Sleepy Hollow 2.17: "Awakening"

“The bell is a gift. I’m only awakening what is already in their blood.”
- Henry

Well Sleepy Heads, as we head into this penultimate adventure, I have mixed emotions. On the one hand it feels like they are finally giving Katrina something to do other than vaguely screw up magic every now and then. On the other hand, I was rooting for the Cranes to work through their marital issues and it seems with Mr. Crane following their son down an evil path, it will be the end of their marriage. It seems Abbie has a mind to focus she and Ichabod on their bond as Witnesses as they try to search out copies of some of the books from Jefferson’s secret library. They agree that while destroying it was the right move, having some of the texts might have been helpful. Unfortunately, their chummy banter about the rules of being Witnesses are interrupted by three people going into fugue states with their eyes white and having weird things happen. We see Henry reciting a spell as he watches near a large bell that’s been tolling.

Ichabod and Abbie get called to the station and sent out to investigate what’s going on. They run into Jenny on their way and she fills them in on Irving’s evil soul. They briefly discuss their nuclear option to keep him safe but also give them a chance to save him (using the gorgon’s head to turn him to stone) before parting ways. Ichabod is quick to associate the strange happenings with witchcraft and as they examine the bell (this one is new and looks like the Liberty Bell in Philly) Ichabod quips that he cracked the original bell. Because of course he did!

In 1773, under orders of General Washington, Ichabod is sent to destroy what would become the Liberty Bell. He used a decoy dummy to distract some Red Coats and then set a charge in the crate. It blew up but obviously didn’t destroy the bell. After a little research, they realize that the bells can be used to awaken witches and given how many witches were around back in the day, their descendants could number in the thousands. So at least we know what Henry was up to. Too bad Katrina is a little too busy learning blood magic to be of any assistance to her husband. She’s been withdrawn from him. I can’t tell if she’s trying to purge her blood of Henry’s influence or not. But he shows up for real this time and whisks her home to Frederick’s Manor. It’s less dilapidated these days and he has a proposition for her. He needs her full-blooded witch power to awaken all of the descendants. He wants to form a coven so they can have the family he was denied. Oh, but daddy can’t join in the magical mayhem. I really hope Katrina isn’t buying into this nonsense.

It appears our dear Cranes are going to have that acrimonious split after all. After a rather amusing shopping trip involving Ichabod meeting power drills, our Witnesses and Jenny head out to destroy the bell. Irving is guarding it but Jenny handles him. Or so she thinks. She gets the drop on him and shoots him but he just pops back up. Anyone who has seen this show can tell you dead people who are brought back don’t die. Anyway, Katrina and Henry show up and it’s obvious she’s really gone over to the dark side (she’s shot in kind of an eerie green filter and she’s dressed all in black). She says that Washington reneged on his promise to reintegrate witches into society and they are just taking back what’s theirs. She says that she knows now she never could be happy with a mortal man and knocks Ichabod and Abbie into the tunnels and seals up the hole they blew, keeping them inside.

While Irving is busy hunting Jenny in the tunnels, our Witnesses formulate a plan to destroy the bell. Ichabod figures out that they would take the bell to the hold town hall for safe keeping. So they will head there and cause a distraction. It turns out this distraction involves Ichabod calling out his son. Finally, someone calls Henry out for what he is, a whiny little child who didn’t get his way. Ichabod yells at him that he didn’t even know about Henry so how could he abandon him (so true)? Abbie’s showed up in the car and it looks like she’s about to ram into Henry when Katrina appears and stops the car and then sets it on fire. There’s no way Abbie is in that car.

Henry goes to check out the car while mama and daddy have a little chat. Abbie’s nearly got the charge set on the bell when Henry realizes the ruse. I keep thinking that Katrina will snap out of it at some point but it looks like she’s turned Sith on us. Ichabod and Abbie are tied up but they manage to get free and Ichabod’s got some pistols hidden under his coat. He goes for the bell while Abbie takes a shot at Henry (she thinks he’s mortal) before Katrina and Henry can finish the spell to awaken all the witches. Henry is in fact mortal and ends up dying (thank you Greek fire). But he gets a sort of touching moment with both of his parents. In the end he got what he wanted, though I am kind of sad to see John Nobel go. But instead of reconciling, Katrina loses her shit and basically says all the mean and nasty things she can to her husband before starting to cast a transportation spell of some kind. So of course, Abbie runs straight at her and they both disappear. But hey, with Henry gone, Irving is finally free and Jenny doesn’t have to turn him into a lawn ornament.

And because things can’t get any weirder, Abbie ends up in 1781 along with Katrina (who has fallen into her pregnant body of the time). I have to say there were some nice callbacks to the pilot (in reverse of course) with Abbie stepping up to the road and nearly getting run over by a horse-drawn carriage. Abbie gets arrested by some soldiers for not having papers and being kind of mouthy and she gets tossed in jail. But she demands to see Ichabod. Now she just has to convince him she’s telling the truth and make sure they don’t screw up history while Katrina vows to not save Ichabod so that she can raise her son and have a second chance at motherhood.