"Sleepy Hollow" recap: "The Akeda"

Say it ain’t so! Why did it have to be him! “It’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday!”

It’s time to pour some out for our homie, Capt. Frank Irving. He fought the good fight. He bested War and significantly weakened him. However, why’d he have to die!

If I’m being honest with myself, I could feel the writing was on the wall for either him or Jenny. Thankfully, it wasn’t Jenny. Unfortunately, it was Irving, who had little to lose personally, if we’re not counting the protection of his family. In that case, he had everything to lose.

But does this mean it’s the end of Irving yet? Since I decided to read a Give Me My Remote interview featuring showrunner Mark Goffman, he said that it could not be the true end of Irving, since we’ve seen Corbin and Andy after their deaths. But if we’re going by Goffman’s examples, we’ve only seen them in flashbacks and or demon versions of them (and, also, in Andy’s case, Purgatory). Will we only see Irving when he was a police captain aiming to put his authoritative stamp on Sleepy Hollow?

Also, can we really buy that Irving’s really dead anyway? Henry still owns his soul. It’s one thing to be dead, but will Irving rise and live out a fate worse than death—being Henry’s puppet? I would hope not. It would be a neat direction writing-wise, but it would be completely cruel to a character who has provided us with so much. But no matter how we see Irving again, we’ll be able to have Orlando Jones back on our TV screens. So, look to the silver linings, everyone!

(An aside—Goffman talked about angels coming in the second half of Season Two. Could Irving be among those? “But Henry still has his soul!” you say. Well, we’re talking about God here. All things are possible, especially once you enter the Lord’s House.)

Henry defeated Moloch. Hooray? On the one hand, it had been mentioned on Twitter during everyone’s live-tweeting that they didn’t want Henry to redeem himself that easily. If that was actually going to be the case, I would be tearing my hair out right now. But, I don’t think that’s true.

It’s all too easy for Henry to just turn his back on Moloch and run to his mother and father. I still think he hates them. But if there’s one thing he loves more than hating his parents, it’s having power over his parents. To me, he still wants to prove to his parents that he made it without their help. He wants to rule the world and have them serve him as Master. That’s been his goal with Moloch, but Henry finally saw Moloch for what he was—a demon bent on having complete power. Also, to go back to the Goffman interview, he mentioned there being the possibility of a power grab. Henry wanting to take the spot Moloch himself had makes the most sense to me.

Can we also remember that Moloch isn’t Satan? We haven’t even encountered Satan yet. First of all, Crane and Abbie (and Katrina…and Hawley?) going up against Satan is a very scary thought. Secondly, how does Henry expect to go up against the god of demons? He clearly didn’t think this alleged power-grab through.

Anyways, this power grab situation does raise a question—if Moloch had Henry and Abraham’s souls, and since Moloch’s dead, does that mean that Henry and Abraham get their souls back? And if they have their souls back, does that mean they can be killed like regular humans? Shouldn’t Hawley, since he was the only one not tied to a tree at the end of the episode, come out to save the day and kill Henry? Someone needs to do something! I already can’t believe we have to wait until January.

But instead of my incessant supposes, let’s talk about more concrete things. Like the fact that Ichabod and Katrina finally had the talk the fans (and critics) have been waiting for! And by “the talk,” I clearly mean Ichabod giving Katrina the piece of his mind the fans have been wanting him to give since we saw Katrina in Season One.

Look, I’m all for keeping marriages together. But as Kenny Rogers said in “The Gambler,” “You gotta know when to hold ‘em. Know when to fold ‘em.” Up until this point, Ichabod’s had some trouble knowing how to play the poker game that is his marriage. He was constantly showing his hand. Now that he’s seen Katrina give what seems to be her true affections to Abraham while he was trapped in the Horseman holding cell, Ichabod has finally (and painfully) realized that he’s got to go ahead and fold them cards when it comes to Katrina. It’s a wrap for that marriage. For apt listening, Ichabod, I suggest “Isn’t it a Shame” by LaBelle. The lyrics fit your marriage’s death perfectly.

I’m not even going to act like I’m all gleeful about Ichabod finding out he married a trick. I’m not happy about it, even though I wanted to be right about it. Being right is sometimes not worth it. But I’m also not going to front and act like I’m going to shed tears over it. Katrina has failed to prove herself as a reliable, reasonable, necessary character time and again. She two-times Abraham and Ichabod, as for what end, who really knows, although it seems like she only likes a man when they’re in a position of power. If that’s the case, then why not just create your own position of power, Katrina?

Again, I have to turn to another interview with Goffman, this time from Entertainment Weekly, which states that we haven’t seen all of what Katrina’s got up her sleeve. There will be something she will do that will surprise and shock us all. Well, it better be carving out her own path, whether that’s evil or good. I’m apt to think it’s evil; she keeps playing with these men for some reason. She wants to get near power, but she’s constantly waiting for the right moment for whatever thing her plan needs. Just do it quick, Katrina. I’m tired of waiting. I’m even more tired since I’m not completely sure you tried to save Irving with all you had. Your spells were oddly weak at that moment in time, even though you could keep Ichabod alive for CENTURIES.

Speaking of magic, did anyone catch her looking weird when Abraham mentioned that magic always has a price? What was Katrina’s price? Does it have something to do with the Dixon clan? (I think it could, since I’ve always viewed Henry’s placement with Grace as Katrina somehow viewing Grace as a sacrifice for some bigger scheme.)

Finally, Hawley. He helped. He’s also a little spineless. There’s a small chance he could have accidentally let the Horseman free, who then killed him on site. But we don’t know that. We don’t know anything, actually. What I do know is that Hawley better shape up and grow a spine. I know I had defended him a while back, saying that I wouldn’t want to fight demons either if I didn’t have to, but now that he’s firmly in this fight for the world’s safety, he’s got to figure out his role and stay in his lane. No more gallivanting between the Mills sisters. No more tete-a-tetes with Ichabod. Maybe there’s some room to move in on Katrina. But overall, no more dilly-dallying and mucking up the works.

The absolute last thing I’ll leave with is this—I’m actually a little on the fence now about Abbie telling Ichabod to kill Henry. Yes, I know Henry’s evil and I know Henry’s a little annoying blankety-blank blank blank, but I would think it would also be hard for Abbie to kill her son if she were in that position. I’ve been with Abbie all throughout this “Will they kill Henry?” debate, but something about her demeanor tonight seemed a little…cold about the actual prospect of Ichabod having to kill his own son. I mean, it’s his son. I’ve used the Jungle Fever analogy before when it comes to Ichabod possibly killing Henry. Ichabod doing the deed would be like Rev. Purify killing Gator, but one thing Ichabod lacks is righteous indignation, indignation he feels gives him the power to wield God’s will. Even though Ichabod is a Witness and a demi-messenger of God, he’s not that delusional to think that anything he might do would be on God’s “to do” list. He recognizes he’s a human. For all we know, killing Henry might actually make Ichabod less fit to be a Witness. Just my two cents.

What did you think about this midseason finale? Give me your comments below! Until then, “See you at the crossroads,” Capt. Irving! RIP (for now)!

Photo credit: Brownie Harris/FOX