‘Sleepy Hollow’ Season 3 finale reaction: What just happened?!

Sorry Sleepy Heads, I still have some catching-up to do on my recaps, which is going to be harder than usual knowing the kind of terrible finale all of S3’s preceding events lead up to. I’m always so eager to gush over all the sweet Ichabbie moments, analyze the fascinating twistory, and wonder about where some of these storylines will go. However, this time around, all my recapping efforts feel moot.

Those last few episodes gave us hope that “Sleepy Hollow” would be building towards something great again. Instead, the finale spat in our faces, stabbed us in the back, and ripped our hearts out. I’ll address everything in more detail when I get around to writing a proper finale recap, but for now, I just want you all to know that I am one devastated and disillusioned Sleepy Head.

The frustrating thing is that this unique show knows how to do it so right. Season 1 was a superb, well-crafted, tactful, gripping, thought-provoking, and immensely entertaining work of art that moved us to fall in love with Ichabod Crane and Abbie Mills. Despite the past two scattered, sub-par, and puzzling seasons, we knew we could always find comfort in Ichabod and Abbie’s unwavering bond.

To me, Ichabbie always seemed like the Winchester Brothers on “Supernatural” (with the potential for romance, of course). I expected them to embark on a cycle of self-sacrifice and salvation. No matter what happened, they would always return to one another and always manage to save each other. The only ending I could ever see in sight was one in which they met their fates together. Side-by-side, they would defeat evil or die trying. In either case, they would end up being together. It was just a matter of living happily ever after or going down in an epic blaze of glory.

Good grief! Abbie’s death wasn’t a bold or radical move. It was an act of betrayal. It was poor and sloppy storytelling, plain and simple. I love TV shows for the stories they tell. I take a break from the troubling reality of life to escape into a fantasy world that is supposed to bring me joy at the end of the day, even when it causes me grief…if you know what I mean.

I’m not saying that main characters can’t die. Some writers are using that as a cop-out. We aren’t children, we know this is make believe, but even pretend characters deserve to have truly noble deaths followed by an honorable mourning period. Watch UK’s “Being Human” and you will see a perfect example of how leads can be gracefully phased-out as new cast members step in to fill their shoes in new roles. I grieved for Aidan Turner’s Mitchell, but I respected his death on the show. It had purpose and the season led up to that big moment by laying out a cleverly crafted storyline that further gave his death meaning.

What happened on “Sleepy Hollow” this season was total BS. The Hidden One and Pandora were a lame replacement for the Headless Horseman. Season 2 didn’t struggle because of Abraham. There were other factors. It never made sense that they removed a key player in the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” from the series. You can’t just have Crane pull Headless out of his ass at the end of the season and expect us to think it’s all cool and okay. Ugh. Sorry this is morphing into a rambling rant. What’s annoying is that there were elements that could have worked if they were introduced from the start.

I like the idea of the Witnesses having an Eternal Soul. But you can’t throw that out there as a half-ass explanation as to how Abbie’s spirit will live on. That’s all a load of bull. It would have made more sense for Ichabod and Abbie to have died together and then their souls would move on as a pair and two new Witnesses would be born destined to find each other once more. I have always said that Ichabod and Abbie are Soulmates. They could’ve taken the story in a direction similar to Hawkman and Hawkgirl’s tale of perpetual love and loss. The Eternal Soul of the Witnesses are fated to find each other and bond as they fight again evil. That’s just one take on it. Almost anything would be better than what happened. And now what are we to expect? Abbie’s soul is going to enter some full grown blood relative and Ichabod’s going to share the bond he had with Abbie with this new chick. Are they hoping for a “Return to Me” kind of scenario? Are we supposed to just go along and be okay with all of this? It is so frustrating!

My head hurts, my heart aches, and I can’t breathe. And I have to go back to recapping the episodes that lead up to this hot mess of a finale. So I’m going to leave it here for now. We’ll see where my feelings stand by the time I get around to my Examiner recap of the Season 3 finale. But I couldn’t go another day without sharing this much.

Hit me with your thoughts, Sleepy Heads! I always clung to our Sleepy Support Group during the brutal hiatus and we need each other now more than ever. Man, this really sucks.