Carstairs Considers....: TV Show Review: Sabrina the Teenage Witch

Saturday, June 15, 2013

TV Show Review: Sabrina the Teenage Witch - Season 4

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Individual episodes are still plenty funny

Cons: Season long story arcs leave much to be desired

The Bottom Line:

Story arcs don't work

Most episodes still funny

So still worth watching

"Looks Like the Spell Went Wrong in an Unexpected Way. How Unusual."

I've got to admit from the outset that the fourth season of Sabrina the Teenage Witch has never been my favorite. So I wasn't exactly looking forward to rewatching it this summer. Yes, it still has its faults. But I also discovered that it wasn't quite as bad as I remembered it.

The first strike against the season comes in the season opener. In the first season, Sabrina turned 16. As season 4 opens, she is turning 18. Now I've heard some people explain that seasons 2 and 3 are really one long year despite the fact that they included two Halloween episodes and two Christmas episodes. This tainted timeline with no warning was something I never quite recovered from. (However, I had no problem with Sabrina doing four years of college in two seasons. Go figure.)

Anyway, that means the basics of the show are pretty much the same. Sabrina Spellman (Melissa Joan hart) is a half witch half mortal trying to survive high school with the added complication of magic. Aiding her in her journey are aunts Hilda (Caroline Rhea) and Zelda (Beth Broderick). This season, Hilda gives up her violin and buys a clock shop that includes a magic clock that brings people through time. Then there's the family's talking cat Salem (voiced by Nick Bakay), a warlock sentenced to do time as a cat for plotting to take over the world. She's got a great boyfriend in Harvey (Nate Richert). Unfortunately, the assistant principal has become the principal, and Mr. Kraft (Martin Mull) is still out to get Sabrina and her friends despite dating Zelda.

This season included some cast shake ups. Gone are old nemesis Libby and best friend Valerie. Filling the nemesis role, we get Brad (Jon Huertas, currently on ABC's Castle). He's an old friend of Harvey's who has moved back to town. He takes an instant dislike to Sabrina, and it turns out that he has a gene that makes him a witch hunter. He is clued in to any use of magic, and if he catches any of it and figures out what is going on, his accusation could turn the witch into a mouse for 100 years. Meanwhile, Sabrina gets a new friend in Dreama (China Shavers), a witch who is having a hard time using her magic. Sabrina must tutor Dreama or Sabrina will have her newly issued witch's license taken away from her.

Now you would think that these two new characters could set up some very interesting storylines. Brad does cause complications on a few occasions, although he also seems to ignore magic on others. It all depends on what the writers need for that episode, I have a feeling. But poor, poor Dreama. She might struggle with magic two or three times, but usually the focus is solely on Sabrina's problems. And any tutoring? Forget about it.

Honestly, I get the feeling that the writers just didn't know what to do with any kind of story arc for the season. That's a shame since the quizzes in season two and the family secret in season three were handled so well.

My other issue with this season is Josh (David Lascher). He's a college guy and Sabrina's boss at her new job at a coffee shop. They have a mutual crush. That fact that Harvey is still Sabrina's boyfriend the entire season while she harbors and plays around with acting on feelings for Josh just bugs me. If she and Harvey weren't dating, I would take her flirting and trying to impress Josh as fine (although I always wanted her to wind up with Harvey). But the fact that she is doing this while still dating Harvey just drives me up a wall.

If the overall storylines bother me, the episodes themselves are still as funny and creative as ever. Another family secret comes to light when Sabrina learns one of her aunts was adopted. Halloween follow Sabrina who is trying to avoid the holiday only to get trapped in a coffee house full of zombies. Sabrina learns not to mess with Mother Nature (a real person of course) when she tries to change the weather. Too much weight loss makes Sabrina disappear. We learn about Other Realm wedding traditions when Sabrina becomes maid of honor and substitute father of the bride at the wedding of Salem's daughter. And an ambition spell turns Mr. Kraft into Charles Lindbergh and Harvey into a superhero.

As I said, the individual episodes are very fun, and I can't help but laugh at the out of control situations Sabrina manages to get herself into. The acting can be over the top at times, but that usually fits the wild situations that are happening. It rarely distracts me from the comedy. The special effects are also quite good, and since the show involves magic, there are quite a few of them.

While the normal parade of pop starts from the late 90's stop by (Britney Spears appears in the first episode for example), they also get people like Shirley Jones to guest star as Sabrina's grandmother. In one of my favorite bits of casting for the season, Dick van Dyke shows up as a former associate of Salem who is trying to turn his life around.

This season contained 22 episodes, and all of them are here on three DVD's. The shows are in their native full frame and stereo sound. And that's it. As with all the other sets of the show, there are no extras.

This season still definitely has faults, although they aren't quite as bad as I remembered them being. While season four of Sabrina the Teenage Witch isn't as good as the last two seasons, it is still very fun for fans.

Season 4 Episodes:

1. No Place Like Home

2. Dream a Little Dreama Me

3. Jealousy

4. Little Orphan Hilda

5. Spoiled Rotten

6. Episode LXXXI: The Phantom Menace

7. Prelude to a Kiss

8. Aging, Not So Gracefully

9. Love Means Having to Say You're Sorry

10. Ice Station Sabrina

11. Salem and Juliette