Chilling Adventures of Sabrina boss breaks down THAT kiss, reignited love triangle, and more
Warning: spoilers ahead for the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina part 3 finale.
Sure, the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina part 3 finale had all kinds of time travel craziness. But we need. To talk. About. That. Kiss!
After forsaking Lucifer and taking the Church of Night into a much more matriarchal, feminist direction that worships witch goddess Hecate, Zelda (Miranda Otto) found herself in a hot and heavy lip-lock with visiting witch Mambo Marie (Skye P. Marshall). It took Zelda — and Mambo Marie, and all of us! — by complete surprise, but that smile seemed to indicate that this was awakening something real and exciting inside of her.
EW got Chilling Adventures of Sabrina showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa to break down what that kiss means for Zelda, plus the love triangle reigniting between Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka), Harvey (Ross Lynch), and Nick (Gavin Leatherwood), what to expect in part 4, and more.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Okay we need to talk about Zelda because that kiss was incredible. What’s next for her? What does this mean?
ROBERTO AGUIRRE-SACASA: There’s a huge paradigm shift that Zelda goes through. She’s opening up herself to this new relationship. She’s also worshiping a totally new goddess Hecate. For someone who was brought up a certain way, and she’s a very guarded person, she has emotional walls she put up, so the idea of lowering her guard and making herself emotionally available to someone is exciting. The idea of shifting her faith from a patriarchal religion of Satanism to the worship of Hecate is another big, huge shift for Zelda that she goes through in part 4 and we will explore that much more in part 4.
Despite her saving him from Hell, part 3 stirred up a lot of trouble for Sabrina and Nick. Plus it reopened the door for Sabrina and Harvey, when that relationship was thought to have been put to bed a while ago. What is the state of that love triangle going into part 4?
On some level, Harvey and Sabrina will always have a special part in each of their hearts. In the comic books, that was the romance — it was always Sabrina and Harvey. It’s the epic romance in Melissa Joan Hart’s Sabrina. However, I really think that Harvey and Rosalind [Jaz Sinclair] have amazing chemistry and I really love that couple. I really, really like Sabrina and Nick together. Part of the fun of part 4 is we find new ways to continue that love triangle and by the end of part 4, we’re sort of answering the question of which of the couples are endgame. It’s been really fun to play that.
Looking ahead to part 4, what is the main story you’re telling with those episodes?
Sabrina is, on some level, a coming-of-age show. It started when Sabrina turned 16. In part 4, it’s nearing her 17th birthday. The season is in some ways about Sabrina growing up and taking responsibility for her actions and making decisions about how she defines herself. There definitely is a journey of self-exploration in part 4 where she’s asking these really basic, almost existential questions like, “Who am I? I’m part mortal, part witch, part infernal, am I really a Spellman? Am I really a Morningstar?” It’s wrestling with those questions of identity in a new way and reconciling her two selves.
We didn’t get any real answers about what Father Blackwood (Richard Coyle) was up to with his now teen twin children and his mission and what he released into the world — what can you reveal about where that story is going in part 4?
At the end of part 3, Father Blackwood has released what he calls the Eldritch Terrors. A big influence on part 4 is the horror writing of H. P. Lovecraft. We’re examining our most primal, oldest ideas of terror and each episode, of course it’s serialized but there’s definitely this sense of each episode is its own mini-horror movie with it’s own villain and identity. It’s really fun.
What are you most excited to explore in the next installment of episodes?
I love the idea of creating a different set of rules and a different kind of threat in 4 for each episode. I really love going deeper on the relationships. Robin [Jonathan Whitesell] and Theo [Lachlan Watson], Roz and Harvey, the story not being over with Sabrina, Nick, and Harvey, but I think it’s a little more grown-up which I really, really like. I also love the idea of having shifted from the dark father and the dark lord to the dark mother and Hecate. That’s a really exciting element. It’s also a little scarier so I���m really excited about that.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina part 3 is now streaming on Netflix.
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