You’ve probably heard of the name ‘Sleepy Hollow’, you might be familiar with the original ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ story by Washington Irving, or maybe the Tim Burton horror film that featured Johnny Depp rings a bell? It’s a fairly popular and remade work of fiction and this time it gets a modern twist to the original story and characters to bring it into 2013. We’re going to give you a fast track recap of the first 5 episodes of Season One of this show whilst it’s currently on a hiatus so you have a chance to catch up and get on board.
It’s 1781, in the middle of the Revolutionary War Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) is on a mission for General George Washington when he is mortally wounded by a particularly ruthless redcoat soldier but not before beheading him. Waking up in 2013 he discovers that he’s not the only one to have time-travelled as it appears the readcoat headless soldier or better known as the Headless Horseman is wreaking havoc on the locals, it just so happens to be a town called Sleepy Hollow. As we progress through the first episode it’s revealed that Crane a former professor of history at Oxford University joined the war for the British but defected to spy for the Americans. His foe on the battlefield, the Headless Horseman is in actual fact the horseman of Death and the first of the four to bring forth the Apocalypse. Sounding like a madman the only person to believe and ally with Crane is Lt Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie), a local police officer who has her own secret connection to the supernatural. Whilst the Horseman goes on his rampage it’s up to Mills and Crane to work together to solve the mystery of his return and to try to stop the impending doom.
As we progress into the following episodes the relationship between Crane and Mills is still developing and still somewhat abrasive, particularly since Mills is fighting uphill against her superior Captain Frank Irving (Orlando Jones) and coming to terms with the truth of what she sees and how insane it all seems. We begin to uncover more about both our hero’s past, Crane’s wife Katrina (Katia Winter) turns out to be a witch, part of a coven sent to thwart Judgement Day and was also the one who cast a spell on him to tie him to the Horseman’s fate. There is also a mysterious demonic figure named Moloch, who resurrected the Horseman and also has Katrina trapped in a netherworld. This also happens to be the very same demon that Mills had seen as a young girl with her sister when they were in the woods, which Mills finally reveals to Crane, thus connecting our heroes and their plights together. Courtesy of Moloch, we soon encounter a bevy of paranormal and occult villains all of whom are out to bring death and destruction to not just Sleepy Hollow but the world.
There are a number of elements that make this show work and an absolute treat to watch. First and foremost is the clever scriptwriting that manages to meter balanced and timed doses of horror, suspense and also comedy. This is mostly driven by the writing team of Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Philip Iscove, as well as Damian Kindler and Melissa Blake. There’s enough scary moments to keep you on your toes but also plenty of laughs, most of which are courtesy of the fish-out-of-water (or time) Crane. Watching our main man trying to adjust to the 21st Century, like having his first shower or discovering electric windows in a car or trying to open things sealed in plastic, his attempts at settling in to his new life and situation are endearing and lighten the mood against the much darker foreshadow of impending Judgment Day. So long as you can leave the whole spell-induced time-travelling aside, and not take it too seriously or literally. Regarding the writing, the storyline and concept takes the basic elements of Irving’s classic Sleepy Hollow tale and expands and creates a whole new universe with which to populate with new characters, so this series is more spin-off than a remake. Our two leads Beharie and Mison are both relative unknowns and their chemistry together has that gradual growth necessary for us as an audience to develop an affinity for their plight. Beharie portrays a strong but also troubled woman prepared to fight in Mills whilst Mison is the sharply intelligent, observant and resilient despite his predicament in Crane.
Another interesting thing to watch is the body language where we see these two shine the most. With an entire foot difference in body height, Crane often uses his lanky but pin straight frame to command attention or shield Mills in critical scenes where it’s obvious that his character and nature drive him to act in very distinctly chivalrous ways, even though it’s obvious Mills can hold her own. Also the blink-and-you’ll-miss-them facial expressions from Crane which convey a lot more than what words would or could. An additional fascinating twist to this series is the paranormal characters that are incorporated, with antagonists borrowed from a variety of cultures and stories all with their own motives for destruction, so we’re not just focusing solely on the Headless Horseman of Irving’s classic story. From a gypsy high priestess witch, to a Native American sandman demon (he has been my personal favourite so far and bears a terrifying resemblance to Pale Man from Pan’s Labyrinth) as well as the second Horseman to show up Pestilence; each episode incorporates a new villain with otherworldly powers that our heroes have to overcome.
So far the series is 5 episodes in to a 13 episode run and has already been renewed by its American host network Fox for a second series and has been rating well in the USA. In Australia the show is having a slightly bumpy ride due to a number of timeslot changes on its host Channel 10 and possibly due to the historic premise and concept being more geared towards American history. Perhaps it might be better served on its digital counterpart Eleven which also hosts a couple of other paranormal themed shows in ‘Supernatural’ and ‘American Horror Story’? Either way, I’m excited to see where this show takes us, as its episodic ‘monster-of-the-week’ style features are intriguing and the series is proving to be a great ride thus far.
For this collective bunch of episodes I rate this FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
‘Sleepy Hollow’ will return to Channel 10 on Wednesday 6 November at 10:00pm
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