1.20.2014

Television: Sleepy Hollow, "The Indespinsible Man; Bad Blood"

Crane v Autocorrect . . .

Also v emoticons . . .

Now what's so important about December 18, 1799? Lazarus? Considering Washington died on the 14th . . .

Brooks comes back to visit Abbie and tells her it is prophesied that Crane will give her up to Moloch. Also, he tells Abbie he loves her. Awkward.

Oh, also Brooks says the bible contains a map that Moloch wants. (A map with no names? Oh, no, wait. Too much Indiana Jones as a child.)

Crane discovers a hidden letter in the bible from Washington to himself that demonstrates Washington knew Crane was a witness, and also describes how Washington had himself resurrected after his own death. And then made a map of Purgatory. Which gives Crane the brilliant idea that, if he can find this map, he can free Katrina.

God, what this show doesn't need is more Katrina.

They exhume Reverend Knapp who had been keeping the Horseman's head safe and call Parrish (the Sin Eater) for help. Alas, Parrish is injured by a hex on the Knapp's body.

Meanwhile, Abbie begins to argue that Washington's plan may no longer be valid, that Washington may not have foreseen certain complications. Could releasing Katrina only make things worse? Might Purgatory release a lot of other, less pleasant things? What—or who—is Crane willing to sacrifice to save the world?

Still, they must find the map before Moloch (or Brooks). They figure out that it was likely buried with Washington, and that Washington must be buried near Sleepy Hollow in order for Knapp to have been able to protect the map.

And Brooks is reborn as some kind of demon.

Abbie asks Parrish about the prophesy that one witness might turn against the other. He tells her there is one in an apocryphal gospel (also: the witnesses will do their work for 1260 days).

They find the Pyramid of Fear (nope, sorry, too much Sherlock Holmes as a child) a mausoleum (that does have a pyramid in it) and Washington's body and the map. And then Brooks crashes their party. Parrish touches him and returns Brooks to some semblance of his true self, so that he tells Abbie to destroy the map lest Moloch use it to win the war.

And Crane, at Abbie's behest, burns the map and promises not to forsake Abbie. But remember that photographic memory of his? Still, seems really stupid of Crane to redraw the map. Why not just keep it in his head, nice and safe?

Oh, and there was this whole other plot where Captain Irving confessed to having murdered that priest in order to protect his daughter. (Of course it was really the demon that had done it, but try explaining that to the investigators.)

At the episode break, Crane stumbles upon a Revolutionary War re-enactment. But he's called by Parrish who says he must see Crane and Abbie immediately. He's had a premonition about the second Horseman of the Apocalypse. On the 13th anniversary of the day Abbie and Jenny first encountered Moloch in the forest. Also, there's a solar eclipse coming. So, you know, pretty sure bad things are going to happen here.

Crane believes Katrina is the only one who can stop the second Horseman. The map shows a doorway to Purgatory. 1 + 1 = . . .

Jenny is not a fan of this plan. She's pretty sure Crane is going to throw Abbie over for Katrina as per the prophesy.

Parrish also has a list of cautions: don't eat or drink anything in Purgatory, don't believe what you're seeing even though it will all seem very real, don't get separated.

[Here is where I'd go into my lecture on liminal spaces, but I'll spare you. I have always found the mythological use of such spaces very interesting, however.]

First up: Purgatory tries to convince Abbie that Corbin and Brooks are alive and that she's just been hit on the head while away at Quantico and is now back and recovering. Meanwhile, Crane finds himself with Victor Garber! Apparently he's Crane's father. He had disowned Ichabod when Ichabod had turned to fight for the Colonists. But Purgatory is trying to make Crane believe England won the Revolutionary War and his father happily welcomed him home, back to Oxford as a professor.

In a Labyrinth-like moment, both Abbie and Crane shatter their visions by announcing they—the visions, the people—aren't real. (And for the record, I never want to see Victor Garber do that again.)

Abbie and Crane find one another and then Katrina. But Katrina cannot leave Purgatory unless (a) she is forgiven, or (b) someone takes her place. Since the Sin Eater didn't come along for the tour, Abbie takes Katrina's place. (Does seem Moloch keeps Katrina supplied with makeup, though.)

Meanwhile, Jenny has been listening to tape recordings from Corbin's archives, and after a field trip she discovers something that alarms her: the name of a church. But as she rushes to warn Abbie and Crane, the Headless Horseman turns up to blow out her tires. (Why not just kill her?)

In Purgatory, Abbie comes to a dollhouse that has teenage versions of herself and her sister. They say they are memories Moloch took from them on that fateful day 13 years ago. Abbie of course wants to know what she's forgotten . . .

Long story short: Henry Parrish is evil. Are we at all surprised by this?

What Abbie and Jenny saw was Moloch drawing Parrish from the earth as the second Horseman. And Henry Parrish isn't his real name. No, it's the name of a church—the church Katrina abandoned her son Jeremy to some 200 years before. Because Henry is Jeremy. (Remember how they'd buried him? Which begs the question: At what point after being buried 200 years before did adolescent Jeremy cease to age? Because clearly he did age . . . For a while . . . Or are they trying to pass John Noble off as 200+ years old?)

So now Abbie is in Purgatory and Henry/Jeremy first bound his parents to a couple trees so as to lecture them before putting Ichabod into a grave and placing the Second Seal over him.

But what did he do with Mommy?

If you want to find out, Sleepy Hollow returns in the fall . . .

No comments: