TV

Every Hidden Reference We Could Find In ‘The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina’ Part 2

We're screaming at the nod to 'Sabrina The Teenage Witch'.

by Jenna Guillaume  15 April 2019
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part 2 Easter Eggs

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Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part 2 is out now on Netflix, and it’s still dramatically bonkers and wonderful.

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If You Like Horror And Fun, You're Gonna Love 'The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina'

It sees Sabrina grappling with the consequences of signing her name in the Book of the Beast and walking a much ~darker~ path than she did in Season 1.

She learns a lot about who she is — and why the Dark Lord has been paying so much attention to her. Along the way, there are lots of little moments of foreshadowing as well as Easter Eggs for fans.

Here are some that I spotted (warning: spoilers for the whole season below!)…

Something Biblical This Way Comes

The opening scene of the season is a dream Sabrina has, in which she sees her own birth framed as though she’s Christ in the manger — right down to the three wise kings, who in this case are demons.

She watches as her father, Edward Spellman, presents her to the devil. It foreshadows the fact that Sabrina is the Christ to the devil’s God figure — the child who he impregnated a mortal with, who will one day rule by his side.

The Christ imagery is reinforced later in the series, especially in Sabrina’s crown of thorns, which she wears when she becomes the herald of hell and comes into her true powers. Within the plot, the Dark Lord enlists Madame Satan to force Sabrina to perform perversions of Jesus’ miracles from the Bible.

The truth about her parentage was right there all along.

The Sabrina The Teenage Witch Nod

In a super cute reference that made my ‘90s heart soar, Sabrina gets ready in front of the mirror and spins around to magically change her outfits until she finds one she’s happy with.

It is, of course, a direct nod to the opening credits of the original sitcom.

Sabrina Loves Books!

Sabrina has a picture of Emily Bronte on her wall, which makes me wonder if she’s a fan of her work or if Bronte is a witch in the Sabrina-verse.

After all, they’ve made other iconic authors magical — Brother Lovecraft and Sister Shirley Jackson at the academy are obvious nods to their writer namesakes. Shirley Jackson is, of course, most famous for being the author of The Haunting of Hill House (yes, the one which the Netflix show is based on!).

Meanwhile, Arkham is a fictional town in H. P. Lovecraft’s work — and the vision about Harvey is Episode 4 sees him going to ‘Arkham Colony of the Arts’.

The biggest literary reference of all, though, is featuring Dorian Gray as a character.

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina turns him into an actual warlock who made a deal with the devil. In a nice visual nod to the character’s history, the painting which contains Dorian’s soul is identical to the one used in the 1945 movie The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Harvey’s Archie Obsession

Although Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Riverdale exist in the same universe — meaning Archie Andrews is very much a real person living just across the river from Greendale — the show isn’t afraid to get cheeky with references to the Archie comics.

Harvey is obviously a huge fan — we see him purchasing some, and there are even Archie covers pinned on the walls of his bedroom. How very meta.

Double Feature

Sabrina takes a lot of cues from classic horror movies.

In Season 2, Sabrina runs from a group of bats in a moment that’s reminiscent of scenes from The Birds. She later mistakes a demon for Nick, thinking he’s hiding under a sheet, which seems to be a nod to the trick Michael Myers plays in Halloween.

Meanwhile, Theo being taunted by bullies with pads and tampons calls back to the famous opening scene of Carrie.

The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina is currently on Netflix.

Jenna Guillaume is a Sydney-based writer who loves all things TV and pop culture. She tweets @JennaGuillaume, and her new book, ‘What I Like About Me’ is available now.Â