SLEEPY HOLLOW “Loco Parentis” Recap

By Clara Pullman

This week Sleepy Hollow zooms in on Diana and Molly, as they try to figure out life with Molly as a Witness, and Jenny and Jobe, who are going toe to toe back in Sleepy Hollow. Malcolm is absent most of the episode, and sadly our Scooby Gang of Alex and Jake are taking a week off. (We learn that they are off during a rather explainy bit where Diana and Crane are birthday present shopping for Molly, and for some reason Diana decides to tell Crane that Jake and Alex are in “DHS training”. Um, ok, thanks for the heads up.)

But anyway, this set up gives us a chance to see Lyndie Greenwood as Jenny on her own, not just part of Team Witness. And to find out what it’s going to be like having an 11-year old as the second Witness.

The baddie of the week is a play on Little Red Riding Hood, with the wolf appearing not as grandma but as Molly’s dad.  Crane is helping out with Molly — and the show is pretty clearly setting us up for Crane to become a sort of father figure to her, but more on that later — when Molly’s shaggy haired and bearded dad shows up. Supposedly just back from his tour in Afghanistan. This should really raise a red flag that he is maybe not who is says he is because, which branch of the military is it that allows troops to look like Shaun Cassidy on the cover of Tiger Beat?

But for some reason, this does not trigger any suspicions for ex-Marine Diana, who goes through a series of difficult conversations with fake dad about his relationship with her and with Molly. Since it turns out that fake dad is actually the monster of the week, I’m not sure what to make of those conversations. Was that Diana’s own desire making that happen? Will the real dad appear at some point?

Meanwhile, back in Sleepy Hollow, Jenny has Jobe trapped in the Masonic Cell in the tunnels. (Yes, the Masonic Cell is back!) She is interrogating him, and the two of them are giving off a weirdly steamy vibe. Well, not totally weird as being trapped in the lantern has rendered Jobe shirtless. And pants-less. He’s naked. Fortunately Jenny, master of procuring obscure objects, finds him a burlap loincloth to wear.

SLEEPY HOLLOW: L-R: Oona Yaffe, guest star Bill Heck and Tom Mison | Co. CR: Tina Rowden/FOX

These scenes have a a terrific intensity, as Jenny and Jobe each play mind games and try to feel the other out. Jenny’s preternatural cool breaks a little when Jobe reveals he knows that she was once possessed by a demon.  And if I were Jake, I would be a little worried about how intrigued Jobe seems to be by a woman of Jenny’s stature, since Jobe could easily kick sand in his face. But maybe Jenny isn’t looking for a demon boyfriend. What she is looking for is an explanation for why Jobe is so attached to the weasely Malcolm. A question we all have, Jenny, so thank you. She looks like she’s got his number when she suggests Jobe is just a “two-bit genie bound to the crackpot who happened to rub the right lamp” but Jobe’s relationships with Malcolm remains a mystery – one that presumably will be spooled out as the season continues.

In the end, naturally, Jenny has to let Jobe go because, well, it’s still only halfway through the season. And because Jobe is the only one who can help Crane and Diana track down Molly’s fake dad, after he takes Molly (wearing her little red riding hoodie) into the woods to show her what great big teeth he has. Jobe divines where Molly has been taken, and in return, gets his sharp suit and his freedom back.

Back to Molly and Diana. Molly is clearly ready to learn about being a Witness, and Diana realizes she can’t protect her from this.  It’s possible they can maybe move on from the weekly heart-to-heart where mother confesses how she’s learned a lesson and will start letting Molly be a Witness. But I’m ok with it this week because it leads into a lovely scene with Crane explaining to Molly what the Bible says about the Witnesses. And that, whatever happens, she won’t be alone. It seems like this is being set up as Crane’s character arc over the rest of the season – redemption for feeling that he abandoned his own son. Yeah, it’s still odd that he’s so fixated on that when, you know, he died before his son was born. But it’s showing a new, fatherly side of Crane which is enjoyable to watch Tom Mison portray. As is Crane’s over-exuberance when telling kids the great stories of history – he’s like their own Grimm’s Fairy Tales come to life, with his stories about beheaded princes and kings gone mad with syphilis.

At this midway point of the season. I can also give Janina Gavankar credit for how she’s fit into the show, in her role as “not the Witness” but still Crane’s partner in fighting evil. Coming in after the loss of not merely a fan favorite but half of the core of the show is not an easy job. I won’t say “coming in as a replacement for” because she really isn’t acting like she is a replacement for Abbie, and it’s a wise decision. It seems to reflect a focus on what’s best for the show and making that the focal point, not herself.

All that said, I love that we end with Jenny and Crane talking over what’s next with Malcolm. This pair are still gold and I always want to see the two of them onscreen together.

We end back at Dreyfuss Enterprises, where Malcolm seems to have come back rather reinvigorated and even crazier. He interrupts what looks like a board meeting — but Malcolm doesn’t have a board, remember? — looking a mess but filled with evangelical fervor over his reborn self. He goes on a new agey-sounding rant (“ I have successfully destroyed what I used to be in order to become what I need to be”) which successfully clears the room.  And then Jobe is back, and Malcolm’s bromance with him is back, and we’re back into Malcolm’s demonic plans. Only the scope of his plans has gotten bigger: “I’ve been changed,” he tells Jobe, “and I have a powerful need to make sure the entire world changes for the better as well.” Which, really doesn’t sound good.