So we found Sleepy Hollow on Hulu a few months back and caught up to current in Season 2 without realizing it was still running.
Is it just me, or does this show not live up to its promise? Good acting (one or two great actors), great production values, strong-ish stories ep by ep… but murky, directionless mush in the overall arc progression?
Almost every episode, there’s a scene where two characters hash something out that seems to come from the blue - something not quite set up previously, or that seems to have changed or been whopped up into Big Significance since first presented. It’s like we’re missing about fifteen minutes of some past episode - over and over again.
I do like many things about this show. That Crane is often bewildered by the modern era, but is not a baffled idiot, either. That the directors find deft ways to move the action and story along at lightning speed by skipping over the dull setup bits. That some of the supernatural stuff is genuinely terrifying. That the foes, and situation, keep evolving instead of being “this week’s strike back against Moloch.” The two leads are sharp, pretty and more believable than many peers in such absurd settings. They get many small details of behavior and consequence right.
But… it’s still a bit like being dragged along in contextless mush, with inexplicable lacunae as if the episodes have been badly hacked to make more commercial room. Or something. Just me?
Your complaints definitely apply for Season 2, which has become a muddled mess. Season 1, though, was a thing of brilliance. I think the 13 ep season gave the showrunners and writers a bit more focus. The 1st season DID have an arc that we kept moving forward to with amazing speed. Season 2 has been a meandering mess.
The first season was better. Now it’s just Kill The Monster Of The Week. Henry is one of the best baddies ever, and who wouldn’t kill for that marvelous voice? We all know Ichabod is going to ride Abby like a stallion, why not get it over with? Some of the shit is just too nuts for words, like the supposed tomb of Washington and the magnificent dome of Jefferson all built underground and every one of the builders and their descendants completely forgot about it? Right.
To echo the above, it’s lost a lot of direction now that Moloch has been dispatched. It’s never a good sign when even the characters are wondering what they’re supposed to be doing. They’re trying to ramp up again with Dark Katrina/Undead Irving, but it’s not as compelling, mostly because Katrina has been so ill-defined for basically her entire time on the show.
That said, I LOVED Hologram Thomas Jefferson. That is precisely the kind of nutty, “are they really doing that?” idea that is Sleepy Hollow’s stock in trade. I was very disappointed when they blew it up (the worst part of an otherwise better-than-recent episode).
I like that it isn’t completely arc driven this season. I get tired of these shows where I have to remember dozens of details from ep to ep, especially when watching them in real time, once a week. It’s like they are trying to keep the arc to a minimum, and focusing on weekly self-contained issues most of the time. I miss the days when all shows were like that.
I do love the stranger-in-a-strange-land moments, like when Ichy was offended by two guys in a coffee shop. Abby thought he was offended by the fact that they were a same-sex couple, but he was only offended that they were wearing HATS indoors.
I loved the first season of Sleepy Hollow. The second–not so much.
The chemistry between Ichabod & Abbie has always been a strong point. During season 1, Abbie’s sister Jenny & Frank Irving became important parts of the team, after starting out as Skeptical Cop & Bitter Badass. Katrina, Ichabod’s wife in Purgatory, was always a weakness–incoherent writing and/or less skilled acting?
With Season 2, we saw lots more of Katrina, with soapy drama as she hoped to redeem Her Son John Noble (whom we’d seen her abandon for insufficient reasons in Season 1). Then there was her schmoopy disappointed lover–formerly Headless with automatic weapons. Less time for Ichabod & Abbie to be awesome together. And Hawley showed up, intended as possible “love interest” for Abbie; the show could use some more interesting recurring characters but he was in* every* episode for a while–as Jenny & Frank were almost forgotten.
The writing has wandered, with interesting creatures appearing & disappearing. The mentioned lack of minor Sleepy Hollow residents–unless they are introduced only to be killed by the Monster of the Week. Then the “Apocalypse” happened early–& fizzled out.
Main problem: The original showrunners are gone. Mark Goffman has been in charge–he’s mostly been quoted about how much he loves Katrina. The longer season order could have been handled with better pacing but the writers seem to lack direction. Goffman has also been quoted saying he wanted to dumb things down a bit to attract a wider audience–but quick pacing & wit help cover plot holes.
In the last two episodes, some fan issues have been handled–but ratings remain low. Still no renewal. But I really did love this show & hope it can be saved.
True. Almost to S1 quality. I have been calling for Katrina to be a villain for a while now (but I was hoping for a reveal that she’d be working for the dark forces all this time - which would also explain how useless she’s been for the good guys).
It feels like the entire season was an unnecessary muddle because if they established this Katrina / Henry cooperation in the first few episodes of S2, it could have been a great season. They could have done their Monster of the Week (if they really wanted to), but have the subplot of Katrina and Henry plotting in the background (and Ichabod’s despair at Katrina turning to the dark side, with Abby trying to help him get through it - deepening their partnership).
Hologram Thomas Jefferson was excellent - more of that please. Though I guess we are running out of famous founders (though I did enjoy them bringing Henry Knox in).
I love it for it’s campy goodness. The chemistry between Ichabod and Abby is fantastic. The creatures are wonderful. I do get a little tired of the “hey the rare text that has the exact answer we need is just here on the shelf” routine, but I can live with it. I don’t want them to turn Ichabod into too much of a Mary Sue who has interacted with every notable patriot and participated in every notable event. But again, if it doesn’t get too bad, I can live with it.
Yes. For the most part, they have played this card well, and cleverly. That bit was one of the best twists of the knife.
A bit less subtle, but still very funny, was the moment when he’s roared through the streets in Hawley’s super-hot Mustang, slides to a stop, slaps the steering wheel and says, 'THIS is the vehicle I want!"
It would be terribly easy to overuse the device or use it really lamely, and only one or two instances have been, yeah, well. Again, I like that they didn’t fall for the worn-out trope of making him a perpetual dunce about things. Some of the smartass comments about cell phones have been priceless.
Well, I’ll get things rolling for the season finale.
So I guess they’re not sure they’re getting renewed, eh? That was possibly the wrapping-uppingest episode of TV I’ve ever seen. If the show comes back next year, it’s more or less starting over. That could be a good thing. Hell, not having Katrina around gives me some hope right there.
Oh, the episode? Right. I thought it was pretty well done. More suspenseful than most of this season’s outings have been, and the time-travel gimmick allowed us to see Abby and Ichabod almost with new eyes. It was fun to watch Ichabod learn to trust Mills all over again, and fun (and a nice change of pace) to see Ichabod not knowing all the answers. I wasn’t too perturbed by the reset ending because they set it up way in advance: “Now cancelling this spell is going to undo everything that happened. IT’LL BE LIKE YOU NEVER WENT BACK IN TIME.” Yeah, we get it. But what’s Sleepy Hollow if not an excuse for silly fun, with an occasional heartstring tugged here and there? I was pleased.
And Ichabod sliding Katrina’s phone across the table to unlock it … pure brilliance.
They went a long way to possibly fixing the malaise of Season 2 by killing Katrina (unfortunately they killed Henry too… but missed an opportunity to get rid of Hawley). So you have the gang back together and a vague prophecy by Grace Dixon that the evil is still coming. Maybe some new demonic big baddie for next season? And tightening up that pacing?
I’m hoping that they floundered about for most of Season 2 (the last 4ish eps were decent) because they didn’t know what to do with Katrina being freed (I’m believing that they felt there was no way they were getting a Season 2 so they didn’t think that far ahead).