By Monique
The name of this Sleepy Hollow episode, “Heartless,” kept reminding me of the Kanye West song of the same name. But guess what? The song is quite apt to this episode. If we apply the song to the episode and not to the woman Kanye West was engaged to at the time, the woman who’s described as “so heartless” in the song could represent either the succubus cheekily named Lilith or, surprise surprise, Katrina Crane.
This week, Ichabod and Abbie (and Katrina) had to save the townspeople from Lilith, who was brought to the physical world by Henry to help with his big plan. Does the team succeed in stopping Lilith? Yes. Do they stop Henry from bringing baby Moloch to our world? Heck no. In fact, this is the biggest coup Henry’s achieved for his dark master since revealing himself to be Jeremy Crane.
Also, this week justified everything I wrote in last week’s recap. A lot of the time, I’ll modestly write, “Not to toot my own horn, but…” Sorry; this time, I’m tooting my horn, loud and strong. TOOT TOOT! Another point to blow a horn over—my theory about Katrina being the mother/lover of evil is proving to be more and more accurate as the episodes go by.
TOOT TOOT!
All right, enough of that. But seriously, when Katrina saw that baby, you know everything about her “plan” changed. And can we talk about that “plan” of hers? On the surface, it makes sense, actually—play on Abraham’s affections and get close enough to take out Moloch (who is now a baby). She should already know Moloch is a baby; she saw him in her motherly bond visions, after all. And, as terrible as this is to write, it should take nothing for her to kill a baby, even if that baby is a demon.
In the visions, she saw a demon baby. But, when she looked in the crib, she saw a healthy baby. Once she saw that baby, you could see those wheels in that brain of hers stop in their tracks and reverse. But shouldn’t she remember that that healthy baby is probably just a vision in itself? Remember that Katrina and Abbie both saw different things in the succubus heart urn. Why didn’t she prepare herself for that?
Uh oh…#SleepyHollow pic.twitter.com/7ZZYqMxrtr
— SH on tvtag (@tvtagSH) November 11, 2014
Also, let’s not even act like she snuck that dig in about Abraham soothing her nerves with quince tea for no reason. Who would talk about what good, loving thing another man did for her to her husband? Katrina really tried it this episode, not just with Ichabod, but with Abbie as well.
Abbie calling Katrina “condescending” to her face was hilarious. Abbie’s had it up to here with both Katrina and Ichabod talking about saving Henry. Whereas Ichabod seems to always be open to discussing the issue with Abbie (despite his resolve to save his son), Katrina tries to railroad Abbie’s decision-making. That spat between the two women was a moment that reminded me how hard in the paint these Sleepy Hollow writers go when it comes to dialogue. They pull no punches and revel in having characters actually reveal their dislikes and annoyances in full view. They also show that both women have good points; Katrina is Henry’s mother, but Abbie—whose own mother failed to protect her—stated that sometimes, not even a mother’s love can save a lost child, especially one that’s going up against the Witnesses.
As I wrote on Twitter, it’s become more than abundantly clear that Ichabod’s coming to an impasse when it comes to Abbie and Katrina (and by extension, Henry). Ichabod can’t save the world with Abbie while still holding onto Katrina and the possibility of saving Henry. The decision he’s going to have to make is being wrung out for all of its dramatic potential, but eventually, he’s going to realize that Team Witness is actually weaker with all three of them together. Abbie is the other Witness, and Ichabod owes Abbie his loyalty, something he’s already pledged to her. But Ichabod’s wife, someone whom he loves (loves?) is, unfortunately holding him back by keeping the illusion of saving Henry alive.
Basically, the point I’m trying to make is that Katrina’s a bit of a fool. (“A whole fool!” some of you might be yelling.) Part of her “plan” is to tell Abraham that Ichabod’s moved on and is firmly with Abbie. Like I wrote before, I get that as a part of a plan, but does Katrina not see the writing on the wall here? Just pushing Ichabod into Abbie’s arms like that is dangerous if she’s planning on going back to her marriage after she “kills Moloch.” A lie only stays a lie as long as you don’t believe it.
Lilith already sussed out that Ichabod’s love for Katrina has paled a bit (“soured,” to quote Lilth herself). Now Ichabod’s lying to himself again that he can trust Katrina and her plan. He can’t trust Katrina’s plan any more than he can trust Katrina herself. And Katrina can’t even trust herself to stay on her plan, since, as I wrote earlier, she looked into the eyes of the adorable demon baby that she has a motherly connection with, and we know how strongly she feels about motherly connections.
Last point to make: Abbie advised Ichabod to “evolve” in his relationship with Katrina. He’s willing himself to take the optimistic route and evolve into believing that Katrina is a true comrade-in-arms as well as his wife. But it would seem that Katrina’s willing to risk her relationship and “evolve” into Abraham’s lady. The show has been focusing on Ichabod’s mistrust of Katrina, but Katrina’s got mistrust of Ichabod, too. Abraham has already told her how quick Ichabod went to save Abbie from Purgatory, and she’s now seen first-hand how torn Ichabod is when it comes to deciding with one woman over the other.
It would seem Katrina is siding with whoever’s affections she can manipulate the most. She’s close to the end of the road with manipulating Ichabod; he’s beginning to see through her. Now, she’s running off to Abraham’s open arms and, mark my words, there will be some sort of messed-up family moment with Dad Abraham, Mom Katrina and Uncle(Actual Dad) Henry. (And Aunt Lilith, if she had survived.)
Um, yeah, about Hawley: He survived, and that’s what matters. Do I like that Abbie’s beginning to show feelings for him? Ehhhhhh….it’s whatever. We all know that’s not going to last. Not now that Ichabod’s literally tasting freedom from a marriage he so desperately tried to make work.
What did you think of this episode? Give your opinions in the comments section below!
Photo credit: Fred Norris/FOX
Julian 