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Sleepy Hollow: Root of All Evil

Henry: "Your son's a lawyer. You must be very proud."

This week: An explanation for Benedict Arnold's treachery, and Ichabod Crane talks about Glee.

New character Nick Hawley is tall, blond, observant, rascally, materialistic and deceptive: what's not to like? He reminds me of someone, another actor or character, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Any suggestions? At any rate, I particularly liked how he came up with fake ID for Ichabod, and how he decided to go for the whole set of Tyrian shekels instead of just one. Although maybe he wanted to cover for his decision not to put the coin out there in the world to hurt someone else. Maybe.

I am also very much enjoying the way Sleepy Hollow keeps twisting history to suit the story, much like my absolute favorite Highlander episode.  Poor Benedict Arnold. Just a handy victim of the supernatural. I'm going to mention the plot resemblance to the Indian head penny in Supernatural's "Southern Comfort," and move on.

And here is the Ichabbie section of my review. Was there a two-way jealousy vibe going on? Ichabod was noticeably annoyed with Abbie's interest in making a new ally out of Nick Hawley, and it might have had something to do with Ichabod feeling threatened by Hawley's rakish blond hair and big blue eyes. And Abbie was unable to hide her discomfort with Katrina's hold on Ichabod, and Ichabod's refusal to see Katrina in anything but a positive light. Abbie thinks Katrina won't be able to betray Henry. Possibly a good point, and especially interesting considering the Mama Mills plotline in this episode. It does seem obvious that Katrina is hanging around with Bram entirely for Henry's sake.

Is Henry developing his own version of an Oedipus complex? His precinct exchange with Ichabod, who should not have been telling Henry about their plan to outwit him, was quite antagonistic. ("Are you going to take me down to the fishing hole?") But at Bram's, Henry couldn't keep his eyes off Katrina. And Henry just moved into Fredericks Manor, the house where he was born. Why would he do that if he weren't drawn in some way to his mother? So okay, he set fire to the bed, but that was just a bit of Horseman play.

Henry seems to be three steps ahead of Ichabod and Abbie, and John Noble, the chief reason I watched five seasons of Fringe, is doing such a delightful job with Henry's latest incarnation as a mischievous lawyer. What's up with the huge model of Sleepy Hollow? There must be a mystical reason. Dan thought it was because Henry is the Horseman of War and he's plotting strategy like you would with toy soldiers on a battlefield model. That works.

Ichabod did outwit Henry and finally got to Frank Irving, but if Frank already signed something in blood, I'm thinking it's too late. At least Frank knows who his lawyer really is now.

This photo is crying out for a caption. I can't think of a good one.

The rest of this episode was about Sheriff Reyes continuing to make our heroes miserable. She even started the episode by comparing Jenny to a disobedient dog. Jenny's fight with Abbie about their mother, kidnapping, foster care, and Tarrytown Psychiatric felt like this huge set-up where Jenny would become possessed by the coin and try to kill Abbie, but no. I was actually sort of hoping that Jenny would take out Reyes, but then again, Jenny doesn't need any more grief in her life.

At least it was nice that Reyes gave Abbie her mother's Tarrytown Psych file. Or was it nice? Maybe Reyes has a hidden agenda. Of course she does. Everyone does. We're getting clue anvils that Mama Mills is about to show up, even though she committed suicide in Tarrytown Psychiatric to protect her two daughters from demons. Maybe she has a dollhouse in Purgatory of her very own.

Bits and pieces:

-- Ichabod is just too conspicuous. The receptionist at Tarrytown Psychiatric thought he was a patient, and his coat just keeps getting more and more bedraggled. Maybe they should put him back in those skinny jeans.

-- Ichabod said that the man on the Sam Adams beer bottle wasn't Adams, it was Paul Revere. He was right.

-- Colonial counterfeiters were called "shovers." Live and learn.

-- The confession scene was very cute, but I wanted it to be longer. "So many things. My son abhors me, my wife is living with another man…"

-- Sleepy Hollow Savings & Loan. Stuff like that sounds like it belongs in Bedford Falls. Is there no Bank of America in Sleepy Hollow?

-- Loved the flaming rose flying through the air after the explosion in the flower shop. Poor guy.

-- Ichabod compared Sheriff Reyes to George III. Abbie covered for Jenny this time, breaking into Reyes' files.

-- I thought Nicole Beharie and Lyndie Greenwood did a particularly good job in their two sisterly fight scenes. Especially Nicole Beharie, whom I like more with every episode.

-- Mama Mills' full name is Lori Mills.

-- Because I can, I transcribed Henry's business card. Who's Cipher? The Horseman of Death? Or is it just Henry being cute?
Henry Parish
Parish and Cipher, P.A. Attorneys at Law
Florence Corporate Center
616 Winshow Place
Tarrytown, New York 10591
Office (914) 555-0129 Fax (914) 555-0186
www.parishandcipher.web
hparish@parishandcipher.web

-- [Note from later: Oddly, John Noble's character name was spelled with one R here, but later, the IMDb entry included a second R, "Parrish." I have dutifully changed all instances of "Parish" to "Parrish."]

Quotes:

Ichabod: "Confounding. Henry Parrish assumes the mantle of War, and when he emerges, it is not as a raging colossus, but as an attorney."

(Two men in a restaurant window are holding hands)
Ichabod: "Is that considered acceptable now?"
Abbie: "Oh. Lots of attitudes have changed since your days. Not everyone's, but the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional rights of same sex couples, and more and more states are legalizing gay marriage."
Ichabod: "I meant gentlemen wearing hats indoors. I know about homosexuals, thank you. I trained under Baron Von Steuben. His affections for his own sex were well known. Also, I watched the finale of Glee."

Ichabod: "Wait, wait. Did you see that? Unspool it."

Jenny: "You two go ahead and stop the Apocalypse. I'll be hosing graffiti off the wall."

Ichabod: "I am aware of the habits of game birds, thank you. I was trained to hunt by an Abenaki warrior."
Hawley: "Since there haven't been any Abenaki Indians in this state in a couple of hundred years, it might be time to increase your meds."

Abbie: "Even without an evil coin, telling the friends from the enemies gets harder all the time."
Ichabod: "Which is why we so appreciated the British wearing bright red coats."

Ichabod: "Do you believe I should not have allowed her to remain with the Horseman?"
Abbie: "Allowed her? She's one, a grown woman; two, a witch; and three, a redhead. You couldn't have stopped her if you tried."

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. Sleepy Hollow is as cool as it was last year – at least so far. Three out of four distracting confessions,

Billie
---
Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

9 comments:

  1. I don't know if it's what you're thinking, but I get a bit of a Sawyer vibe from Hawley. He also reminds me a little of Alaric.

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  2. He kinda looks like the blond dude from NCIS LA maybe?

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  3. Okay, now I've watched the whole episode, and the Riley impression went away. (In that first scene, he really did carry himself like Riley.) I'm voting for Sawyer.

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  4. Yeah, I'd go with Sawyer more than Riley, with a touch of Han Solo. But blonder.

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  5. But can he render a smirk like Sawyer, and say "son of a bitch" like him. That will be the true test of his similitude. (Sorry. Ichabod-speak is wearing off on me I very much fear).

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  6. Milostanfield, count yourself as fortunate. I keep talking like Selfie's Eliza Dooley. It's...not pretty.

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  7. I don't know why, but the idea of Crane watching Glee fills me with... well, glee. That entire exchange made me smile.

    I like Nick Hawley and believe that he will make an interesting addition to the team. My resemblance vote goes to Sawyer. Same charm and surfer good looks.

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  8. John Noble was indeed delightful this week. So gleefully evil! And I had to laugh at how they rewrote Benedict Arnold's turn as part of the secret occult history and directly linked it to Judas. Because, of course!

    Abbie trying to talk Jenny down was the highlight of the hour for me. I agree that Nicole Beharie, in particular, was really fantastic. She makes Abbie a very compelling and complex leading lady. I love her combination of strength and vulnerability. She's quickly become my modern day Scully.
    Which probably contributes to my anti-shipper stance :)

    On that note: I really don't think Ichabod's reaction to Hawley had anything to do with jealousy. Just trust. He keyed in on the guy's "privateer" qualities pretty quickly. I was a little concerned they were going with romantic jealousy on the Abbie-Katrina front, so I was relieved when that turned out to be a trust issue, too. Her concerns about Katrina being willing to betray Henry are very valid and, as you note, quite interesting, given Abbie's history with her mother.

    I can see Hawley as a poor man's Sawyer. A very poor man. The character has the roguish mercenary quality, but he's seriously lacking in Josh Holloway's innate charm and charisma. Right now, he's just "slightly less bland" blonde dude to me.

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