Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina's Lachlan Watson On Showing A Different Kind Of Queer Story

It should have been obvious, given the way Lachlan Watson views identity, that Part 1 of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina showed however one segment of their character’s gender journey.


Part 2 of the Netflix show also turned out to be Act 2 of the character's own opera, to borrow Watson’s terminology. In the next installment’s premiere episode, right after their character magically dominated basketball tryouts, he humbly came out to his companions by telling them his chosen name: “Actually guys, it's Theo now.” And that was pretty much it.


“The character is trans, through and through,” Watson told MTV News, allocating the language that was never quite verbalized, nevertheless strongly assumed. “It was interesting because I knew Theo was a trans guy … although [in the] last part, since I hadn’t come out however, each person assumed that Susie was non-binary just like me, and I couldn’t correct them.”


Watson was privy to Theo’s journey during the entirety of Part 1. They had discussed to the writers and showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa not long immediately after being cast to play a trans male character, then named Orlando, about the possibility of slowing down the transition.


“By existing and showing up and being a different person, a different identity that the writers might not have even known about before, I think in that way, I influenced Theo’s character,” they mentioned. “I showed that it was possible to just hold off a second, and to just reside in the gray area.”


Beyond his gender, over the course of the season, we also visualize that the character is an athlete, a student, the glue to his friendship categorize, along with a literal lifesaver numerous times over.


Theo’s story — a trustworthy look at what one individual might experience as they explore their gender right alongside the general balancing act that is high school in a town with a serious demon problem — is an example of what queer stories could be, if we approached them with the same thoughtfulness and care that we’ve given to straight stories forever.


Rather than Theo’s queerness being his story, his gender is used to bolster his in general character growth. In Part 2, Theo's story is one of strength and self-acceptance. As he becomes more and more comfortable in the way he presents himself, he experiences triumphs that length from his teammates’ acceptance all of the way to saving the world.


It was a marked difference from the unassertive character we had met in Part 1. “Susie didn’t really know who they were, and … the strength got a little bit lost where I ended up getting saved like four times in a row,” Watson mentioned. “What was really, really essential for me with this upcoming season was to show a powerful, strong, queer character who never has to be saved. They can, case in point, save other people.”


Part 2 starts its climax with Theo literally stopping the gates of Hell from starting, although had he not completely embraced himself earlier in the season, he might have still been stuck in his more timid state. In small although heartfelt snippets, Theo went through a series of subtle motions — things like telling his companions his name, asking his father to take him for a haircut, learning to tie a tie — to regain his confidence and, ultimately, establish his sense of self, all of which built to those more robust, adrenaline-filled scenes. Each of these smaller moments highlighted experiences several queer people can relate to and, really, show things we haven’t seen enough of on television.


One such moment was Theo coming out to his dad. The quiet scene suggested an option to the big, dramatic idea we’ve been fed before about coming out stories, as a substitute showing a truthful, open conversation between father and son that organically came up in response to his dad asking if he’d like a new dress for the school dance.


Theo, of course, advantages from Watson’s real-life experience exploring their own gender. The moment was infused with their belief that coming out doesn’t have to be “this crazy moment that has to be the most crucial of your life,” they mentioned. “To me, that has routinely categorize kind of confirmed the idea that queer folks are different, are weird, are less-than … it’s almost like an apology, that you have got to have this big sit-down intervention where you’re like, ‘I’m sorry for being who I am.’”


For themself, Watson has noticed that a simpler, more human approach is better. “It should just be a matter of letting people that matter the most to you into a new segment of your life,” they mentioned. And to continue allowing those people into your life, even if there really is an adjustment period.


We saw this play out with Theo. Any time his companions were first getting used to his name and pronouns, every so often they’d use his deadname. They’d apologize, and Theo would understand, accept it, and they’d both move on.


There are a ton of feelings surrounding being misgendered, and being that this is TV, Theo is generously bestowed with a high level of emotional maturity that, in real life, might take longer to achieve — even Watson admitted that they “grew up so afraid to correct people on pronouns” having lacked any precedent for how to correct someone. Although right now, they learn that “it’s literally the thought that counts.”


Much like Theo’s cool reaction to his friends’ inevitable slip-ups, Watson’s rule of thumb is “if you’re trying so you really care about the person enough to work on it, that’s what matters. It’s not whether or not you’re brilliant or you never disaster up.”


And then there was Episode 4, “Doctor Cerberus’s Residence of Horror,” in which a tarot reader comes to town and offers damning glimpses into each character’s future. Theo’s divination saw him stealing a potion from the Spellmans that transforms his body, giving him a muscular chest, broader shoulders, plus a deeper voice.


As Theo liked his new form in the resemble — a moment that at one time Watson could deeply relate to — the actor felt for their character. “It was this really emotional moment where I knew that that’s what the character wants,” they said.


It’s a relatable fantasy, to use magic to be seen the way you hope to be seen, however it's not real life. And for several, physical changes are not realistically attainable by surgical means either. What it really comes down to is finding it within yourself to resist gender normativity or any notion that you “should” look any certain way.


That’s the realization that Theo has by the end of Part 2. In Episode 8, right before his most pronounced heroics of the season, Theo has an exchange with Sabrina — or rather, who he thinks is Sabrina, yet is actually her mandrake double — that Watson called, “a rebellion against the system.”


In the scene, mandrake-Sabrina offers to change him into a boy. “I already am a boy,” Theo replied. As she persisted, he clarified twice, with increasing anger, saying, “I already visualize myself as a real boy,” and “I don’t need to change my body to feel like a boy.”


As Watson noted, “The world categorize kind of puts you down and tells you that you’re not good enough and that you've got to look this way and also you need to be this way, and the moment that somebody says, ‘No, I am enough for myself,’ is seen as a revolutionary act.’”


That revolution is the epitome of Theo’s internal strength. It’s if he finally verbalizes the lesson we all need to reach at some point in our lives group in attempt to move past our insecurities, love ourselves, and truly grow into the person we we'll to be. That’s really what this whole story comes down to: That you are who you know you are, not who people visualize you as, and whenever you are enough for you, then you are enough for the world.


“It’s a story that just plain and simple doesn’t get told — that you could be enough for yourself,” Watson reflected. “It’s cool that even by means of the queer lens of Theo, we get to tell a story that affects everyone.”


And just like that, a queer story becomes, well, a story.