‘Sleepy Hollow’ Review ‘Awakening’

What should you do if you have a character that is universally disliked? Try to make the audience love them or just give into the hate instead? Luckily for viewers, the creators of Sleepy Hollow have decided to let us hate Katrina by striping her of her Mary Sue ways and letting her embrace her wicked side. I think I could love to hate Katrina.

The episode “Awakening” is a sort of reset for the series after an uneven season. In the last few episodes, we’ve seen the show take what wasn’t working and start tossing it out. This week they removed some of the final remnants and got ready to move the series in a very different direction. The ramifications from the actions this week will be great and will most likely send the series into an exciting new direction.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

This week’s big bad was the evil mother/son duo of Katrina and Henry. Their weapon of choice was a duplicate of the Liberty Bell. The bell was to be used in a spell to awaken the witches of Sleepy Hollow thus creating a powerful coven for Katrina and Henry to lead. Henry attempted the spell on his own but wasn’t powerful enough to complete it do to his human father. Only a pure blood witch like Katrina can complete the spell.

Turns out Ichabod was the one who cracked the original Liberty Bell by use of explosives. Ichabod and Abbie decide to do the same with the new bell in order to thwart Katrina and Henry’s plans. Things don’t go smoothly of course and Abbie ends up shooting Henry.

Hell Hath No Fury

Henry is a goner! His wound is mortal and he dies in the arms of his parents. A sadden Ichabod realizes there was no choice and that Henry was unable to be saved despite all attempts. Katrina doesn’t see it that way though. She lashes out in a fit of rage, wishing she had never saved Ichabod and that she had never left their son.

There has been a rift between the Cranes all season. They have had a sort of strange detachment towards each other after years apart and lies told. Had I actually cared about Katrina and Ichabod’s relationship, their quarrels and awkward attempts to mend their marriage might have been interesting. There were glimpses of their past together from when they were happy but for the most part they lack any solid romantic elements. It feels more right for them to both fully feel bitter and betrayed by one another.

After the death of their son, Katrina rejects Ichabod in a way that makes it clear that her love for him was never that great. She begins to cast a spell. Abbie tackles her to stop the spell and they both disappear.

Let’s do the time warp again…

Abbie finds herself in the middle of the Sleepy Hollow woods with no Ichabod or Katrina insight. She wanders towards a dirt road and is almost rundown by a horse drawn carriage. An instrumental version of The Rolling Stone’s Sympathy For The Devil plays in the background and the audience knows she’s in 1781.

Abbie wanders into town and is quickly arrested for not being able to supply her “papers.” She asks to see Ichabod, stating that she has information that can help save the war. Meanwhile a gleeful Katrina, still pregnant with Henry, basks in the revelation that she can now change history.

With Katrina now a villain, Irving back to being a good guy, Henry perished (get it!) and Abbie stuck in colonial days, I’m left very intrigued with how things will play in the next episode. Will history in fact be changed, causing a major reboot and possibly bring things back to the beginning? How will Abbie get back to 2015? Will she? Will 1781 Ichabod still be Abbie’s BFF?

Some other notable things from the episode:

• Jenny plans on using the Medusa head to stop Irving.
• Henry’s death sets Irving soul free.
• Ichabod prefers flint and steel to a lighter.
• Washington promised witches freedom and rights in exchange for their help but never granted it to them.
• When Henry attempts the spell, it causes some of the townsfolk to take on characteristics of past Sleepy Hollow monsters.

What did think of the episode? Leave a comment below to share your thoughts.