CHILLING Adventures of Sabrina viewers have blasted the Netflix series for appearing to “romanticise suicide.”
WARNING – THIS STORY CONTAINS MENTION OF SUICIDE
- The best series on Netflix
- The best movies on Netflix
- New on Netflix: What to watch this week
Fans of the show, currently airing its fourth instalment on the pay-for streaming service, have reacted in fury at final scenes which see two characters killed – with some calling for a warning tagged to the opening credits similar to fellow Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why.
Many have urged Netflix to “do better” on behalf of viewers after the plotline saw Sabrina Spellman, played by Kiernan Shipka (who also plays Sabrina Morningstar) forced to sacrifice herself to defeat the Eldritch Terrors before her boyfriend, Nicholas Scratch, appears to take his own life.
Gavin Leatherwood’s character makes contact with Sabrina, when she is deceased, and tells her he went swimming in the Sea of Sorrows.
He tells he has met with a “wicked undertow” and the pair can now spend eternity together.
Yet large swathes of viewers have suggested the plotline glorifies suicide – and suggests someone should be prepared to die for their partner in order to prove their true love.
One took to Twitter to rage: “I just finished CAOS and uhhh romanticising suicide? Big no no, do better Netflix.”
Another commented: “Sabrina’s death is fine on its own, but the final two minutes of the show reveal that Sabrina’s warlock boyfriend Nick died by suicide to be with her in the afterlife. This is presented as a romantic, happy ending for two dead teenagers.”
A third revealed their sheer frustration as they posted: “I’m so bitter rn. I loved the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, as bad as the writing got the longer it went on, but the finale was unforgiveable, even besides the glorification of suicide. They literally buried the Sabrinas in the Spellman graveyard that revives the dead.”
One then suggested the closing scenes were particularly inappropriate as they were aired during the global coronavirus pandemic, where many are suffering the loss of a loved one.
They posted: “Sabrina could have done without the last scene….glorifying suicide…to join a loved one!!!!!!!! In the middle of a pandemic!!!! That scene should have been cut, no need for it at all.”
Another bluntly surmised: “How did chilling adventures of Sabrina have a bad ending and romanticize suicide all in one blow.”
One then concluded: “Definitely. It was so wrong of them to romanticize suicide. It should’ve ended at s3 or they should have 1 more season where they bring Sabrina back. If it would’ve been renewed I’m sure Nick would not killed himself.”
Meanwhile, an original Sabrina The Teenage Witch star confessed she “can’t bear” the character’s death in the finale.
Beth Broderick – who reprised her role as Aunt Zelda – spoke out about the shocking twist in the finale of Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
The actress admitted finding the Sabrinas’ death “upsetting” and “hopes” there is a future for the show.
“It’s really kind of… It’s kind of sad. It’s kind of upsetting,” she said of the deaths of the two Sabrinas. “I can’t bear to think of Sabrina – either Sabrina or any Sabrina – as dead. But it’s certainly powerful,” she told Digital Spy.
