DEEP DIVE

How The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s Holiday Special Sets Up Season Two

Bright Solstice, everyone.


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Dean Buscher/Netflix

The witches on The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina may have pledged their lives to Satan, but that doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy a good winter holiday celebration.

The first season of the series ends with Sabrina’s pledge to the Dark Lord; she’s left her old school, her old friends, and just about everything mortal behind. “A Midwinter’s Tale,” the bonus holiday episode of the Netflix series, released on Friday, begins during the week before Christmas many years ago, when Sabrina Spellman was just a young, melancholy girl (this iteration of the half-mortal, half-witch is played by McKenna Grace). Fast forward to the present day, and we see the Spellman family lighting the Yule log to protect themselves from any malevolent forces that may come down the chimney (Santa Claus excluded) during the Winter Solstice.

When Sabrina gets the idea to contact her dead mother (with the assistance of Ms. Wardwell, or Madam Satan, as she prefers to be called now), a huge mess is made. There is a lot going on in this special: a sinister Santa, a séance with the dead, stolen babies, a chic holiday party, and spiked eggnog. Of course you can count on The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina to make Christmas scary. You can also count on a show like Sabrina to leave some unfinished business, and some unanswered questions. Before season two returns in April, “A Midwinter’s Tale” has given away a few hints, and we have three main predictions for the plot.

Roz and Sabrina will team up more often.

Jaz Sinclair as Roz.

Diyah Pera/Netflix

For better or worse, Roz has the gift of “foresight,” and she’s already demonstrated that she can use it to help Sabrina save lives. Sabrina has been using her resources more wisely lately (she even got the Weird sisters to assist with a séance to communicate with her dead mom), so it would only make sense for the writers to put Roz (and maybe even Susie) in a higher position of power next season. Plus, as viewers discovered in “A Midwinter’s Tale,” Roz is a natural “babysitter,” and Greendale always needs more of those.

Greendale will remain haunted.

Miranda Otto as Aunt Zelda.

Diyah Pera/Netflix

Those three silent figures emerging from the creepy mines? You’d better believe they are about to wreak havoc on the town and everyone in it next season. It’s already been announced that new characters will be thrown into the mix, and it would be a shock if baby Letitia fully disappeared into the forest without ever returning.

Harvey and Sabrina will reconcile.

Ross Lynch as Harvey.

Courtesy of Netflix

Come on, this show is a component of the Greg Berlanti–produced Archie Comics television universe. There’s no way Harvey and Sabrina are going to remain broken up (although Sabrina’s warlock friend Nick Scratch would probably beg to differ) by the end of the first episode of season two. Until then, “bright solstice.”

Related: A Complete Guide to The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s Disparate Accents