Sleepy Hollow 2.01

[selenak]

I liked the bit with the plants.



Wait, that could be taken wrongly. The episode as a whole was okay, certainly delivered on the Sleepy Hollow formula - Ichabod and Abbie partnership feelings, Ichabod delivers cracky Founding Fathers anecdotes, featuring Benjamin Franklin this time, hilarity ensues, Katrina STILL can't catch a characterisation break from imprisonment, and nobody, not even the great John Noble, can speak German to save their lives.

Mind you: this works for his character. I guess we now know something of what Henry did during those centuries he was locked up alive in a coffin and went insane - he learned German. Considering he had no one to practice it with until Moloch freed him, and then only American cosplayers demons, I'm not surprised at the result. The mostly silent Hessians (I forgot: are they supposed to be the descendants of OMG EVIL Hessians from the 18th century or are they supposed to be newly arrived from Germany) in their black leather (what else does the fashion conscious German villain wear on American tv? Well, there is the occasional scar in the face, and of course the lack of a head in one special case, but other than that) still make me chortle because: the idea of tough guys from Hesse will never stop being funny. Sorry, Hessians.

Anyway, a bit more seriously, speaking of Henry: I felt a bit let down because I assumed one great advantage of having John Noble to play your main antagonist (other than Moloch), as opposed to a headless stuntman and another plastered in demon mask, was to USE his acting force. Instead, except for the hallucination where he does the bit with the plants, poor old Henry is given solely standard villain 101 lines. Bah. Check out Walternate over at Fringe again, Orci & Kurtzman, and then rewrite your scripts!

Let's see, what else: letting Abbie lose the amulet was just lazy scriptwriting, because seriously? The one thing she was told would keep her save from her childhood nightmare? And she just drops it because...? (Welll, Doylist wise she drops it because we need a few Abbie in peril scenes.) On the other hand, she got to behead an Ichabod doppelganger, so there is that.

Escaping from a grave: Ichabod can now empathize with the Bride/Beatrix and Buffy Summers, because his own ealier experience wasn't on their level of gruesome. I have to say, though: while I like Ichabod using science, those ladies set standards he didn't quite live up to.

In conclusion: nice, but not something I'll ever rewatch. In fact, I think I might marathon my way though this show once the season is over, because I have so much else to do, and this didn't really grip me as a must upon returning.

Comments

[percysowner]

Just a guess, but I'm thinking Abby lost the amulet so that if/when Selfie fails, John Cho can come back as Andy and be a force for good because he is protected from Moloch. Yes, it had Abby looking stupid to lose it, but again, Andy was around when she "lost" it, so I'm guessing there may have been some pickpocketing going on there. Basically I like Andy and want him back and I don't want Abby to have been a fool, so I'm creating a fantasy world where both look possible.

[lilacsigil]

That was my assumption as well! They were close together behind that fence, so it would certainly have been possible.

[selenak]

I like your theory, and if there was pickpocketing, I withdraw all objections!

[dancing_serpent]

But she didn't really lose it, she fought Moloch off with it in the season one finale. It looked to me like it burned into his skin and she was too busy making her escape from him to hold on to the thing or linger to rip it off of him. I might misremember, though.

PS: Drive-by comment from the network.

[wee_warrior]

the idea of tough guys from Hesse will never stop being funny.

It's one of the things my viewing group loves most about the show, since we are all German (no one is a Hessian, though). We've repeatedly wondered if in the Sleepy Universe, people from Hessia(?) are just that invested in the occult, and if becoming part of an ancient cabal of evil set on ending the world is a common and viable career option.

Benjamin Franklin, secret nudist, is another revelation I will surely treasure. Likewise the bizarre idea of giving Abraham a shirtless scene before he got his head illusion on. Hunky Headless Horeseman? Oh dear.

I wish they knew what to do with poor Katrina other than having her be in peril, that already got old last season.

[selenak]

My theory is that in the Sleepyverse, the Frankfurt Book Fair is a cover for recruitment of the occult-interested. This explains why none of them can actually speak German; the Book Fair is famously international!

Franklin, though: probably wasn't secret about it. I mean, I'm no expert, but from my dabblings in Founding Fathers fictions I take it he was absolutely unembarrassed about anything. (The scene with Ichabod strikes me as likely inspired by the one in the John Adams miniseries when John Adams bursts into Franklin's rooms while Ben is bathing with a French countess (and playing chess, and presumably also having sex between chess and water games). And did advice the young' uns to go for older women when having sex, so what they show here is pretty mild.

Poor Katrina. I had a second of hope when she stabbed him in the hand, but no, the cruel demon writers won't let her escape and be something other than a prisoner.