The “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinter’s Tale” will arrive next Friday. The special standalone installment was crafted specifically to bring you some cheer while you await the Kiernan Shipka-led series’ Part 2 launch in April. Actually, it was originally just created because “Sabrina” creator and showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa realized he hadn’t checked his Part 1 list twice in the holiday episode department.
“That was not always the plan,” Aguirre-Sacasa told TheWrap in a recent interview when we asked if he had this idea in mind from the start. “In fact, we were working on the first episode for Part 2 — which was not a Christmas episode — and I was having dinner with one of the writers and we sort of realized, ‘We’ve done a Halloween episode and a Thanksgiving episode [in Part 1] and we skipped over Christmas.’ And as soon as I realized that, I was like, ‘We’re doing a Christmas episode!'”
“And I frantically reached out to our unit producer and said, ‘Can we switch gears and do a Christmas episode?’ And he said, ‘Nope, we’re too far down the line on the one that was specifically written as the premiere for the second part,'” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “So what we did is we shot them out of order. So we shot what would be Episode 12 first and then we shot Episode 11, which was the Christmas episode.”
Then it all came down to Netflix — which launched “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” Season 1 on Oct. 26 — wanting to bring fans even more of the teen witch’s tale as soon as possible, even though Part 2 is still in production.
“And then no sooner had we decided to do a Christmas episode, very early on Netflix was saying, ‘Is there something we can drop as a standalone in between Seasons 1 and 2?'” he added. “And we said, yeah. Because we made an episode that was by and large self-contained, but that there are still elements that carry it through and the realizations and relationships and mythology — it sort of threads the needle. And so we figured out a story that could do both.”
In the holiday-themed one-off, the Church of Night, like all covens, celebrates the Winter Solstice — the longest night of the year — when families gather around the Yule Fire to sing Pagan carols and tell ghost stories. But the holidays are also a time for guests and visitors — both welcome and unwelcome — so you never know what might come down the chimney.
The streamer released a trailer for the holiday episode Tuesday and a teaser for “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” Part 2 a few days before that, revealing that installment will launch in April. Even though “Sabrina” got a two-season order from Netflix right off the bat, that spring premiere date is much earlier than most fans were expecting the next batch of episodes to be released. But it doesn’t seem like a crazy idea, given how popular the show is — and because the showrunner says they’ve almost finished shooting those upcoming stories.
“We’re pretty deep into the second half of the season,” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “I think we’re shooting the penultimate episode!”
Aguirre-Sacasa — who also created and showruns The CW’s “Riverdale” (another dark Archie Comics adaptation) — says he’s not concerned with the episode switch messing with the flow when “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” returns next spring.
“Yeah, the episode that will kick off Part 2, we had written that as a premiere episode for the second part, so that’s what it very much feels like,” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “And that’ll really launch us out in a really full-blooded, muscular way and is filled with revelations. Really big, big stories start in that episode.”
Check back with TheWrap after the holiday episode drops for more spoiler-heavy content from our interview with Roberto.
“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinter’s Tale” launches Dec. 14 on Netflix.
'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina' Season 1 Photos: Check Out Harvey Kinkle, Aunt Zelda and More
Get ready for a deep-dive look at the residents of Greendale. Netflix released new character photos for "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" this week, making us even more excited for the series to arrive than the trailer did.
See below for Netflix's official character descriptions. "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" premieres on Oct. 26 on Netflix.
Netflix
Harvey Kinkle (Ross Lynch) is Sabrina’s boyfriend. The prince charming of this dark fairy tale, Harvey is the son of a coal miner, a dreamboat and a dreamer, completely unaware of the dark forces conspiring to keep him and Sabrina apart.
Netflix
Sabrina Spellman (Kiernan Shipka): An empowered young woman, half-human, half-witch, Sabrina is just beginning her dark education as a sorceress, even as she tries to maintain a normal life as a sophomore at Baxter High. Intelligent, compassionate and brave to the point of recklessness, Sabrina is all that stands between us and the forces of darkness that threaten our world. Pictured with Lachlan Watson (as Susie Putnam), Jaz Sinclair (as Rosalind Walker) and Ross Lynch (as Harvey Kinkle).
Netflix
The Weird Sisters: Agatha (Adeline Rudolph), Prudence (Tati Gabrielle), Dorcas (Abigail Cowen): The three Weird Sisters—a trio of powerful, uncanny teenage witches at the Academy of Unseen Arts who look down their noses at Sabrina for being half-mortal.
Netflix
Hilda Spellman (Lucy Davis) is one of Sabrina’s two witch aunts. More nurturing than Zelda, Hilda’s motherly nature and warm sense of humor belie a wicked, ghoulish streak. She is as adept at brewing spite jars against her family’s enemies as she is at concocting love potions for the students at Baxter High.
Netflix
Father Blackwood (Richard Coyle) is High Priest of the Church of Night and Dean of the Academy of the Unseen Arts. Ruthless and ambitious, Blackwood hides a terrifying dark agenda that will put him in direct conflict with Sabrina and other members of the coven.
Netflix
Zelda Spellman (Miranda Otto) is Sabrina’s sterner witch aunt. Proud and devout, Zelda believes there is no greater honor than serving the Dark Lord as a member of the Church of Night. She is the family’s disciplinarian, fiercely protective of Sabrina, and very much Cain to Hilda’s Abel.
Netflix
Nicholas Scratch (Gavin Leatherwood) is a young, handsome warlock at the Academy of Unseen Arts who befriends new student Sabrina Spellman. An acolyte of Sabrina’s father’s teachings, Nicholas is drawn to Sabrina, as well, and there are immediate sparks between them.
Netflix
Sabrina's friends, Rosalind Walker (Jaz Sinclair) and Susie Putnam (Lachlan Watson): Rosalind is the brash, empowered and outspoken daughter of Greendale's minister and Sabrina's best friend at Baxter High. Susie Putnam is one of Sabrina’s friends at Baxter High and a founding member of the school’s newly formed WICCA club. Brave and optimistic despite being bullied at school, Susie lives on a farm at the outskirts of town and deals with a terrifying supernatural threat at home.
Netflix
Mary Wardell / Madam Satan (Michelle Gomez) is Sabrina’s favorite teacher and mentor at Baxter High. When she is possessed by the Devil’s handmaiden, Madam Satan, Ms. Wardwell turns into a sultry, cunning manipulator, always trying to lure Sabrina down the Path of Night.
Netflix
Ambrose Spellman (Chance Perdomo) is Sabrina’s warlock cousin from England. Placed under house-arrest by the Witches Council, Ambrose is forbidden from leaving the funeral home where he lives with the Spellman women. Witty, puckish and pan-sexual, he is one of Sabrina’s partners in crime, always up for mischief.
Netflix
1 of 11
Netflix also releases images of Aunt Hilda and Sabrina’s cousin Ambrose
Get ready for a deep-dive look at the residents of Greendale. Netflix released new character photos for "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" this week, making us even more excited for the series to arrive than the trailer did.
See below for Netflix's official character descriptions. "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" premieres on Oct. 26 on Netflix.