Sleepy Hollow S01E13 – “Bad Blood”

Sleepy Hollow “Bad Blood”
Written by Alex Kurtzman and Mark Goffman
Directed by Ken Olin

Hey, ho! This is IT! The epic last part of the Season 1 Finale of Sleepy Hollow, the show that became one of the best shows on television despite (or because!) of how ridiculous it is! It’s sharply written, with a fantastic cast that constantly brings their A game. It’s got a rich mythology while still has the freedom to disregard or retcon things that don’t quite work. It expands from it’s Biblical influences to become a broader narrative. It is incredibly diverse, with many well written black characters who aren’t just thrown in to add a bit of color to the cast. Sleepy Hollow brings together many great ingredients into an incredible stew of deliciousness. So make sure you grab yourself a bowl, because it’s going to be a long long wait until fall!

When last we left Sleepy Hollow (in what was the first part of a two-part episode combined together despite not originally being written that way), Ichabod and Abbie had just retrieved a map to Purgatory from the secret crypt of Zombie George Washington, and then burned the map to keep Moloch from getting it. Ichabod then drew the map again from memory, because he can do that. Captain Irving was arrested while protecting his daughter from crimes she committed while being demon-possessed, and Katrina didn’t appear except via flashbacks (as usual!)

I’m going to cut things off here, and there will be SPOILERS below the fold, because there always is anyway, but these are season ending spoilers of all the cool things that happen, so be warned if you haven’t bingewatched these episodes from your DVR!

Henry Parrish has a dream of Moloch awakening a new Horseman of the Apocalypse, this one is invisible beneath his armor.

In a parallel way, Ichabod thinks he’s dreaming, as he sees people in Revolutionary garb. But it’s just a Revolutionary War reenactment. Though he does find a Revolutionary Era clothesmaker to buy new clothes from, closing the loop from the episode where they tried to give him a makeover. Now he can buy the exact same coat, but brand new! All he has to endure is Jenny Mills teasing him.

To that, Ichabod goes on a huge rant about how he’s not going to donate his old coat so it can be worn ironically by someone who got it from the thrift shop! Whoa to Ichabod being against hipsters! Or at least even knowing what they are. It just goes to show, hipsters ruin everything.

Henry Parrish tells Ichabod, Abbie, and Jenny of his dream and Moloch unleashing Hell on Earth. They figure out the second Horseman is War. What is War good for? Contrary to what you might have heard, War is good for bringing on the Apocalypse, so that’s absolutely something, at least.

Today is also the 13 year anniversary of when the two Mills sisters saw Moloch in forest, and had their blackout episodes. Also there is an eclipse today, and there was 13 years ago. Because we’re suddenly in the middle of the tv series Heroes. Which is bad, because that show was awesome in the first season, then became the worst thing on television immediately after! Run away, Sleepy Hollow!

The only way to stop the Horseman being arisen is via a spell that only a witch can cast. Unfortunately, all the witches they know are dead. Except Katrina, who is just Purgatoried. So they’ll go get her, via the map to Purgatory Ichabod drew from memory. But first it’s character building time!

Abbie is upset Ichabod “lied” to her about the map, though she should have realized he could have redrawn it as she’s seen it before. But he didn’t tell her he would, so he still lied. They make up and he promises not to betray her soul to Moloch again.

Abbie and Jennifer have a great scene where Jenny is worried that Abbie will be taken away from her again if she goes to Purgatory, while Abbie is sick of being a victim to Moloch and wants to strike back. They express some sisterly love and reminiscence about a doll house that they found as kids and would play with to feel safe when their parents were falling apart. That will be important later, so pay attention! Abbie tells Jenny to have faith that she’ll be okay, to which Jenny replies:

“I have more than faith…I’m a mental patient with a gun!”

That’s why Jenny is awesome! Too bad she’ll spend this entire episode listening through Sheriff Corbin’s tapes finding clues instead of kicking butt in Purgatory.

The gate to Purgatory lies on where a bunch of ley lines intersect near town. Henry Parrish warns the duo to not eat any food or drink the water in Purgatory, or you will be trapped there, forever! Ichabod and Abbie say an incantation and the lines of reality crack open like shattered glass and they hold hands and walk through.

Abbie wakes up in fantasy where Sheriff Corbin is alive, Andy isn’t dead or evil, and she has just awoken from being injured in FBI training. There is no Ichabod.

Ichabod has returned to England a hero of England’s victory over the Colonials and his dad is totally happy. There is no Abbie.

Abbie remembers Ichabod and reality and things go nuts as reality breaks down (no pie for her!) Ichabod remembers Abbie and the War and things go nuts (no drinks for him!) Abbie sees smashed neck Andy and Headless Corbin (holding his head that is begging for help) while Ichabod sees his dad eat part of a glass and roar as blood comes from his mouth.

Actually that was pretty funny and not threatening at all, Ichabod’s dad! Try harder next time, please. Thanks.

Ichabod and Abbie wake up in spooky woods with weird crying faceless people all around. They know it is the real each other because of fist bumps (Suck on that, FoxNews!) There are lost souls everywhere, including a dude dragging a gigantic key. I want to know more about giant key guy. Why does he have a giant key? What does the giant key unlock? Why is said giant key so ornate? Could he escape Purgatory if he lets go of the giant key? I demand answers that I’ll never get because he is just a background extra put there to be weird! Damn you, Sleepy Hollow! There are also a lot of people limping and moaning and even some black Romulan demons with no legs crawling around. Purgatory is like 3am on Halloween night, with the drunks in costume stumbling home.

The first thing Ichabod does upon seeing his wife Katrina for the first time in months is to demand if she knows the secrets of Washington’s Bible. He doesn’t even say “Hello!” He wants her to stop the new Horseman from coming, but she says she can’t leave unless she’s forgiven (huh)…..

ORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR……………..

Someone takes her place! If you think it’s going to be Abbie, you are right! Except, unlike all the leading up to prophesies have claimed, Abbie volunteers to stay behind, and rejects Ichabod’s attempt for him to stay behind instead. Abbie is totally keen on facing off with Moloch and to not take his crap any more.

Moloch is coming, and Katrina gives Abbie an amulet, and promises she’ll return to free her. The Cranes leave, and Abbie confronts Moloch, stabbing Moloch with the amulet and running.

Katrina and Ichabod escape to reality, and after a brief introduction to Henry Parrish, they hurry to the spot where the Horseman will arise.

Jenny is on a search for answers at an old church mentioned in Sheriff Corbin’s notes. She finds a sign that she figures out is a warning, but while she’s trying to call Abbie to deliver her warning…

Headless Horseman out of nowhere and he blasts her car with a shotgun and it goes flying! Oh, no, is Jenny dead??? FIND OUT NEXT SEASON!!! DUN DUN DUN!!!!!

Abbie falls into….the Doll House of her youth mentioned earlier. There, teenage Abbie and Jenny, explain Moloch took their memories of the encounter in the woods, and they are those memories.

Ichabod and Katrina get to the Horseman spot at the four white trees…only the Horseman isn’t in the ground. Because he already rose up 13 years ago, because…..Parrish is the second Horseman!

DUN DUN DUN!!

He’s evil and orchestrated everything, and was what Abbie and Jenny saw all those years ago, as Abbie finds out from her memory younger self. Henry Horseman uses his magic powers to wrap Ichabod and Katrina up in tree branches.

Just when you though things couldn’t “DUN DUN DUN” any more, Henry Parrish is revealed to also be their kid Jeremy! Yes, the one who was buried alive and we knew wasn’t dead. But instead of coming back as an angry teenager like I predicted, he’s back as an angry old man!

DUN DUN DUNNNNNN!!!

He’s totally mad at his parents, who he blames for being buried alive for 225 years, even though Ichabod was “dead” before he was born, and Katrina banished slightly afterwards. Talk about your misplaced rage… Jeremy Crane named himself after the first sign he saw, the sign for St. Henry Parrish, the church Jenny was at and figured out the Blue’s Clues!

Now it’s time for bad things to happen to everyone:

Katrina is given to the Headless Horseman!

Ichabod is buried alive by his son!

Abbie is trapped in a dollhouse in purgatory!

And Henry Parrish had the second seal (as seen in the Book of Revelations!), which he breaks open. One step closer to Apocalypse!

Dun.

DUN.

DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Things went from crazy to super crazy, and now we got a million loose threads for the writers to try to get everyone out of next season. Captain Irving is in jail and doesn’t even appear in this episode, Abbie will need to go through crazyland to get back to reality, and she can’t even leave unless she trades places with someone. Ichabod is buried alive and better hope he has cell phone reception in the underground. Katrina is once again a prize to be won, but she’s barely in episodes enough to have a characterization yet besides mysterious witch. Maybe next season the writers will put her in more than half of the episodes.

Things are bonkers, as usual, and I hope things continue to be bonkers when the series resumes. It will have a healthy new season order, plenty of time to develop crazy ideas, and strong enough ratings to get the budget to deliver on the crazy. If they continue the strong and diverse characters, cool concepts, out of the box thinking, and Ichabod vs. modern day that we’ve all come to know and love, Sleepy Hollow will continue to be awesome. Picking this series as the one I would follow for weekly recap/reviews was a gamble, but it turned out to be the best possible choice. I have no reason to believe next season won’t just be better, and I’m now going to have to suffer through months and months of wait. The pain of a television show watcher!