If I Like ‘Riverdale,’ Will I Love ‘Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina’?

The upcoming Netflix drama Chilling Adventures of Sabrina shares a lot of its DNA with The CW’s hit show Riverdale. They’re both based on long running series published by Archie Comics. They’re both created in part by Archie CCO Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. They’re both extremely dark takes on the classic source material. And they even share the same crew, who took time during the off-season shooting Riverdale to tackle Sabrina.

Short version, I loved Sabrina. It’s true to the “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” comic book, which makes sense because that was originally written by Aguirre-Sacasa, with art by Robert Hack. And if you’re looking for a spooky good time this Halloween, with a good deal of camp and some genuine scares, look no further than Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. So regardless of being into the Town With Pep, Sabrina is well worth the ten-ish hours it’ll take to binge the first season (a second season has already been greenlit, shot, and will be released presumably some time next year).

But if you’re a fan of Riverdale, is Sabrina worth checking out? I’ve put together a handy guide based on some common interests of your average Riverdale viewer, so you can see if you want to make the drive from Riverdale, to Greendale.

If you’re watching Riverdale for the ‘ships:

Let’s be real: one of the main reasons for watching Riverdale is for the sizzling hot couples. Whether you’re a fan of Bughead (Betty and Jughead), Varchie (Veronica and Archie), Choni (Cheryl and Toni), or Koose (Kevin and Moose, and also, why would you ‘ship that??? Moose is so bad for Kevin???), there’s a lot of love, to love. So how about Sabrina? In the first eight episodes screened for critics, there’s a little hooking up — but mostly, there’s the issue of Satan trying to suck Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka) down to hell, which is a little more pressing.

Sabrina and Harvey (Ross Lynch) are a sweet couple right out of the original Archie Comics, though there’s hints of a third party that enters later in the game. And Sabrina’s housebound cousin Ambrose (Chance Perdomo) is eminently ‘shippable, but given his situation mostly unable to meet anyone other than Sabrina and her two aunts. If anything, you’ll be begging for a crossover so Ambrose can steal Kevin Keller (Casey Cott) away from (barf) Moose (Cody Kearsley).

As the series goes on, hints of the ol’ Riverdale crazy sex starts to sneak in, though even with an orgy scene and some kinky flagellation, it’s still relatively tame when compared to Veronica (Camila Mendes) and Archie (KJ Apa) on any given Wednesday.

But overall, if ‘shipping is your game, you might want to board another boat. Unless you’re talking about Kiernan SHIP-ka, in which case, game on.

If you’re watching Riverdale because you love the comics:

Well, first of all, if you haven’t read the source material Chilling Adventures is based on, please do because it’s superb. There are only eight issues, and the show runs out of source material around episode 3 (there’s a whole subplot in the book about Betty and Veronica’s coven in Riverdale that isn’t even remotely usable on the series), so mostly it’s winging it. But like how Riverdale constantly loops back to the older Archie Comics complete with silly names such as Papa Poutine and Sweet Pea, Sabrina does the same. In fact, once it gets going, Chilling Adventures is arguably closer to both the original comics and the Melissa Joan Hart TV series than Riverdale is to “Archie’s Jumbo Digest.”

It’s definitely dark and violent, and you won’t want to show it to kids; but it really does capture the spirit of all iterations of Sabrina, quite ably.

If you’re watching Riverdale because you love ~murder~:

One of the most delightfully ridiculous aspects of Riverdale is the multiple murders that constantly plague the otherwise small, sleepy town… Murders that, given their frequency, the residents tend to give equal weight with, say, the Spring musical, or Homecoming. If that’s your thang, then happily Sabrina continues that trend. Given most of the characters are witches, part of a Satanic coven who worships the Dark Lord and his teachings, yeah, there’s a lot of murder. There’s also much more graphic death and destruction than on Sabrina‘s small screen sister, though nothing that ventures into Saw territory.

And the bad guys, for the most part, are more on the side of Buffy the Vampire Slayer than Law & Order: SVU; so if you’re looking for a magic murder fix, Sabrina is a match made in hell.

If you’re watching Riverdale for Betty/Jughead/Archie/Veronica/Cheryl/etc.:

Well, none of the Riverdale residents show up, if that’s what you mean (at least in the episodes I viewed). But if you’re looking for analogues? Sort of. The Weird Sisters, a trio of teen witches, fill the Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch) mean girl hole in the show, though without her penchant for culturally inflected pointed barbs. Sabrina definitely channels some Betty (Lili Reinhart) vibes as a good girl with a serious dark side. And no disrespect to KJ Apa’s perpetually horny redhead, but Lynch’s Harvey might be a better earnest Archie than the one on Riverdale.

That said, the characters are very distinct and very over the top in exactly the right way, without ever seeming like caricatures, just like on Riverdale. And though the character bench isn’t as deep — Riverdale has the distinct advantage of a vastly interesting older generation, as well as the younger one — they’re enjoyable to watch in a similar way, and get further fleshed out as they go.

If you’re watching Riverdale for the crossover potential:

So, here’s the deal: Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina are on two different networks (The CW and Netflix, respectively); and two different worlds… One deals with weird murders, the other with weird witch stuff. On Riverdale, they refer to Sabrina’s town of Greendale all the time, usually with vague mentions of something strange or dark that could be magical, but without any magic inherent. Sabrina definitely name-drops Riverdale, as well.

But will there be a legit crossover, like Sabrina heading over to Riverdale High, or Betty and Veronica popping over to team up with Michelle Gomez’s character like in the book? Not at the moment. There are schedules to think about, as well as contracts, and the fact that introducing magic into Riverdale in particular would break the delicate snow-globe that is the world of that show (Adderall fueled floating baby episodes aside).

That doesn’t mean it isn’t be fun to speculate, and I’d expect that the debut of Sabrina will launch a thousand crossover fanfics. And as mentioned above, Ambrose should really figure out how to make his way to Riverdale so he can hook up with Kevin, because that would be *chef’s kiss*.

The other item of note that’s valid for this year only: Riverdale will be taking a week off around Halloween, most likely to make space for Sabrina‘s debut. That means you can idly imagine what the rest of the Archie Comics gang is getting up to while Sabrina is battling the Devil.

If you’re watching Riverdale because your TV is broken, and the channel is stuck on The CW:

First of all, get a new TV, or at least a new remote. Second of all, you’re going to need a Netflix subscription, so sorry about that. Third of all, maybe rethink all of the life choices that brought you to this point. Thanks.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina premieres on Netflix on October 26. Riverdale airs on The CW on Wednesdays at 8/7c.

Where to stream Riverdale

Stream Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix