Manny Camacho reviews episodes 4 – 5 of Sleepy Hollow season 2….
Sleepy Hollow has been a fun ride since it’s series inception. A very specific tale of the fabled Hessian Horseman whose head is decapitated, rises from the grave and searches for the head he lost.
This series has been written in a similar style to Once Upon A Time with a dash of Lost tastefully mixed in. The stories have been solidly incorporating a variety of other characters and tales from many different pieces of folklore and combining them with biblical concepts to interweave the storyline we have today. Mainly concepts from the biblical stories of revelation. Setting up our main characters as the two who bare witness to the coming of the end of days.
The recent episodes for this season have continued to burrow down the rabbit hole of storied characters by utilizing the Pied-Piper and The Weeping Lady. The third episode this season went so far as to utilize the 30 pieces of silver paid to Judas Escariot to explain Benedict Arnold and his historic betrayal during the American Revolution.
I have to admit there are slight hints of the stories plot points borrowing similar concepts from what was seen in the Nick Cage film National Treasure. Arguably one of his last great films. Utilizing heavy aspects of Masonic Lore and stories from the Knights Templar and myths of the Illuminati.
Take the characters, the interwoven bits of lore and tie them together with solid flashback moments and you have an exceptionally engaging fun ride through a supernatural series that is as fun as it is deadly serious.
Episode 4 took us through one of its stranger moments in makeup and costume with the Pied-Piper. A character I did not completely care for and was one of the weakest moments in the series. The story was very odd and didn’t really convey the same sort of pressures and anxiety for the normal “…what goes bump in the night” sort of feel this show conveys. The makeup for the Piper was also strange and didn’t appear to be setup properly. It didn’t have the same gravitas as Moloch; whose been menacing throughout the entire series. believably so! Nor did it have the same effect as the Sandman who was also terrifying and equally cool to see on the screen.
The Pied-Piper just didn’t feel right. It made me see episode 4 as just filler.
This is only awkward because the bulk of this show has always been focused primarily on the meta story. Very little of it has ever strayed away without a direct purpose for the main story arc. Sleepy Hollow has always been completely engaging because of this fact. Take that into account and you start to wonder if the series is going to start taking random turns away from its main goal by using gimmicky practices like any other series. Something I hope it does not do for the long haul. While this show is not one I’d consider scary, I love it because it is exceptionally entertaining and the characters are not the usual unengaged archetypes that are completely predictable. Episode 4, brought them into a normal state where Sleepy Hollow wasn’t anything special and was just going to be a cookie cutter series using fairy tales, myths and other legends to build onto a generic storyline that would eventually become more and more stale. So episode 4 for me gets a general 2 out of 5 stars ★★.
Image Courtesy of Entertainment WeeklyThankfully this week we were able to see the series return to its focus on Ichabod, his love for Katrina and for Mills to refocus her status. We even got to see a more direct interaction between Moloch and Henry Parrish (The Horseman of War) which was not very promising for Henry as he was scolded brutally by Moloch.
This week the focus was on interconnecting Ichabod to Katrina’s past sins and to create a more distrusting air surrounding her extremely secretive character. The force used to accomplish this was the folklore character of the Weeping Lady which has many interpretations throughout history. Picasso has even painted about this character, but likely from a more Spanish interpretation of the character, “La Llorona” (The Crying Woman).
This episode stewed in the main focus of the characters and opened a new window of conflict for them. One that was previously blinded by love, longing and some guilt. Without spoiling the episode to deeply, especially for those of you who DVR your TV for later viewing, There is a lot contextually that is occurring in this episode. One of the few rising aspects of these characters is coming from the Horseman himself. His character is developing solidly and while he is the embodiment of death in an evil form –This particular episode begins to shine a very specific light of epiphany on the character…or at the very least epiphany for us the audience. In life, death, and rise to becoming a Horseman he truly does love Katrina. What do we begin to wonder in small portions (as a result) of this episode? Does Katrina possibly have some love him as well?
This episode continues to increase the continuity for Nick Hawley, including his connection to the realm of the supernatural and more closely ties him to Abbey’s sister Jenny.
While a few other key players in the story are absent from this episode, the series thankfully reconnected with its roots more effectively this week than it did last. While the story itself is a diversion from the main arc you never felt it was not a part of the main concept and we learned that Moloch has a greater purpose for Katrina, not just that of a pawn for hostage. We gained a stronger sense of Ichabod’s connection to various events surrounding Sleepy Hollow and the likelihood of more surprises from his past are bound to surface, as truths are told or wrenched from those who are keeping secrets. Episode 5 gains a 4 out of 5 Stars ★★★★.
Manny Camacho is a Miami, Florida based award winning writer and independent film producer whose current novel, I Think? No, I’m Sure…God Hates Me, is currently sold out of its first printing but will be available again on Amazon soon.
Follow him on @EmanuelFCamacho and on Facebook
Originally published October 22, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
