Woohoo! “Sleepy Hollow” Season 3 is on a roll, delivering back-to-back stellar episodes with heartwarming Ichabbie moments, gripping supernatural cases, Jenny and Joe BAMF action, and so much more. Thursday’s “Blood and Fear” continued the winning streak with a fascinating spin on the tale of Jack the Ripper. Nice one, Damien Kindler. Sleepy Writers are taking twistory to a whole new level and we are loving it. Time to dive in and gush about all the goodness!
Pandora is still focused on feeding off of people’s fears. Specifically, she wants to reveal the Witnesses’ fears and use it against them. She unleashes another embodiment of fear itself and it is even more badass than the Whispering Wraith. Pandora picks another easy target, Nelson Myers, a young guy crushing on his co-worker Emily, but getting no love in return. As Nelson lamentingly watches Emily flirt with a douche-y dude from the office, Pandora makes her move. She seduces her way into Nelson’s bed and he wakes up the next morning with a mysterious dagger on his nightstand.
A couple hours later, Abbie gets a call from Agents Reynolds. He’s putting his best agent on a crazy murder case in which a victim (the office tool) was deeply stabbed and all the blood was drained from his body. Ichabod recognizes the unsub’s MO from his childhood and it matches those of Jack the Ripper. Awesome twist! Abbie wonders how Crane knows of Jack the Ripper since the infamous serial killer was before his time, so he explains his encounter. Cue the flashback!
Young Ichabod attended Eaton College (yup, that Eaton, as in Prince William and overall British royalty alma mater, how so fancy) in spring of 1763 when his best friend, Percy, was brutally murdered. Crane saw the killer lurking in the distance with blade in hand. It is a chilling image, nearly graphic novel-esque. This show is beautifully shot. Very well done! Afterwards, a group of Crane’s buddies want to track down the murderer and avenge their friend’s death. Ichabod wanted to go along, but his father pulled him out of school and kept him at home until it was safe to return. During this past year, Crane read about the 1888 Whitechapel murders and became familiar with the legacy Jack the Ripper has left behind. Now, how has Ripper returned and what is draining all the blood from the victims?
Thanks to some lab work, Crane and Abbie identify the weapon as a Byzantine long blade dagger that sheds all virtue and causes the person who uses it to be overcome by bloodlust. Basically, the blade turns people into Rippers. Nelson is about to become the 21st Century’s new Jack the Ripper and Pandora doesn’t give him a choice in the matter. She fuses the dagger to his hand, so he literally becomes one with the blade. Cool and creepy! Pandora delivers an impassioned speech about how he will abandon hesitation, mercy, doubt, blah, blah blah…he’s going to be one nasty psycho-killer. While she hypes him up to take down Team Witness, Abbie tells Reynolds that they’re dealing with ritualistic killings. Smooth one, Abs. He suggests that they catch-up over dinner later and gives her the official ok to take care of business like a boss. Digging this dynamic, let’s hope he keeps up this level of trust and leniency.
Ichabod and Abbie confront Nelson and see how he’s gone all Deadpool with his built-in blade. Abbie shoots him, he falls out of window, lands on car, is covered in glass and riddled with bullets, yet he still survives. Nelson’s eyes turn red, like evil entity’s eyes do (yeah, we’re talking about you demon horse!) and he runs off unharmed. Uh-oh. So this dude has more resistance than other evil foes. But every creature has its weakness, plus the Ripper went MIA for long periods of time. Back to the archives for some much needed research!
They comb through records and discover a pattern. The Ripper had some set-backs over his 900 year span of violent killings and terror. There were five murders in 1763, including Percy’s death. The Ripper claimed his last victim in June, when there was a yellow fever outbreak (you are not alone if you thought of Dean Winchester on “Supernatural” at that moment…still want a #SuperSleepy crossover…#SorryNotSorryHollowBones). Ichabod was pulled out of school to avoid the contagious illness, not because of the murders. That makes sense. The dagger draws its power through blood, so if the blood is diseased, then the host gets sick and dies. Well, this is a new one. Ichabbie will have to kill Nelson with a disease. Luckily, Abbie can get her hands on one, but administering it will not be easy.
Ichabod is armed with a dart gun containing two doses of tainted blood. Once again, Ichabbie goes all in together. They were destined to be partnered from the start. Both witnessed evil at a young age and now Ichabod plans to avenge every life that blade has taken. A rousing and swoon-worthy monologue from Tom Mison. Bravo! This is one of the many reasons why Sleepy Heads would follow him anywhere. Moving on…
Ichabod and Abbie arrive on the scene to find that Nelson has killed their detective friend and has taken Emily hostage. Ichabbie packs a kick-ass one-two punch. Abbie gets Emily out of harm’s way, giving Crane a clear shot at Nelson. But the needle doesn’t penetrate Nelson’s skin. Curse you, foul creature! They engage in a heart-palpitating tussle and Crane is left with no choice. He injects himself with the disease, so that Nelson gets infected and dies when he stabs our valiant hero. Now for the waterworks.
Abbie steadfastly remains by Ichabod’s side. Help is on the way and we know he’ll be fine, but that ominous “what if” looms overhead. What would Ichabod and Abbie do without one another? This is what Pandora is after. At this point in her life, Abbie afraid of losing Ichabod and being alone as the sole Witness. Pandora is feeding this fear and gaining power from it. She’s also breaking our hearts in the process. Back-off, she-devil!
Abbie swings by Reynold’s office to say she won’t be able to go to dinner, but she has a moment to spare for a quick drink. Again, Reynolds doesn’t want their past to hinder their future. Abbie was on track to soar as an FBI super-star, he’s ahead only because he stayed with the program while she took time off to fight evil and save the world. He’s also bewildered by Abbie’s relationship with Crane. Are they roommates, friends, lovers or what? It’s complicated, but Abbie doesn’t need to explain herself to anyone, especially her ex. She just insists that things aren’t romantic. Of course, he’s still suspicious. Probably because of all the chemistry Ichabbie oozes every time they are together. As we can see in the following scene.
Ichabod is laid up on the couch with an IV drip curing his Malaria. He assures Abbie that he’ll be just fine. After all, Malaria is how they defeated British soldiers back during the war. They built-up a resistance to the illness, while the Brits fell ill. So Crane already has a head start on the disease because he’s that kind of badass. And now for the other moment that has us squee-ing with Ichabbie glee. Crane is ever-so grateful that they found each other again and he reaches out to Abbie for an explosive fist-bump. Adorable!
Abbie bumps back, but she’s clearly worried. The fear of losing Crane is written all over her face and Pandora is eating it up. As she watches Abbie facing her fears head-on, another black rose blossoms on her evil tree. What’s the deal with that? Does each rose represent a fear? If so, then Pandora’s plan is working because that tree is in full bloom. What are your theories on Pandora, the rose tree and Abbie’s fears?
The rest of the hour followed Jenny and Joe as they tracked down Randall, with a little locating assist from Abbie and her FBI resources. J&J get hoodwinked by Sophie, a Jenny in training. She plays Miss Mills & Co. with some of Sheriff Corbin’s classic moves, including the lost-soul hitch-hiker rouse. Once the light bulb goes off, they find Randall tied up in the bathtub and realize that Jenny Jr. has already taken the Shard of Anubis. They track her down to a nearby diner where Jenny has a little tet-a-tet with Sophie. Jenny got the Shard back, but she still wants some answers because Sophie is taking pages straight out of Corbin’s playbook. The girl keeps mum when Jenny asks about Corbin and she warns that her boss won’t stop coming after the Shard. Jenny tells her to back-off.
This is a very interesting development. How many people like the Sisters Mills did Corbin reach out to and train? What is so important about the Shard of Anubis? How far are Jenny and Joe willing to go to protect Corbin’s prized relic? Team BAMF is heading down a dangerous road, but at least they’re going on this adventure together. Hopefully they’ll start finding some answers soon instead of raising more questions. It looks like Sheriff Corbin’s secret life entailed even more than what he shared with the Mills. You can’t blame Jenny for feeling a little offended. Will she share this news with Abbie? When she told Abbie about bringing Joe on board, she said she’d also want to know more about her father if she had the chance. Awkward! Abbie should come clean to Jenny about their father, especially after that comment. A secret like this could cause a rift between them just when they’ve finally found their sisterly groove. What do you think?
This was a pretty intense episode, so we cherished the bit of comic relief provided by Crane’s determination to become an American citizen. By now, Abbie has his tirades down, she even anticipates when he’ll quote Thomas Jefferson. So cute! But she doesn’t have time to sit through all of his huffing and puffing over this country’s injustices. Enter Zoe, the new young lady who has a massive case of Crane on the Brain (welcome to the club). She’s thrilled to learn that he wants to become a citizen and offers to help him out. The second Ichabod hears that her brother-in-law is on the senate subcommittee for immigration, he happily accepts her assistance. This should be fun.
Ichabod Crane is getting his flirt on, people! How do you feel about this? He has been carrying himself a little differently this season without the weight of his cursed family weighing him down. Compared to previous season’s he seems more relaxed now. Crane’s enjoying his booze, showing off his sternum bush with a little deep-v action, tossing around that saucy side-eye, rocking that sexy new hair-do, piercing through souls with those hypnotic baby blues and winning smile. Seriously, doubters, you best be coming back to “Sleepy Hollow”! This show is bringing its A-game and that includes milking every ounce of Mison’s charm.
What did you think of this episode, Sleepy Heads? What were your favorite moments? How do feel about Abbie and Ichabod’s prospective relationships with Reynolds and Zoe? What do you think is the significance of the Shard of Anubis? We’re getting a blend of Greek and Egyptian mythology this season. Are you seeing any kind of correlation? Share your thoughts below!
On the next “Sleepy Hollow”
Thursday’s new episode will focus on “The Sisters Mills,” huzzah! Jenny and Abbie work together to stop a monster that is going after children. Wow! Pandora will really stop at nothing to get what she wants. She is sinking to a whole new level of evil by releasing a creature that eats children’s souls. For shame! Watch the promo and check out the slideshow for images from the episode (in which there’s apparently a lot of coffee consumption). We’re still eagerly awaiting some sneak peeks, so stay tuned!
“Sleepy Hollow” airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on FOX.
