Congratulations to Diane Patricia Diamond, who won yesterday’s drawing! I’ll be emailing Diane to arrange delivery of her choice of book.
It’s TV Tuesday again. Today’s topic of discussion: Sleepy Hollow.
When I first heard about it, I was on the fence about this show. I’m not a big fan of horror, but when I realized J.J. Abrams was involved with it, I was willing to check it out. OMG, I’m so glad I did! The show is part horror, part American History, part humor, and a lot fantasy.
Sleepy Hollow is a twist on two of Washington Irving’s short stories, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle, with a sprinkling of American history, witchcraft, demons, and just about every other mythos you can associate with 18th century America. In this incarnation, Ichabod Crane is not a humble school teacher (though he did apparently teach at Oxford), but a spy in the Revolutionary War, reporting to George Washington. He was ordered by Washington to kill a particular Hessian soldier on the battlefield. He managed to behead the soldier, but not before the Hessian dealt Ichabod a mortal wound. The next thing Ichabod knows, he’s waking up 250 years later in a hidden grave.
The Hessian he killed has risen, too, sans head—the Headless Horseman of legend. Turns out this horseman is one of a famous quartet, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and Ichabod’s life is somehow linked to his. Ichabod’s wife Katrina, a witch who put a spell on him to allow him to resurrect, is trapped in Purgatory by the demons who control the horseman.
Enter Lieutenant Abbie Mills (or ‘Leftenant’ as Ichabod pronounces it), an officer of the local sheriff’s department who is set to leave for Quantico to start training as an FBI agent. She witnesses her mentor, Sheriff August Corbin, being beheaded by the Headless Horseman. In a search for answers, she teams up with Crane, who seems to know something of what is going on, and they realize they are the two witnesses to the apocalypse spoken of in the Book of Revelation. Quantico is forgotten as Abbie and Ichabod pursue their mission to keep the forces of evil at bay. Throw in Orlando Jones as the replacement police captain, along with threads of humor as Ichabod tries to cope with 21stcentury life, and you have a compelling hour of television.
Abbie and Ichabod have a deep, amazing relationship that is platonic and yet absolutely solid. Abbie is a spunky lady with a rough past, played with skilled finesse by the amazing Nicole Beharie. She is the perfect foil for the properly British Ichabod, played by the delicious Tom Mison. There are many out there who are cheering for a romantic connection between Abbie and Ichabod (the IchAbbies), but I feel that their relationship is more powerful without the complications of sex. There’s tension there, sure, but in the end, Ichabod is a married man who deeply loves and misses his wife. In addition to fighting evil, he is trying to figure out a way to rescue his beloved Katrina (played by the beautiful Katia Winter) from Purgatory.
Have you seen the show? If not, you might want to check it out. If you have, what do you think about Abbie and Ichabod? Are you hoping for a love triangle between Abbie/Ichabod/Katrina? Or do you feel the IchAbbie relationship is stronger as simply partners to avert the Apocalypse? Do you hope Ichabod will reunite with his love, Katrina? Those who comment get entered in today’s drawing for a free paperback title from my backlist!
