Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Sleepy Hollow Episode, Season One, Episode 12: Indispensable Man



Abbie leaves leaves a message on Crane's phone and is shocked when he figures it out enough to text her.  She begins to chop vegetables and is interrupted by the arrival of Andy Brooks.

Crane is still trying to find out about the mysterious date in Washington's bible, when he is interrupted by a text from Abbie, saying she is on her way.  He pauses for a moment to try and figure out what this symbol ;) means and declares it charming.

We get a flashback to Crane meeting with Washington who informs him that he will be called upon to finish this fight when others cannot. Washington promises Crane that good will always rise like Lazarus from his grave.  In the present, Crane flips to a new part of the bible based on what he remembers Washington saying.

Andy is now handcuffed and he explains that Maloch does not want the bible but a map.  The bible has instructions on how how to get the map. When Abbie questions why Maloch would want a map, Andy explains it's not the map per say, as what Crane and Abbie can do with the map. Andy promises Abbie a high seat in the new order if she gives him the bible but Abbie turns him down cold.  Andy begs Abbie not risk her life to protect Ichabod because apparently, there is a prophesy which claims that Ichabod will give Abbie's soul to Maloch. Abbie has a flashback to Crane warning that Maloch said he would turn over her soul.  Andy justifies his request by saying that he loves her.  Abbie withdraws and calls Frank but while she has her back turned, Andy escapes.

Crane has pulled out chemicals to work on the bible when Abbie arrives.  Abbie makes it clear that when she calls, she expects Ichabod to answer but he declares his flip phone obsolete. Abbie then reveals Andy's visit and what he had to say.  Ichabod  tells Abbie that he read the story of Lazarus in Washington's bible and found ten extra verses, which he believes are encoded with a secret. Ichabod applies chemical to reveal an invisible message from Washington. It seems that Washington knew Ichabod was a witness.  After his death, Washington was resurrected so that he could share a map between earth and purgatory.  Ichabod quickly realises that if he can find the map, he can free his wife.

Abbie feels the priority should be getting he map before evil does and reminds Ichabod that though he wants to free Katrina, he shouldn't let that cloud his judgement. In turn, Ichabod asks Abbie not to allow Brook's prophesy to cloud hers.  Ichabod goes down a list of names in the bible and stops at Reverend Alfred Knapp, who not only guarded the horseman's head for two centuries, he was at the resurrection of Washington.  They realise that Knapp's rosary was instrumental in raising Washington from the dead.  Abbie points out that Washington called the beads cursed and Ichabod suggests that the beads would be full of sin.  Ichabod then suggests they get Parish to read their history to find out what the reverend knew about the map.

At the precinct, Frank is being questioned about the events of his daughter's possession. Obviously, because of the supernatural elements, Frank cannot give a truthful account of what occurred. Finally, Frank says evil is responsible for the beheadings.

Andy is back in the tunnel and he is being taunted by Maloch.  He begs to be taken seriously and asks to be turned into Maloch's weapon.  Maloch orders Andy to find him the map. A swarm of insects appears and he is wrapped snug in a cocoon.

Ichabod talks about his love for Katrina to his cellphone and of course, the technology has no idea what the hell he is babbling about.  Parish hops out of a taxi and they head to the cemetery, where they meet Abbie at Knapp's exhumed coffin. Parish's hand hovers over the beads and declares that they were used for something unnatural.  When Parish tries to touch the beads, they burn his hand, causing Ichabod to suggest that the beads are guarded to prevent an intrusion.   Abbie suggests that they find another way but Parish is determined to help Ichabod and Abbie. Parish again grabs the beads. He sees a few images then collapses.  Parish then reveals he saw Washington's resurrection, the map, and him carrying something by the shoreline.

Parish gets up, cradling his burned hand and moves away for a moment alone.  Ichabod and Abbie bicker about whether they should have involved Parish in the first place. Abbie wonders if the map should even be found but Ichabod reminds Abbie that Washington left the map for him because he knew he was a witness.  Abbie counters by asking why Knapp put a hex on the beads and wonders if during the two hundred years which Crane was underground the plan changed.  Abbie is worried about ramifications beyond what they can control. Abbie questions what happens if opening purgatory opens the floodgates, as they put the lid back on the coffin.  Abbie consoles Crane about his loss and asks if he is capable of sacrificing Katrina in the name of the greater good. Abbie says the fight is about what they are willing to do to keep everyone safe.


As Parish stares at the burn on his hand it begins to morph.  The insects which enveloped Andy appear and have turned into demons.  They begin to attack Abbie, Ichabod and Parish. Ichabod decides that the map is more dangerous than Washington imagined and asserts that they must find it no matter the cost.

Back at the base camp, Abbie again says that the hex was in place for a good reason.  Parish apologises for not finding anything useful and suggests that Knapp has taken the map's location to his grave.  This causes Ichabod to think of the Masons and their habit of urging fellow Masons to take their secrets with them to their death. Abbie suggests that the map was buried with Washington and when Abbie does some research, she realises that there are three different listed grave sites for Washington. Ichabod quickly surmises that Washington would have wanted to be buried near Sleepy Hollow and asks Parish if he saw anything resembling a grave site. Parish again sees the vision of a body being transported by river.   Abbie pulls out an atlas and they begin to search.

Andy breaks free of his cocoon and has completely evolved into a monster, with superhuman strength. He declares that Maloch shall rise.

Abbie, Ichabod and Parish head to an island that Washington used as a penal colony.  Ichabod is not pleased that he cannot get his maps app to work and blathers on about Abbie's social network updates. Abbie pulls out a map but Ichabod says that it won't reveal the Masonic cues used to hide a crypts location.  Ichabod says that he needs one hour on the island and that he will find out where the grave and map are located.  Abbie reminds Ichabod that once they find the map, they need to talk about how to handle it. Ichabod starts searching with Parish and Abbie following.

Abbie asks Parish if he has ever heard a prophecy about one witness renouncing the other.  Parish talks about the Book of John and how one witness surrenders the other, which means that neither will survive.  Parish says that sometimes a story is just a story and due to the various translations of the bible, it's impossible to know the truth. Abbie points out that evil is counting on this prophecy.

Ichabod calls out to get Parish and Abbie's attention.  Ichabod has found a rock in a clearing which  he believes is a marker for Washington's grave.  Ichabod twists the rock and the grave opens up, revealing a stairway into the earth.

Deterctive Nunez has ordered DNA samples taken from Macey.  Frank is not pleased and says that he had no right to do this. It seems that forensics found DNA on the father's neck and so they need to screen everyone who was at the murder site. Nunez asks Cynthia and Frank if they have anything to say.  Frank and Nunez walk out of the room and Nunez says that if forensic's gets more, they will arrest Macey.

Parish, Crane and Ichabod have descended into the tomb.  Crane dismisses the first pyramid as too obvious for Washington's resting place. They find a marker for Washington's hero.  Crane places his ring into the marker and it reveals a sarcophagus. When the lid pulls back they find a dessicated skeleton in full uniform.  Crane pulls out the map and declares it perfect and says that he can now free Katrina.

Andy jumps into the tomb and when Abbie fires at point black range he is unaffected. When Ichabod rushes forward, he is quickly cast aside. Andy grabs Abbie by the neck and she says that the Andy she knows is in there somewhere.  Parish sneaks up on Andy and starts sucking evil, which causes Andy to drop to his knees. Andy tells Abbie that she must destroy the map because Maloch needs it in order to win the war.  Andy then asks Abbie to release him and she quickly sticks the head of an axe into Andy's head.

The tomb begins to crumble and they realise that they are trapped inside.  Ichabod grabs a torch declaring that there must be a way out deeper in the crypt.. As Ichabod tries to open a passageway, Andy rises to his feet again.  Abbie shoots a lever which traps Andy and they rush out of the tomb.  Abbie tells Crane what Brooks said about the map and tells him that it's his call.  Ichabod admits he is conflicted because of the fact that the map can free Katrina.  Ichabod then sets the map on fire saying if using the map means betraying Abbie, he simply cannot do it. Ichabod says that they will choose their own destiny because they have free will.  Abbie promises Ichabod that they are going to save Katrina.

Frank is walking through the station and he remembers everything his family has gone through.  Frank puts his weapon on shield on the table and confesses to the murder to Nunez.  They give Frank the perp walk through the station in handcuffs.

At the cabin, Ichabod is deep in thought in front of the fire.  He is holding Katrina's necklace and having visions of her.  Crane then sits down and redraws the map from memory.  Yes, Crane supposedly has an Eidetic memory but come on. 

This was a really big build up to the season finale.  I must say at first Crane's antiquated behaviour was really quite funny but after twelve episodes I find it quite irritating.  He can irritated that he cannot get a cellphone signal but cannot wear a pair of jeans?  Really? I understand that the audience needs a constant reminder of who Crane is but sometimes I wish it could be done in less of a slapstick manner.

Was anyone else not happy that Abbie continued to put her trust in Crane.  She out and out asked the man if he could sacrifice his wife and he didn't answer her.  For me, that would be reason enough to run for the hills if my soul was at risk.  I will agree that Abbie had no way of  knowing that Crane would re draw the map.

Speaking once again of Crane's fake eidetic memory, am I the only one who rolled my eyes.  It's bad enough that this supposed memory condition is a work of fiction but then they went ahead and did a ridiculous leap and expected us to believe he could recreate something so detailed. Umm no.  This goes hand in hand with Crane's continual leaps of logic.  He makes connections out of nowhere and they are always right.  I know that Crane's character has been modeled after Sherlock Holmes but I find his constant leaps which are masqueraded as deductive reasoning irritating. 

Okay folks, let's see how they wrap up the season.