sign of disrespect for the family, Hilda is a bit more open. Back then, women didn’t really have any other choice than following the Path of the Night. Nowadays, she does have regrets about the whole thing and understands why Sabrina does too. Unfortunately, Zelda spies on their conversation and angrily kills her sister later in the episode to shut her up.

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Luckily, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina isn’t going to kill off any of Sabrina’s beloved aunts in the first two episodes. Hilda comes back to life and digs herself out of the makeshift grave Zelda buried her under. However, Zelda tells her to keep any regrets she may have to herself. Sabrina doesn’t really have a choice in the matter, and it’s foolish to let her keep thinking she does. So much for free will, right?

Meanwhile, Sabrina’s women-protecting-women group, WICCA, isn’t exactly the most popular new club. Susie witnesses a bunch of jocks tearing down the signs and making fun of the group which causes her to fight back. Needless to say, the four football players easily take on the much smaller Susie. They get off with a warning, while Susie gets suspended and sent home. At Madame Satan’s/Wardwell’s advice, she decides to enlist three other girls to teach the boys a lesson.

Who better than the Weird Sisters? She cuts a deal with them: for their help, she’ll stay at Baxter High. Of course, Sabrina has her fingers crossed behind her back because she has no intention of honoring any deal with those three. However, they all don matching outfits and convince the four drunk boys to join them for a party in the mines. While they’re all skeptical, the possibility of getting laid overtakes all fears. Especially when the girls undress and begin to make out with them. This is all an illusion though, the boys are actually in their underwear making out while the girls gleefully take photos.

When they realize what’s happened all of the jocks are furious. They demand Sabrina fork over the photos, which she refuses. However, the Weird Sisters want to have some fun of their own. Terrifying the boys, they take away their “manhood” and lock it away as little birds. Until Sabrina sets the birds free, they’ll have trouble “rising to the occasion”. The Weird Sisters even admit they underestimated the young witch. They always knew she would never honor their deal, but wanted to mess with the boys anyway. However Tati points out if Sabrina has the choice to hold onto the people she cares about, then why walk the Path of Night?

Harvey spends most of “The Dark Baptism” trying to win boyfriend of the year. He stops by Sabrina’s to invite her out for a belated birthday bowling celebration after her baptism and even asks her aunts to come along. Later, when Sabrina asks if he would sacrifice her and his loved ones to gain superpowers (Harvey’s a comic book lover), he says no. According to him, the power wouldn’t matter because without her it would be meaningless. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina really isn’t making things easy for the titular character.

On her birthday, her aunts force her to stay home from school. Angry she won’t get the opportunity to say goodbye to her friends, she asks Ambrose if it’s possible to still hang out with them on the weekends. He reveals that the Academy puts a bit of spell on new witches which weans them off the mortal world. Horrified at the thought of forgetting her friends, she decides to attend Roz’s Halloween party.

Donning her mother’s wedding dress she goes with Harvey and surprises her friends. Roz is ecstatic and even Susie is feeling better following her suspension. The four dance most of the night away, with Sabrina ultimately blowing out a cake and wishing for more moments like these. As she watches the blood moon with Harvey, she realizes the time. Kissing him and declaring her love one last time, Sabrina heads to the woods for her dark baptism.

It’s an eerie sight, watching a man order a teenage girl to be undressed by her family then kneel in front of him. Tati mentions earlier that the dark lord will never allow a witch to have both freedom and power. Here, Sabrina is stripped of both as she is surveyed by the entire coven. However, as Father Blackwood begins the ceremony, she becomes increasingly aware he lied about the promise of free will. She sees the dark lord and the horrific images the malum mallus showed her in the first episode before settling on her parents. They hold onto an infant (presumably her) before telling her to run.

The witches immediately try to grab onto her in the woods using the branches to prevent her escape. Sabrina breaks free though and makes it back to the house where Ambrose is rightfully terrified by the group behind her. Father Blackwood declares she will sign the book and tells the Weird Sisters to grab her. In a triumphant moment, Sabrina confidently stands up to the witches demanding she complies.

"I will not. There is another path for me, just as there was for my father and mother. A third way. And even if there isn’t,  my name is Sabrina Spellman, and I will not sign it away!"

They don’t take it well, but Ambrose immediately steps in to save her. He claims the house is protected and any unwelcome witch who’s not a Spellman shall burn. While he’s bluffing, it is enough to convince Father Blackwood to turn back. Meanwhile, Madame Satan returns to her house to beg for mercy from the dark lord. He offers it, and she makes it her mission to stick by Sabrina’s side and convince her to sign the Book of the Beast.

Aunt Zelda is furious and humiliated by Sabrina’s defiance. She claims her niece went against her parents’ wishes. However, Sabrina reveals she doesn’t believe that’s the case. The night of her baptism, she saw her parents and they definitely wanted her to run. Maybe their death wasn’t an accident after all.

Needless to say, the dark lord is unhappy with Sabrina’s decision. He overtakes Principal Hawthorne’s body and reveals he will burn all mortal flesh. So long as Sabrina chooses to walk the Path of Light, she will always be at risk.

What did you think of this episode of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina? Be sure to tell us in the comments.