Sleepy Hollow (S2) - Episode 2 - The Kindred - "Inside the mangle."

So last episode we got to enjoy Abbie and Ichabod getting out of there predicaments. It was fun. It was nice. It righted some of out anxiety we'd had since the last season. ...We could exhale again.

Then we get this episode. Since watching the episode for the first time I have been unhappy. I have been trying to figure out why. There was some good action. Some scares for me. Some macabre. The plot was moved forward. And we learned the state of every character. Everything I want.

The answer to my problem is a Mangle. Odds are you are too young to know the word mangle as a verb. And you are way too young to remember mangle as a noun.

The mangle, or wringer. It just squeezes the water out of laundry. It's something you don't want to go through.


This episode was like a mangle. It put me through the wringer/

It feels like nothing good happen this episode. Almost like it was all bad news.

I guess things were going to easy last year. The producers must have
toggled the show to the Hard setting.

To start, finally, there is a new sheriff in town. Sheriff Leena Reyes (played by Sakina Jaffrey). Finally! After a season, we have an actual sheriff again!!! Also, it is verified that Irving had been standing in for a sheriff. (GTK.)

Reyes is someone who is returning to Sleepy Hollow. She served in the sheriff's department before, back when Abbie was a child. She even knew Abbie and Jenny's mom.

It seems like it should be great to have a sheriff again. But for the last season we had Irving. He gave Abbie a lot of latitude even when he didn't believe in the paranormal danger the town was in. Reyes seems a lot more strict and stiff on this stuff.

She talks with Abbie, and seems to respect her abilities. But she also expects her to follow the rules and order.

"Hey! We're back to walk and talks like last season." "Let's not pretend like
were going to be bantering, Lt. Mills."

Later Reyes checks out the Archive. When she gets there, she finds Jenny grabbing some weapons for Abbie, which they'd had stashed there.

Beyond anything else, Jenny is not someone legally allowed to own weapons. (And, I know it goes unsaid in these sorts of shows, but where did they get their guns? And was it entirely legal?)

I'd joke that Reyes better not mess with Jenny...But I'm kind of intimidated
by her...

So Jenny is under arrest. Oh, Reyes also fires Ichabod. (She doesn't see the point of a historical adviser....She didn't even get a chance to find out how annoying he can be first.)

"...Really?!"

How bad is that?

...It gets worse. FLIPPIN' WORSE!




Over with Irving, he's still sitting in prison.

Sitting is not the best description. He's getting repeatedly punched to the ground for being a cop.

"Apparently someone found out about those 7-Up ads, and they decided to
make me pay."

So he's having a rough time.

Then Reyes (her again) has him take a lie detector test. During it he admits to the fact demons were responsible for the murders he's accused of.

"Do you secretly hate both Key and Peele?"

Reyes immediately decides to have him moved to a psychiatric facility to be held. (It is arguably better than a prison where everyone wants a turn pummeling you.) But it means the truth will keep institutionalized. Of course, this also what Jenny had to go through as a kid. So, I guess once this is all over he and Jenny will be able to trade stories.

Things are just going great for Irving.

"Dammit! Someone left the TV on a channel showing Bedazzled!"

Did I mention he got a visitor at the end of the episode?

Henry/Jeremy/War.

"Some people say I look like death. That's silly. He's the other guy."

Unfortunately for Irving, he's never seen him before. So he has no idea who he is.

Jeremy explains that he's Irving's new lawyer. He gets an injunction again involuntary treatments for Irving, which pleases Irving.

Then he gives Irving a special pen to sign paperwork that states that Irving is "enlisting his services". The pend is very special, a small blade on it draws blood from the wielder.

Then the blood is used in the signing of the paper.

Seeing as people already say, signing a contract with a lawyer is like
making a deal with the devil, can I even make a joke?

...That never ends well. Never.

Damn, it!!!


So that's it, right? ...

What's happening with Katrina?

She's still the prisoner of a mad man. The Horseman.

Katrina still have the necklace that allows her to see a head on his body, and he's talking to her as if they are still in love, and are going to be happy together. Nutter.

"What do you mean, you thought I used to be a head taller?!"

While she is there, Jeremy and the Horseman discuss there plans. Soon Moloch will be able to arrive,and their enemies will fall.

Katrina Crane, Super spy.

Jeremy comes to talk to her for a moment, taunting her about failing him and the looming doom coming.

Later, Ichabod finally reaches her...

Some candles even make being saved from a madman romantic.

..and she decides to stay.

"Next time you save me, could you bring some fries?"

She explains that the Horseman will protect her, because he's nuts enough to think that she's going to fall in love with him all over again. And while she's there she can snoop around for information and secrets of Jeremy and Moloch.

Also,the Horseman will track her down if she leaves.

Katrina adds that she has a hope that, maybe, she can win her son back.

But the end result is...

"...This was a huge mistake,"

...she is still stuck in the grips of a madman.

Consarnit!!!

Oh, that...after everything...And she is going to choose to stay in danger. (Granted, no where is safe anymore.) After everything this episode has thrown at us...After every kick to the nether regions...The one good thing is a mottled mess.

Good may come from this choice. Victory may hinge on it. ...But...frick...Frick...FRICK...FRICK!!!


So to sum up the bad.

• Irving is screwed.
• Jenny is hosed.
• Katrina is staying in a den full of angry lions.

Did anything else happen this episode?

Ichabod got to learn about the modern banking industry...

"Yes I have heard of this Jimmy Fallon, and his terrible ads. And I for one would like to tell him where he can stick this."

...With everything else going on...eh.


What else...

...I guess they did build a huge freaking monster to throw at the Horseman. Did I mention that this monster has the Horseman's head, just to stick it to the Horseman?

"I make this look gooood."

Fuck yeah.

Apparently, back in the day, the Founding Fathers were trying to figure a way to build a powerful counter force to Moloch's minions. Between the Sisterhood of the Radiant Heart (Katrina's coven) and Benjamin Franklin they created a monster that could serve the function.

Next season! Ichbad mentioning knowing an elderly Italian scientist from
Vinci.

It was called the Kindred. Made from the stitched together bodies of dead soldiers, it was meant to be as powerful as the Horseman.

Finally! Benjamin Franklin finds a meal he can't finish.

So Franklin built the body from strong limbs and bits. And the coven cast a spell to make it as resilient and impressive in combat as the Horseman.

By the way. I am calling it. Franklinstein. I know later in the episode Abbie says it, but I was already thinking it well before that. And with this episode, I need things to pat myself on the back over.

Franklin and the coven had one problem. They needed some piece of the Horseman to make the body come to life. Any part could work. ...Even the head! Hey!

So Abbie and Ichabod go and hunt down the body.

"Don't judge me because I'm...freaking awesome!"

And after getting passed a trap, they take and set it up.

"If I hear one Abbie Normal joke,I will punt this head."

With everything in place they take a couple of stabs at the activation spell.

"Maybe he'd like the head at a jaunty angle?" "Ichabod? The spell already?"

Then, as the Horseman raced towards them, the Kindred rises.

"Hey! At least one of us has a good head on his shoulders. Hah!"

And he proves to actually be able to hold his own with the Horseman. Speed. Strength. Resilience.

They are a match!

It ain't a party until the flaming sword arrives.

Then the Horseman of War jumps in. The Kindred is working, but this is a bit much.

But that's why the world has an Abbie "Freaking" Mills in it.

"Yeah. I am picking a fight with War."

Free of the extra trouble, the Kindred manages to impale the Horseman. He may have even been able to finish him off...?

Come on! Flying elbow him into the turnbuckle!

But he sees that Abbie is fighting a near invulnerable being, and he jumps in to help her.

You. Shall. Not. Pass!

Then, once Abbie and Ichabod make their escape, the Kindred rides off, and disappears into a mist.

"Who was that headed man?"
or
Brave, brave, Sir Kindred. Bravely he ran away.

And he's off. Where to? I don't know. We didn't even know where the Horseman went off to in the first season.

Ichabod suggests that he may have disappeared off into nothingness. I doubt that. They've created Frankenstein's Monster! That has consequences. Dire one...Wait. I'm not reviewing Penny Dreadful at the moment, am I?

...It may have dire consequences. The point is, I doubt he's gone. The head has to be around. And I hope the show wouldn't just let something as curious as the Kindred be a one shot item.

He still has a function. You just wait and see.


So, yeah, that whole business was awesome. It's just that all the misfortune hit harder than the awesome. It feels like the midpoint, like The Empire Strikes Back. But it's just episode 2! (...of the season...Not the movie.) Things can get far worse. (And they probably will.)


One thing to note during this battle of the Horsemen and the Kindred. While Jeremy was controlling his War Armor. He was concentrating, seemingly focused solely on that.

That is a weakness.


So is Reyes a goodie or a baddie?

I don't see any real reason to think she's evil. I didn't trust Irving at first either. The team may have to find a way to win her over. Or, their lives are going to be miserable.


NEXT TIME! New characters! Sexy adventurers! Magic coins! Jenny goes rogue! And, who will die?! (...Is someone going to die?)

___

I just wanted to also mention that in this episode we finally get to see the full title sequence for Season 2. So we can see if they've changed anything. It's mostly the same...

Except they've added two people to the starring roster!

Lyndie Greenwood

and John Noble.

I am hoping that means they will both be with us for the full season, and in many episodes. (Same goes for Orlando Jones, who is still in the title sequence.)