Hallelujah Sleepy Heads! Abbie came clean to Crane before this storyline grew tiresome and excessively annoying. The best part of “Dark Mirror” is when Ichabbie finally got on the same page. It took a close call with the egotistical New Jersey Devil and a dangerous dance with The Hidden One, but our Witnesses are back on track. While Abbie opened up to Ichabod, Jenny set boundaries for Joe. Plus, we get an interesting history lesson on Pandora and The Hidden One. Time dig into this episode of “Sleepy Hollow”!
Shifting gears for this one and starting with a dose of twistory. The New Jersey Devil seems like someone who might have sold his soul to an evil entity for power, knowledge, fame, or whatever. That isn’t the case here. This Devil is Dr. Leeds, Ben Franklin’s megalomaniac rival who dabbled in ancient dark magic and alchemy. He focused on genetic mutation and used himself as a test subject, hence his new unpleasant appearance (part man, part horned-beast, part scorpion…yeah, its messed up). He’s a self-made monster and he’s creepily happy about it too.
Leeds has been hiding out in his badass man-cave hidden under a cool stove illusion. He may be coo-coo bananas, but he’s got some skills. The dude even created the very first movie projector. Unfortunately, he was going to use it to spread propaganda on The Hidden One and Pandora. When Ichabbie finds this film, we get some backstory on the evil duo.
Ages ago the other gods banished The Hidden One to the Catacombs of the Dead because he has always been the worst. He’s basically Hades (which literally means “The Unseen One”). Pandora was the only person who ever showed him any kindness. He gifted her with the legendary Box, which she foolishly opened and subsequently unleashed all sorts of evils into the world. Now THO repays her by throwing her around like a rag doll. Silly Pandora. When is this goddess going to wake-up? She needs to kick her malicious ball and chain to the curb. She is the better of two evils and has the potential to be good. Sadly, her weakness for THO is causing Team Witness a heap of trouble, which brings us to the present situation.
Leeds has murdered some civilians, so Abbie is on the case. The Devil has resurfaced to help The Hidden One achieve his endgame. Of course, Team Witness is hot on his tracks before he has the chance to kill anyone else. Ichabbie heads to Leeds’ hideout and finds a whole bunch of fascinating/frightening artifacts. The key item is a mysterious gold object in the shape of The Hidden One’s symbol. Crane immediately notes that anything related to THO is inherently evil. Despite his warning, Abbie is entranced by it.
Luckily, Crane and Jenny have been tuned into Abbie’s bizarre behavior. They know she’s having PTSD and that something is up, but they don’t want to pressure her. They’ve been taking a passive, yet vigilant approach. Unfortunately, Abbie’s new addiction is about to cross the line when Leeds makes his grand entrance.
After taunting Crane a bit and boasting about his own great accomplishments, Leeds whips his stinger and punctures poor Ichabod. The menagerie of evil dashes off, thinking he’s defeated Team Witness. He severely underestimates Crane, who quickly instructs Abbie to concoct a cure for the venom by combining a bunch of ingredients they fortunately have on hand in the mad scientist’s dwelling. Much to our surprise, Abbie is frozen. She’s under The Hidden One’s spell and her gaze remains fixed on that object. Abbie even seems to be praying to THO to help heal her partner. What?! This is SO twisted. Ichabod persistently reaches out to her for help, hoping to break the spell. Thankfully, she snaps out of the trance in the nick of time and Crane is cured. Phew!
Finally, Ichabbie has the conversation we’ve been waiting for and it is a tear-jerker. Even though Crane had to almost die to confront on her on what’s been happening, he completely understands and supports Abbie. He knows the effects of such trauma can be severe and he doesn’t blame Abbie for seeking comfort in a greater power. Honestly, Ichabod Crane is a saint. Everything he has said and done since bringing Abbie back has been beyond perfect. He cooks, he cleans, he brings gifts, he remains understanding and has never been judgmental. He even blew off his highly anticipated citizenship test because finding Abbie came first. Girl, you better appreciate your Witness work-husband. It does not get better than this. Right?! Okay, back to the case.
There’s no time to waste and Team Witness needs to act fast. Leeds ran off with a lightning rod because he needs the fire of the gods along with a golden cocktail of artifacts to summon the Sands of Life, an item which plays a key role in The Hidden One’s goal to eradicate humanity and scorch the earth. This leads to one badass take-down.
Leeds has gathered the artifacts and the rod is in position, lightning is about to strike when Team Witness arrives. The Sands of Life are being conjured as Crane and Leeds tussle. Ichabod skewers Leeds with the rod and the Devil gets electrocuted on top of it. Whoa! So Leeds has been eliminated, but the Sands of Life is missing. Where did it go?
Despite Team Witness’ greatest efforts, THO and Pandora still end up getting their hands on the Sands of Life. Boo!!! How?! This doesn’t make sense. Regardless, the baddies have their game-changing artifact. The Hidden One decrees, “The time has come. The new world begins now.” Uh-oh. Pandora doesn’t seem to be feeling THO as much as she used too. He’s been beyond harsh with her. He took her mojo, charged himself up, and then teased her with a taste of magic only to take it away again. He keeps toying with her emotions. Soon she’ll have to say, “Enough is enough.” Pandora needs to start acting like a powerful goddess instead of a battered underling. We’ll see where this all goes, but for now, we aren’t happy about THO’s upgrade. So let’s end on a couple of uplifting notes.
Jenny sets some new boundaries for Joe when he oversteps with the best intentions at heart. Her trailer has plumbing issues, so he buys her a new one. You know what’s the best kind of house-warming gift? A new home! Yeah, it’s a bit overkill. He took all of her stuff and safely stashed it in a storage unit. During the case, Jenny needs something and heading to storage to find it just delays Team Witness. Although Joe means well, this is not cool. We get it, he’s excited to be in this relationship, but it’s all too much. Especially for an independent, self-sufficient, kick-ass lady like Jenny. So it is understandable and Joe learns his lesson. He certainly won’t be so presumptuous again. On a side-note: Where did Team Witness get so much cash? Did August Corbin leave Joe a ton of loot? All of a sudden, he’s all about the benjamins like it’s no biggie at all. If it was explained, apologies for missing it. Please, do share…what gives?!
Now for the episode highlight: Ichabbie goodness! Abbie is addicted to The Hidden One. She admits she has a problem and asks for Crane’s help. Aww! He eases her fears and says he’s seen many comrades overcome PTSD-related issues in the past. Crane is going to be her sponsor and help her get through the 12 steps of getting over THO…hmmm, maybe he can lend Pandora a hand while he’s at it. Abbie just needs to take baby-steps towards healing and remain honest with her partner. It is an emotional, tender, raw and beautifully acted scene between Nicole Beharie and Tom Mison. When people start doubting “Sleepy Hollow,” moments like these should put them at ease. Ichabbie is priceless.
What did you think, Sleepy Heads? Are you surprised by the Jersey Devil’s twistory? Are you worried about The Hidden One’s agenda? Is he Hades? How long will it take Pandora to step up and act like a badass goddess? Are you super relieved Abbie and Ichabod finally had that chat? Will she be able to kick her habit with Crane’s help? Was Jenny being too harsh on Joe? Seriously, where did all that money come from?! Share your thoughts below and on Twitter (@TalkTVwTiffany).
“Sleepy Hollow” airs Fridays at 8 p.m. on FOX.
