Sunday, March 13, 2016

Sleepy Hollow, Season Three, Episode Fourteen: Into the Wild


The episode begins with Abbie and Jenny rock climbing. It's clear that the year Abbie spent in the alternate dimension has left her in some great shape.  Abbie is also in no mood to suffer fools when some strange man tries to get her to play the role of helpless woman.  Gotta say, Abbie had me screaming booya.

When they get back, Abbie learns that Ichabod has made plans for them to travel to Rochester N.Y. to meet a professor to discover more about the symbol which Abbie seems to be addicted to.  Abbie has to take a rain check because Daniel has organized a survival training weekend for the FBI.  I was initially not pleased to see Abbie and Ichabod go their separate ways for this episode because Sleepy Hollow is always better when these two are playing off of each other. We've also had enough of Abbie and Crane being separated from each other recently.

At the training site, Abbie learns that they are going to be given the bare minimum to survive and this means no cell phones. As a die hard city girl, I would consider this particular assignment cruel and unusual punishment.  Unsurprisingly, Abbie gets paired up with Sophie and because their third partner is in the hospital, Daniel decides to join them.  Sophie is certain that this is going to be awkward and she's right.  As I mentioned earlier, I wasn't pleased to see Abbie and Crane separated but this little weekend retreat gives Abbie and Sophie a chance to bond which is important given that they are going to be working together.  We learn that Sophie sees the supernatural as something which could possibly give her answers regarding her missing parents while Abbie can only see all that she has lost because of the supernatural. While the women chat, Daniel and the tour guide find an old well.  The tour guide leans in long enough to take a picture and it quickly becomes clear that there's something supernatural in the well.

They don't get far from the well when the guide is attacked by some mummy looking reject. The guide gets bitten and Abbie and Sophie cover claiming that the guide was bitten by a coyote.  After giving the guide some basic first aid, they build a wooden stretcher planning to walk him out of the woods.  Sophie believes that Daniel should be told what is going on but Abbie is adamant that anyone she has ever brought into the supernatural has suffered extreme consequences.  Ummm so how is letting the man walk through the woods unaware of the real threat actually taking care of him?  Abbie feigns tiredness and stays behind as Daniel and Sophie start walking back to the cars.  The creature attacks and Abbie manages to cut off its hand, only to watch in horror as it regenerates. This time, it's Sophie to the rescue and she manages to save Abbie.  When they meet up with Daniel, Abbie suggests resting at a cabin for now.  Is anyone else wondering why they feel the need to rest? How far could they have gotten from the starting point given that at one point they were walking in circles?

They aren't at the cabin for long before Daniel decides that he can move faster by himself and should go and get help.  Abbie tries to talk him out of it but Daniel is in no mood to listen, claiming that everything is always about Abbie. A stunned Abbie questions why he asked her to come back and Daniel cryptically answers that maybe he didn't have a choice.  Daniel takes off and for the life of me the fact that Abbie still doesn't tell the man she so clearly cares about what is going on is astounding. Is Daniel suddenly going to go invisible in the woods so that creature cannot see him?  Abbie checks on the wounded guide and discovers that  he has maggots crawling around in the wound. Yeah, it's as gross as it sounds.  Sophie just happens to find a journal in the cabin and learns that when the reject mummy creature bites someone, they also turn into a reject mummy creature. I guess there's no need to explain to us how or why Sophie reads Dutch right?  Right on cue, the guide stands up snarling and Abbie knocks him unconscious with a huge piece of wood. The women figure out that the only way to save the guide is to kill the creature which infected him.


Meanwhile in Rochester, Ichabod learns that the symbol is actually two pieces. When he puts the symbol on the tablet, he gets a vision of Abbie.  Seeing that Abbie is in trouble, Ichabod takes off and arrives in time to shoot the tacky mummy looking creature.  Did anyone else question exactly how it is that Ichabod got there so quickly? Did I miss something? Can Ichabod fly? With the monster dead and the guide doing much better, Ichabod reveals that the symbol may not be a bad thing and that it actually helped him to know that Abbie was in trouble.

Back in civilization, Abbie goes to see Daniel and tells him that he was right to go and try and find help on his own. I suppose we'll just ignore that by letting him go, Abbie allowed Daniel to unwittingly risk his life. Then Abbie admits that not only did she love Daniel she still does and refused to admit it because with the life she is living now, having a successful relationship seems like an improbability.  I hope the writers work something out because thus far,,Abbie is the only one who hasn't gotten any.

I am going to shift to Joe and Jenny now.  I really dislike the way that these two have been so disconnected to Abbie and Ichabod this season, only appearing with them briefly each episode.  It at times feels like watching two separate shows and since I like both Jenny and Joe so much, I hate the fact that they are often positioned as a distraction to what is really going on.  This week, the two head to an auction where they bid one million dollars for a piece of Pandora's box.  We know that this isn't going to end well right? Joe touches the box and his eyes go all white, drawing Pandora's attention to what is going on.

They don't get far with the artifact before being confronted by Pandora.  When Pandora uses magic to choke Jenny, Joe grabs the artifact and tries to return it but it turns him into a Wendigo.  Pandora says that Joe is a creature of darkness.  Joe scratches Pandora, causing her to run off and then he promptly collapses in Jenny's arms.

Later, back at the trailer, Jenny tells Joe that she has hidden the artifact where neither he or Pandora can find it. Jenny is confident that as long as Joe stays away from the box, he will continue to be himself - the man she loves.  Joe doesn't seem convinced and is upset to know that the wendigo is still a part of him.

Back in Pandora's lair, the Hidden One accuses her of being a failure.  Yea, I still really hate the dynamic between these two. The racial implications are just awful.  The Hidden One decides that since Pandora cannot get the job done, he's going to take care of business himself and kill Ichabod and Abbie.