Review: 'Sleepy Hollow' Returns With “This Is War”

Maria Millage ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

Fox’s hit show Sleepy Hollow left its fans with the cliffhanger of all cliffhangers in its first season’s finale in January. All of the show’s dedicated viewers will clearly recall Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) buried by his own son, who also happens to be the Horseman of War (John Noble), Ichabod’s wife Katrina (Katia Winter) freshly taken out of Purgatory and carried off by the Horseman of Death, and the two Mills sisters in similarly dastard fates—Abbie (Nicole Beharie) in trapped in Purgatory and Jenny (Lyndie Greenwood) presumed dead.
Season two launched viewers directly into the seat of the action in the typical Sleepy Hollow style with twists and turns that left everyone guessing up until the very end.  Considering that all four of the show’s main characters were separated a the end of the first season, the writers had quite a bit of work to do in order to bring them all back together to continue their fight against evil.  The episode definitely succeeded in doing this, by bringing Ichabod, Abbie, and Jenny together in a perfect trifecta that defined the latter half of season one. Nevertheless, because of the four separate and simultaneous plot lines in the beginning of the episode (one for each main character), things did start getting a tad bit confusing.

The episode revolved around keeping a key that once belonged to Benjamin Franklin out of the hands of Moloch, a demon striving to bring about the apocalypse.  The key is the secret to bringing trapped souls out of Purgatory, something that Moloch desperately desires to do so he can join his servants, the Horsemen of Death and War, in the mortal realm. Ichabod sets out to find the key before his son, Henry, who also happens to be the Horseman of War, can find it and use it to free Moloch.
Crane broke out of his buried coffin, assisted in freeing a not-dead Jenny from her captors, and then set out to find the key.  With it safely in his possession, Ichabod again traveled to Purgatory, found Abbie and, after a tearful reunion, returned to the mortal realm, ready to rescue Katrina from the Horseman of Death and continue the fight against evil.
This episode started season two off to a fantastic start, with the witty dialogue, innumerable twists and turns, and well-developed characters that all fans will remember from season one.  The plot picked up smoothly where last season’s finale left off and continued seamlessly, leaving viewers on the edges of their seat.  And, of course, who wouldn’t love to watch Ichabod reveal the not-so-rosy truth about yet another of America’s Founding Fathers?  In this case, it turns out that Benjamin Franklin had a bit of a penchant for leaving the house not wearing pants as well as hawking his own invented alphabet.

As of yet, it’s not entirely sure where this season is going to take its loyal viewers. Clearly the fight against Moloch and his evil army, which was seen rising from the ground of Purgatory at the end of the episode, must continue; and with two Horsemen of the Apocalypse to deal with as opposed to one, the stakes are much, much higher.
All in all, the season premiere encapsulated the darkness, twisting story, and endearing characters that made this show such a smash success during its first season.  With an extremely well done premiere under its belt, the second season likely will also be enjoying the same success as long as the production team keeps pushing the characters and the plot to the boundaries of disbelief and back, keeping their viewers guessing and the story fresh.

Watch The Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VnOzjR7bP8