Sleepy Hollow Review - Episode 10 - Golem - "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

Ah, here we are. Back in Sleepy Hollow. And, what do you know? The show has come back on tonight! So, I at least am keeping up my pattern of putting these reviews out just as a new episode comes on.

"Congratulations! It's a plot point."

But it is nice to remember where we've been after weeks away from a show. And when we left off before the 10th episode, Ichabod had learned that he was a father. Very "was". The kid was born in the 18th century. But the episode left me unsure how we would find Ichabod, going into the 10th episode of the season. He had gone a bit Evil Dead on the evil creature.

So what will Ichabod be like now? Will he go alpha male on us? Will he go angsty and angry? Will he join Fathers For Justice?

"I am a man! What?! I am a man! What?! ..."

The episode opens with him an ax again, cutting wood. It's not a good sign. Guys on TV shows cutting wood has often been a way to represent virility or machismo. Not a good sign.

Luckily, when Abbie arrives he stops, and slips back into normal mode. He was cutting wood to bide his time. He has a son he never knew. He lived centuries away. And he has no knowledge about who he was, or how he lived. It's frustrating, and Ichabod did some work to just wait, until he could get answers.

"Christmas logs. You just have to carry it until Christmas
Day, What? It's a revered modern tradition."

Abbie does her best to engage him. And her way with Ichabod is to wrangle him. With Christmas approaching, she brings up modern traditions, which always provokes Ichabod. But it has become their way of bickering in a friendly manner.

(Also, it's Christmas. Thanksgiving episode. Christmas based episode. Is tonight's based around New Years? I feel like I'm playing the Calendar Man side mission in Arkham City.)

They are interrupted when a taxi arrives. Abbie knows nothing about it, but it is just what Ichabod has been waiting for. The Sin Eater.

Yes, oh yes.

The Sin Eater returns to the show for the first time since..."The Sin Eater". It's nice to see a character return. Plenty have come through that I'd like to see more of. And the Sin Eater, or Henry Parrish,

In this episode we are given more of a chance to appreciate the eccentricities that John Noble brings to the role. He's so fun, understated, and glum that I just want them to spin him off to his own show. Just have him go around sniffing out sin and righting wrong. Then he'll exit and go back to being depressed and moody.

Ichabod asks the Sin Eater to use his powers to help him access Purgatory.

But Parrish is unsure. He doesn't use his power in that manner. He fights sins and then leaves.

But Ichabod is determined. He needs him to act, so he can get answers to the fate of his son.

And Parrish relents. But he warns Ichabod. There will be repercussions.

What do you mean I'm not getting a "and special guest"
credit.

And once it's time to act, Parrish does. He grabs Ichabod around the throat and throttles him. As Ichabod looses consciousness, he slips through to another realm. Purgatory.

I guess it's like when they ask how you get to Broadway. Murder.

But at least Ichabod is in Purgatory...again. This time it looks like and old church. Also in the church he finds a carriage, with the creepy weird doll that we last saw when Abbie entered Purgatory.

As long as it stays in Purgatory, or on Friday the 13th: The Series.

Don't you hate when haters copy your look?

 He also finds his wife, lighting candles. She is shocked to find him there, but they are pleased to see each other. But Ichabod has questions he wants answered.

• She didn't know about the pregnancy when he "died". (So I wonder how much time there was between Ichabod being sent after the Horseman and being fatally wounded.)
• Then she was chased by her coven, to reveal where he was buried.
• Then she had the child at the only sanctuary she had. (That we saw in the last episode.)

So when the child is born, she stays with Grace (Abbie's ancestor), and then leaves the child, Jeremy, in their care. Then the child can be safe as she continues to avoid her coven, and find a way to bring back Ichabod.

She also gives Jeremy that creepy doll we keep seeing...Oh. Maybe it isn't that creepy...No it's creepy.

But then her coven catches her, and sends her to Purgatory.

Oh yeah!

And at that point, she knew nothing more of her son's fate. And it's haunted her ever since.

As they embrace, the doors of the church are rattled by a massive force. Katrina tells Ichabod to leave quickly. And as Ichabod disappears, he seems a massive  form enter the church, roaring in anger.

"Weird, I had to play this game called Battleship to return."

Awakened back in the real world, Ichabod is shaken. He struggles up, but has clues now. Jeremy was raised by Grace. And Grace's husband had a church in town. So they know that they need information about what happen at that church, back when his son was there. And those answers would be at the historical society.



And outside, a figure crawls out of the ground. It is the creature from Purgatory.

Hey, Linkara! See the future?

 As Ichabod gets ready to leave, he turns to Parrish. Parrish is ready to go back to the train station, and head home. Ichabod wants him to stay and join them in the search. But he doesn't want to get involved. He does his thing, and then he goes home to be alone.

He seems set in this. But then Abbie steps into help with Parrish. She offers him some sympathy, and points out that none of the three of them have much in the way of family anymore. So his help could help reach answers, and help in the greater cause.

Abbie wins him over, and shows her persuasiveness.

 At the historical society, he finds little help. The librarian that is working there acts as if the books they need wouldn't be there. But Ichabod sees this as impossible, and works his way to the books that they need.

What he learns is that Jeremy was at the church in question for a few years. But then there was a fire that killed Grace and her husband.

Teething can feel like a church on fire.

Worse, before that people claimed that fires would start around Jeremy whenever he got upset. People feared him, and think he caused the fire, as he escaped with no injuries.

Ichabod is dejected. Jeremy seemed to have inherited his mother's abilities. And then was lost, with no one to explain what was happening to him.

Then Parrish points out that the librarian working there is hiding something. She lied to them. (Lying is a sin, so he can smell it. -- How does this character not have a show yet?) And she knows far more than she has said.


And as they talk, the librarian flees. But a shadow comes around her car.

And a large figure smashes in her car window.

When Abbie, Ichabod, and Parrish run outside, they find the librarian. But she's crushed under the roof of her car, that's been collapsed on top of her. A car panini.

Abbie acquires the dead woman's personal affects from the historical society office. (Perks of being a cop.) And they comb over them, looking for clues. Then Parrish gets a strong sin ping off a small box.

Looking at the box, Ichabod sees the symbol of Katrina's coven. Inside the box, they find a small book. And in the book, a crudely drawn picture of the creepy doll.

Proto-Grimace

Yeah. I'd take a movie starring this over a Ted sequel.

 This leads them to realize that this ties the book to Jeremy. And then Parrish decides to take the book and try to read the sinful events that are tied to the book.

He sees the preacher that ran the orphanage that Jeremy. He was a cruel man. He took it on himself to beat the evil, that he deemed Jeremy carried, out of him.

He repeatedly beat the boy.

And the boy's anguish grew,

Then, one day, as some of his blood dropped on his doll, his will and anger was made manifest.

The doll was gone, and a guardian was forged. Large, powerful, and out to protect Jeremy.

"CREEPY DOLL SMASH!"

And this protector murdered the preacher, ending the beatings.

And then the two fled.


Ichabod's guilt only grows. If he had been there, he could have protected his son, given him a better life.

And now Ichabod has drawn this protector to the world again. And it's striking out at the coven that took Jeremy's mom. Took away Katrina.

But what happen after that?

Looking at more of the murdered woman's papers, Abbie recognizes something. 4 Veiled women.

They were in the vision that Katrina had given her. And Ichabod then realizes that they are the women that Katrina has said placed her in Purgatory.

They will likely be the guardian's next target. But as well, they may be able to free Katrina.

So they head to a carnival outside of town, where the 4 Women Who Speak As One are staying presently.

But what I am curious about now is, how old was the witch at the historical society? Some of the newspaper clippings look really old. Is she seemingly ageless? Like Reverend Knapp in the pilot (He was around since the Revolution, and didn't age. -- And, hey someone had to bring up the Revolutionary War, as this episode surprisingly skipped it for once.)?

"Crane. We better not be here just because you want to
ride another Tilt-O-Whirl."

(Also, when did Ichabod learn about Reverend Knapp? It never actually seemed to become a plot point. And they never explained if he intended to work with Katrina, or was surprised.)

The team drive out to the carnival. Ichabod decides he wants to go in alone, to challenge the 4 witches.

Inside they are veiled, and talk as one. (Like their name, of course.) They are nice and creepy. They are pale and have sharp teeth. (The whole motif makes me instantly think of the 1990's Sleepy Hollow movie. Remember the witch in the woods?)

Also, the 4 Witches really strike a vibe of being like the Fates, Norns, or the Grey Sisters. They do seem to foretell the future. These are the kinds of characters it would be interesting to keep around and learn about...Yeah.

 He challenges them on what they have done. But they are confident about what they have been a part of. Katrina broke the rules. She messed with Ichabod's fate. She needed to make recompense (Hand over Ichabod.). And she wouldn't.

But at least they explain what happen to Jeremy. He was on the run constantly. People chased him, and his guardian would protect him.

This kept up until the 4 of them found him. They sent his guardian to Purgatory, as his creation was too much to best. And they couldn't convince, or force, Jeremy to join them. So they stopped his heart. Then buried him.

Do any of us actually believe he's really dead?

The witches tell Ichabod to leave. He can't help them. It's their fate, and they embrace it. So he runs as the guardian approaches.

And once Ichabod is outside, he sees that the guardian has set on the witches. It is over quickly. Now Ichabod has to figure out how to end the guardians reign of terror.


And, yeah. The 4 are dead (We don't see it, but I doubt they are coming back.). Man. Every time we meet a witch in this show they go and kill them off. Reverend Knapp. The librarian. The 4. Come on! Let's get to know the witches a little...Maybe next season, right?

Also, you've offed 5 women in a row this episode. Dudes!


The guardian is throwing things in the carnival everywhere in a rage. As it does this, a large shard of glass hits Ichabod. Parrish gets close to him and they discuss the situation.

Then Parrish works out the answer. Jeremy's blood made the guardian. Ichabod carries that blood as well. (Not scientifically.) So Ichabod pulls the shard out of his torso and challenges the guardian.

He tries to reason with it. He explains who he is. And he apologizes for the position the guardian has been placed.

...I think I'm starting to miss the large destructive golem.

The guardian pauses. But then it charges Ichabod, and is impaled by Ichabod. It falls, and reverts to the doll that it once was.


In the aftermath, Parrish says his goodbyes. He was happy that he could give Ichabod and the guardian some peace. He sees that he did have a purpose in helping out in a larger way. (And now he heads off to save the world...Come on Fox.)

How many years of bad luck has Molloch tallied?

And as Ichabod sits and thinks, Molloch beckons him.

He pulls him into that forest scene again. He taunts Ichabod, and declares that the war is coming.

He also tells him that he will take Abbie's soul. And Ichabod will offer up her soul to Molloch.




DOOM! DOOM! DOOM!

THOUGHTS
This was a fun episode. It gives most all of the answers to the questions offered by the last episode. Ichabod's son was named Jeremy, he was left with Grace as Katrina avoided her coven. Then the coven came after Jeremy. Now we just need to find out what happen after he was buried.

Come on. Ichabod was buried to. And if Jeremy was as powerful as the 4 Witches claimed, could they really kill him. There's an obvious reason they say that they stopped him heart. The only question is if he's still buried and waiting, or did someone find him (like Molloch's minions).

We also got to see a secondary character return. (But I still want to see the "medicine man" from the Sandman episode come back.) And it was great to have more John Noble. He's a good actor. And his odd characterization helps make Parrish all the more interesting.


GOLEMS
Also, the episode is called "Golem". That's because they call the guardian in the show a golem. But...I just can't agree. They really stretch to make the golem a biblical being. The word appears in the bible, but it isn't used in the classic form of later Jewish folklore...But I concede, as always, to my old Alternate Earth theory of this show. In THIS world's Christian scripture, big clay golems are mentioned. Sure. ...But I'm not going back to rename it now.


The B-PLOT
I did not mention the B-Plot from the show in the recap above, to streamline it. So let's look at it. It followed Irving. He's dealing with his own life, and doubts about the fight he's now in. He wants reassurance. What is his fate to be?

And his priest isn't much help. Martyrs dies, And those that follow usually suffer the same fate. (It's a bit simple, but, eh.) This just upsets Irving. He's troubled.

And you can understand why, as he goes to visit his ex-wife and daughter. He's got things he can loose.

And he is sad about the life he's been living. He was never there for either his wife or daughter. And he wants his wife to know that he's honestly regretful. He wants to rebuild some connections.

And so he takes his daughter for a walk in the park. He works at being the dad that he wants to be, and his daughter needs.

But Sleepy Hollow won't leave him alone, even in New York.

[Random Creepy Vendor Comment]

As he talks to a vendor. He seems nice at first, then he pushes on questions about how strong his daughter really is.

 He realizes that it's one of Molloch's minions. And the minion threatens Irving's family.

But as he grabs the vendor, the minion body jumps to someone else. Irving can't touch them. But they can touch his family.

So, what will Irving do? Will he stick with the team? Will he be pushed to abandon them? Will he be scared into turning? What will happen?

We've already seen Morales scared off, unwilling to talk to Abbie anymore. Will this be the same?


Let's see what happens in episode 11. It's the penultimate episode of the season. Yes, the season is almost done. Let's see how Season 1 foes out. And let's see who's left standing by the end of January.