Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina Review: 5 Ups & 4 Downs

Downs...

4. Salem's Barely In It... And He Doesn't Speak

Without question the biggest question mark surrounding this new series was the role of Sabrina's (Kierna Shipka) beloved, talking pet cat Salem.

The fact that no casting announcements were made for the feline left fans suspicious that this version of the character would be mute, and it's a bit of a disappointment to report that that's very much the case.

In addition to having an incredibly sparse and brief role throughout the 10 episodes, Salem is just a pretty ordinary cat for the most part, doing little beyond meowing.

It's especially frustrating as Sabrina the Teenage Witch made Salem extremely popular - arguably more so than Sabrina herself, honestly - yet perhaps the feeling here was that Nick Bakay's performance was simply too brilliant to compete with.

It also turned out during filming that Shipka is allergic to cats, which may have been partly responsible for Salem being sidelined so aggressively.

Whatever the ultimate reason, it's a shame that such a pivotal character in the 90s series basically feels like an afterthought here, with Sabrina's sassy cousin Ambrose (Chance Perdomo) ultimately feeling like a Salem substitute.