This 'Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina' Theory About Nick Could Mean He's Not Who You Think

Every teen drama has a mysterious bad boy character who a heroine is inexplicably drawn towards. Witches are no exception to this rule, and although she was happily in an relationship with Harvey for the majority of Season 1, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina's title character met her cool guy match at the Academy of Unseen Arts. Schoolmate Nicholas Scratch presented himself as an ally to Sabrina in the Academy's tense environment, but this Chilling Adventures of Sabrina theory about Nick suggests otherwise.

Attending the Academy mostly against her will after winning her breach of promise case, Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka) didn't have a very smooth transition to the magical school. The Weird Sisters drew her into a near-deadly harrowing process, but before she managed to avenge their bullying, Sabrina met Nick Scratch (Gavin Leatherwood). Although his playboy past was later revealed, Nick made a strong first impression by introducing himself as an admirer of Sabrina's father's teachings. A demonology and conjuring student, Nick also shared that he was reading Edward Spellman's radical journals, implying that his interest in Edward's skills contributed to his eventual romantic pursuit of Sabrina.

Making it clear that she had a mortal boyfriend, Sabrina still accepted Nick's friendship. He then brought her one of Edward's journals to help her with the puzzle Father Blackwood said she had to solve to become an advanced student. Nick proved loyal throughout the rest of the series, even protecting Harvey during the Greendale 13's descent upon the town. But according to the source material of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Nick could be hiding a dark secret.

Polygon reports that the origin of the episode "The Trial of Sabrina Spellman" stems from the horror story The Devil and Daniel Webster. Originally published as a short story in 1936 and then adapted into a film in 1941, the tale's plot is quite reminiscent of this episode. IMDb describes the movie with the following:

A nineteenth-century New Hampshire farmer who makes a pact with Satan for economic success enlists ale's Daniel Webster to extract him from his contract.

Sound familiar? Sabrina's mortal lawyer is named Daniel Webster in the Netflix series, and years after making his own deal with the Devil, Webster helped Sabrina avoid the coven's punishment for her refusal to have a Dark Baptism. As Polygon points out in its season recap of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, The Devil and Daniel Webster's version of the Devil first identifies himself as Mr. Scratch. Did the show's creative team use a subtle pop culture reference to hint that Nick can't be trusted? Seeing as the Webster connection seems totally deliberate, perhaps Nick is actually working with the Dark Lord to trick Sabrina down the line.

His brooding black wardrobe aside, Nick has certainly left clues that his intentions may not be pure. He easily snuck Edward Spellman's journal out of a special section of the Academy library, but he initially mentioned there were multiple journals. How did he manage to give Sabrina the exact one with the puzzle's solution inside? Plus, the mental challenge later released a demon into the Spellman home that the family just barely defeated, so Nick purposely leading Sabrina down a path of self-destruction isn't too far-fetched. Like Ms. Wardwell did throughout the season, Nick could be working for Sabrina's trust to ultimately gain a dangerous advantage over her.

We'll have to wait and see if Sabrina's Season 2 adventures at the Academy put her into a precarious position with the ambiguous Nick. Season 1 of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is currently streaming on Netflix.