The Black Wedding
After the previous hedonistic episode, Sabrina begins with another nightmare – this time it’s the weird sisters who suffer an alternate dream-fate. Within their shared dream, they see the Spellman’s undoing the work of the Blackwoods, rising up as the dominant family in the magical world. Outside of this dream and determined to stir the pot further, Mrs Wardwell has plans to use Sabrina to bring down the church of the night. While she sets to work putting her plan into motion, the Academy prepares for Zelda’s wedding to Father Blackwood. As Sabrina prepares for the big day too, she sees the ghost of her Father who warns her about Faustus Blackwood. According to him, Blackwood is responsible for her parents’ death and she has to stop the wedding from going ahead no matter what. Unfortunately, this all seems to be part of Mrs Wardwell’s cunning plan who, when Sabrina asks her about the visions, embellishes on them, planting more doubts in her mind. While Prudence asks Zelda to speak to Father Blackwood about giving her the official Blackwood title, the Anti Pope arrives at the Academy. Sabrina and Nick retrieve Edward Spellman’s manifesto, promptly offering it to the Anti Pope to read through. Within its pages, Edward theorises the coming together of mortal and witch intermingling. However, Faustus has plans on his own, proposing new testaments with five new laws which Sabrina calls out as regressive and misogynistic. As the Anti Pope retreats to his chambers to ponder over both doctrines, the Anti Pope is murdered by an unknown assailant. Father Blackwood rushes to the scene only to find Ambrose covered in blood, which he assumes is the Anti Pope’s. Retreating to the Dorian Bar, Ambrose regurgitates his familiar leviathan. Is it possible the familiar was controlling him to do Blackwood’s bidding? Stewing over the question, we cut back to Zelda and Father Blackwood’s wedding. With the Anti Pope’s funeral going ahead at the same time, the ghosts of Edward and Diana appear, disrupting the wedding and accusing Faustus of murdering them. However, it’s soon revealed to be Sabrina and Nick using a glamour to disguise their magic. After an audible gasp from the wedding guests, Ambrose appears and tries to kill Blackwood, only to be stopped in his tracks by Prudence. Enraged by their defiance, Father Blackwood expels both teenagers from the Academy while Zelda and Faustus continue on with their marriage, with plans to leave for Rome and go on their honeymoon in full swing. With Ambrose imprisoned and the future of the two teens still hanging in the balance, we leave Sabrina with plenty of questions. After a slightly rocky start, the fifth episode injects some much needed urgency into the series. With the plot around the Blackwood and Spellman families in full swing, Mrs. Wardwell continues to be the wildcard here, spinning her web of deceit over the entire series. It’s really from this point onward that Sabrina becomes much more consistent and absorbing, with more emphasis given to the overarching story than before. While themes around equality and misogyny still find their way into the episode, it’s much better handled than earlier in the season. With plenty of questions hanging over the series, Sabrina looks set to deliver some memorable episodes going forward.
