This episode's main plot hinges on a coin. A Tyrian sheckel from the time of Jesus Christ that brings out the evil in a person to the surface and causes them to do some bad things. The history of the coin is quite extensive. It was one of the thirty pieces of silver Judas received as payment for betraying Jesus to the Romans. In what may be either the most ridiculous or the most fitting historical fact about the coin (depending on one's specific viewpoint), it was responsible for Benedict Arnold's traitorous behavior during Revolutionary War times. Which is a subject Crane has extensive personal knowledge about, of course.





That this show is playing so fast and loose with past history is so much a part of what makes it fun just to watch. Bringing up Benedict Arnold's name immediately invokes a sense of betrayal in the worst way, and so that gives the coin much more power. It would be enough for it to be left as something somewhat mysterious that is infecting random citizens in Sleepy Hollow. The historical perspective furthers the sense that the whole evil plan masterminded by the Four Horsemen and Moloch has been brewing for far longer than expected. It also makes me wonder if the heroes are woefully undermanned and unprepared to fight the forces that bringing this evil into the world.


In the first season of this show, there was a plot that involved a demon that jumped from body to body and terrified Sleepy Hollow in the process. The coin infecting a trio of persons just by touching it reminded me of that previous episode. The actions are much more direct here, though. A nice lady takes a bank hostage before committing suicide; One of the hostages picks up the coin and proceeds to construct a bomb that blows up a store in Sleepy Hollow; The third instance of infection consumes Jenny, and has her carrying out the attempted murder of Sheriff Reyes. The first two infections play out its various purposes. They allow Abbie and Crane to get ahold of what is precisely going on. They receive some help from a handsome antiques dealer named Hawley. For the most part, they run behind what Henry Parish is doing in his execution of the master plan.



There's something rather unsettling about the fact that Parish is doing all this out in the open view. It's almost as if he's willingly taunting Abbie and Crane. This was, of course, foreshadowed in the previous episode with Parish becoming Irving's attorney. Crane cleverly circumvents his son's order to keep him away from Irving which allows Irving to become aware of Parish's evil intentions. Yet, there is still a nagging feeling that he and his family are still in danger. Irving is left in the middle of a bad situation, unable to protect his family but personally safe as long as he stays in Tarrytown Psych.



Irving's continued stay in the hospital allows for Sheriff Reyes to be a constant hindrance to whatever actions Abbie and Crane take. While her firm stance in sticking to the rules makes a lot of sense, it doesn't do much to alter the perception of her character as a buzzkill. Yes, Crane doesn't exist in terms of any modern documentation (until the end of the episode, at least), but Reyes seems to be ignoring the long and sordid history of Sleepy Hollow along with the fact that the partnership is working. I'm dubious about her connection to the Mills family history, though the fact that Abbie's mother was tormented by demons and protecting her kids by sending them to the psych ward could come up later on. Reyes' stern demeanor (along with the connection to the Mills family) does factor into the events of third act, where Jenny seeks to assassinate her while under the influence of the Tyrian sheckel.





Abbie, Crane, and Hawley come up with a decent plan to stop the shooting from happening, but the highlight has to be how Abbie gets through to her sister. The show has already tried the "love will conquer all supernatural forces" with this pairing before so another direction is used. Here, Abbie tells of their shared tortured history with such strong emotion that it allows the men to break the spell of the coin. Like the previous episode, there is yet another instance where the characters stop all of the plot-based dialogue to discuss what they're feeling at the time. It's still effective, much more so than I would have expected from a genre show like this. The coins will remain a tangible threat since they aren't destroyed in the aftermath. So Parish's plan moves forward. There's a chance that good will triumph in the end, though. Even if things look very dire.