By 
Sleepy Hollow continues to have a cinematic feel to it. Each episode fits nicely against the next making it feel more like an extended movie than a television show.
The audience is given bread crumbs of information that carry from one episode to the next. Many aspects from the previous episodes were present in this week’s show such as prophetic dreams, 21st century culture shock, and a slightly suspicious police Captain. Ichabod and Abbie also gained a new headquarters of operations. A gothic evidence room that resembles the Sunnydale High School library in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
At the end of last week’s episode we got a glimpse of Abbie’s sister Jenny. This week’s episode, For the Triumph of Evil, was a more detailed introduction to the character. It focused on the story behind how Jenny ended up institutionalized while Abbie remains a civilian despite the experience they shared over ten years ago.
After seeing the demon in the forest and blacking out for four days, Abbie lied and said she never saw anything while Jenny told the truth. As punishment for her honesty, Jenny was sent away while Abbie was allowed to stay with their foster parents. Abbie had lied out of fear. With their parents out of the picture (we’ll probably learn more about this in a future episode), they had finally settled into a good home and she didn’t want to lose that. This was something that weighed on Abbie conscious.
Abbie wasn’t the only one who lied. Jenny’s doctor, Dr. Vega (Mary Kraft), knew she was not crazy but never said anything. The episode begins with Abbie having a frightening encounter on a building ledge with Dr. Vega. “It’s my fault Abbie. I deserve it. Had this coming for a long time. We all have,” Dr. Vega warns before leaping to her death. Dr. Vegas’s eyes are white and full of sand.
Ichabod and Abbie discover that The Sandman or Mohawk demon Ro’Kenhrontyes is after those who harmed Jenny by not telling the truth. The second victim is Mr. Gillespie the ranch hand who had found the girls in the forest and also saw the demon though he told the police he hadn’t. Abbie is to be the third victim.
Ichabod and Abbie are able to defeat The Sandman with the help of a Mohawk ritual which is performed by a used car salesman. The ritual, involving tea and a scorpion bite, allows them to enter the dream world. While in the dream world Abbie is able to defeat The Sandman by confessing the truth and smashing it into pieces with a chair.
Some interesting things are learned about Abbie and her sister. Although not that many details are given, we are told that the girls had a difficult childhood and were not raised with their birth parents. Jenny seems to have some built up resentment towards Abbie which at times made me wonder if she may have conjured the demon herself. The sisters have not seen each other in years. Though Jenny does agree to speak to Ichabod, she refuses to see Abbie and escapes the asylum before Abbie can talk to her. I wonder if they would even recognize each other if they ever met by accident.
Sheriff Corbin’s advice to Abbie “Don’t be afraid of number 49” was definitely referring to Jenny. However I suspect he was also speaking of something else – the truth. Abbie needs to not be afraid of the truth regarding the demon she saw in the forest all those years ago. What happened in this episode got her to that point.
Sometimes the truth will set you free.
Comments