TV Show review
Review basis: 2 seasons · through December 31, 2020
October 26, 2018 · TV-14 · Ended
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is a dark fantasy series about half-witch teenager Sabrina Spellman who must choose between her mortal high school life and signing the Book of the Beast to join her family's Satanic coven while fighting supernatural evil. Across seasons 1 and 2 she questions male authority in the coven, starts a feminist club, and supports friends including a gay cousin and a transgender peer. The show includes visible queer representation, feminist pushback against patriarchal traditions, and diverse casting that some viewers saw as deliberate signaling in its small-town setting.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
Woke representation / casting
Prominent audience-visible diversity including transgender character played by non-binary actor, gay Black warlock, and multiple Black witches; marketing and some dialogue framed it as intersectional allyship.
Woke political dialogue
Occasional lines where Sabrina questions patriarchal coven rules and promotes female agency and personal choice; mostly plot-driven rather than modern political lectures.
Identity-driven story themes
Queer family member and transgender friend have dedicated arcs around acceptance and identity; feminist resistance to male authority in the coven adds a clear identity layer.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Portrays the Satanic coven as rigid and patriarchal with Sabrina pushing reform; stays within fantasy story logic and does not extend to broad modern institutional or cultural attacks.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Multiple articles and viewer discussions criticized heavy-handed "woke witch" feminism, intersectional posturing, white-savior elements, and preachy tone; Satanic Temple lawsuit added to religious imagery debate.
Creator track record context
Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has a documented pattern of expanding queer representation; several directors and writers bring feminist, diversity-focused, queer, or Indigenous creative histories that align with the show's visible themes.
Production
