TV Review: In Sleepy Hollow “Mama” Really Does Know Best

By Nicole Scott

This episode was Sleepy Hollow at its best. Blending frightful flashbacks with scary silhouettes and emotional family reunions, we laughed, shrieked, and discretely dabbed our sweating eyeballs.

Nicole Beharie and Lyndie Greenwood continue to soften the rough edges between Abbie and Jenny to reveal the depth and strength of the Mills Sisters bond. (Special mention to the talented actors who portrayed the younger Mills Sisters with the emotional aplomb to rival that of their elders.)

After mysterious deaths at Tarrytown Psychiatric Hospital, the same hospital where Jenny was committed and where it is believed Lori Mills, aka Mama Mills, (played by the talented and beautiful Aunjanue Ellis), took her own life, Captain Reyes assigns the case to Abbie to investigate. Abbie sets upon Tarrytown with Jenny by her side, and in a much anticipated reunion scene, Irving, Jenny, and Abbie brainstorm the possible cause of these unlikely deaths. And while I was overjoyed at the sight of the gang back together, there was so much more in store.

The emotion-filled episode took us back into Abbie and Jenny’s childhood as they navigated life with an emotionally and mentally unstable parent. Jenny recalled a painful memory of watching her screaming mother taken away by orderlies. Young Jenny with flowers in her hands stood frozen, afraid and confused by what she was witnessing. Later, we see Young Abbie instinctively protecting Young Jenny from Mama Mills as she speaks with agitation and warns them to stay ever vigilant against the demons. And in a particularly painful and horrible memory, Jenny remembered Mama Mills sealing their fate, the two of them doomed to die of carbon monoxide poisoning in their garage. But memories are not always reliable.

As if to prove this point, Mama Mills’ spirit was intent on protecting and helping Abbie and Jenny while they investigate in Tarrytown. After leading them to a videotape naming the nurse of death, the Mills Sisters and Hawley were able to save a psychologically compromised Irving before he drowned himself. (WHEW. Don’t scare us like that ever again, Sleepy Hollow writers!)

Abbie (Nicole Beharie, R), Nick (guest star Matt Barr, L) and Jenny (Lyndie Greenwood, C) make a discovery in “Mama.” Co. Cr: Brownie Harris/FOX

Abbie, now finally convinced Mama Mills was there to help them banish the demon, and a still uneasy Jenny, went in search of answers their mother may have left behind, and in doing so discovered a mural. The reveal of the mural is one of the most visually stunning scenes of the episode; Abbie and Jenny, together, pulling away the wall to expose the core of their mother: her love for her daughters. That love proved itself true when, just as Mama Mills promised, the journal Jenny and Hawley found held an ancient spell that destroyed the nurse of death and Abbie was rescued unharmed. Still, Abbie and Jenny needed closure (hopefully not permanent!) with their mother.

In an incredibly emotional seance*, Jenny and Abbie finally heard the truth about their mother: Mama Mills is a hero. She knew Abbie was a Witness and fought the demons who tried to take her away. And, in the car in the garage, Mama Mills wasn’t keeping them there; a demon had locked them in, but Mama Mills rescued them and watched over Jenny while she was in Tarrytown. In the end, Mama Mills, like her daughters have so many times before, saved the day. She fought. And we cried.

Tonight’s episode was a long awaited reunion of the Mills Sisters and Captain Irving and it paid off. And who didn’t cheer when Irving popped out of the woods and hopped in the back of the car?! As we gear up for the mid-season finale, let’s hope all hands are on deck to defeat Moloch; if the previews are any indication, the child may be a man and stronger than ever by the end of next week.

Extra, Extra:

This episode was everything we love about Sleepy Hollow. The scary, the emotional, the comical all mixed in together to tell a great story.

How cute was Abbie tucking Ichabod in for a much needed nap?!

Was anyone else craving Matzo Ball soup in the middle of the episode?!

Was Moloch literally sucking the life out of Katrina?

Jenny and Abbie are pretty good at reading spells… Are you eager to join the Mills Sisters Coven? I am.

*It bears repeating: the seance was one of the most beautiful scenes in Sleepy Hollow history. Bravo!