SLEEPY HOLLOW Resides in the Past

Article originally written for Seat42F.

This week’s SLEEPY HOLLOW season (series?) finale on FOX, “Tempus Fugit,” finds Abbie (Nicole Beharie) in 1781. She must convince Ichabod (Tom Mison) to help her take down his evil witch wife, Katrina (Katia Winter), who has come back in time to kill Ichabod, and thus save their son’s life. Ichabod is hesitant to believe Abbie, as one might expect, but Abbie is nothing if not smart and resourceful, so she gets the job done.

“Tempus Fugit” is a very fun episode. Fun is the best word I can use to describe it, as story continuity has been lacking, but we’ll get to that in a moment. This finale, really a stand-alone-ish adventure, basically mirrors the pilot, with Abbie now the one out of time who must seek help from her partner in his element. This role reversal is satisfying for the fans, played well by the two actors with excellent chemistry. Toss in an appearance by Benjamin Franklin (Timothy Busfield), who of course believes everything Abbie says, and have Abbie encounter her ancestor, Grace Dixon (Onira Tares), and one gets almost everything one wants from this episode.

But here’s the thing: the set up of “Tempus Fugit” is lacking. Abbie knows Franklin is much more likely to believe her than Ichabod, so why not go to him in the first place? She may need Ichabod’s help and time is short, but surely it would be easier and quicker to get Ichabod to do what she wants with Franklin’s intervention. That she eventually succeeds in proving herself doesn’t take away from the fact that she wastes valuable time doing so.

This lack of thinking things through extends to the characters, who sometimes act without sufficient motivation. Katrina’s descent into villain is swift and complete. She doesn’t hesitate to kill innocents, such as Colonel Sutton (Marc Menchaca, Homeland). She’s acting without any regard for who she was in the first place. I know she wants to save Henry’s life, but doesn’t she feel bad at all for trying to wipe out the man she supposedly loved? She’s reduced to a very two-dimensional persona, and I don’t like it.

The biggest problem “Tempus Fugit” has by far is the lack of any stakes to care about, making the events of the hour, while entertaining, meaningless. It’s true that if Abbie and Ichabod do not manage to reverse Katrina’s spell, much would have been damaged in the world of SLEEPY HOLLOW. But there can’t be any viewers who seriously believe that’s a possibility, given how the story is presented. From early on in the episode, even before the Headless Horseman (Jeremy Owens) decapitates Ben Franklin, it’s very obvious that whatever happens in this 1781 doesn’t count, and it will all be erased. That basically ruins any tension the installment might build up, providing much simmering frustration as I watch scenes that would otherwise be very good.

Don’t get me wrong; I mostly enjoy “Tempus Fugit.” If nothing else, the pain Ichabod feels when he stabs Katrina to death is real, and Henry (John Noble) returning to escort his mother into the afterlife is very moving. As I’ve said before, the chemistry between Beharie and Mison is absolutely fantastic, and it is well used in this hour. But that’s not enough if the story can’t play out in a cohesive, logical manner. I’d say SLEEPY HOLLOW has Glee syndrome, doing the emotion well, but frequently dropping the ball on its larger arcs, not taking the time to make each new week match up with what has already been established.

If SLEEPY HOLLOW gets a third season, and that’s a big if at this point, we’re in major need of a reset. That is sort of telegraphed when Jenny (Lyndie Greenwood) shows up with a “cured” Irving (Orlando Jones) at the end. In this reset, real care needs to be taken to craft a structure for a new serial story that pays homage to the past, but basically begins a new adventure for the Witnesses. If the writers can do this, I’d be happy to see it renewed. If not, “Tempus Fugit” feels like a good place to put the show out of its misery, a decent enough episode capping a very uneven, inconsistent season.

SLEEPY HOLLOW Fans Are "Kindred" Spirits

Article first published as SLEEPY HOLLOW Review Season 2 Episode 2 The Kindred on Seat42F.

Week two of season two of FOX’s SLEEPY HOLLOW may be a tad better than the premiere. “The Kindred” finds Abbie (Nicole Beharie) and Ichabod (Tom Mison) on a quest to rescue Katrina (Katia Winter) from the clutches of the Headless Horseman (played by Abraham Van Brunt when shown with a head). But Katrina has an idea that it might be a good idea to stay captive and serve as a mole within the organization. Will her ploy work?

First, SLEEPY HOLLOW must be complimented on the terrific new theme song, which features images of all the main players. This makes it even more like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which it is already feeling similar to, given the library-like Archives the characters use as a base and the subtitle font displayed when the demons speak. None of this is a bad thing, as Buffy is quite an excellent show, and SLEEPY HOLLOW is different enough to have its own identity.

Despite starting with yet another unnecessary dream sequence / fake out, “The Kindred” is a solid episode. Not only does it provide drama and action and some cool special effects, but it also returns things to normal for SLEEPY HOLLOW. Normal in this case meaning Abbie and Ichabod are working a mission together against evil forces, spiked with some humorous dialogue to highlight the time travel aspect, such as Ichabod ranting on credit cards this week. It’s fun and exciting and exactly the kind of episode fans love, extending the mythology, while also having an immediate story to serve.

There are some really smart twists in “The Kindred.” When figuring out a way to distract the Headless Horseman, our dynamic duo resurrects a corpse that Ben Franklin (Timothy Busfield) sewed together. It turns out Benjamin Franklin is the original Dr. Frankenstein, which is a neat play on names. The creature disappears at the end, leaving a hanging thread sure to be picked up again later. The Horseman’s argument to Katrina against Ichabod actually makes some logical sense, and while I don’t think she’ll fall for it, I was impressed at the reasoning. It’s also cool when Henry (John Noble) turns out to be Irving’s (Orlando Jones) doctor, foreshadowing all sorts of doom, especially when a contract is signed in blood.

With Irving locked up, there’s a new sheriff in town, literally, played by House of Card’s Sakina Jaffrey. What’s interesting about this new character is that she seems like a good person and is very competent, doing what she thinks is right, but how capable she is actually works against Ichabod and Abbie. One assumes Irving will resume his post soon, and this woman’s connection to Abbie and Jenny’s (Lyndie Greenwood) mother makes me suspicious of her. But for now, there’s nothing obviously telegraphed for her, and she’s a realistic obstacle for the plot.

Of course, while SLEEPY HOLLOW may be returning to normal, sometimes things can hew a little too closely to normalcy. Katrina is once more trapped, apart from her love. Jenny is back in the asylum. I don’t think either of these things will stick. However, because of them, “The Kindred” gets a little too close to season one’s structure, risking repeating itself.

It also seems a bit like a cop out when a character speaks of unreliable prophecies. True, all sorts of documents foretelling the future have been proven untrue, so it makes sense that the stuff about the witnesses and their destiny in SLEEPY HOLLOW should also be shaky, at best. However, because these things are an essential part of the show, it feels like the writers are just trying to make sure they don’t write themselves into a box, leaving a loophole in which to wiggle out of “established” items when they deem fit. It’s convenient from a storytelling perspective, but makes the driving arc murky.

Overall, those gripes are really overshadowed by the excellent job the cast and crew is doing with this production. SLEEPY HOLLOW remains a series I look forward to tuning in to every week, and it’s far from predictable. Season two should be at least as great as season one, if these first episodes back are any indication.

SLEEPY HOLLOW airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on FOX.

SLEEPY HOLLOW Goes to "War"

Article first published SLEEPY HOLLOW Review Season 2 Episode 1 This Is War on Seat42F.

SPOILER ALERT! The following contains some spoilers, though not too much, about the upcoming season premiere. You have been warned.

FOX’s SLEEPY HOLLOW returns for its sophomore run this week with “This Is War.” Picking up a year after the events of last winter’s shocking cliffhanger, Ichabod (Tom Mison) and Abbie (Nicole Beharie) have been reunited, but they have both lost someone they loved. It’s a bittersweet pause in their war as they enjoy one another’s company before setting off on their next mission, which involves hunting down a lost key once tied to a kite by Benjamin Franklin (Timothy Busfield, The West Wing).

On one hand, “This Is War” starts off exactly how fans want it to. The bond between Ichabod and Abbie is a central element to the series, and it’s satisfying to see they both have made it out of the prisons we last view them in, Ichabod buried under the ground and Abbie in purgatory, rather than still being separated. Even learning that a couple of important characters have died in the interim is overshadowed by the image of the pair still fighting the good fight against Ichabod’s son, Henry Parrish (John Noble), and the other Horsemen.

On the other hand, though, I felt completely off balance by the start. Many people’s lives are left hanging when last SLEEPY HOLLOW aired, and it’s disconcerting to not get resolution to those threads, or learn how the main characters managed to escape their dire circumstances. It almost seems like an episode is missing, or like you skipped a stair going up to a second floor and stumbled.

Which is why, having watched as much television as I have, I was highly suspicious. It wasn’t until ten or fifteen minutes had passed before I could really settle into the story and accept the time jump had happened. I kept expecting the whole thing to be a dream or something. What eventually did make me change my mind was that the characters are so compelling and the story is written so tightly, that I just got sucked into what was going on, forgetting about lingering concerns to a certain extent.

I love SLEEPY HOLLOW, and this season premiere lives up expectations. It is smart, quick, and plenty full of action. We do eventually get to see Abbie and Ichabod escape their confinement, as they must, and while I cannot spoil the twist that shows up a little past a third of the way through, I can say the show does a good job of throwing even those who might suspect the truth early on off track enough that when the tale suddenly changes, it’s still a surprise.

The characters remain the best reason to watch. There is a truly earned fist bump in “This Is War.” We see some of the depths of Henry’s rottenness. A character known to be dead comes back for a moving scene that may be their last appearance, given other professional commitments. Abbie gets a chance to show just how perceptive she is. We see the strength of Jenny (Lyndie Greenwood). One main player is still MIA, but he’ll probably show up next week, and there’s plenty of other things happening so he isn’t missed yet. All of these combine to make a heck of a season premiere.

For those more concerned with the larger arcs, which I agree are very important, too, “This Is War” serves that. There is no doubt that the events depicted in season one are only the beginning of Molok’s (Derek Mears) plans. He has not slowed down in his quest, and things only get more dangerous for our heroes, if that’s possible. SLEEPY HOLLOW has definite direction and it is plunging forward, full speed ahead, on that path.

There are also glimmers of humor. Ichabod’s hatred for our founding father, Mr. Franklin, is not only justified, but amusing. SLEEPY HOLLOW is mostly a dark show, so to get those bits of light snuck in between bloodthirsty armies of demons is welcome.

I will be covering SLEEPY HOLLOW weekly for Seat42F this year, so join me again next week after watching the show, which airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on FOX.