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Sleepy Hollow Finale Thoughts

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That’s how you do a season finale!
The first part had great humor then ramped up the creepy factor with poor Andy Brooks and the second ended on that MAJOR surprise factor that had every fan wondering how they didn’t guess it before!
One thing I love about this show is the three black girls looking out for each other. So rare for shows to show that dynamic, especially with women of color. I’ve seen some comparisons to Supernatural (which I don’t watch), and I definitely think it would be cool to see the Mills sisters interact more like Dean and Sam over on Supernatural. A Mills sister roadtrip? Macey hanging out in the back? Basically, Sleepy Hollow is the TV show equivalent of Disney’s Frozen, where sisterly love is made a priority.  Jenny getting herself arrested so that she was forced away from her sister due to her murderous thoughts really made Abbie rethink everything she’d thought about her all those years. It certainly helps that Jenny is basically Lara Croft Tomb Raider. Except Tomb Raider isn’t lying on the side of the road at the end!
I shouldn’t have trusted Henry, but I still don’t think I trust Katrina. Henry was a surprised (mostly because he was featured so prominently in the Jeremy Crane backstory episode) but really I should have known because in any mystery/suspense show, the casting choice you recognize (the most famous of the guest stars) usually committed the crime! So really we should have all known. But I don’t trust Katrina, quite, either. It was too easy for her to let Abbie stay in purgatory knowing Moloch’s plan was to get her there all along. But perhaps that’s just the Ichabod/Abbie shipper in me.
Speaking of, I love the way they are adapting to each other’s quirks. Instead of it just being Ichabod using 21st Century lingo, Abbie signs off her voicemails “respectfully yours.” There’s an equality there that’s really great to see, considering it could be Ichabod doing al of the adapting. Comparatively, Ichabod and Katrina are now on uneven footing, since he’s using language she doesn’t understand (“…cool”). And who knows how she was feeling about that Crane and Abbie head-cradling hug, it was very tender. And fist bumps are definitely the truest test of friendship.
But now, no one can return to get Abbie out of Purgatory! Jenny is laid out on the side of the road, Ichabod is buried alive, and Katrina has been absconded by Headless! Even poor Captain Irving is locked away, trying to protect his family. I can’t wait until the Irvings are even more involved in the evil fighting team. I bet Macey and her science skills can help somehow!
And finally, I still say that Jasmine Guy needs to play a Mills relative, those eyebrows are too similar and I get constant views on my Lyndie/Jasmine post whenever Jenny is on screen. It needs to happen!
Zombie George Washington!
Related links:
http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/01/21/sleepy-hollow-season-finale-ep-mark-goffman-on-that-reveal-season-2s-new-faces-and-what-you-didnt-see/
Apparently, John Noble was told about Jeremy before he began, so this was the plan all along!

Yeah, I honestly don’t know how you’re going to get yourself out of this. How far are you into planning a way out of this huge pickle?
We definitely have ideas. Part of the fun of this show is taking these really big swings. So we’ll have to take some more to get them out.

They’re so cheeky, but I love how they have a plan. If only all shows 1. had a plan, 2. were allowed by the network to stick with it.
 

ConStar Watches Sleepy Hollow "The Indispensable Man” & "Bad Blood"

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Quick summaries, click the link below before longer freak out/thoughts post!

The Indispensable Man

Andy returns and is still creepy. He reiterates the prophecy: Ichabod will deliver Abbie’s soul to Moloch. Then creepily confesses his love to Abbie before running away.
Meanwhile. Ichabod has discovered some more hidden clues in Washington’s Bible. There are 10 extra verses in the section on Lazarus, which lead them to George Washington’s secret gravesite to find a map. Abbie is concerned Ichabod will use the map to save Katrina but not focus on the greater good.
They retrieve the map in a true Masonic/National Treasure style crypt, but Andy’s been newly possessed by Moloch and hasn’t run out of his nine lives yet. Well, I suppose he does by the time the crypt collapses on him. Abbie urges Ichabod to destroy the map, since Andy told them Moloch could use it to bring war upon them. He does so, but not before committing it to memory. But War is coming to Sleepy Hollow…
Across town, Captain Irving’s family is under suspicion since a cop and a priest were murdered at the cabin he was keeping his family “safe” at. Macey is their number 1 suspect—DNA and all—and since Irving can’t say “a demon did it,” he confesses to the crime himself and gets sent to trial.

“Witness 1 paging Witness 2…”
“I am, respectfully, Lieutenant Mills.”
[receives smiley] “Oh. It’s a man’s face. I suppose that’s charming.”
“Poppycock!” “I know.”
“Yolanda was a much better listener.” [than Siri]
“Prophecies have a nasty way of fulfilling themselves if you let them…”

Bad Blood

via TV LineAn eclipse is coming tonight and by the time it is over, War (the Second [but really Third because we’ve briefly met Pestilence] Horseman of the Apocalypse) will arrive in Sleepy Hollow. It seems Abbie and Ichabod want to face it head on and retrieve Katrina from Purgatory [a scene which I need to revisit considering the ending—whose idea was it to go to purgatory?]. Jenny doesn’t approve of the plan, because she doesn’t want to lose her sister again, and the girls share a nice moment of hugs and remembering Chekov’s Dollhouse.
Abbie and Ichabod are warned not to eat or drink anything, as it will be a Lotus Eaters situation and keep them trapped in purgatory. Both wake up having received a great wish: Abbie is hanging with Corbin and Andy, alive and offering apple pie and Crane returns to his estranged father, having never been estranged because he never joined the Rebels. In Crane’s dream, the British won and he’s reunited with his father! Both come to their senses, but not before Victor Garber goes a bit demonic and chews on some glass. Together again, Abbie and Ichabod find Katrina, but here’s the deal: She can leave only if one soul takes her place. Abbie offers herself up, despite Crane’s protests—It’s what Moloch wanted this whole time!—and with the assurance he will come back for her.
But once back in the 21st Century, the Cranes are stopped by the 2nd Horseman, War, who has been among us this whole time! Turns out, our friendly, neighborhood Sin-Eater has been fooling us this whole time—he’s the second horseman! He’s what Moloch resurrected when the Mills sisters saw him 13 years ago, and he’s also Jeremy Crane, the buried alive son of Ichabod and Katrina! Jeremy/Henry/the Sin Eater gives an epic “Why I hate you, Mom and Dad!” speech, then allows Headless (Van Brunt of Legend of Sleepy Hollow lore) take Katrina away and Jeremy buries Crane alive, breaking the second seal as he does so. Jenny, having run down a lead, has been shot up in her car by Headless and remains on the side of the road, bleeding an unconscious, unable to help her sister who is trapped in Dollhouse Purgatory! We don’t get to find out what happens next until next Fall!

 “Admit it. You appreciate me.” “Microscopically.”

Click here for Finale thoughts

ConStar Watches Sleepy Hollow "The Vessel"

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A quick summation of “The Vessel” (mostly for archive purposes and because I wrote it up so might as well post it, even if a week late). Look for longer finale posts!

Crane attempts modern clothes and doesn’t like it. The demon who threatened Irving’s daughter arrives at the precinct to cause an immediate threat. Irving takes Macey to a cabin in the woods, but a demon uses Morales to follow them there and posses her. She kills a priest and demands George Washington’s Bible, which was buried with Ichabod. Turns out the same demon, Ancitif, once possessed Jenny and is after Abbie’s soul. In order to get rid of said demon, without giving up the Bible, the gang must search for a lantern that will cast Ancitif back to hell. Once there, the owners of the Bible, a bit of a red-neck family, attempt to stop our duo, but Jenny rolls in looking every bit Lara Croft Tomb Raider, and they all get to HQ in time to release poor Macey from looking like a horrible demon forever. Ichabod uses invisible ink tricks to discover a date written in the Bible in Washington’s hand, written 4 days after he died. Dun dun dun!

Quotes
“I want chapter and verse in my hands yesterday.”
“This place is booby trapped.” “Sounds unpleasant.” “Just watch where you step.”

Brief Response to: What every TV show can learn from Sleepy Hollow – The Week

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What every TV show can learn from Sleepy Hollow – The Week.
Thank you Laura (the author of this article) for pointing out all the reasons why I love Sleepy Hollow and for not ignoring all the things all those other articles have been ignoring about the show. It’s diversity in race AND in female characters are both the biggest reasons why it’s doing so well, it’s social media and the storyline are important, but if the leads were both white men, it wouldn’t be doing as well as it is.
Some points from the article that I loved:

First and foremost, the series boasts one of the most diverse casts anywhere on television. Two of its four series regulars are African-American (Nichole Beharie and Orlando Jones), while all three of its most frequently recurring characters — played by John Cho, Lyndie Greenwood, and Nicholas Gonzalez — are people of color.

Even Grey’s Anatomy, probably the other highly diverse show on television (I can’t even think of others besides the one I will point out next), doesn’t have the percentages of PoCs/whites as this show does. PoC’s have the higher percentage on this show, Grey’s (this is definitely not an official count, just a gut opinion) probably runs 50/50? I think the other show that can boast great diversity on Sleepy Hollow’s level is Brooklyn 99, which has 2 white guys and 1 white woman in it’s main cast of 7; the rest are PoCs.

The same study observed that shows with the highest percentage of racial diversity in their casts also performed better in the ratings than shows with less inclusive casts. As the study’s author, Darnell Hunt, pointed out: “It’s clear that people are watching shows that reflect and relate to their own experiences.”

Why does no one in Hollywood want to admit this is a true thing or do anything about it? Hopefully networks will follow FOX’s example (something I am loathe to normally say– I don’t agree with some of their other storytelling traditions)

It’s as if women can maintain relationships without being defined by who they’re dating — a novel concept!

Love this line. While most of the conversations between these women actually do revolve around Ichabod (which is of course going to be the case–not a fault but a necessity), it would totally pass the Bechdel test (if perhaps, the Headless Horseman were a woman). Their conversations aren’t necessarily about their relationships with the men, but about how to save them (or destroy them).

Jones has embraced fan fiction, fan art, gifs, and the art of “shipping” — for bothSleepy Hollow and similarly fan-friendly shows like Supernatural — endearing himself to the show’s growing audience and helping to bring fan activities that were once considered niche or somehow shameful into the mainstream, reducing the stigma that’s still generally attached to demonstrating your appreciation for a piece of pop culture.

I’ve definitely appreciated OJs commitment to the fandom. I’ve been a part of various fandoms in my life, but always in secret (well–some parts in secret. I am an obvious nerd about a lot of things, but I have read fanfiction, for example, but don’t really talk about it because of what the author says: the stigma of fan activities. I definitely downplay some of my fan ways, which may lead people who know me to go “it could get worse?!” ;-)). So, while I haven’t delved that deeply into the Sleepy Hollow fandom, I appreciate that others are allowed to voice their opinions, share their work, and interact with the stars of the show, because pop culture and fandom make people feel less alone in the world. It really brings people together, so it’s nice that the sources of these feelings encourage it.
This article has some other gems, including:

Despite it being their number one new show, the network wisely decided that a less-is-more approach was more prudent, commissioning a second season without insisting on a back-nine episode order — a risk that might have led to a reduction in quality as the writers attempted to stretch a 13-episode story into 22 installments. Far too many network series wear out fans with too many meandering episodes, but Fox has ensured that Sleepy Hollow will leave viewers wanting more instead of overstaying its welcome.

I agree with this sentiment, it is better to let them control 13 episodes of story than to force them to then expand it into 22, which definitely messes many shows up; many writer’s rooms aren’t adept at handling that transition. This will be better for Sleepy Hollow and the fans in the long-run.
I am glad there is finally an article that speaks of all the points that make Sleepy Hollow the show to watch this season.

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ConStar Watches Sleepy Hollow "Sanctuary"

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Dig Down to the Root Then Smash It to a Bloody Pulp
This week’s episode of Sleepy Hollow went in a new direction after last week’s Headless confrontation. We were given a few new threads to work with for the remaining episodes of the season. This episode acted as a hinge between the last few episodes and ones to come; a bit of a squeaky hinge that needs some oil but still got the job done. We’ll talk about the mysteries the episode gave us and which ones you are looking forward to solving the most.
Check the rest here! http://underscoopfire.com/sleepy-hollow-sanctuary/
Which are the ones you are most looking forward to finding out more about: The Crane Baby Boy, Macy’s Mysterious Accident, or the Mills’ Maternal Line?
When Sleepy Hollow returns in two weeks, the Sin Eater is back! I think that episode looks to bring us back into the serial story once again.
Happy Thanksgiving!
 

ConStar Watches Sleepy Hollow "The Midnight Ride"

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This week’s Sleepy Hollow was a solid episode with lots of forward movement. We’re just over halfway through the season and they’ve already caught the Horseman. I know there are three more horseman on the way, but it makes me wonder where they can go the rest of the season. I’m anxious with anticipation!
First, check out my recap here: Can Sleepy Hollow Cover Your Favorite Moments of American History?
Favorite Quotes

“You paid? For water. […] the extent to which your generation has defiled this earth is truly mind boggling.”
The entirety of Ichabod’s voicemail, styled as a formal letter.
“I will not leave this earth with him still on it!”
“It was a mere inquiry.”
“The warning all the riders gave, as discretely as possible, was “the regulars are coming” NOT “the British are coming!” See, we too were british at the time, so that would have been most unhelpful.”
“Highly acclaimed dentist. The man was a silversmith. That’s the last person you’d want poking around in your mouth.”
“There’s good news and bad news. Which do you want first?” “Is this a riddle?”
“My cousin Steve forgot to take his medication this morning.”

I loved this line because of the obvious. He’s white and she’s black. And while there was no real time to deal with that simple throw-away line, it doesn’t get a response. They could be cousins. We know they’re not, but they could be. No questions that the two of them are together, in any fashion And the fact that she (and the writer’s) throw it out there with no regards to their difference in races is what I love. Because we don’t get opportunities for black characters and white characters to interact the way these two do. I don’t know. I just really liked that they threw that in there.
When Ichabod was trying to figure out the cypher, he gets really snippy with Abbie. I think this was really interesting because, in the promo for next week, it seems Ichabod is cracking under all the pressure. Introducing it in this episode is a great way to lead up to it organically rather than having us wonder next week where his outbursts come from. He’s been so cool under the “adjustment” (as he put it) so far, but he clearly feels out of place (as per his conversation with Abbie) and all of the craziness is beginning to get to him. I don’t think it helped that that website popped up and Abbie reminded him of his wife. Being without Katrina and knowing that she’s just out of place, trapped in that limbo, must also really frustrate him.

“Hey sexy. Wanna chat?” “I’m flattered but I’m afraid I am currently espoused to another.”

Do you mean Katrina? Or Abbie? lol

“Too bad we can’t summon your wife.” “Yes the thought had crossed my mind, thank you. Though not as a means to defeat our present enemy.”

As I said above, I’m sure this… pop-up… didn’t help with his frustrations… Careful Abbie, touchy subject. Though I wonder. Does Crane have any descendants we don’t know about yet? Could Katrina have gotten pregnant after his suspension in death?
The conversation Crane has with Abbie and Captain Irving are other reasons I appreciate this show and what it’s doing. They recognized that Crane supported abolition in the pilot, but it seems he thought everyone else did too. He must have had a desire to see the best in his comrades. He didn’t know about Jefferson’s infidelity with his slaves or the many descendants he has. (Watch this Key and Peele Acenstry.com sketch RIGHT NOW) Poor Ichabod also had to deal with dropping one of his mentors off a pedestal. I hope there is more of that. So far, we’ve have Ichabod schooling the moderners on how it really was in the Revolutionary Era, but there are things history teaches us that he wouldn’t know about his own people. More scenes like this would be great for the contrast and to disavow him of some of his hero worship.
I really loved the cinematography/direction of the horse-chase. The swivel of the camera when the Horseman stalks Ichabod down the tunnel was fantastic.
What episodes of American History would you like to see featured on Sleepy Hollow? If they could go to any time in our nation’s history, what incidents lend best to this show’s themes? Obviously some National Treasure/Lincoln Assassination stuff would be applicable. Maybe some Columbus era stuff that really reveals his awful character. Actually, they could definitely bring Pestilence back for that one! The two were teamed up! (Maybe I just planned my first Sleepy Hollow spec script?!)

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ConStar Watches Sleepy Hollow "The Sin Eater"

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Quotes

“For a moment it felt as if I were home.” “You are home, Crane.”
“I look forward to you expanding my horizons further.” I bet you do, Ichabod. 😉
“He who is without sin–fairly certain that isn’t you.”
“You want to get biblical?”
“Against the impossibility we would ever find each other, we did. And I am most ever grateful.”
“There are too many people I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to. You are not going to be one of them.”

Welcome back to Sleepy Hollow, Sleepy Heads! We’re just about halfway through the first season of Sleepy Hollow (it’s got a 13 episode season 1 and has already been confirmed for season 2) and I think the last couple of episodes were exposition heavy and introductory, but from the promo for next week, we’re in for a lot of action and excitement for the latter half of the season. I am so glad this show is back!
The baseball opener is a not-so-subtle reference to the fact that the World Series pre-empted the show for the last few weeks, but gives Abbie some character depth; it gives her some fun cop toughness that is rare in a tiny black female like her. I love the detail of her loving baseball, because it’s not necessarily something black women are known for liking.
It was nice to see Jenny back, but she didn’t have much to do this episode. She got a sassy line, but didn’t even get an action scene. But her eyebrows, as usual, were on point.
Many people are excited about John Noble, who was on Fringe, but I’ve never watched Fringe. I know him as Denethor, the Steward of Gondor from Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. And he’s back in my life being a disgusting eater! I think I will enjoy his character and can’t wait for more of him. If all his scenes were just bible verse-offs with the other characters, I would be happy.
Even in a short season, they’re adding characters midway and 3/4 way through, giving us new faces to work with and new characters to uncover. I think the shortened season is really helping its storytelling, but boy will I miss it during spring when it’s 13 episode run is over for the season. Next week’s episode looks really exciting and I can’t wait.
By the way guys, look for my Sleepy Hollow (and soon, Scandal) recap posts on UnderScoopFire.com! Features more recap, less thoughts, but my process may change going forward. Right now, they’re different posts, mostly because I have the time and energy to make them so. But if I’m really tired, they may be the same. I’ll figure it out as I go along. I’m really excited to be spreading my blogger wings! Check it out here: http://underscoopfire.com/recap-sleepy-hollow-the-sin-eater/

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The Diversity of the Sleepy Hollow Cast Makes Me So Happy

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Via tumblr (http://afrogeekgoddess.tumblr.com/post/65939657711)
Via tumblr
(http://afrogeekgoddess.tumblr.com/post/65939657711)

The Sleepy Hollow cast is just all I want from television right now. A diverse cast with (maybe not perfect) but interesting story lines, putting people of color in stories they are not often seen in. I also like nerdy history retellings, supernatural/fantasy stories, and Judeo-Christian lore.
But I mean look at this! Only 3/9 (10 if including Jill Marie Jones soon to recur as Orlando Jones’ character’s ex-wife, 2/9 if you don’t include the Sheriff who was only in the pilot, aside from flashbacks.)
This show and Brooklyn 99 are the best shows (especially new shows) in terms of diversity on network television. Grey’s Anatomy has always been good at it, but I think even these two shows beat out Grey’s.
Sleepy Hollow returns tonight! I’m excited to have it back!

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ConStar Watches Sleepy Hollow "John Doe"

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In which Sassy Ichabod realizes he is Sassy.

“You look good for 200.”

Stop checking him out Abbie (don’t.)

“It is a language of which you too are familiar with.”

Ichabod is very, very sassy. It’s been pointed out before, but it gets more and more noticeable. Especially with the sarcasm references in the episode.
I don’t trust Morales (the ex-boyfriend) at ALL and I wonder what his endgame is. Does he merely not trust Crane because he’s an outsider (which I’m sure is very much the case for any new person entering such a small town; especially one with such weird things happening of late) or is there something deeper? Is he just jealous? ALSO, who is covering for Ichabod over at Oxford?! Who had his cover story lined up for anyone who asked? I suspect Irving… but then sometimes he seems like he’s not in on the supernatural stuff. I can’t tell what his story is sometimes.
(aside: but clearly something deeper lies with him (besides his deep, mysterious looks) or else they wouldn’t have given him the name Irving. It could have been anything. The sheriff who was beheaded in the pilot could have been Irving (as he basically introduces the story to us). What is Irving’s role in all of this?
Abbie clearly didn’t pay attention in school if she’s asking about the Lost Colony of Roanoke. Most of us know what it is and having Abbie ask was definitely over exposition. She totally could have been like “oh right, we learned about that in school.” But FOX isn’t known for thinking their audience is smart, so they force things to be episodic rather than serial (I think this show is getting away with as much serialization as it can, which is a lot compared to most FOX shows barring maybe 24. Also we must remember that Abbie is the audience surrogate who has to ask things the average viewer might need to know. (Myself and others who are into sci-fi/fantasy — aka you happening to read this post (thanks!) are above the average viewer. It’s easy to forget that.) I think that makes Crane kind of the Unfazed Everyman– he’s not supernatural (again, I think the Witnesses are the two sisters and that they have supernatural witchy powers in their line), but he’s surrounded by all this weird stuff and it doesn’t really faze him. In the trope, it’s usually someone who is surrounded by magical people and that’s why it doesn’t faze them, but Ichabod hasn’t knowingly been around magic. He was, but he didn’t know.
Anyway, I think it’s important for us to remember that sometimes the network intervenes and sometimes makes the writers spell things out they don’t need to, and it’s American Network TV (despite the shortened season, it’s not cable or British TV); they cater to the LCD. I wish they wouldn’t, but despite popularity of the show, they’re not going to write for the sci-fi savvy/fantasy lover audience. Not at its base. It’s going for the average person checking this show out on a Monday night, not for the diehard fans who visit and edit Sleepy Hollow Wikia’s and want to cosplay the characters. It’s a sad but unfortunate truth. (Not that I’ve thought about doing those things–yet. ;-))
I want to know more about Ichabod’s father issues. We can hear his eloquent speech, so we knew he had a high class upbringing, but he didn’t seem to enjoy it. I wonder if we will get more about that, or perhaps they’ll save that for season 2. We’ve kind of got enough to deal with for this 13-episode season.
I suspect Abbie’s childhood forest has a similar supernatural portal spot much like the Roanoke one.
We have now met 2 out of 4 of the Horsemen. I didn’t think we’d meet another one yet until season 2. I wonder where he disappeared too? How do we keep him there?
I thought the thing that creepy Roanoke girl was trying to give Abbie was a plot device, but apparently not? Was it a plant? A leaf? I wonder if it might still pop up in a later episode.
Abbie got her sign, but the Bible says to walk by faith not by sight. God (I suppose it’s God in this story–with all the Revelations verses) gave her a physical sign, but she is going to have to start walking by faith if she’s going to continue saving the town/the world.

“I cannot make it without you”
“Believe me when I say, you belong in Sleepy Hollow.”

Girl he just saw his wife in forest!purgatory, he ain’t thinking about you right now.
THREE WEEKS?!??! Oh come on! I forgot that baseball interrupts television on FOX. Sad.
Until we meet again.
 

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