Our Bond Cannot Be Broken
They’re baaacck. Just as I was lamenting the opportunity to review Sleepy Hollow, the show returned to rescue me. My months of deprivation have ended. Yes, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and the show is back in fine form. Abbie is bold, strong, taking the lead. Innuendo abounds. The story moves. And we get an angel. What’s not to love?
As if from a deep slumber, like Ichabod, we awaken from a mid-series break to an opening scene that looks suspiciously like a dream. The first person Ichabod touches is Abbie, then his wife. Moloch is dead. Is this real? Six weeks later, Abbie and Ichabod are shopping together, a Couple Activity if there ever was one. Let me pause here. SIX WEEKS LATER. What happens in that six weeks?? Big gaps in time, dreamlike opening scenes. Just saying. Ichabod realizes how lost and purposeless he is without the Darkness. When it comes to discussing Katrina, Abbie can pour salt in the wound when she wants to: “She spends more time with her greatest enemy than with you.” She says it wistfully, with innocence, but there’s an edge and an ulterior motive hidden in there. Seems like our girl is cleverly creating a wedge now that Ichabod is living on a makeshift bed instead of at the cabin with his wife. She knows an opportunity when she sees it.
And then, before the credits, we are treated to red-eyed apocalyptic demons, a winged halo-throwing angelic host in black and our gun toting dynamic duo! Meanwhile, Katrina is doing the bondage thing again, this time with the blonde headed Horseman in chains as she seeks a way to transform him back to human. Then what, Katrina? What plans do you have for him then?
Back to our fearless duo, the angel, Orion, tells them he’s one of the few angels who is devoted to fighting evil and has escaped from purgatory after being locked away there for 200 years. Let’s not assume Moloch locked him there. He might be there on a directive from on high for conduct most unbecoming.
When alone with Orion, Abbie asks some pretty lame questions. She seems so much more sophisticated after all she’s seen than to ask an angel “was the world really created in seven days?” and “what’s he like, if he’s a he and not a she?” And she doesn’t get it when the angel tells her All that is, is All that is?? He ends up giving her a mini halo weapon charm for her to call him when she needs him. Looks like a tracking device to me. Why don’t I trust him? Perhaps because he’s a super righteous, angry angel dressed in black, with black wings and weird eyes??
Katrina tells her husband that she wants their love to bring back the Headless Horseman. Ohhhh-kay. I think I see the wheels turning for Ichabod that this will reintroduce Abraham once again as a flesh and blood rival for her affections. Ichabod may sometimes be a little slow on the uptake, but he’s not a complete idiot. He stalls.
Orion has other ideas about Abraham. He’s bent on destroying him in a very It’s My Mission kind of way. Yeah, he’s no good. Further giving in to her soft spot for Abraham, Katrina lets the Headless Horseman go so she can attempt his transformation to mortal. Meanwhile, in a local bar, Abbie’s sister, Jenny, is looking more beautiful and wearing a leather skirt, which means Hawley is on the horizon to thwart any suitors and offer up an ancient Sumerian demon tracking device so he can learn that the Horseman is with the demons. (This show knows how to kill two birds with one stone.) And what is the Horseman doing after Katrina freed him and made him promise not to hurt anyone while she tries to fix him back to normal? He’s hanging with demons and reforging his mighty axe, of course.
Ichabod’s ever sharpening research skills reveal that Orion’s appearance has historically presaged really major disasters and plagues. Then Orion tips his hand to Abbie, who he thinks shows good character, and tells her he will bring a great judgement to mankind, and use his blade to cleanse our wickedness. (Well, someone’s gotta do it.) Angel battles Horseman. Ichabod and Abbie battle demons. It’s ON. Abbie distracts Orion, Ichabod destroys his weapon, thereby saving his friend (and rival), Abraham. Orion flies off.
I always wonder…why the cumbersome wings? If the giant bird wings are literal and real, why the ability to make them come and go on command without the ability to make them look different? Why not appear in another way, like with sleek, retractable metal wings? But I quibble.
Ichabod also shows backbone in this episode when he faces Katrina, “We share a mission, but we also chose to share a life together. You simply used our marriage as a bargaining tool…We must redefine our marriage.” Katrina wants to start today. Ichabod is like, uh no. On my terms, in my time. And this, ironically, becomes the sexiest moment to date between the couple. ALWAYS better when you let the characters fight the magic before it subsumes them. It works for Abbie and Ichabod, and a real husband/wife relationship and attraction gives Abbie something to fight for, even if it’s subconsciously or on the sly.
Nice treat: the Captain arrives, albeit looking a little worse for wear. Oh shit. I just realized what’s up with that and why he asked, “Is this Heaven or Hell?” And I thought we were rid of…I’ll hold that one back.
My Pet Peeves:
Shots turned upside down suggesting a topsy turvy world where what you think is real or good, isn’t! Gives me nausea.
The cursory Hawley In/Hawley Out moments. He still doesn’t feel like a full character.
My Favorite Moments:
“Witnesses represent.”
Abbie calls angel Orion a zealot.
Ichabod growing a set with his wife.
The preview for next week’s ep looks promising. I think the show is really getting back into its groove. The ethnic diversity is re-establishing itself. Abbie and Ichabod are making strong choices as co-Witnesses. Passion and love intrigue are in the air. Jealousy is asserting itself as a core issue. Now sit back, and enjoy the rest of the season.
