Back To The Doldrums
Synopsis
While Ichabod continues his search for Abbie, he inadvertently releases a vengeance demon that feeds on desperation. Meanwhile, Sophie continues the FBI investigation into Abbie’s disappearance, and Jenny and Joe try to obtain a map.
Review
I’ll be honest, after wavering with Sleepy Hollow for a while now the way it closed out 2015 left with me no desire to see where the show went next, a cheap cliffhanger with no real threat wasn’t what the show needed right now but it’s what we got and One Life has come along to try and pick up the pieces. Here we are then a month later in the shows time and Abbie is still missing and as a result Ichabod has become driven and single minded in his quest to get her back– oh and he’s also a person of interest for the FBI. This version of Ichabod makes sense but we lose some of his charm in the process, and teaming him up with Sophie just goes to highlight how much of a mistake it is to take Abbie out of the equation.
Of course she’ll be back soon, but for how jumbled and over stuffed this show has become these days the partnership between the two of them is still the strongest thing about it–Ichabod and Sophie don’t even come close to having chemistry. A reason for that is that Jessica Camacho just feels stilted in the role, the character thus feels flat and it’s hard to get invested in anything she’s involved in, same applies to Daniel too in a way but I admit I did like that last scene between them both. Don’t get me wrong, One Life is definitely an improvement on Novus Ordo Seclorum but it’s still just a flat episode and further evidence that this is a show that has long run out of steam.
Pandora and her boy toy remain the least compelling villains to be central antagonists for quite some time, and then we have a monster of the week that feeds on desperation, and yet he barely makes an impression. I like the fact that it was Ichabod and his recklessness that brought this thing into the world but it’s that aspect that should be really explored but it’s barely touched on. Same too with the FBI investigating him, having Ichabod under scrutiny would be great but it’s brushed aside with a few references to getting his phone tapped which never happens anyway. Jenny and Joe off trying to find a map to help them find Abbie was fun enough but these two being sidelined all the time is becoming tedious.
There’s also the fact that the epic love story that is being developed between them feels anything but epic, the swelling music over the kiss scene was more cheesy than romantic and it really goes to show that there is no real firm handle on how to juggle this ever expanding cast of characters. The missing Abbie (seen at the end as expected) was certainly felt throughout the episode and it had a tendency to be a bit heavy handed, after what felt like the 50th time of somebody how lamenting how much they missed her it was hard not to roll my eyes at it all.
Look I’m aware at this stage that the reviews for the show are becoming increasingly negative as the episodes go by (I did enjoy the flashbacks for the first time in ages this week) and with that in mind I’m giving Sleepy Hollow two more weeks. A number of other sites have dropped the reviews for the show and it’s not something I like to do, if the show doesn’t up its game though it’s time to end my relationship with it. Maybe I’ll come back to it for what will likely be the series finale.
Quotes
Ichabod: I need you to anchor me.
Sophie: Woo. Buy a girl a drink first, why don’t you? Sorry. I’m just a little nervous. This is my first “rescue a spirit from a lost dimension” mission.
Ichabod: If the leftenant were here, she would say something tough yet encouraging. Of which I would wholeheartedly concur. She is very good at that.
Sophie: So it picked up on your cues and pretended to be Abbie. You were catfished.
Ichabod: If that particular ichthyic reference means that I was duped, then yes, you are correct.
Jenny: I have to tell you something.
Joe: It’s okay, you don’t have to…
Jenny: You are so stupid.
Joe: Whoa, okay. Um, that’s not where I thought you were going with that.
Verdict
An improvement on the last episode certainly but then that was hardly a difficult job, Sleepy Hollow though does feel like it’s just coasting along with no conviction and it’s becoming a chore to review it, let alone watch it.
