Sabrina the Teenage Witch Reviewed - Episode 02: Bundt Friday

Episode 002 - Bundt Friday Review

Beware some serious formatting issues in the first part of this that I attempted to sort out (I failed).

Sabrina Spellman's choice of weapon is deadly sprinkles, run!

Episode Synopsis

The disaster that is Sabrina's spells really causes chaos for the first time. Truth sprinkles! A staple of many, many magical shows. The truth always causes friction, eventually it is resolved and this is that typical subplot played out in an episode.

Review

Why did I love the cliche rabbit in the hat trick spell? Maybe I'm just biased because of this show but it made me smile, it's a total cliche and I know, unoriginal but I can't control how I feel.

This was a more school centric episode sprinkled in with some lessons of what the truth is. Let's talk about the truth of Melissa's talent to pretend to be talking to Salem (which they clearly got Nick to record in a studio and didn't even attempt to make it sound like they were in the same room).

I'm so glad that Hilda and Zelda's relationship was featured more in this episode as a side plot. Hilda's personality shines here and Zelda is a great but realistic contrast who weaves into Sabrina's subplot as a lesson giver.

Also, the home economics class? Is that what they learned in the 90s? When Jenny asked about why they have to learn this, I felt that. Sabrina casually uses her magic and the teacher who never appears again is right there and she just acts like nothing happened.

And she's never seen again...

The word "cool" has lost all meaning to me. Jenny also had way too much faith in Harvey and I hope she ended up finding someone who didn't disappoint her the way the unfleshed out character that Harvey currently is, would.

Also, the teacher's delivery on "Need help Sabrina?" was kind of weird, am I the only one who thought that?

The bullying in the hallway followed by two counts of freak with Jill and Cece cackling was just not funny. At least, here we get a sense of Sabrina's insecurity, she actually starts to care about what Libby is saying about her (and then pretends to her aunt that it's upsetting Jenny, shady).

The way the weaving of getting Sabrina to use magic, Sabrina at school and Hilda's subplot really is brought together so well by Zelda's presence in the episode and the initial scene where Sabrina is struggling to learn anything. There's little details like the ice cream sprinkles mentioned earlier coming back later in the episode after not being hinted at, I like that the audience didn't need to be spoon fed. 

Hilda's suggestion of lady bald spot, why did we never see that again? Libby really demonises plastic surgery here and that's such a 90s thing. Just like mentioning Richard Nixon, very odd to mention a president. Maybe it was a big thing for 90s shows to do at the time but it really dated it a bit more.

Also, Libby is kind of nice to Sabrina briefly by just referring to by name when they could've easily added in a disgusted look and a "freak". Libby's a pretty real character and small moments like this really made her less of a caricature. But those lies...father in jail and cheating on tests? Do better.

I think Jill 'nose' this will come up again.

And just who is Pete Sampson? These 90s references drive me crazy (the MTV reference made me laugh though). It's not a piece of cake to understand them. It was nice to see Cece and Jill get more screentime even though it basically amounted to nothing.

While we learned that Harvey liked football and liked to cook, Sabrina is kind of shady for giving Jenny the sprinkle cake. When Jenny says she and Harvey are "soulmates" in the context of the series, this is funny.

Also, after another freak is uttered in the air. This whole bit where Sabrina realises the amount of destruction she has caused is just sad. The virgin conversation with Sabrina being the only one to overhear it made it so awkward.

Honestly, I don't understand Sabrina's position of being mad that Jenny and Harvey are going out together on a date as friends. She even later says that it should be "her or Jenny" or "her and Harvey", kind of self centered much? People can hang out without you and that's perfectly fine. Unlike Hilda, this did bring me down a bit on Sabrina.

I really like how Zelda mediates between Hilda and Sabrina in this episode and her role is great. To me, she's the star of this episode as a character. I'm so glad we never saw Drel in this episode and it was nice to see Hilda give him a taste of his own medicine.

Sabrina walks in and states that her and Jenny need to talk and I completely ignored the exchange because it was so cute and soppy that Sabrina said she would "try and build a life off of it". This was obviously without the truth sprinkles (a nice little twist which seems obvious in hindsight) and the fact that she actually did this is so nice.

A cute scene because of what happens later in the series with them, not because of what it is.

The linen closet remains the elite thing on this show. Would I watch an entire episode inside of the linen closet? Yes, I would.

I'm still not feeling Harvey and Sabrina's relationship that is literally based off Sabrina's love for sideburns which do eventually fade with time. The scene in the pizza place is kind of lost on me because I really don't care that much about Harvey when, as a character, there's very little there. Maybe he's meant to be the "All American boy" so he's relatable to many and that's profitable but still.

The status quo is reset and Cece and Jill "forgive" Libby but the way they are planning her demise? I support them. They deserved better on the show, they really didn't get much to do outside of Libby (which is kind of sad). Libby wasn't in the show in S4 so I would've been interested in at least keeping those two and fleshing them out some more but the WB didn't feel the same way all those decades ago and that's a shame.

The one thing I haven't yet talked about is the effects and, considering this is going to be a show with a huge amount of them, I feel like it warrants it's own section. I know, it's only been two blogs and I'm already messing around with the format. Whoops.

Intro

I feel like I need to do a section on her outfits in the intro because I do pay attention to them. I like this one but the way she delivered the "As if!" was so overdramatic that it almost didn't feel like Sabrina (but apparently this could be a clueless reference?).

Call me completely clueless. Imagine how many references will go over my head. 

Special Effects

• The rabbit in the hat trick was good but what was the reason to make it talk, zoom in on it's mouth and show that there was no way he was moving his mouth to the words being said?
• The red arrow looked super fake but it was only there for a moment, so whatever. 
• The napkin into rose was a good trick, not very difficult to pull off but it looked good.

Characters

• Sabrina - Sabrina kind of took a backseat in this episode because I focused more on Jenny than Sabrina's actual (and kind of weird) feelings. Her hate of onions is a nice character trait that I will remember and make sure they remain consistent towards.
• Jenny - I always feel bad for Jenny. This reinforces that she really is the third wheel. Harvey only hangs with her because of Sabrina and that's just kind of sad. They fixed this issue with Valerie but it just makes Jenny seem sadder to me. There's also occasional glimpses of sadness and they never expand on them. Missed opportunity. 
• Harvey - Harvey really didn't do much other than admit that he likes cooking and be the butt of a couple "he's not the smartest jokes".
• Libby - We saw Libby getting done dirty by Sabrina yet again with one of her spells. Constantly the one who usually gets the worst things happening to her due to Sabrina's spells. I'd almost feel bad but her "you're still breathing" to Sabrina in the hallway? Yikes.
• Hilda - Hilarious, yet again. It was nice to see her motivation for Drel and not going on the date with him. She deserves better.
• Zelda - She was the star of this episode. Weaving herself between being a mentor for Sabrina and being the sister to Hilda was nice to see, it gave her character purposes and showed how versatile she is as a character.
• Salem - I'm using this section to ask whether we see Luisa again. I like that dynamic of competition between Salem and someone else, they always toy with it and never really go full throttle with it.

Freak Count - 06 (+3)

• Libby calls Sabrina one and then says to Jenny that she is a "double freak" which counts as two.
• The word is said to someone other than Sabrina for once but I'm still counting it.

Rating

6.5/10. This is a real typical subplot for a sitcom that had been done before Sabrina and well after Sabrina. The characters are still pretty much in their half formed stages (as weird as that sounds) and I just felt like it was nice because it gave me a sense of early Sabrina...and that's because it was early Sabrina, aside from that, it was just kind of meh.

I did really like the focus on Hilda and Zelda's relationship a little more, so that's something.