A standard Sleepy Hollow Monster of the Week, but with an interesting and unfortunate twist at the end.
What is up with Abbie? She seems to be herself for the most part, but hallucinating a mystical symbol, scrawling it on the wall, and hiding it from everyone? Even worse, saying to that very symbol, "You saved me. I'm yours"? That can't be good. Plus I thought she pretty much saved herself in the Catacombs, with the help of Ichabod's spirit projection. What did I miss? It doesn't have anything to do with Pandora and the Hidden One, does it?
Since they're almost always in tune, Ichabod knows that something is wrong with Abbie, but he thinks it's just her near-year of imprisonment and that she'll get better if he cooks her enough Italian food. (It would work for me.) Even though he was wrong about Abbie, I really enjoyed Ichabod cooking and singing opera in this episode. Because I love him.
(Atticus Nevins apparently liked Ichabod's roast chicken and vegetables, too. "Want more chicken." Funny.)
The Monster of the Week, a creepy ghoul controlled by a really big beetle, didn't do much for me, although the Alien-like visual of its entire arm going through Randall Martin was gagworthy. The twist in the final scene was the big surprise, though. Until that moment, it was all about Atticus Nevins: his past with August Corbin, the hidden file, him having that scarab hidden inside his body where his spleen used to be. I thought Atticus was going to stick around and be villainous for awhile longer.
And then this Jack Walters guy executed Nevins, and took August's file with the exact coordinates of the "nine sacred sites." This is the same Jack Walters who is also calling the Abbie-related shots with Danny Reynolds. A major player suddenly emerges. Which is a good thing, because nothing appears to be happening with Pandora and the Hidden One.
Ezra Mills is suddenly a thing, too. The Mills sisters met him for coffee, not together, interestingly enough, but individually. (Probably a good thing, because together they might have tromped him into a tiny spot on the linoleum.) Jenny expressed her rage over his abandonment, and he tried to excuse himself by saying he joined the Navy for the benefits and to stop drinking. Okay, but leaving his two daughters in foster care after their mother's death is unforgivable.
Ominously, Abbie asked Ezra for the first signs of her mother's madness. He offered to help Abbie with her current problems, and she said thanks but no thanks, I have people for that now. Good for Abbie. Maybe Ezra will redeem himself by saving one or both of his daughters from something later on in the season. Maybe that's the point of bringing him back. There must be a reason. Other than the thematic parallel with Joe and August Corbin, that is.
Meeting with Ezra did at least appear to give Jenny some closure, as well as some nice bonding moments with Joe on the couch. As I've said before, I like Joe (I was worried this time that the ghoul might actually kill him) and I like his relationship with Jenny, who desperately needs a stable guy to love. Although I started wondering this time: are the Sleepy Hollow powers that be giving us Jenny and Joe because they plan to never give us Abbie and Ichabod?
If so, fie on them. Fie, I say.
Bits:
-- No Colonial flashbacks this time. Instead, it was a cave in Iraq back in 1991. And sadly, no Clancy Brown, and the actor who played August Corbin wasn't at all Clancy-Brown-like. Why didn't they use Zach Appelbaum (Joe)? At least he looks a bit like Clancy Brown and has a deep voice.
-- During their dinner, Ichabod called Abbie "Tenente," which is Italian for lieutenant.
-- One of Atticus's now late minions appeared to be obsessed with Mister T.
-- The Mills women met their father at the Shatterton Diner. Interesting name for a diner.
-- Ichabod needs to stumble over the "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" notebook containing Abbie's obsessive symbol scrawls. Soon.
Quotes:
Hidden One: "You wish to be my equal? Then as I suffer, so shall you."
Do you think he's maybe taking the wrong tack with Pandora? She is so going to turn on him, probably at the worst possible time.
Ichabod: "We are to attend the cinema this evening with Miss Jenny and Master Joe. Top of the billing at the music hall is E.T., which apparently concerns a diminutive being stranded far from home. (Glances at Abbie, a diminutive being who was stranded far from home) Perhaps a different suggestion..."
Sophie: "Can I ask you guys? Are they all this ugly?"
Ichabod: "Actually, usually they're worse. This one's not too bad."
Abbie: "Boloney on whole wheat. That's the Charlie Brown of sandwiches."
Ichabod: "The bald boy with awful luck? Good grief. I take offense."
Abbie: "I want hot wings."
Ichabod: "No poultry is safe in Sleepy Hollow this dark night."
Not bad, but not terrific. Two out of four diminutive beings stranded far from home,
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
Possibly Pandora is too physcially weak to leave Hidden one yet..
ReplyDeleteHer turn is very heavily foreshadowed.
Nice seeing Daddy Mills, even if his daughters don't much like him.
Will he tragically sacrifice himself to save them?
Ichabod singing opera and cooking for Abbie..be still my heart.
That is so romantic.