Sleepy Hollow: Delaware

"Victory often comes at a terrible loss."

While setting up the season (or possibly series) finale, this episode also gave us a sampling of some serious heartbreak.

Pandora's Box, their chief weapon against the Hidden One, can only be regenerated in the Catacombs, but somehow Ichabod and Abbie were so distracted by Washington's zombies and Betsy Ross that they didn't quite get around to it. The photography and set dressing on this show are always stunning, though, so I very much enjoyed Ichabod and Abbie just getting there: the two of them with the boat and the flag on the Delaware which turned into the River Styx, Abbie singing the national anthem, the recreation of Washington and his men (and Betsy) on the water, the cool portal that hung like a curtain in the woods.

For me, the highlight of every Sleepy Hollow episode is Ichabod and Abbie. Here, they talked about how many times they'd both died. They told each other that during their recent lengthy separation, they'd still spent a lot of time talking to the imaginary other. And that was on top of the adorable coffee and pastries scene in the opener, where the two of them provided an ultimate treat for the other — espresso for Abbie, gourmet donuts for Ichabod — because they might be facing death soon. And then Abbie touched Ichabod's mustache with the excuse that she was brushing away crumbs. Not once, but twice.

But now, Betsy is alive and possibly joining the action in present day. That means, drat it all, that Ichabod again has a current love interest who is not Abbie. This Betsy thing is much like what they did with Katrina last season, and we all know how that turned out. It's infuriating, especially for Ichabbie shippers such as myself.

That said, the idea of Betsy trapped in that secret chamber in the Catacombs for a couple of hundred years (they love secret chambers on this show, don't they?) was sort of shuddery and fascinating. And it makes you wonder exactly who used Betsy's cutlass to escape, and later masqueraded as Betsy Ross — and broke up with Ichabod by letter. Set up for a possible season four?

Moving on to the serious heartbreak portion of the episode, I am not pleased that they spent the entire season making Jenny and Joe into a cute couple that worked for me, only to make him a wendigo again and kill him the heck off. Assuming that he's permanently dead, which is always a crapshoot on a show like this one. At least Joe forgave Jenny for killing him before he died.

And by the way, how did Jenny get away from the Hidden One? Did they cut out a couple of crucial minutes there? I mean, she's lying at the Hidden One's feet and he says he's going to destroy her love, and then she's in the car pulling up at the trailer?

We did get the payoff on Ezra Mills, though. Turns out he's a player, he knew August Corbin and he knew Nevins, and he knows the entire score. I suppose the hereditary Witness line went through him (and back to Grace Dixon, perhaps), not the late Lori Mills? More set-up for a possible season four?

I'm inclined to skip past discussing the Hidden One and his threats to burn down the world again, even though he at least looked gorgeous and godlike at the top of Bear Mountain melting mystical spikes into puddles, and focus on how the cast just turned into a full-on Buffy-like Scooby gang with the addition of Danny Reynolds and possibly Ezra Mills as well as Sophie. Danny was right that they needed to stick to the plan. If Jenny had listened to him, she wouldn't have gotten caught by the Hidden One, and Joe might not have died. But I do find it annoying that Danny seems to think that when the battle is won, he and Abbie are going to be a thing again. See my opening paragraphs above re: love interests for the Witnesses that are not each other. But if the show continues, and we still don't know if it will, expanding Team Witness might be good.

Pandora might be considered one of the gang here, too, but it seems unlikely that she is either trustworthy in the long haul, or interested in fighting evil as a calling. I think Jenny is right not to trust Pandora's motives, because I keep getting the impression that Pandora hasn't told Team Witness the complete truth. Maybe Pandora's goal is to advance to godhood herself, or something.

Bits:

-- Was that an image of himself that Ichabod drew in the foam of Abbie's espresso? So cute.

-- Obvious Ford product placement! Get thee behind me, obvious product placement! Although obviously, cell phones and GPS make coordinating the fight against rogue gods and monsters a lot easier.

-- Danny confessed to Sophie that he was tasked to report Abbie's movements to assistant director Jack Walters, and he just realized why.

-- TV Line had an article up yesterday which reveals whether or not Joe Corbin is permanently dead. Please note that the link itself is a spoiler, so if you don't want to know, don't hover over the link!

Quotes:

Abbie: "Whatever you do, I do. That's the deal."
Ichabod: "Truth bomb if I ever heard one."

Ichabod: "Lieutenant, would you do the honors?"
Abbie: "If this doesn't work, you do realize that we're just two people on a boat singing the anthem?"

Abbie: "Zombies again?"

Betsy: "Ichabod, you are a sight for sore eyes. Only you look... different. Your hair is..."
Ichabod: "Yes, it's shorter."
Betsy: "Cleaner."
That is the first thing Betsy has said on this show that made me laugh. I also enjoyed what Ichabod said about Washington having bad breath and Betsy talking with her mouth full.

I'm pretty much along for the ride with Sleepy Hollow this season, and not as emotionally invested in this show as I used to be. Which is a good thing, because while a lot of the Catacombs stuff this season has been cool, I'm mostly frustrated with Pandora and the Hidden One, and unhappy about losing Joe Corbin right before the finale. Two out of four gourmet donuts,

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

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