Um, never mind what I said about the water. Googling brings up lots of info about water-borne illnesses in the colonies. They were getting sick – they just didn’t know it was because of dirty water. And they did drink a lot of alcohol. Probably what saved most of 'em.
This episode was great, except for the underwhelming ending. It just so happens I had been reading about Paul Revere a week ago on Wikipedia, and was impressed that the writers got so much right (“the Regulars are coming!”, multiple riders, etc.) It was even nicer when they insulted all the people who get it wrong based off the poem. This show has come a long way since getting the name (“Book of Revelations”) wrong in the first few eps - even if they are getting other things wrong, such as the Hessian/redcoat jackets.
I especially liked it that the scooby trap worked, and that they found a ‘modern’ solution to the requirement for finding a witch.
Good post. I’d been meaning to comment on all the comments about the history. This story doesn’t take place in our universe so our version of history is completely irrelevant. It’s obviously a close cousin of our world but they’re not the same. If they were, somebody would have brought up the Washington Irving story by now.
As for the in universe things that don’t make sense, pick away. Did nobody notice that Brooks disappeared from the morgue and they were short a cruiser during the witch resurrection arc? Ichabod’s clothes. Death’s skull. Don’t you think if they could have destroyed it they would have instead of burying it? Has nobody seen the huge hole they knocked through the wall to get to the tunnels? That kind of stuff. I’m enjoying the show anyway. I also get a kick out of knowing it was made sort of locally.
From the wiki:
We didn’t get to see them trying to smash the skull at the car compacter place, did we? We should just assume that didn’t work?
I don’t think they got a chance to do that, something interrupted them, although I’ve forgotten what.
Would have been great fun to see them try and fail, however.
Crane saw the candle lit Mason heads.
I find myself wondering weird things - like why didn’t sunlight destroy the skull? And does the sunlight just trap him? He seemed to be starting to burn. . .
I thought I was completely “out” of the story at this point; but when the Captain tapped the lab buddies’ earphone, I jumped a mile, being sure that his head would fall off. Too hilarious!
The lab results were fascinating. No discernible cell structure. So they are not just taking ver human bodies and then providing some form of protection.
Prediction: The sample of the horseman that is still in carbon dating test will wreak havoc. I’m guessing he can re-manifest from it.
i’ve been calling them head lights. you’ve made laugh, now i’m thinking mason jar-head lights.
Yeah, Mason Jar came to mind, but my Father and Grandfather were masons, and I was asked to join up, so I’m pretty sure the living and unliving would kick my ass if I made “light” of it.
Oh, crap.
Wow. It was a full 15 minutes into the program before they ran the opening credits.
Ichy’s buddy should probably be using something besides a Pakistani made repro of a soldier’s hanger. 
Now that they have moved the plot along it looks like they will be going back to monster of the week next week.
That was fun. So much so that I barely noticed Icky’s annoying freaking clothes. And who didn’t know what was coming when Icky didn’t see that bayonet go through Abraham’s chest?
So, is this the Scooby Gang? I sure hope The Master hasn’t taken Kumar away for ever because every team needs an unreliable dead guy in desperate need of a chiropractor.
snowflake the horse is even better than lassie.
“headless fell into mason trap. kill your hunting buddy and the lights!”
i’m starting to feel a bit for “pez” brooks. he keeps getting sent tokens in the icky-est ways. he regurgitates a medallion, now he just reaches into his guts for druid thingys. poor dude, i bet he had no idea when he signed the bloody dotted line.
I was proud of myself for (at least) guessing that he wasn’t dead – in the traditional sense. I had no clue that he’d end up as a Horseman though.
Was that a real instrument, in the flashback? I assume it was, but how weird, and how cool that it’s in the show. The producers keep on doing more than they have to do, to keep the show interesting.
Would you believe I woke up at quarter after on in a panic? *It’s Harold not Kumar![/] and I snatched up my Kindle to correct myself. Only it was being temperamental and I was too sleepy to fight with it.
Couldn’t they encase the skull in concrete and then drop it into the ocean? Or give it to the feds and have them put it in Fort Knox?
My daughter understood that the Horseman was Abraham long before her mother and I clued in.
Yes, AuntiePam, that was a real instrument, the glass harmonica which was invented by an Irish musician, Richard Pockrich around 1740. Ben Franklin got into the instrument and made a number of improvements to it and over 100 composers, including Mozart, wrote pieces for it, but the instrument never amounted to more than a 18th-century fad. You’re right: the producers did do a good job - not only did they get a instrument popular in that time, they got one with an actual American connection.
Maybe it’s just me, but I started noticing the number of profile shots where Icky is looking over his shoulder, collar raised, and talking, the viewer only seeing 1/2 of his face. The % of shots of Icky at full or half profile is at least 50% of his screen time, especially in the “expositiony” scenes. Next week, I might just count instances of this shot - I bet we break 20.
Did Abby use the word “bendy”? My wife and I reacted to that, it sounded so Whedony. 
JohnT, thanks for the info on the instrument.
From Wiki:
The instrument’s popularity did not last far beyond the 18th century. Some claim this was due to strange rumors that using the instrument caused both musicians and their listeners to go mad. It is a matter of conjecture how pervasive that belief was; all the commonly cited examples of this rumor are German, if not confined to Vienna.
One example of fear from playing the glass harmonica was noted by a German musicologist Friedrich Rochlitz in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung:
Did anyone notice they said “Book of Revelation (no 's)”? The writers are learning!
Strong episode, I think. The personal connection to the Horseman is a nice touch and brings and element that wasn’t there in the previous episodes. Now we know that Death has a personal vendetta against Crane, its more believable to me to watch him stalk him for no reason other than “our fates are entwined”.
I think I heard somebody say that Death was a servant of Molech, did I get that right?
I would really not have Death POed with me.