Netflix's 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina' Features Cameos from 'Sabrina The Teenage Witch' Aunts

From ELLE

Spoilers for Chilling Adventures of Sabrina season 3, ahead.

December 31 will be a beautiful day—both because 2020 will is coming to a close, and the newest season of Chilling Adventure of Sabrina will be released. The goth re-imagining of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, starring Kiernan Shipka as our titular spellcaster, is ending with this fourth installment; the third season depicted Sabrina's divide between being an average teenager and Queen of Hell, while balancing two possible love interests.

That duality is something showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Riverdale, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin) says will be unpacked in the final installment. "I think part of season 4 is Sabrina realizing that even the smallest of actions could have huge, universe-destroying consequences," he told Entertainment Weekly. "It’s something that will affect every character and it’s a little bit like that Gwyneth Paltrow movie Sliding Doors. You can see the two different paths before her."

Ahead, what to expect in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina's final season, how that time-traveling season 3 finale will impact it, and why there's a Sabrina the Teenage Witch crossover.

The show's fourth season will also be its last.

Netflix confirmed in July that Chilling Adventures of Sabrina's fourth season would also be its last. "Working on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina has been an incredible honor from day one. The cast, beginning with Kiernan as everyone’s favorite teen witch, has been an absolute joy. I am beyond thankful to the crew, writers, editors, assistants and everyone for pouring so much love into this dark dream of a show. I’m also grateful to our partners at Netflix, Warner Bros., Berlanti Television and Archie Comics for letting us tell the story we wanted to tell, the way we wanted to tell it. We can’t wait for everyone to see part four," Aguirre-Sacasa said in a statement, per The Hollywood Reporter.

A description of the fourth and final season, via Netflix, reads:

The new season hits Netflix in December.

Eight new hour-long episodes of Sabrina will arrive just in time for the new year on December 31, 2020. A date announcement for the new installment shows Sabrina balancing her duties in Greendale and the underworld. Case in point: One shot reveals that her sweet 16th birthday and dark baptism are penciled in on the same day. Voiceover from Ambrose teases that danger is on the horizon. "We've never faced such a peril as this. There is another war coming," he says.

The first trailer introduces the Eldritch Terrors.

These last eight episodes will have a lot to wrap up. In the first trailer alone, viewers are introduced to the evil, ancient force known as the Eldritch Terrors: a life-threatening collective that includes The Darkness, The Void, and other elements of destruction. In addition to juggling two identities and stopping the world from destruction, Sabrina has a few other things on her mind. Nick (Gavin Leatherwood) is referring to their relationship as "endgame," while Aunt Hilda (Lucy Davis) is continuing her romance with Dr. Cerberus (Alessandro Juliani).

Thanks to a time paradox, most of the cast is returning.

While the season's conclusion made it seem as if many beloved characters were dying, Sabrina's time paradox salvaged most of the cast. Netflix confirms that Shipka, Miranda Otto (Zelda), Ross Lynch (Harvey), Davis (Hilda), Chance Perdomo (Ambrose), Michelle Gomez (Mary), Jaz Sinclair (Rosalind), Lachlan Watson (Theo), Gavin Leatherwood (Nicholas), Tati Gabrielle (Prudence), Adeline Rudolph (Agatha), Abigail Cowen (Dorcas), and Richard Coyle (Father Faustus) will all return to Greendale.

One character unlikely to return is Prince Caliban, played by Sam Corlett, after he was transformed into stone and relegated to the ninth circle of Hell. However, the season 4 trailer teases a possible escape for the maniacal ruler.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch's Aunts Zelda and Hilda will make cameos.

In yet another sign that things get weird in the fourth season, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina will crossover with Sabrina the Teenage Witch. A new clip from the season shows Beth Broderick (OG Aunt Zelda) and Caroline Rhea (OG Aunt Hilda) interacting with Shipka as Netflix's Sabrina. The pair played the Aunts on the ABC sitcom, starring Melissa Joan Hart, for seven seasons.

"Sabrina, is that you?" Broderick's Zelda says at the start of the clip. "Oh, there you are, we were getting worried." Rhea's Hilda adds, "Not me. I haven't been worried since bottomless mimosas," a line that's followed by a sitcom-like laugh track.

While the presence of Broderick and Rhea, plus the laugh track, are confusing enough—Coyle's Father Faustus yells "Scene, and cut!" at the end of the teaser. "You're going to fit right in here," Zelda tells Sabrina. "Oh, Sabrina, this is going to be a laugh riot. Want to see me do a spit take?" Hilda asks. Like the rest of us, Sabrina appears confused, replying, "I have no idea what's going on right now." Faustus warns, "Don't worry, darling. You'll catch on quickly...or else."

It's unclear how long the original Aunts will be featured in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina or waht their cameos mean for season 4. But Netflix has released a photo of Broderick and Rhea posing alongside their edgier counterparts, played by Miranda Otto and Lucy Davis, wearing identical outfits.

The season 3 finale changed everything for Sabrina.

Throughout the show's third season, Sabrina struggled between her life as a typical cheerleader at Baxter High and a demonic witch in the underworld. That conflict reaches a boiling point in the finale, after she creates a time paradox in order to save her coven and Greendale at large from evil forces. Sabrina duplicates herself so that she can rule as Queen of Hell and live out her normal life all at the same time. But that decision won't come without a price, Ambrose warns her at the end of season 3. The fourth season will explore the ramifications of her time-traveling and how her position in both worlds is now threatened.

Season 5 would've featured a Riverdale crossover.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina won't get a fifth installment, which is especially disappointing considering what Aguirre-Sacasa teased about it on Twitter. After news broke that the series had been cancelled, he tweeted, "Thank you for all the love, #sabrinanetflix fans. Part Four is our best yet and Part Five, 'Witch War,' would’ve been AMAZING. To be continued in the pages of #CAOS comic book...," alongside an illustration that read 'The Witches of Riverdale Are Coming.' In the drawing, the cast of Sabrina can be seen teaming up against the Riverdale crew.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina season 4 will debut on Netflix on December 31.

Watch The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

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