Sleepy Hollow – Season 2, Episode 7 – “Deliverance” – A Lack of Creativity

 

At one point in this episode Ichabod and Abbie have broken into the Hellfire Club to get a Mcguffin Ben Franklin created to stop War and Moloch’s latest plan. Ichabod is trying passwords and Abbie yells at him to use 666 (Since the Hellfire Club is an Apocalyptic organization). It works and Ichabod calls it a lack of creativity. That pretty much sums up this episode. Contrived, lacking creativity and shoe-horning in the Redemption theme when it should not apply to Abraham or Henry at this point. I’ll get into what I mean in the assessment, but this is my least favorite episode so far this season.

The episode was written by Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves and directed by Nick Copus.

The episode picks up where were left off with the poison spider  going inside of Katrina and impregnating her. War arrives with the Hellfire Club on orders of Moloch and Abarham the Headless Horseman fights him to protect her. She escapes and meets up with Abbie and Ichabod who rescue her from the hospital and the story unfolds from there as we learn she’s been impregnated with Moloch.

Here is the assessment of the episode:

The Pros: Henry Parish / Horseman of War – He always wins, even when he loses and they better not redeem this character. He chooses Moloch again and again. He impregnated his Mom with Moloch knowing she’d die, he set the Weeping Lady on her and he buried his father alive. This character doesn’t care about redemption, so let him be a villain. We see his power in action as when the pregnancy is stopped by the plot Mcguffin he gets red mist that might be Moloch’s essence. He also has a good moment tormenting Ichabod where he tells him chooses Moloch and care nothing for his parents.

Detective Irving – Small role but he asks to talk to Henry so that Ichabod can talk to him.

Ichabod in the Modern World – Ichabod in the modern world is great…from his anger at low voter turnout to “Wanting to Internet.” His modern antics and phrases make this episode enjoyable, as the character was hit with the stupid stick.

Abbie Mills – Abbie is the one character who gets it and I hope she kills Henry since Katrina and Ichabod are holding out for his redemption. They are so blinded by their love they ignore all the ways he has harmed them and others. Abbie is the only one who gets it because of how Moloch hurt her and Jenny…and Henry serves Moloch. Sadly she is a support character in this episode and Ichabod is the the one who does all the saving. We see her use the Police Force though to take out the Hellfire Club and helps Crane get an identity as as a Criminal Profiler as well as earning Reyes respect for taking out the Hellfire Club.

The Headless Horseman / Horseman of Death / Abraham – This guy is a great villain. He loves Katrina and he fights for her against Henry and the Hellfire Club before Henry finally defeats him with sunlight a few times. He isn’t loyal to Moloch as an end all be all, he cares much more about being with Katrina. This makes him compelling and I’d like to see him more an an enemy and complex antagonist.

The Cons: Moloch the Demon Baby – Really? His plan was to impregnate Katrina to get into the world? What a silly idea. Way to turn Katrina into a plot device (Though she’s been that quite a bit already). Also Ben Franklin defeats him using a device he created that Ichabod uses that recreates the Northern Lights. Yup, what a stupid contrived plot.

Ben Franklin Has All the Answers – This needs to stop. Franklin is all powerful at this point at giving our heroes out against Moloch’s and Henry’s plots. The fact that it was predicted that when he was brought up the baddies would be stopped shows how overused this plot device is now. Purgatory Key, Kindred and now this…Did not like.

No Jenny – Abbie was going to raise an army to fight the Hellfire club and didn’t bring her sister. She should have been around, at least as backup in case Henry pulled something.

Katrina and Ichabod – This episode was all about them, and worse for it. Katrina was in a permanent place of needing to be rescued, Ichabod was angry and jealous of Abraham and they both insist that Henry can be saved, where if he is this season it would kill the show for me. He has no desire to be saved and loves being inhuman. They need to face that given all the crap he’s pulled on them. Both of these two are destroying the plot in their need to redeem Henry and denial of who and what he is.

Final Score: 4 / 10. Looked good but plot issues brought it down a lot. Worst episode of “Sleepy Hollow” so far this season and maybe overall after I rewatch Season 1.

Sleepy Hollow – Season 1, Episode 3 – “The Root of All Evil” – War the Strategist

We continue our review of “Sleepy Hollow,” with the third episode of the season, “The Root of All Evil.” This episode is great at showing us more how War’s mind works and how he seeks to isolate Abbie and Ichabod from their allies while causing turmoil in Sleepy Hollow.

The episode was written by Melissa Blake and Donald Todd and directed by Jeffrey Hunt.

The premise is that War has brought a coin that can cause people to betray their cause and family. It is a coin that turned Judas and the coin that turned Benedict Arnold and now it’s in Sleepy Hollow. It is here we see him first try it out and later use it to hurt Sleepy Hollow at the core when it is given to Jenny after we find out that the new sheriff put her and Abbie’s mother in the mental institute. From here the story unfolds.

Here is the assessment of the episode:

The Pros: Katrina – We only see her for a little while but she is using her position to turn the Horsemen against one another as Death feels angry at having to stay hidden and has to be told to “Take it up with Moloch.” As to why he’s not being used. We see that she is still torn over her feelings over Henry though and points out to the Headless Horseman that Henry is still connected to her since he chose to stay at the home he was born in.

Jenny – This is a great Jenny episode! We see her hatred towards War and the Sheriff for how she put their mother into an asylum. War as Henry takes advantage of this and gets her the coin and it is only through her friend Nick Hawley, Abbie talking her down and Ichabod that prevent her from shooting the sheriff.

Ichabod Crane – From his friendship with Benedict Arnold and us learning through him that Benedict was a victim of dark magic, his issues with Nick Hawley whose ego is just as great as Ichabod’s and the Sheriff asking him for evidence of his existence…Ichabod has a lot going on as well as Abbie bringing up that Katrina chose to stay with the Horseman of Death and that she is the wife of the Horseman of War so she doesn’t trust Katrina for when it comes down to having to face War. Ichabod still has all this sinking in, but it’s new information…and he’s called out “letting” Katrina stay with the Horseman of Death. We see him visit Detective Irving secretly in the asylum too and warn him that the safest place for him may be staying if War is his lawyer trying to get him out. Leaving Detective Irving once more with a dilemma.

Abbie – Abbie is fantastic in this episode! We see her call Ichabod out on his bias towards his wife, we see her talk Jenny down on killing the sheriff so they can find the truth and she is active throughout the entire episode, eventually getting her mother’s file and finding out demons were haunting her mother and that she always regretted not being able to raise Abbie and Jenny.

Detective Reyes – We see more complexity in her character when she gives Abbie the file on her mother after she asks Abbie why Abbie hacked her account. We see that she does care a lot for them and is in  difficult situation. It is great seeing her by the book approach cause trouble though since Ichabod has no files of his existence and Henry is active in Sleepy Hollow.

Detective Irving – Is secretly visited by Ichabod who tells him of War keeping Abbie and him from the Detective and that he best stay in there if he wants to stay safe since War can’t have good designs on him. We see him left conflicted after since he’s been a prisoner for a while now and wants to live again, even if he desires to protect Sleepy Hollow.

The Horseman of War / Henry Parish – Henry is a lawyer and we see him using that to get the coin to turn Jenny against the sheriff and use his position as a lawyer to play with Ichabod. “Aren’t you proud your son became a lawyer father?” He has great designs and we see he’s designed a board of Sleepy Hollow where he marks the bombing by one of the people who the coin changed. It is for this reason and the fact that he won at the end of Season 1 that he is the one to be most feared at this point. Death is a warrior and Moloch is a force of nature kept beyond the vale…War is a complex reality.

Okay: Nick Hawley – Not a bad guest star and character, but he vanishes after he catches the coin in Holy Glass, so we still don’t know where his allegiance is and he was most wit, not so much character there. We never got his motivation beyond money. Wasn’t bad, just wasn’t given much.

This was a solidly great episode and one of my favorites. I’d highly recommend it for how it explores War, Abbie and Jenny and that it makes Detective Reyes more than just an antagonist. She is one of the good guys shown by War trying to get Jenny to kill her. This gives me hope for what is it come, though I would not mind her or Irving become one of the other 2 Horsemen.

Final Score: 9.6 / 10. Not perfect because Nick Hawley wasn’t fully explored as a character.

Sleepy Hollow – Season 2, Episode 2 – “Kindred” – To Fight Fire With Fire

 

We continue our review of “Sleepy Hollow,” with the 2nd episode of the 2nd Season, “Kindred.” This episode gives us more of the relationship between the Horsemen and also shows how far Ichabod is willing to go for the people he loves.

“The Kindred” was directed by Paul Edwards and written by Mark Goffman and Albert Kim.

The premise of the episode is that in the books they found in the archives Abbie and Ichabod discovered how to raise the Kindrid, an undead soldier created by Benjamin Franklin who only needs a part of the Headless Horseman (They have his head) to raise him to fight for them. Around this time the new Sheriff has arrived and soon arrests Jenny when she’s found with the weapons they’d be taking when they rise the Kindred. From the story unfolds.

Here is the assessment of the episode:

The Pros: Ichabod Crane – This is usually a given but he is once again the main drive of the story and gets a lot of good exploration in this episode. As Abbie brings up, “Maybe Katrina is your weak point, just like my sister is mine.” This vulnerability is also why he chooses to face the Horseman of Death, the Headless Horseman Abraham rather than his son Henry. We also witness him willing to raise the Kindrid (an undead monstrosity made of soldiers) to take on the Horsemen. We see how connected Abbie and he have become and also get a great comedic moment when he takes down the banking system for helping make society a culture of debtors.

Abbie Mills – Much like a companion on “Doctor Who,” except in this case with a more equal footing, Abbie is there to call Ichabod out and fight the Horsemen with him. We see how things have gotten tense with her sister again as her sister was put in prison for what they all were doing to try and raise the Kindrid. She’s worried about disappointing her sister again, losing her job once the new Police Chief finds out what she’s doing and of course failing everything.

Jenny Mills – Takes the fall for Ichabod and Abbie and ends up in prison by the new police chief. We see how the 13 years of her being locked up has made it difficult for her to trust as when Abbie tells her to wait, she says not to take so long this time.

Abraham / Headless Horseman / Horseman of Death – We see Abraham is more complicated than he appears as he calls out Katrina on how Ichabod got Abbie out of Purgatory in a day versus how long she had to suffer there and that he wants her to love him of her own free will. She eventually convinces him to wait trying to force things for this reason and we see the human side of the Headless Horsemen and the potential he has to change too.

Henry Parish / Horseman of War – War is the current leader and antagonist we interact with this season it’s looking like, much like Death was last season. He continues to be one of the best characters on the show as he calls out Katrina on her hope for him and the fact he is soulless and cares nothing for her and Ichabod and also calling out Death saying they need to act and continue their plans to bring back Moloch. He sends his avatar in the battle against the Kindrid before giving Detective Irving a visit.

Detective Irving – Orlando Jones is great again in his interactions with the new chief who plans to send him to the psych. ward for his confession and give him the worst treatment since she sees him as a threat and liar and later we see him sign a contract accidentally in his own blood when War as Henry Parish comes as the Lawyer his wife recommended. Things are not looking good for Detective Irving at this point.

The Kindrid – The Head of the Horseman of Death on a soldiers body…it is a great design and it was wonderful to see that the most he can do is stall them. He isn’t an unstoppable force but does give Abbie and Ichabod a new tool to fight.

Katrina – Katrina becomes a mole for Ichabod and Abbie when she sees the Horsemen plotting to raise Moloch again but we’re left wondering about her confession as Abraham pointing out how long she waited for Ichabod hits a nerve. At this point she could go either way given how complicated Abraham is becoming. I like this given she is a powerful character getting to make her own choices.

Okay: Detective Reyes – Played by “House of Cards” Sakina Jaffrey, Detective Reyes is the new sheriff in town who is skeptical about all that has happened and blames it on the cartels. She is mostly antagonistic and we don’t fully get why as most of her tender moments are with Abbie since she knew Abbie’s mother. She isn’t bad but so far she’s pretty one note. Hopefully she gets developed the way Orlando Jones as Detective Irving was. For now she’s just potential.

This was a great episode that continues “Sleepy Hollow’s” mythos (the Kindrid) and quality as characters are explored and the weaknesses of characters are revealed. Katrina is Abraham’s and Ichabod’s weakness, Jenny is Abbie’s weakness and so far War’s weakness remains  a mystery. This is good since it gives us more to explore in regards to his character.

Final Score: 9 / 10. Solidly great, just a rough start for Sakina Jaffrey as Detective Reyes.