Sleepy Hollow 2.01: This is War
Written By:
Mark Goffman
Mark Goffman
Directed By:
Ken Olin
Ken Olin
Since Sleepy Hollow began, it hasn't followed logic or convention. It's a show that knows that everything happening is balls-to-the-walls crazy and just runs with it. The events happen so fast that viewers hardly take a breath to notice what might not make much sense. For example, it's revealed in this premiere for the first time that Crane was an apprentice of Benjamin Franklin. So on top of being a messenger for General George Washington, Crane had time to spend with another major Founding Father and was even a part of Franklin's famous kite-lightning experiment. The quick pace of the episode makes it easier to buy into that fact. Along with other things. It's just a pleasure to see the return of this show on the airwaves.
The premiere is actually very simple on the whole. It is basically a race to acquire the Gehenna Key, a MacGuffin that is needed to release either Abbie or Moloch from Purgatory. The setup for this is rather ingenious. The episode starts out with Crane and Abbie having somehow escaped their respective predicaments and have been fighting the Four Horsemen for over a year. They even celebrate Crane's birthday to mark the occasion (much to Crane's abject horror). The entire first act is dedicated to this purpose. It's so convincing that I was starting to consider the sort of directions the narrative could take in this new season. The show could spend a few episodes rewinding back to how Crane escaped the coffin and how Abbie got out of Purgatory. How they caught Parrish. Then the episode smash cuts to Crane... still in the coffin.
It's a nice subversion of audience expectations. Crane's first task is to rescue Jenny from captivity. From there, they figure out the exact location of the Gehenna Key using clues related to historical documents on Benjamin Franklin. What a treat it is to know that Crane didn't particularly care for Franklin, generally regarded as one of the finest minds of all time.
Once they get the Key, it's off to rescue Abbie in Purgatory. She's being threatened by Moloch, though she does receive some protection from Andy. This part is a little more confusing because the show decides to adopt some strange rules while the characters are in Purgatory. It seemed at various points that Moloch was aware of where Abbie was, other times when she was ignored altogether so that he could gather his minions. It climaxes when Crane's visage enters the fray. Moloch takes Crane's form to confuse Abbie. Only, she figures out right away who is the fake Crane.
It was due to his correct pronunciation of "Lieutenant," which demonstrates a level of self-awareness that few shows take time to achieve or acknowledge. Crane's odd form of speech actually turns into a relevant plot point! Once Abbie is released from Purgatory, the Key no longer serves any purpose and disappears forever. Again, the simplicity of how this occurs adds to the overall economy of story within the episode.
On the periphery of things, Katrina has a simultaneously amusing and terrifying ordeal with the Headless Horseman. It's a shame that Katrina is now in the modern world and she spent the entirety of this episode (as well as a few more episodes, most likely) held captive by the evil incarnation of her former lover. It's a bit odd that Crane spends a lot of time rescuing Abbie but has little regard for his wife. He is probably dealing with one task at a time, which will make for great material to fill out the season. There's very little advancement to Katrina's part of the story, but that will come to the forefront with time.
The Horsemen are surprisingly much more fearsome in this new season. Along with what's happening with Katrina, Moloch creates a seemingly-invincible knight demon that is armed with a fiery sword to serve as his representative in the real world. What's coming next is guaranteed to be as crazy as what the series has offered up until now.
Our Grade:
B+
The Good:
- The utter insanity of this series continues to work wonders
- And yet the show uses self-awareness to perfection
- The Horsemen are actually fairly terrifying
The Bad:
- Katrina's plight gets little advancement
Henry Tran is a regular contributor of review for Critical Myth; The Critical Myth Show is heard here on VOG Network's radio feed Monday, Wednesday & Friday. You can follow him on twitter at @HenYay