Sleepy Hollow has returned and without Abbie Mills. There was no hiatus reprieve for the character. Ichabod still believes that she will be “reborn” in a new body to be his second witness. Blah, blah, blah.
After a quick rundown of what transpired in last season’s depressing finale, we notice a number of changes, a bit of updating via a facelift of not only Tom Mison’s character but his locale as well. Ichabod is sporting a nice new haircut and more of a beard than all the previous season put together.
Abbie, as field partner, has been temporarily replaced with a new, and younger, single mother who works for Homeland Security and we know within moments that her daughter Molly is the “new” Abbie, aka witness.
Show creators/runners Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have opted to present the fourth season of Sleepy Hollow with a “See Spot Run” type plot device, or perhaps a “Sleepy Hollow Plot Devices for Dummies” plot line. Not to berate the point, but later in the opening episode, we see the “mute” Molly has been repeatedly sketching Crane’s picture in her “secret” sketch book. The kid may as well have a sign round her neck that states, “I am the new Abbie.”
Granted, the formula for Sleepy Hollow needed a shot in the arm, so to speak, after the end of season two and the loss of the brilliant John Noble. Season three, with its introduction of Pandora (Shannyn Sossamon) was a complete letdown aggravated by the death of a long running star of the show.
Season four, with it move to the country’s capital, has introduced a slew of new characters and brought back Abbie’s sister Jenny. Clearly she will be the “link” between Ichabod and the new Abbie and only appear as needed.
(For instance, in the premiere episode, Jenny turns up in time to save everyone’s arse from the demon by killing it with the penny-bullets made by Alex.) *On a sidenote, does anyone else see a resemblance between Rachel Melvina and Parker Posey? Answers on a postcard please or at the bottom of this review via the comments. Please and thank you.*
As part of the series’ new look, aka facelift, George Washington has been usurped by Abraham Lincoln, who was killed by a demon possessed John Wilkes Booth, and we are suddenly looking at the Civil War versus the War for Independence.
Most of the series opener was pretty glum apart from a Hamilton reference and Mison’s off key rendition of The Battle Hymn of the Republic. There was the requisite disbelief of all the new people that Crane meets, with the exception of Jake, and viola! The new “improved” version of Sleepy Hollow has begun, albeit with a little less humor .
We have a malevolent entity called Dreyfuss, who looks eerily like an ill Neil Patrick Harris; so much so that we kept expecting to see Alyson Hannigan turn up, and he clearly will be the season “Big Bad,” that Crane and his new set of helpers must defeat.
Season four of Sleepy Hollow may be trying quite earnestly to re-invent the series’ wheel but it seems a tad shallow and Mison’s makeover is a bit confusing. The heavy beard makes a certain amount of sense but the haircut? He has been a prisoner after all…
It does make a certain amount of sense. Sticking around Sleepy Hollow and referencing the revolutionary war was getting a tad old. It will be interesting to see just how this Molly as Abbie storyline is going to work out and how the Civil War may have been won by demons.
(After all, the American presidency has been “won” by a reality TV personality with no qualifications whatsoever, so why not a demon victory of another sort?)
The move to place Sleepy Hollow in and around the country’s capital is, at the very least, ironic and slightly sad. As poor Ichabod Crane is wildly patriotic and believes so fervently in the sanctity of the Union, it is somewhat depressing for the fourth season to be set in the city where Donald Trump is due to be inaugurated in just under two weeks.
Sleepy Hollow airs Fridays on FOX. Tune in and see what you think. Will the new characters, facelift and location change make up for the loss of Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie)?
Cast:
- Tom Mison – Ichabod Crane
- Janina Gavankar – Diana Thomas
- Lyndie Greenwood – Jenny Mills
- Jerry MacKinnon – Jake Wells
- Rachel Melvin – Alex Norwood
- Oona Yaffe – Molly Thomas
- Jeremy Davies – Malcom Dreyfuss
- James Kyson – Mark Wong
did we watch the same show? Glum, no way. lots of mirroring scenes to seasons past that amused and entertained. and I really liked the new characters. I wasn’t expecting to like this and I did.
and rewashed when I discovered the replay on Saturday night