My friends and I were excited to watch tonight’s premiere of “Sleepy Hollow” on the Fox Network. “Sleepy Hollow” is a mystery adventure based on the Washington Irving short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Created by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, this retelling of the 1820 tale begins with Ichabod Crane and the headless horseman summoned to the 21rst century. How does a colonial gentleman survive in a technological era? Let’s find out together to the music of the Rolling Stones and Sympathy for the Devil.
Ichabod Crane
The show opens with Ichabod (Tom Mison) fighting the British redcoats, when a Hessian soldier employed by the British army rides upon the scene. But, this is no ordinary soldier. This is the man that General George Washington ordered Ichabod to kill. There’s a fight; Ichabod is severely injured, but he manages to cut off the hessian’s head.
Skip a few hundred years forward and we find Ichabod climbing out of the grave and onto a busy highway; welcome to the future, big guy. On the other side of town, Sheriff August Corbin (Clancy Brown) and Deputy Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie) are called to a local stable with reports of a disturbance. But when our crime fighters arrive they find the owner of the stable missing a major body part, and a headless soldier with an axe to bury, and bury it he does; killing the sheriff. Say hello to the Headless Horseman (Richard Cetrone), also known as the rider of the pale horse, Mr. Death himself.
Deputy Abbie Mills
Horrified to see her boss killed and a headless man riding off into the night, Abbie is the only one in the Sleepy Hollow police station willing to listen to the strange man found on the side of the road. After Ichabod explains that he is a spy working for General George Washington, Captain Frank Irving (Orlando Jones) tells Abbie to have the stranger committed.
But, Abbie goes with her instincts and takes Ichabod back to his grave and to the bible that was buried with him. The bible belonged to Gen. Washington and holds the clue to who the horseman really is. Say hello to the Apocalypse; sorry, no zombies on this trip. Ichabod also locates his wife’s grave, and learns that she was burned as a witch.
The Headless Horseman
So why is the horseman in Sleepy Hollow and why is he gleefully cutting off heads? He’s looking for his own head; what a bummer. With the help of evil witches, nasty demons and modern weapons, the headless horseman is ready to boogey on down the road to mankind’s mass extinction.
But there are a few pot holes on this road; Abbey has found the hidden files of Sheriff Corbin. Seems the Sheriff was doing his homework and learned about the witches; two covens to be exact. Ichabod’s wife Katrina Crane (Katia Winter) belonged to the good coven, but the bad coven is responsible for calling forth Mr. Nasty. Luckily, for the world, the horseman’s head is buried in Katrina’s grave. But is Katrina really dead?
Conclusion
There’s plenty of Bible and book of Revelation references to satisfy the “End of Days” crowd, and enough secret organizations stuff to satisfy the “Conspiracy” crowd. The first episode was good, especially with the demon and witchcraft element, reminding me of my favorite show, Grimm. But, I was a bit surprised, and disappointed with how easily Ichabod Crane adjusted so readily to the modern world: cars; cell phones; airplanes; coffee? I’m pretty sure that they only drank tea in those days. Anyway, all new shows have to earn their way onto my “Must Watch List” and I’m hoping that Sleepy Hollow can do this. How about you? Did you like the show?
I was a little put off by Ichabod’s ease into the modern technology of 2 centuries later, as well, but it does segue to his delivery of dry one liners, adds a little sardonic dialogue to lighten things up. It’s not on my “must watch” list either yet. I was disappointed that Clancy Brown lost his head so quickly, but Tom Mison is easy enough on the eyes, even before he speaks. I found the story a little slow to start, but it grabbed me soon enough with the found booty of collected information disclosing years of suspicious and paranormal events. I think there will be more souls, old and new, to surface and keep the ride interesting, but not for seven years.
keeping my fingers crossed and maybe we’ll both have this show on our “To Watch” list.
I enjoyed it in spite of a few clunky moments. Also very sad to Clancy Brown go so quickly! It’s too bad pilots have to move so fast to hook viewers these days. I think it would’ve been stronger to keep him around for an episode or two and then BLAMMO but ah well. It’ll be interesting to see how they handle the monster-of-the-week versus the apocalyptic arc, but it’s got potential, fo’ sho’!
They might have Clancy Brown in some flash back scenes, I sure hope so. I’m waiting to see if the creators of the show can add some special touches to the Book of Revelation creatures. The one demon in the mirror was pretty good.