TV REVIEW: Sleepy Hollow’s “Heartless” Was Anything But

By Nicole Scott

As our Witnesses and Katrina continue to fight the war, we see relationships strained yet evolving and rearranging in surprising ways in Sleepy Hollow’s “Heartless.”

This episode revealed two surprises. The first: baby Moloch is still alive! When expelled from Katrina last week his energy was harnessed into an incubator. However, in order to survive he requires sustenance in the form of human souls, of course. Luckily, with a beating heart and an incantation, Henry was able to summon a weapon, a sultry succubus to prey on the most vulnerable among us, those suffering silently from unrequited love. Including a certain artifacts dealer, to no one’s surprise.

As Abbie and Ichabod investigate a murder at a dance club they agree it is supernatural and that Henry is likely to blame. Again Abbie asks Ichabod to see Henry for what he has become. Ichabod agrees Henry is behind the murder but refuses to label him a lost cause. Ichabod reminds Abbie of the power of faith and saunters away. Unsurprisingly, this won’t be the last time Abbie confronts one of Henry’s parents about him but will either of them listen?

As the team works together to figure out which monster they’re fighting and how to kill it, Katrina has visions of the succubus feeding baby Moloch, and its “birth.” Abbie, exasperated by news of Moloch’s arrival in this world, once again argues that Henry must be stopped. Katrina vehemently disagrees and insists that she knows his soul and it can be saved. As tensions rise Ichabod pleads with Abbie and Katrina to remember the bigger picture. Exchanging glares, everyone walks away to continue to search for clues on the creature.

With their combined knowledge and memory they devise a plan to destroy the succubus. Nick Hawley’s previous encounter with the demon proves useful as he and Ichabod are able to track her at the club. Meanwhile, searching for the succubus heart at the cemetery, Abbie and Katrina have another opportunity to come to an understanding about Henry. In a poignant scene between the women, they share their truest concerns and seem willing to accept each other’s perspectives. As the men struggle with the demon, the women must use the spell to destroy the heart. Teamwork, as they all realized, makes them stronger and keeps them alive.

The second surprise of the episode? Katrina tells Abbie she plans to return to Abraham! She hopes to use his love for her to get close to Moloch and destroy him. And it seems like a perfect plan by spy-witch Katrina until we see that because of the enchanted necklace, the ugly scary demon baby Katrina saw in her visions has been replaced by a vision of a bubbly cherub. Will Katrina remember her mission or will she care for baby Moloch as she cared for Henry?

We won’t know if Katrina is able to stay on course until the coming weeks but this week showed us, as Abbie said, people change in times of war and relationships must do the same. Katrina accepted that Henry is a danger to the world and she acknowledged Abbie’s important presence in Ichabod’s life. Also notable, Ichabod set aside his jealousy over Abraham and chose to believe his wife could use love as a weapon to help win the war. The weeks to come should continue to test the relationships and push Abbie, Ichabod, and the crew, to grow and evolve as well.

Extra, Extra:

Abbie and Ichabod using shorthand with each other shows the depth and comfort of their partnership.

Ichabod attempting to subtly endorse Hawley as a suitor for Abbie was extremely cute.

All of the Ichabod and Hawley interactions were extremely cute.

When Abbie was wrapping Hawley’s ribs did anyone else flashback to Claire wrapping Jamie’s ribs in S1E1 of Outlander? H O T