Warning! The following contains SPOILERS for Chilling Adventures of Sabrina "A Midwinter's Tale." Read at your own risk!
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina brought adventure with its holiday special "A Midwinter's Tale," and Harvey Kinkle's chilling nature was more than enough to justify the adjective in the show's title. Harvey and Sabrina were in a rough patch going into the special, and it's safe to say things were rougher by the end. In a world where folks are forced to take sides in couple splits, I can wholeheartedly say I'm not on Harvey Kinkle's in this lovers spat.
"A Midwinter's Tale" started with Sabrina reconvening with her friends, who were all still a bit shaken up by her revelation that she is a witch. Harvey happened to run into Sabrina while she was hanging out with Roz and Susie, and Sabrina approached her beau with a gift she'd gotten him for Christmas. Sabrina, knowing he's big into drawing, got him a set of enchanted colored pencils so he could always have top of the line supplies.
In return, Harvey doesn't have anything to give Sabrina. This is somewhat forgivable given their encounter was by chance, but at no point during the conversation is Harvey like "Oh sorry, I don't have your gift on me." Bottom line, it doesn't appear as though Harvey got Brina a gift, which is kind of shitty given how long they've been together. The inconsideration on his end is, somewhat rude, even given the things that've been going on in his life.
Harvey doesn't give Sabrina a present, but he does provide a rather lengthy update regarding his father's status ever since the whole incident with Tommy. Mr. Kinkle is taking losing Tommy a second time pretty hard, and in Harvey's words, is hitting the bottle harder than he's ever been. Harvey is apprehensive to reach out to anyone for help because his father doesn't want any, but is clearly at a loss at what to do.
Those who have watched the special likely know why I'm recapping this scene in particular, as the end of the special features Harvey returning the gift and telling Sabrina he doesn't want her using magic anywhere near him or his family ever again. He does all this on Christmas Eve by the way, despite the fact that Sabrina visited his home with the enchanted egg nog three days prior.
This is important to note, especially considering Mr. Kinkle takes a big swig of the eggnog shortly after Sabrina gifts it to him. The young witch established beforehand that it would only take one cup to cure his alcoholism, so it's weird that Harvey is just now catching on to what happened. Is it possible that Harvey intentionally waited to deliver this news if only to make Sabrina's holiday a little worse than it already was?
I don't think Harvey Kinkle is all that sinister, but again, his lack of consideration and awareness is astounding in the situation. With three days likely passed since his father kicked the hooch, why does he pick the evening of Christmas Eve to journey on over to Sabrina's house to return her gift and start making her feel shitty? Seriously, use your head, kid.
Speaking of which, why didn't Harvey think that telling Sabrina about his problems wouldn't lead to her interfering in his life via her magical abilities? You'd think he would've learned his lesson when she literally raised his brother from the dead that she doesn't have the best sense on when to and when to not interfere. If Harvey didn't want Sabrina to help, maybe he should've made that clear back when he was on the fence with her present.
Perhaps the most frustrating part of Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina's latest drama between Harvey and Sabrina is that it seems abundantly clear that Harvey was feeling that way prior to his Christmas Eve revelation. Mentioning all that was on his mind prior would've likely prevented Sabrina's intervention, and Harvey could've gone back to his terrible situation with his dad. Instead, he's got a clean father, and now he is pushing away the one person that's helping him out?
On top of all that, Harvey's given Sabrina this weird ultimatum that she can't possibly hope to achieve and remain friends with him. Even with his limited viewpoint of the magical world, even he has to get how hard it will be for Sabrina not to use magic. Actor Ross Lynch appears to get the situation better than his character as he shared with CinemaBlend's Laura Hurley the difficult situation Harvey put Sabrina in:
It's hard because they both sort of pull away from each other, because he has a hard time with her being a witch and just magic in general because he thinks it's all bad and bad things happen from the magic, as they did with his brother Tommy. And she has a hard time because he's basically rejecting her by rejecting the magic. That basically separates them.
Harvey has every right to be upset at Sabrina, especially if he had to kill Tommy like he said. Still, off-screen television deaths are reserved for actors who can't reprise their roles and in some cases, for deaths that didn't actually happen. I'm still not convinced Harvey killed Tommy, and if that turns out to be a lie, he's all the more unjustified for making Sabrina feel like shit.
At the end of the day, I'm still rooting for Harvey and Sabrina, but only if he accepts her for who she is and stops with all these ultimatums to maintain their friendship. Quite frankly, the young Spellman doesn't have time for those games, and she has Nicholas Scratch waiting in the wings and ready to step in. If he can't handle her at her "witch," he doesn't deserve her at her best.
The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina is up on Netflix, and it will continue to be that way for a long time apparently. For a look at what else is happening on television in the meantime, be sure to visit our fall and midseason premiere guides.
