'Sleepy Hollow' Review/Recap: “Root of All Evil”

Maria Millage ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

This week’s episode of Sleepy Hollow brought plenty of conflict into the mix while adding to the growing intrigue surrounding Henry Parish’s (John Noble) plans to raise an army for Moloch.  The episode’s main conflict revolved around a coin dating back to the Roman Empire that has the power to turn individuals evil.  (Fun fact of the day: this is actually the reason why Benedict Arnold, the perhaps most famous turncoat in American history, defaulted to the side of the British during the American Revolution).  Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) and Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie) are drawn into the search to recover the coin and stop it (and Henry) from doing further damage to Sleepy Hollow after it causes a shooting at the local bank.
Meanwhile, Katrina Crane (Katia Winter) is still being held captive by her ex-fiancée, and the Horseman of Death, Abraham (Neil Jackson), though she has managed to sow what might be considered the seeds of dissent in his mind.  Over the course of this season, viewers have seen the two risen Horseman (Death and War) meet in almost every episode to discuss the furthering of their master’s grand plan.  Now, however, Abraham has grown irritated with how Henry is allowed out and about wherever he wishes, while Abraham has been forced to stay confined within his home.

This very well might be just the beginning of a conflict that could spawn dissent within Moloch’s army.  By the end of the first season, it became common knowledge that all Abraham ever really wanted was Katrina.  Now that he has her away from Ichabod and has begun the process of attempting to convince her that her husband cares more for Abbie than he does for her, who’s to say that Abraham is as committed to Moloch’s cause?
Katrina was also stirring up more tension elsewhere in the episode between Abbie and Crane.  Or, more like the idea of rescuing her was. Ichabod has remained dedicated to the idea of rescuing his wife from the evil clutches of Abraham since she was carried off at the end of the season one finale.  All attempts to take Katrina back this season so far have failed and it’s clear that Abbie is now starting to think of saving Katrina as a plan to be put on the back burner; something that Ichabod very much disagrees with.  As this conflict between the two Witnesses has cropped up in nearly every episode so far this season, it’s become very obvious that this will be one of the defining conflicts between the show’s two main protagonists. There are definitely many viewers who want it resolved in a manner that would push Ichabod and Abbie closer together not only as partners, but also as a couple.

In their search to prevent the coin from causing more harm, Abbie and Ichabod track down Nick Hawley (Matt Barr), an acquaintance of Jenny’s (Lyndie Greenwood) who specializes in supernatural artifacts.  During their search to find Hawley and convince him to help them, Jenny also falls under the sway of the coin. This prompts a wild goose chase to find her before she finds her target: the new sheriff, who it was revealed earlier in the episode was the reason why Abbie and Jenny’s mother was put in a psych ward where she committed suicide. The episode culminated with Abbie stopping Jenny before she could shoot Sheriff Reyes (Sakina Jaffrey) and the two sisters discovering that their mother had been protecting her daughters from Moloch and his minions even before she was committed.
The majority of the episode was fast-paced and entertaining, keeping viewers guessing.  Henry Parish continues to be an enigma, appearing at the end of the last episode masquerading as Captain Irving’s (Orlando Jones) lawyer, yet another piece of his grand plan that is slowly but surely coming into focus.  The development about the Mills siblings’ mother surely will be coming back as an important element later on this season as Abbie and Crane continue to fight against the armies of evil and prevent Moloch from joining his minions in the realm of the living.  An episode of Sleepy Hollow also would never be complete without what has come to be known as its creative retelling of history, in this case, the anecdote about Benedict Arnold being turned into a traitor by an evil Roman coin, and viewers were treated to more of Ichabod’s now-famous ranting against the modern world.  This week, he was exasperated about being carded at a bar and revealed that he had, at some point, watched Glee.  Overall, the episode was entertaining and creative even if it was a bit lacking when it came to the plot arc of the season as a whole.