Sleepy Hollow: The Midnight Ride

Only a few things to say this time around as I was sick this morning and I'm still feeling blah. But this was a decent episode, which picked up almost immediately after the events of last week and ended on a (sort of) cliffhanger, making it feel like quite a transitory episode.

I'm beginning to realize that this show's appeal lies almost solely in its characters and their relationships with each other, for the plots are getting increasingly wonky. Here there was a rather disjointed effort to connect Paul Reverie's midnight ride with the murdered Freemasons and another round of "keep away" with the Horseman's head.

That said, it was a good idea to bring back the Headless Horseman, as this is by far their most frightening and effective villain. What is it about an implacable and unstoppable horseman with no head? I mean, it should look ridiculous, and yet it's utterly intimidating.

Oh, and they brought back Andy Brooks for what barely constitutes a cameo in order to scare the living daylights out of Luke and act as a messenger boy for the Horseman. His line: "reports of my death...are pretty much true" was fun, but what's he done to Luke? He wasn't looking at all well later at his desk.

It was nice to demonstrate that although Ichabod is a Fish Out of Temporal Waters, and therefore finding it difficult to adapt to the new technology, he also possesses enough first-hand information to know better than various teachers at the historical museum (though it's a bit rich watching this show suddenly insist on historical accuracy).

But I love that he leaves a phone message as though it was a letter. And that he politely declined the on-line sex worker. And that he was clearly feeling a little antsy afterwards, especially when Abbie obliviously said that it was a pity his wife wasn't present: "yes, the thought had crossed my mind, though not as a means to defeat our current enemy."

Captain Irving's reaction to the Horseman was interesting, as he was clearly shocked at the truth of its existence. Huh. That suggests that despite giving Abbie a huge amount of leeway in the past (suggesting that he either knew more than he was letting on or was up to something) he is in fact not playing some sort of long game.

I think I'm also suffering from the fact that I know next to nothing about American history. Sally Hemmings? Paul Reverie? Thomas Jefferson? The names ring a bell, but here in New Zealand I know virtually nothing about them. I suppose now is as good a time as any to crack some books on the subject...

So James Frain's character is dead? What a waste!

I suppose my only complaint at this point is that we're now at the seventh episode and (knowing that there's only going to be thirteen episodes this season) I don't really feel as though we know enough about the periphery characters and concepts. I mean, what's the deal with Katrina and the two covens? What's Moloch up to? What about Andy? How is he involved in all this? What about Sheriff Corbin? Is he going to pop up again? What really happened to Abbie and Jenny out in the woods?

It's time for some answers.

In Hindsight:

Not much to add in regards to this episode, only that Luke's role in all this is becoming increasingly superfluous. I have no idea what the writers had planned for him (if they ever did) but knowing that his run-in with Andy goes nowhere makes it one of the weakest subplots of this season. Do we even know if the actor is scheduled to return for season two?

And any idea of what would actually happen if the Headless Horseman got his head back?