Sleepy Hollow: Blood Moon

Blood Moon was exactly what I expected from the second episode of this show – not that that’s a bad thing. The writers are still establishing the character dynamics, building up their mythos and sowing seeds for future storylines, which means all the stuff about the witch was far less important than the scenes involving Ichabod/Abbie bonding, Abbie’s sister and ex-boyfriend, Ichabod’s dreams about his wife and Fish Out Of Temporal Water situation, Irving’s attitude, John Cho’s resurrection and Clancy Brown’s brief reappearance.
 
So let’s get Serilda out the way first. She was a fairly standard “filler” villain, the kind that simply serves to give Ichabod and Abbie an enemy to fight while the more important stuff happens in between scenes. The bits with the necklace were elegantly done (emerging out of John’s throat, being placed on a plinth under the blood moon, ending up around the witch’s neck) though at this point I think the Burn the Witch trope has all but run its course.
 
By today’s standards witch-burning has become such a potent symbol of patriarchal cruelty/medieval superstition that any depiction of a woman getting tied to the stake is bound to make an audience feel sympathy rather than satisfaction at her demise, regardless of whether or not said woman is actually evil. I think the writers tried to compensate for this by having the whole good coven/evil coven dichotomy going on, with Katrina (rather than a priest) being the one to sap Serilda’s powers.

On that note, this episode very much revolved around good witchcraft versus evil witchcraft, with Christianity put on the back-burner, so I’m still looking forward to seeing how the good coven managed to co-exist alongside the church and how Katrina dealt with her secret life.
 
There was a rather odd Red Herring regards to John Cho specifically asking Serilda’s victims for their names and insisting that he had to hear them in full (suggesting that it was somehow part of a spell that was needed to establish them as the intended sacrifices) but then it turned out that Serilda was just searching for the descendants of the judge that had her executed. So he was just… confirming their identities?
 
Okay whatever, it was a neat little twist that Serilda wasn’t after the little kid at all, but instead made off with his (adopted) father’s ashes. I have to say that her demise was a little anti-climactic, but I do wonder if that’s the last we’ll see of her. She was described as the leader of the dark coven and hinted at a history with Katrina (“you carry her stench in your heart”), giving the sense that her place in the mythos was one of relative importance. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
 
Poor John Cho! (No one else seems to be bothering with his character’s name, so we’ll just stick with John Cho). That was a pretty gruesome sequence when the demon brought him back to life with his neck still yanked all the way over his shoulders, though I have to wonder why it killed him in the first place if it was just going to resurrect him again. Does resurrection put him under some sort of duress that he didn’t have whilst still alive? I only ask because it didn’t seem as though he wanted to do the demon’s bidding (apologising to his victims, grousing about digging up Serilda’s bones, etc) so hopefully we’ll eventually get some answers on how and why he got wrapped up in all this.
 
And what was up with him stalking Abbie in the tunnels without touching her? He didn’t look like he wanted to do her harm, in fact the expression on his face suggested he need help.
 

I’m still not really feeling Ichabod/Katrina. This is mainly because the writers are (at this stage) simply using her as Mrs Exposition, but also because Ichabod’s reactions to her seem a little off. Twice now he’s seen his long-dead wife, but reacts to her quite nonchalantly. In seeing her in his dream, he doesn’t think to move closer to her or try to embrace her in any way, and doesn’t seem particularly cut up about the fact that she’s a) dead and b) a witch. (Whereas he seems utterly fascinated by Abbie, just sayin’).
 
The only time I really get the sense of them as lovers is in that brief scene in the opening sequence. Hopefully there’ll soon be flashback sequences between the two of them so I can get a fix on what their relationship was like.
 
Of the two new characters, I must say I’m more interested in Abbie’s sister than her ex-boyfriend. Luke is certainly good-looking, and there’s the potential for more amusing alpha-male tension with Icabod, but I feel that Jenny is going to be much more integral to the story. Clearly she hasn’t dealt with her childhood trauma in the same way Abbie was able to, and apparently the demon is still interested in her. And judging by her fitness regime – she knows it. Can’t wait to meet her properly!
 
That said, there’s no way any self-respecting facility would a) have its staff goad the patients about monsters, or b) be so easily fooled by a patient hiding pills under their tongue. Though I suppose the only response to that is that this isn’t a self-respecting facility.
 
Miscellaneous Observations:
 
That was a fantastic cold opening with Headless Horseman being joined by the other three Horsemen of the Apocalypse. What is it about horses galloping in slow-motion that always sends a chill down your spine?
 
I’m disappointed that the other officers recanted their testimonies. I liked the idea that the existence of the supernatural would be an open secret in the town of Sleepy Hollow (and it would have given Ichabod a legitimate reason to be allowed into various crime scenes), but now it seems that they’ll ttake the usual “don’t ask, don’t tell” route, with Abbie treated as the misfit with the inexplicable sidekick that the rest of the force side-eyes.
 
I probably wasn’t meant to laugh at the footage of John Cho running headfirst into the mirror.
 
Scenes of time-slip characters trying to adjust to whatever new period they find themselves in will never not make for quality television. I especially loved Ichabod’s satisfied little expression when he uses the hair-dryer to dry his clothing (hey, we’ve all done it in an emergency).
 
I love Ichabod’s complete conviction in what he’s doing, and his need for Abbie to believe in him. “Something’s given you reason to doubt my veracity.” Perfect line and delivery.
 
Those opening credits are GORGEOUS! The flow from period to contemporary was a particularly nice touch.
 
I don’t know what’s cuter: Nicole Beharie’s eyes, nose or mouth.
 
“Help me understand.” Possibly the most romantic line I’ve heard since Aladdin asked Jasmine: “do you trust me?” or Sybil told Gwen: “your dream is my dream now.” Sorry, I don’t know how these comparisons spring to mind.
 
So I guessed they’ve tried to cover for last week’s nonsense over a condemned witch being buried in a churchyard by stating that Katrina’s remains are elsewhere and that the headstone was just a ruse to hide the Horseman’s head – but that still doesn’t explain how a witch’s headstone was allowed on consecrated ground. Maybe the decapitated priest had something to do with it…?
 
Great detail on the saggy folds of skin around John Cho’s neck.
 
The burnt makeup on Serilda wasn’t that impressive, but I loved the effect of her merging with her bones and seeing the embers of her skin flying upwards. Still, it’s a bit of an oversight that the writers didn’t really get across the consequences of her resurrection. I think Katrina mentioned something about her being the first of the Horseman’s army? Or something?
 
So is Clancy Brown going to be Abbie’s guardian angel now? The “believe in yourself” shtisk and needless riddles could get old, but I suppose we need some benevolent supernatural figures to offset all the darkness.
 
In Hindsight:
 
This early on the good/evil covens and Katrina’s role as a witch leader felt much more important than they ultimately ended up being. Serilda wasn’t particularly important in the long run either.
 
Though we got our first hint of the crush that Andy has on Abbie (stalking her in the tunnels without touching her) we never learn much more about how he initially became a servant of Moloch – and there’s a good chance we never will considering Andy Cho is now starring on Selfie.
 
All in all, I think I was pretty spot-on in calling this an episode that was more involved with establishing the central cast than adding important facets to the mythos.