By Monique
Fans have throroughly critiqued Sleepy Hollow‘s second season from here to Kingdom Come, and if the writing team haven’t been exhausted enough, the fans have more they want to say about the show. This time, it’s more about the (hopefully) upcoming third season.
I am assuming that Sleepy Hollow is indeed on for a third season since our Kurtzman/Orci friend Aaron Baiers tweeted something mysterious about a Season 3 already in the works but just hadn’t been officially announced by FOX. He then tweeted this after his tweet obviously sent people into singing hosannas:
You hilarious #SleepyHollow fans crack me up. Love you. The show is not renewed. Yet. I meant we’ve all been working toward that.
— Aaron Baiers (@abaiers) February 8, 2015
Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if a third season was already in the works. Dana Walden said as much in her TCA session. Funnily enough, even Orlando Jones chimed in on the Twitter thread these tweets caused, writing:
.@abaiers You. Killing. Us. You really want to be responsible for all this elevated blood pressure? Don’t be this guy pic.twitter.com/vsBeG8QMEk
— Orlando Jones (@TheOrlandoJones) February 8, 2015
You can always count on Orlando Jones (who, to take from his Tumblr message to me, is now my play cousin) to say what the fandom is thinking and to be on the fandom’s side.
Because he’s a big fandom follower, I’m sure he’s stayed up to date on the new hashtag #NewRuleForS3, in which fans give their suggestions for what should happen the next time we enter Sleepy Hollow. A lot of them I like, and I put some of my favorites below the post.
#NewRuleForS3 #SleepyHollow Google these names of African Americans of the Revolutionary Era and put it to good use✌️ pic.twitter.com/OvxdSonrG4
— AndreaJackie (@AndreaAKAJackie) February 7, 2015
#NewRuleForS3 Include WOC in #SleepyHollow Twistory. AA poet Phillis Wheatley actually met George Washington. Could her poems contain clues? — geejayeff (@geejayeff) February 6, 2015
#NewRuleForS3 #SleepyHollow explore Ichabod’s home life as a CHILD and his struggles with the supernatural
— Stephanie (@wickedlysteph) February 6, 2015
#NewRuleForS3 stop making bad guys a bunch of jilted lovers upset cuz a woman won’t be with them #SleepyHollow — Stephanie (@wickedlysteph) February 6, 2015
#NewRuleForS3 Let Abbie have a real meltdown that lasts longer than 2 minutes. Stop letting her compartmentalize everything. #SleepyHollow
— Kim B (@sneetchstar) February 6, 2015
#NewRuleForS3 Mills sisters bonding over more than just drinks at a bar. Maybe movie night? #SleepyHollow — Stephanie (@wickedlysteph) February 6, 2015
THIS. MT”@NerdyGrlWonder: #NewRuleForS3 hire someone 2 specif monitor continuity. The gaps/errors this season were ridiculous #SleepyHollow”
— Cindy Jackson (@Cindycjax) February 6, 2015
#NewRuleForS3 Abbie is a vulnerable, smart, emotionally deep woman. Allow her to cry, freak out or whatever. It’s long overdue #SleepyHollow — Alyssa G. (@NerdyGrlWonder) February 6, 2015
#NewRuleForS3 Explore Crane’s backstory outside of Katrina or FF’s. What about his mother? Childhood? Teaching career? #SleepyHollow
— Elaina (@Elaina__G) February 6, 2015
#NewRuleForS3 more Irving and Macey interactions. Would love to have Macey stay in the loop. #SleepyHollow — Darla B (@OriginalDBubble) February 6, 2015
#NewRuleForS3 Your fans are smart and savvy. They pick apart your storylines and love to discuss them. Play to that. #SleepyHollow
— Elaina (@Elaina__G) February 6, 2015
#newruleforS3.. what ever you do no more love triangles..EVERRRRRRRR #sleepyhollow — Barbara Ruffin (@MedlovianGirl) February 6, 2015
I had hoped some of these ideas, like introducing more 18th century black American figures, would have been done in Season 1, if I’m being honest. Like, before knowing who Cicero was, I had assumed he was going to be Crispus Attucks. And why hasn’t Phyllis Wheatley been introduced? Let’s not even bring up the elephant in the room for the upcoming episode “What Lies Beneath,” Sally Hemmings. I’m hoping that the script remembers that Irving and Abbie had told Ichabod about his frenemy, Thomas Jefferson, since his hypocrisy makes him a really ugly individual.
(BTW, I really hate Thomas Jefferson. Him, Andrew Jackson, Bull Connor and former Alabama governor George Wallace—not the comedian—can kick rocks in the underworld for all I care. Yes, I dislike dead people as if they’re still alive.)
Also, for all the time we’ve spent on Crane Family shenanigans that went virtually nowhere, the show could have introduced us to a lot stronger characters, people who were actually players in the Revolutionary War. Not just black figures, but Native American figures as well. The British played a big role, of course, but so did the French. Heck, some of the reasons King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were taken down the way they were was because France was tired of being in debt from helping the Americans with the war! It’d be cool to get some background a lot more people who are associated with the war.
And what happened to Abbie’s dad being introduced? I thought that was supposed to happen this season. This is why I’m not trippin’ hard on the whole “less serialized” promise, since if the show did become a little less serialized/less soap opera-ish like it was in Season 1, then the writers would be able to easy address other Revolutionary War figures, Abbie’s dad, Ichabod’s past (like his dad—Get Victor Garber back!) and other more interesting characters than Katrina, who just didn’t add anything to the show. In fact, she added negative interest to the show. She was a literal black hole of a character, and that’s just being honest about it.
More about Irving’s family would be great too, especially since he’s now against Team Witness (or is he? I think he’s doing some double-agent stuff, personally). I’d love to see the juxtaposition of his shadiness coupled with him wanting to remain a good dad and husband. Also, we can never get enough of Macey, and we’ve had a shortage of her.
There’s more I could say, but I think it’s easier if you just follow the hashtag for now. I’m sure I’ll be writing more on this subject once the season is over.
What do you want to see happen in Season 3? Give your opinions in the comments section below!
Photo credit: Brownie Harris/FOX
Julian 