Wow, Sleepy Heads. Are you still processing everything that went down in “The Lesser Key of Solomon”? We learned a lot about Jenny Mills, a bit about the Hessians and we finally know the demon’s name. Although Ichabod and Abbie are now armed with more knowledge, it does not decrease the dangers in Sleepy Hollow.
In this week’s Revolutionary War flashback we are transported back to the Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773. A soldier tells Ichabod to keep watch while he and other soldiers search for a powerful weapon in a shed on the docks. Under George Washington’s orders, the soldiers must return with the crate concealing this mysterious weapon and keep Crane alive. As the soldiers approach a Hessian soldier guarding the crate, the German mercenary blows himself up in order to keep Washington from possessing such a valuable weapon in their war on British tyranny and ultimately Evil itself. Whoa! Yup, ‘Sleepy Hollow’ knows how to grab our attention from the start. After that explosive intro we are sent to the present, where Ichabod tells his heartbreaking tale of romance, leaving an OnStar-like agent in tears. He was simply calling to figure out how to unlock the car door and ended up making Yolanda sob over his epic tale of lost love. (Love this fantastic scene! Tom Mison is nailing it as Ichabod Crane.) When Abbie returns, we realize that the episode is picking-up from where we left off: Jenny has escaped from the mental institution and they need to find her before the cops do.
Abbie asks Captain Irving to delay the search. They make a strong argument saying that Jenny is brilliant, haunted, and misunderstood, but her past makes her a valuable asset. So Irving gives Abbie 12 hours to find her sister before a search party is sent out. Although Irving is still on the fence, he has given Abbie support when she really needs it. Maybe he won’t turn out to be bad guy after all…
Meanwhile, Jenny visits an old bartender buddy and picks up a bag of stuff she left in his safe-keeping. Once Jenny gets her gear, our attention is directed toward a German music teacher receiving a mysterious call. We hear what sounds like the demon’s thunderous voice instructing the German to retrieve item #37 from Jenny Mills. Next thing you know, a group of Germans ascend upon the poor bartender, Mr. Clark. They torture the man into revealing what he knows about Jenny’s whereabouts. When Mr. Clark tells them to go to Hell, the ringleader eerily responds, “In due time Hell will come to us.” Yeah right, Abbie and Ichabod won’t let it get that far. At least, they’ll try their best not to.
Back at the police station, Abbie researches her sister’s record and discovers that Jenny has been quite the globe-trotter in-between her psychiatric stints. She learns that Jenny stole a car and makes a call for the tracking details. While they await a response, Ichabod asks Abbie about her family history and persists until she gives him an answer. The Mills’ dad left when they were young and a few years later their mom had a nervous-breakdown. (Hmm, could Mrs. Mills have had the girls’ sixth sense?) Abbie ended up with one foster family, while Jenny went through seven separate foster homes since she chose to be honest about what she saw in the woods that fateful day. Jenny spent one year with her last foster family, so Abbie and Ichabod decide to visit them first. Elsewhere, we realize that Jenny has been keeping track Abbie’s successful career. The bag contains a newspaper clipping of Abbie’s work in the sheriff’s department, as well as a gun. But we’ll get back to that.
While Abbie and Ichabod visit Jenny’s last foster family, Irving and Morales get called into a new crime scene. The Germans decapitated Mr. Clark after a really gruesome torture session. However, Irving notices that the wound is not cauterized, so he knows they have a new baddie in town. Meanwhile, Abbie and Ichabod get a better idea of how crappy Jenny’s childhood really was.
Abbie sees how Jenny’s last home was run by a bad foster mother. Abbie threatens the woman into telling her Jenny’s whereabouts, saying “I’ll rain legal brimstone down on you it’ll make God jealous” (more proof of how brilliant the writing is on this show.) So the woman says Jenny used to retreat to a lake house. When Abbie and Ichabod break inside the cabin, she realizes that this was Sheriff Corbin’s place. Interestingly, Corbin has a painting of the Revolutionary War up on the wall. As they begin to take a closer look around, Jenny pops out with gun in hand and Ichabod finds himself in the middle of an awkward Mills sister showdown. Once Ichabod convinces them to drop their weapons and stop fighting, we start to learn a lot of interesting things about Jenny and Corbin’s past.
Corbin sent Jenny around the world to collect rare objects and research supernatural scoop. Corbin visited Jenny the night he died and said he felt that Death was coming for him. He asked Jenny to keep something safe for him. Jenny shows them a box containing a sextant and Ichabod immediately puts the pieces of this puzzle together. Cue another flashback…
Washington wanted to obtain a weapon that would change the tide of the war. The Boston Tea Party served as a distraction while soldiers went in to retrieve the item that was guarded by the Hessian who blew himself up in order to protect the weapon and keep it out of Washington’s possession. Crane was the only survivor because he was told to keep watch outside of the building that exploded. He sent the chest back to Washington in secret, not knowing exactly what was inside.
Ichabod fiddles with the sextant and it has a hidden projector inside that reveals the location of the weapon. Crane barely gets a peek at the map when the Germans attack the cabin. Two escape with the sextant, but Jenny holds one behind at gun-point. While the sisters bicker again, Ichabod pushes them aside and searches the restrained man. Ichabod finds a tattoo on the man’s chest known as “the Mark of Reinhessen” which belonged to “shadow warriors” in the “5th battalion.” This German is a Hessian just like the Headless Horseman. We learn that the Lesser Key of Solomon is book with instructions on how to open the doorway to the seventh circle of Hell and unleash 72 demons into our world. It turns out that there have been many Hessians living among them all along, hiding in plain sight. The Hessians says they are everywhere and they’re growing stronger. He also taunts Abbie telling her that the demon is inside of her heart and mind. The demon summoned him and told him where to find Jenny. The Hessian says in German that Moloch shall rise and he bites down on a cyanide pill, killing himself instantly. With a few moments before the cops arrive, Crane recreates the map from memory and realizes the other Hessians went to an old church to find Solomon’s book, so the team heads out before the cops get to Jenny.
On the ride over we discover that Jenny learned her fighting skills abroad. As Ichabod points out, she was a Freedom fighter, rallying for justice throughout the world. Jenny’s motto: “If you don’t fight for things you stand for, then you don’t stand.” It tickles Ichabod’s fancy, but makes Abbie feel guilty for not sticking up for her sister. Clearly, it will take some time for the Mills sisters to trust each other again. Surprisingly, they still work really well together, especially when they take down a couple of badass Hessian soldiers.
Ichabod, Abbie and Jenny make it to the church in the nick of time. The Hessians have opened the portal. Black liquid rises as demons starting reaching up and try climbing out of Hell. They hear Moloch’s voice bellowing as demons begin to rise. All three fight off the Hessians as Abbie finally grabs the Book of Solomon and tosses it into the gurgling black lava. Luckily, the portal closes and Ichabod lightens the moment, jesting, “They left without a farewell. How impolite.”
Later at the precinct, Abbie and Jenny have a much needed heart-to-heart. We learn that their mom dragged the girls to Bible study, so they are already pretty familiar with the Book of Revelations. Abbie brings Jenny up-to-date with the whole Witness thing between her and Crane. Abbie also confesses that she feels this may be her punishment for turning her back on Jenny when she denied the demon’s existence. Abbie says they lost everything that day in the woods: their childhood, their sanity, and worst of all, they lost each other. Abbie is proud of Jenny and all that she has accomplished. She also has a plan to get Jenny out of the institution by becoming her conservator. The Mills sisters will be able work together and get answers. Jenny also admits that Corbin always told her Abbie would eventually find her way back and when she did Corbin wanted Jenny to forgive her. Abbie apologizes for taking so long. I’m glad to see the Mills sister clear the air and work together instead of wasting more time being mad at each other. Great work by Nicole Beharie and Lyndie Greenwood in this scene, they both deliver touching performances and their chemistry works well together. It will be sweet to see how their relationship evolves from here on.
As the episode concludes, Ichabod gives us the low-down on Moloch. According to Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost,’ Moloch is the god demon of child sacrifice who led a revolt of other demons against Heaven. Moloch controls the Four Horsemen and guards Katrina in supernatural captivity. Abbie and Ichabod know his name and Crane makes it sound like this gives them a bit of leverage.
So what does this mean for the Witnesses? How much power is there in knowing a demon’s name? Can they summon Moloch and trap him? Is there a way to gain control over a demon in ‘Sleepy Hollow’s’ mythology?
We are still learning the rules in the supernatural world of ‘Sleepy Hollow.’ Something interesting to observe is that a child becomes the center of next week’s case. Moloch is the demon of child scarifies, so it looks like he is focusing on his forte by using a child to infect Crane with a plague or curse. Check out a sneak peek clip and images from “John Doe” here: ‘Sleepy Hollow’ preview: A plague hits Sleepy Hollow in ‘John Doe’
Afterthoughts:
- Moloch:Well now that Ichabod and Abbie know exactly which demon they are dealing with, maybe they can figure out his weaknesses. According to Wikipedia, “Moloch” means “king” in Hebrew. He was also an ancient Ammonitegod: “Moloch worship was practiced by the Canaanites, Phoenician and related cultures in North Africa and the Levant.” Maybe there are people who still worship and serve him today? A website studying Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ also makes an interesting note on Moloch’s methods. Nicholas Zeng writes: “He characterizes a brawn-not-brains mentality as he advises open war because he cannot stand being defeated and surviving. The samurai ethic of hara-kiri is perhaps brought to mind. However, instead of disemboweling himself, Moloch clamors for another battle which he knows – but won’t admit – cannot be won.” Perhaps Ichabod and Abbie need to present Moloch with a challenge they know he can never win. An epic fight to the death. But if Moloch dies, will another demon take his place and control the Horsemen and Katrina? Do you have any theories, Sleepy Heads?
- Jenny Mills: I really like Jenny’s back-story. I think it is great that Corbin reached out to her. He helped save Abbie from a life of crime and offered Jenny a sense a purpose and validation when no one else would believe her. The Mills sisters have a lot to offer. Ichabod is lucky to have teamed up with a couple of smart, badass chicks.
- Hessians: I did a bit of research on the Hessians for my articleon the sneak peek from “The Lesser Key of Solomon” and Ichabod pretty much summed it all up. (Of course, it sounded way more interesting coming from him than it did when I read it on wikipedia.) The Hessians fought for the British and many stayed behind in America. This is a great way to weave American history with the supernatural. I’m still curious about the Mark of Reinhessen. It looks like the symbol of chaos, but it can mean a completely different thing in ‘Sleepy Hollow’s’ mythology.” Do you have any thoughts on the Hessians and the Mark of Reinhessen?
Share your thoughts below and stay tuned for more news!
‘Sleepy Hollow’ airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on FOX.
