Sleepy Hollow has never been shy about being goofy or gory, and this episode is no exception. But it’s a surprisingly funny and effective episode as well.
The plot this episode is pretty straightforward; the Headless Horseman, aka Death, is back and he’s pissed off. He wants his skull back, for obvious reasons, and Abby and Ichabod have to figure out how to destroy it or trap him, despite the Horseman, John Cho, the disbelief of their supervisor, and webcam models.
It opens with Paul Revere’s ride reimagined as a slasher flick, which is cheeky and gory in equal measure, before getting into the whole Revolutionary War mystery stuff that serves the show so well. Orlando Jones is finally in the fold, as well, in an amusingly Terminator-esque action sequence. It helps a lot that there’s a central antagonist, and that this is one of the funniest episodes of the show’s run so far. Whether Ichabod and Abby try going all Looney Tunes on the skull to… less than useful effect, Ichabod bitching out a tour guide about Paul Revere in front of a bunch of schoolkids, or Ichabod’s terrified discovery of Internet porn and cam models, this is a funny, funny episode.
It’s also surprisingly gross, for network TV. The central visual theme of this episode is jack-o-lanterns, which makes you wonder when it was supposed to air, and there’s one moment in particular that you kind of wonder what the standards and practices department was thinking when they read it. And then there’s what happens to poor John Cho…
If there’s a problem, it’s the fact that they can’t just bump off Morales, a character so memorable and compelling I thought he was named after Rick Moranis until I looked it up on the IMDB. No matter how much the show tries, Abby’s annoying chest-thumping ex is never going to be a compelling character, and getting exposition fever from John Cho isn’t going to help that. You almost feel bad for the actor stuck playing him as he tries to make a freak-out over meeting Harold and a few blog entries compelling, which is pretty much everything he does this episode.
But that’s a minor flaw, especially in an episode that ends with such a fun climax. The only problem is that it’s a “to be continued” episode in all but name. Seriously, Fox? A cliffhanger?
- The running gag with Ichabod and Abby arguing over bottled water was actually pretty funny, not least because they both had a point.
- Not to be “that guy”, but where is the Headless Horseman getting silver? Or a silversmithing workshop? Or the time to hollow out skulls and line them with silver?
- It’s too bad they didn’t go with actual historical reality; Paul Revere screwed up his ride, and it was Samuel Prescott who finished his run.
- You almost feel bad for Ichabod as he finds out what a douche Thomas Jefferson could be.
- All exposition-laden voicemails should be delivered by Ichabod Crane.
Any thoughts? Let us know in the comments!
