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Sleepy Hollow: The Indispensable Man

Abbie: "You and I have seen a lot of crazy stuff, but zombie George Washington? That takes the cake."

Lots of set-up for utter tragedy, betrayal and possibly Armageddon. Will Ichabod end up giving Abbie's soul to Moloch, after all? Even more importantly, will Ichabod ever learn to use a cell phone?

How incredibly cool that they created a faux Egyptian secret tomb for George Washington, the indispensable man and presidential zombie. It was so delightfully Raiders of the Lost Ark crossed with The DaVinci Code that I couldn't help smiling. How did they create such a thing without a zillion workers gossiping about it? Magic? What a nice detail that the Masonic symbol for ascension got them out, too.

The entire first season has featured the strong, calm partnership between Ichabod and Abbie, despite their rafts of differences. This was the first time that they disagreed on something major. Obviously, Ichabod wants to rescue his wife from Purgatory, but Abbie was asking the hard questions: does Katrina come first over saving the world from the apocalypse? Haven't things changed in a couple of hundred years? What if the whole thing is wrong and the map should stay buried?

I believe Ichabod meant it when he burned the map. Abbie does mean a great deal to him, enough that he put her opinion before his love for Katrina — at first. But I of course (as we were meant to) remembered that he has a photographic memory. Maybe he didn't mean to deceive Abbie, but just couldn't help himself after he thought about it for awhile. That last shot of him crying as he re-drew the map was quite effective. God, I love this guy.

I was pleased that they brought back Henry Parrish, our favorite sin eater, but then I kept thinking he was going to bite the dust, especially when those prayer beads were eating into his hand. Fortunately, no. Although the season finale is still to come, and characters we like have a tendency to bite it during season finales. Fingers crossed.

I was also worried about Andy Brooks. I can't help liking Andy, and that's undoubtedly because of the likability and acting skills of John Cho. And now he's a buried alive demon. Poor Andy.

And wow, poor Frank. I completely understand why he turned himself in after his boss ordered the DNA test on Macey. At least he didn't die. Oh, yeah, but season finale in a few minutes. Fingers crossed. I really, really like Frank.

Bits and pieces:

-- This week's man-out-of-time stuff: Ichabod and his rants about his cell phone were so amusing.

-- John Cho getting cocooned was super creepy. So were the blue exploding demons.

-- Extra verses in the story of Lazarus. I love stuff like that.

-- Frank and his boss almost talked about Morales. What happened to Morales?

-- George Washington thought that power should only be given to those who want it least. Obviously, Ichabod and Abbie to a T.

-- Interesting little discussion about the Manhattan Project and the end of the World War.

-- Ichabod called Katrina "the guardian of my soul." That's deeply romantic. Maybe when we finally spend some time with her, she'll turn out to be cool.

Quotes:

Ichabod's voice mail: "Good day. This is Captain Ichabod Crane, Esquire. If you will be so kind, please leave your name, rank and an address where I may reach you, and I will return this correspondence in a timely manner. And now what do I press? Pound? What's pound?"

Ichabod: (reading text) "On my way. Colon, close parentheses. Oh, it's a man's face. I suppose that's… charming."

Ichabod: "I'm not blaming you, Lieutenant. It's these telecommunication companies overwhelming the populace with their ostentatious advertisements. They're coercing the consumer into purchasing countless 'system updates.' It's an abuse of capitalism and certainly not the vision behind our laissez-faire market."

Abbie: "It still feels weird, tampering with a Bible."
Ichabod: "Thomas Jefferson took a scalpel to his copy of the gospels."
I bet he did. Jefferson was an interesting guy.

Ichabod: "Remarkable stitching. An old flame of mine was a seamstress. She'd be most impressed."
Abbie: "Who'd you date? Betsy Ross?"
Ichabod: "How did you know that?"

Henry: "I can cross 'fighting a demon' from my bucket list."

Ichabod: "Many a mickle makes a muckle."

Ichabod: "Infuriating. I can't get maps app to triangulate. Oh, but I can still receive updates from your so-called social network. And how is it that you have five hundred friends? I had only seven close companions. Four of them died. Those were good odds."
Abbie: "We use the term 'friend' more loosely these days."
Ichabod: "Aristotle would be most unimpressed."
Abbie: "Yeah, well, he's dead, too."

Abbie: "That rock in the clearing, would that be your Masonic marker?"
Ichabod: "Does an alderman have an unwarranted self-regard?"

Abbie: "Nice teeth."
Ichabod: "Gold, ivory and lead. They were the envy of every man in Virginia. I'm not sure how Martha felt about them."

Abbie: "Crane, how positive are you about this pyramid being booby-trapped?"
Ichabod: "Seventy percent. Sixty. Well, no, sixty-five?"

More in my review of the finale, which will be going up shortly,

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

3 comments:

  1. I don't know if it was specifically a scalpel, but Jefferson edited his bible to remove a lot of, if not all, the miracles. You can buy a version of the Jefferson bible online. :)

    Ichabod was so cute about phones. It's such a modern thing. You know phone companies are manipulating you into wanting something basically no better than what you have, but you still want the new thing!! Ugh Tom Mison makes these bits so freaking cute. Reading the emoticon was precious too.

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  2. The scene where Crane "chooses" Abbie was so lovely and sweet, but somehow I knew he wouldn't be able to stand by what he said.

    Watching him wrestle with his conscience was tough. I do hope Katrina is worth all this angst...

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  3. I couldn't help smiling at the DaVinci Code vibe, too. Although in retrospect, it does feel like a strange counterpart to the tragedy (Irving) and betrayal (Ichabod and that damn eidetic memory) at the end.

    What I really liked about this one is that the writers let Abbie smartly and strongly argue with Ichabod about making the sacrifice for the greater good, and they then let Ichabod's decision to recreate the map come not from plot-based stupidity, but from a real character-based need to not give up on his lost love. Yea, progress!

    Poor John Cho. He can come back, right? I'm guessing Moloch can just resurrect him again when he wants to. Broken neck and stabbed through the head didn't finish him off, so crushed by rocks may just leave him in a temporary holding pattern. Right? I know he's evil and all, but he's just so darn likable, too.

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