Chilling Adventures of Sabrina has aired a whirlwind of a final season, but why is its ending so disappointing? Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which Netflix canceled in July 2020, follows Sabrina Spellman, a half-witch and the daughter of Lucifer juggling responsibilities to her coven and high school. While the news of its cancellation came as a shock to most fans, its series finale has also garnered mixed reactions. Ultimately, the ending to Sabrina disappoints most due to convoluted and unsatisfying character arcs.
The fourth and last season of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina dives into Lovecraftian lore, which deals primarily with fears of the unknown and otherworldly monsters. Each of the eight episodes deals with an Eldritch Terror, an evil force unleashed in Greendale via a mysterious egg Father Blackwood took from Loch Ness. The last Eldritch Terror, the Void, is the most horrifying, since Sabrina and the gang have the most trouble wrangling it and it eventually causes her death.
In the series finale, both versions of the titular character, high school student Sabrina Spellman and Queen of Hell Sabrina Morningstar, lose their lives saving the people they love. But it’s a disappointing and hardly well-deserved character arc. Morningstar escapes from the Endless via a mirror wormhole and inexplicably dies in Spellman’s arms. The original Sabrina exiles herself to the Mountains of Madness as soon as she discovers a part of the Void inside herself. When her aunts and friends come to save her from Lord Blackwood, she takes the noblest of actions and sacrifices her life by bloodletting the Void out of her system. Why Sabrina’s aunts let her die and remain dead is nonsensical, since they have the power to teleport her to the Cain Pit at the Spellman homestead, which if buried in within 13 minutes, brings the dead back to life. It would make sense to rush her home as soon as possible and perform the burial. It’s also that Sabrina doesn’t get the closure she needs when both of her fathers shun her. While that is a minor subplot, it’s still an essential part of her character development, since the men she thinks may care about her don’t. That part of her arc is never fully resolved.
After Sabrina dies, the ending of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina feels a little too abrupt for such a momentous event and allows other character arcs to remain deeply underdeveloped. In many respects, it feels like there should be another season after this, exploring how Harvey, Roz, Theo, and Robin navigate the death of their friend. In Hell, Lilith mortally wounds Lucifer, drinks his angelic blood, and seems to assume the throne at long last, but she too doesn’t receive closure over her baby. Lucifer, who is the main villain of an earlier season, doesn’t have enough screentime to show much of his character growth. Nick has the most problematic of arcs because suicide is strongly implied when he surprises Sabrina in the Sweet Hereafter. Their relationship is so tumultuous when they are both alive that it doesn’t feel as right or organic as it should when he shows up in the afterlife.
In many respects, the series finale does not feel like the definitive wrap-up to the show. Interviews with the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina cast provide insight into filming the last season, as they were not sure whether it was officially ending or not. This explains the unfinished quality of the last episode. Though the show’s ending is disappointing, Sabrina will hopefully make a worthy comeback in the comic book series that will make up for the lack of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina season 5.
