Sabrina laments how boring her life has been lately, and years for more excitement. At the suggestion of Aunt Hilda, she opens a magical Can of Worms to make her life more like a Soap Opera. Soon, plot twists, catfights and ham acting ensue.
Tropes:
- Air-Vent Passageway: Jenny intends to spray Libby with red paint from the air vents above the stage. She doesn't get that far, but her falling out of the vent helps Sabrina find her lost bracelet.
- Artistic License – Law: A bracelet with a time inscribed on it would not be the deciding factor in an alibi, not that the in-universe soap would care.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Sabrina wants to reverse the spell when things get too exciting for her.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Any characters stung by wasps naturally don't have any swelling or anything that would detract from their looks. Janitor Stone just has some strategically placed spots of cream at the end.
- Betty and Veronica: A love triangle forms between Mr Pool as the down-to-earth everyman, and the janitor Stone as the dangerous bad boy.
- Call-Back: Salem early on suggests Sabrina try 'lint spotting' with him if she wants more excitement in her life. The Stinger has her trying it, getting very into it, and Salem telling her to get out more.
- Cat Fight: Naturally, the plot climaxes with Sabrina and Libby catfighting in the fountain.
- Chekhov's Boomerang: The wasp nest first functions as a way to get Libby in the nurse's office so she can brainwash Harvey when he ends up there. It comes back into play when wasps attack Jenny in the air vents, and her fall reveals the lost bracelet. It shows up one more time to interrupt Mr Pool's proposal when Janitor Stone is attacked (and Nancy falls in love with him).
- Chekhov's Gun: The bracelet Harvey gives Sabrina, with the time 12:36 inscribed on it is both what exonerates her from stealing Mr Pool's ring and jogs Harvey's memory.
- Continuity Nod: The bracelet Harvey gives Sabrina references their first meeting in the pilot. Sabrina then says "you hit me in the head with a football". Harvey doesn't acknowledge this, as Sabrina had time reset, so only she would remember that detail.
- Convenient Coma: Pops the janitor collapsing and going into a coma kicks off the first plot twist.
- Daytime Drama Queen: Aunt Hilda is obsessed with Burden of Desire and naturally has to keep Sabrina up to date.
- Demoted to Extra: Salem doesn't have a role in the in-universe soap, only appearing in two scenes before and after the spell is cast.
- The Dragon: Cee Cee is absent from this episode, so Jill is the one helping Libby steal from Mr Pool. This makes her a Beta Bitch too.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Downplayed but leaning towards a subversion. Libby making Harvey believe she's his girlfriend, and trying to make him kiss her on stage is used to sell her as evil. However, the emphasis is still more on Sabrina's feelings.
- Easy Amnesia: Harvey takes a ladder to the head and has no memory of who he is, allowing Libby to convince him she's his girlfriend. Once he sees the bracelet he gave Sabrina, it allows him to remember everything.
- Eyepatch of Power: Janitor Stone wouldn't be a soap opera bad boy without one.
- Fainting: Libby does a dramatic faint after getting stung by a wasp, also conveniently tottering a few steps to the left so she can fall into Harvey's arms.
- Gag Haircut: The prologue has Sabrina convincing Salem to dye his fur by magic. She makes a mistake and removes all of it!
- Gaslighting: Libby makes Harvey think he can only trust her.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: Invoked. Mr Pool announces that the class will be studying reproduction. It then cuts to the end of the class like a daytime soap that wouldn't be able to show or say much more due to its timeslot.
- Hollywood Healing: Well it wouldn't be a soap opera parody without it...
- Harvey gets hit in the head with a ladder and only gets Easy Amnesia.
- Libby gets stung by a wasp, faints and is cured with one injection.
- Jenny falls from the air vents but is fine because "my hair broke my fall".
- Hospital Hottie: Nurse Nancy is a beautiful blonde in a skimpy nurse outfit, and is courted by Mr Pool.
- Intimate Open Shirt: Janitor Stone wears his shirt open like this to sell himself as the Mr. Fanservice.
- It's All About Me: Pops the janitor flatlines while Libby is in the room. She whines about the noise and whacks him with a pillow.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Once Harvey regains his memories, Libby ends up humiliated in front of everyone, and even dropped as a Drake model for starting a fight.
- Luke, You Are My Father: Detective Kenneth discovers his long-lost sister as the fashion show host.
- Pass the Popcorn: Upon hearing Sabrina recap the events, Hilda Squees that it's better than her soap.
- Plot Allergy: Libby becomes allergic to wasps, with Five-Second Foreshadowing before she gets stung. She's of course fine after an injection from the nurse.
- Remember the New Guy?: Nurse Nancy never appeared before, despite being Mr Pool's girlfriend, and is Put on a Bus with Janitor Stone at the end of the episode.
- Running Gag: Nurse Nancy is constantly going for a cold compress.Libby: "Is that all you do?"Nancy: My hands are tied by the state.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Invoked by Zelda, who poofs Sabrina into a splendid evening gown before the confrontation with Libby because "first, you have to look fabulous".
- Shout-Out:
- The title is one to the soap As the World Turns.
- During the catfight, Libby calls Sabrina a "super freak" and gets called a "super tramp" in response. "Super Freak" is a song by Rick James, and Supertramp is of course a rock band.
- Jenny plans to spray Libby with red paint from the air vents, likely as a nod to Carrie.
- Soap Within a Show: Aunt Hilda watches the soap Burden of Desire.
- Stylistic Suck: The acting and stunts (not to mention the plot twists) are as cheesy and melodramatic as befitting a late 90s soap opera.
- Supernatural Soap Opera: A literal example. Sabrina's life becomes a Teen Drama, but she's also still able to use her magic. She doesn't use it much however, likely because it would break the plot.
- Token Minority: Kenneth the detective and Beverly the fashion show host are the only Black characters in the episode - so naturally they turn out to be related.
- Troubled, but Cute: The janitor Stone is an attractive bad boy with a shady past, but good guy deep down.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: It's never said whether Pops the janitor wakes up from his coma.
- World of Ham: Everyone becomes much hammier and more dramatic once the Can of Worms is opened. The aunts and Salem seem to be immune.
