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The title of this week’s Sleepy Hollow was taken from the work of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzshe. “He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.” This quote is fragmented throughout the episode, spoken in bits and pieces by various characters.
The lines are from the book Beyond Good and Evil. As with a lot of philosophy, there is always debate on what something means but a common and simple interpretation is that one can easily become their surroundings. If someone immerses themselves in a world of monsters and evil as Ichabod, Abbie, and their friends have, one has to be careful not to become the very thing they are fighting against.
The Wendigo
The monster of the week came in the form of Corbin’s son Joe (Zach Appelman). Abbie and Ichabod run into Joe at a bar. Joe loved his father but felt cast aside in favor of Abbie. Feeling unwanted, Joe decided to join the military.
While in the military, his unit is killed in a mysterious attack for which Joe is the lone surviver. A similar occurrence takes place after Joe leaves the bar with his buddies.
Abbie and Ichabod find Joe in the woods with the bodies of his friends with their guts ripped out. It doesn’t take long to figure out that Joe is the culprit. Turns out he is a Wendigo, a man-beast usually associated with cannibalism. The scent of blood turns Joe from human to Wendigo and he only turns back to human again once he has feed. The catch is that if he turns and feeds four times, his curse is permanent. Luckily Abbie and Ichabod are able to cure him in time.
Father and Son
The Corbins aren’t the only father and son relationship with issues brought on from unintentional neglect. Ichabod and Henry are on the opposite sides of the war of good and evil. It doesn’t get more complicated than that.
After learning that Henry used the ground up Pied Piper’s bone flute to curse Joe, Ichabod felt the need to apologize. He tells Joe that it is his son who is responsible for the curse and that “needless to say he’s going through a rebellious phase.”
“Do you love your son?” Joe asks. “Yes I do.” “Then do me a favor. No matter what happens to me, tell him.” Despite everything, Ichabod still cares for his son and holds onto hope that he may save him.
Soul Searching
Poor Irving. He’s still stuck at the institution and to top things off he recently sold his soul to the Horseman of War. When he angrily confronts Henry about the taking of his soul, Henry explains that the only way to get his soul back is to kill someone. A soul for a soul.
Henry points Irving in the direction of the drunk driver who is responsible for Macy being in a wheelchair. “Those who fight monsters would see to it they don’t become one in the process,” Henry tells him.
Irving confronts the man with the intent of finding comfort and an apology. Instead the miserable man places the blame on Macy and says she should have gotten out of the way. This pushes Irving over the edge and he attacks the man but stops before killing him.
Shaken up by the event, Irving calls Abbie and explains his situation. He didn’t kill anyone but he wanted to and that scares him. Abbie tries to calm him by telling him he’s a good man and not capable of such a crime. “Even God thought the devil beautiful before he fell,” Irving tells her.
What did you think of the episode? Hit the comments to share your thoughts!
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