By Monique
Welcome back to the wild and zany world of Sleepy Hollow! I think the reviews on this particular episode, “Paradise Lost,” will be mixed, since on the one hand, we got a cool, no-nonsense angel character (who also wants to kill the entire world) and on the other hand, we got a lot of nonsense from Katrina, who doesn’t know how to be a human.
A great summation of this episode comes from Abbie and Ichabod talking about Ichabod’s troubled “marriage”:
Abbie: So things are still upside down on the home front. Ichabod: Sideways, which is an improvement at least. #sleepyhollow
— Sleepy Hollow (@SleepyHollowFOX) January 6, 2015
Yep, that sounds about right. The second half of the season isn’t starting as upside down as the first half, but it’s still not the right ways up. But sideways is better than the alternative.
So what happened? Well, as I wrote above, we were introduced to a cool character by the name of Orion. Orion’s an angel, and he’s bent on killing the Horseman of War, our pal Abraham. Abbie is all for killing the Horseman, since he also killed Corbin. But somehow, Ichabod gets in the middle of Katrina’s plot to save the Horseman. Yes, you read right — Katrina wants to save Abraham and turn him back into the man he once was? Why are we doing this? Why is Katrina such a trick?
If there was anything that irked me more in this episode, it was Katrina’s “plan” and how she tried to rope Ichabod all up into it. Thankfully, Ichabod wasn’t about to have any of this mess. Even though he said he’d think about it, he really decided against it when Katrina tried to pull a guilt trip on him. I’m so glad Ichabod shot her and her manipulation down. Katrina does have a point that it’s Ichabod and Katrina being together that drove Abraham to the waiting arms of evil, but 1) that was also Abraham’s decision and 2) Ichabod’s already dealt with his guilt in some capacity. He’s had all of Season 1 and the first half of Season 2 to deal with it. Katrina’s the only person involved in this messy triangle that hasn’t dealt with their hand in the Apocalypse yet and when she does get the chance, she tries to include Ichabod into it. It’s like she thinks she’s not supposed to lie in the bed she’s made for herself.
I am so glad also, that Ichabod didn’t step on Abbie’s toes when she decidedly went off on Katrina for freeing the Horseman. She was too right when she said how no one there is supposed to save or redeem anyone; they are simply on a mission from God to do what they need to do and save the world. It seems certain people still don’t understand the magnitude of what’s at stake. While Katrina’s trying to see which man she’ll call her boo, everyone else is trying to save humanity and keep the world from blowing up. It would be nice if Katrina could get priorities straight.
Also, bravo again to Ichabod further explaining to her that their marriage can’t be as it once was, if it survives at all. If they’re going to have any kind of relationship, it’s got to start one step at a time. Crazily enough, it seemed like Katrina was trying to bring him to bed, saying something to the effect of “Can we rebuild…now?” Ichabod turned down that request, instead going to chat it up with Abbie at the police station and saying, once again, that no matter how many disagreements they have, they will always remain true to one another. Katrina’s been casting some sort of spell on Ichabod, whether it’s an actual one or just “love,” but it’s on its last leg, since Katrina can no longer control him. And besides, we all know why she wants Abraham free. She’s just as shiftless as Hawley is, which Jenny pointed out.
Speaking of Hawley, we have some drama with Hawley and Jenny and something about a stone demon thing and…how Hawley’s jealous of Jenny’s prospects? Since when did Hawley become jealous of Jenny? Wasn’t he all over Abbie in the first half of the season? Wasn’t there a triangle that had to be resolved between the three of them (a triangle I don’t think Abbie knew she was in)? In any case, I blame this blip in the story on the writers trying to course-correct. It seems like they caught wind of the bad reaction people had about the Abbie-Hawley-Jenny triangle and figured they’d better change the dynamics up and fast.
Also something that feels like writer course-correct is the amount of times people told others about themselves, specifically the amount of times Katrina and Hawley were told about themselves. There’s a clear intention to define these characters further and redraw them in some aspect. With Katrina, we now see less of a hazy outline of a witch and more of a woman who flip-flops between whichever man is the most powerful at the moment. With Hawley, we’ve seen a keener interest in his relationship with Jenny. Even Ichabod’s gotten more defined; he’s less concerned about his relationship with Katrina and more concerned about keeping his relationship with Abbie and helping her save the world.
Back to Orion. So, Abbie (and the audience) agree with him that Abraham should die so there can be an end to some of the world’s turmoil, but we all turned against him when his other solution to ending the world’s turmoil is ending the world itself.
Orion is a zealot and genocidal, but he also brings a level of unpredictability that really makes him a valuable character in terms of this high-stakes world of Sleepy Hollow . He’s the character Katrina should have become and frankly, he matches Henry toe-to-toe for insanity. I say Katrina should have gone the Orion route because she’s also a being with (supposedly) immense power who (supposedly) wants to see the world saved. Why not have her go nuts and have her do everything she can to destroy/save the world and have her man Ichabod as her consort in the new world order? She is a witch — why not just play up the witchy aspects to its full effect?
In any event, Orion brings the exact right balance of turmoil and troubled soul that the show’s been trying to hit with both Katrina and Henry. To have Orion almost turn Abbie was also interesting. I’m sure we won’t be seeing the last of him, especially since both Abbie and Orion probably have a soft spot for each other. The biggest surprise of the night was…
Collectively: “AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!” @TheOrlandoJones #SleepyHollow pic.twitter.com/7yqvTMPKg6
— Sleepy Hollow tvtag (@tvtagSH) January 6, 2015
YES! IRVING’S BACK! Henry keeping his soul came in handy after all! I can’t wait to see the gang reunited once more! And you know – with Irving’s intel about the other side, he could probably help them more than ever. Who knows what kind of information he’s got now that he’s back. Best of all, Macey’s got her dad back.
What did you think about this episode? Did you think it was blah or actually pretty good? Write your comments below!
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Julian 