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Sleepy Hollow: Incident at Stone Manor

"I now live in a world where gargoyles might come alive."

I haven't been thrilled with Sleepy Hollow lately, But surprise, I liked this one a lot.

And I'm sure you can guess why. Lots of Ichabbie! Yes, I ship them and honestly, I thought we were going to get some physical passion between them at the end there, not just an adorable clasping of hands and a chess joke. Although I loved the adorable clasping of hands and the chess joke.

Romantic situation number one: Ichabod used a spirit cabinet and astral projection in order to find Abbie in the "Catacombs," which he did. Romantic situation number two, Abbie had spent her entire ten months of imprisonment talking to and playing chess with an imaginary Ichabod. Lovely. Romantic situation number three, and the very best one: when Abbie found the Betsy-Ross-related exit, she managed to bring Ichabod's detached astral spirit with her because of their deep connection as the two Witnesses. He heard her voice and followed her to the real world. Ichabod and Abbie, please jump into bed together now.

Loved the Catacombs, too. The set direction on this show is often excellent, and I think they outdid themselves this time: the cliffs, the water, the wall of hieroglyphs, the sword in the stone. I also liked the little details: the fact that it was like a hell dimension on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (time passed ten times more slowly than the real world), that Abbie never ate or slept, and that makeshift hourglass that Abbie rigged so that she would know how much time had passed. It was so hard core of Abbie to sacrifice herself and Ichabod by smashing the Eye, facing the real possibility of eternity in a cavern without hair care products.


I have to admit that I am liking Jenny and Joe as a couple, too. Joe fits into the group so much better than Hawley did, and I particularly liked the scene where he and Jenny talked about how Ichabod and Abbie would address the case of the living gargoyle, complete with Ichabod-like gestures. The Stone Manor was as gorgeous and as weird as the Catacombs, but with a Hunchback of Notre Dame vibe, and I even liked how it turned into a final step into the supernatural for Sophie, who is now very much on Team Witness. Gotta love the holy water and the cement.

So I'm back on board with our heroes, and yes, I realize that there's no purpose for them without major evil to defeat, but I found myself wanting to fast forward through the scenes with Pandora and the Hidden One. As frightening as Pandora was earlier in the season, I'm starting to see her more as a battered wife. Seriously, Pandora. Don't give up your life and your power for this evil turd.

Bits and pieces:

-- Jessica Camacho (Sophie) is now in the cast. She's okay, I guess, but do we need more cast members?

-- We also briefly saw James McDaniel as Ezra Mills when Jenny broke into his place to purloin a cigarette lighter for the spirit cabinet spell.

-- Apparently, Betsy Ross escaped from the Catacombs and her cutlass showed Abbie the way. I wonder if we're going to see that later on. Betsy is the star of the flashbacks now whether I like it or not, and I don't. We also saw Betsy and the Marquis de Lafayette briefly when they were victimized by living gargoyles.

-- The moral of the teaser: never forget your cell phone, or a gargoyle will come to life and toss you from a scaffolding.

-- "Syzygy" is my new favorite word. In astronomy, it means "a conjunction or opposition, especially of the moon with the sun." But it also means "a pair of connected or corresponding things," which is of course Abbie and Ichabod.

Quotes:

Jenny: "According to accounts I dug up from the spiritualist movement of the 1850s, we need to take advantage of the planetary syzygy."
Ichabod: "Syzygy. A word I used to win perhaps the finest round of Scrabble I ever played."
Joe: "It's not English. It's a failed sneeze."
Ichabod: "Triple word score. Haters gonna hate."
He quoted Taylor Swift. I love him so.

Joe: "George Washington was a zombie..."
Jenny: "Ben Franklin had a demon key to Purgatory..."
Sophie: (guessing) "And, what? Jefferson was a hologram?"

Abbie: "In chess, we call that move a sacrifice. On the face, it presents a loss. But in the end, it gives tactical superiority."
And it did.

The Hidden One: "At every step, these mortals confound us!"
So over the top supervillain. I mean, like a Scooby-Doo supervillain.

I liked this one. Three out of four spirit cabinets,

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

1 comment:

  1. You are right about Pandora. She is a battered wife and I hope she can escape from abusive hubby. I felt bad for her here.
    Oh my Ichabbie feels are so over this. That was lovely.
    Abbie is back and all is well.
    Sophie can hang around I guess? What about miss Corinth? She wasn't evil and she didn't die. Dropped plot thread. Oh well.
    Thanks for the great review as ever.

    ReplyDelete

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