TV REVIEW: Sleepy Hollow Offers A Smashing Return With “This Is War”

Naked Ben Franklin, epic reunions and heroes’ resolve help Sleepy Hollow nail its return to our small screens in the season two premiere, “This Is War.”

After last winter’s finale, questions about the series’ direction left many writhing in emotional and psychological turmoil — once we caught our breath, of course. Our witnesses, who time could not even separate, were somehow trapped on two different plains after falling prey to Moloch’s evil plans. Not even their friends and loved ones could rescue them as they too were in need of assistance.

It felt like while the battle may not be over, setting things right would be nearly impossible. Humanity was losing to an abandoned son and headless lover a.k.a. two really grumpy old guys.

Cue buck naked Benjamin Franklin. He’s a little brazen with a pinch of brash, but he holds the key to reuniting our witnesses and getting us back in the game. And it’s a game that Ichabod, Abbie and the rest of the A-Team are ready to play more than ever by the end of the episode.

The season began with our first and second witnesses once again taking on Headless. He had returned to town to battle it out again after a short vacay (which probably involved him angstly holding pictures of Katrina, but never being able to actually look at them because you know… he has no head.) Upon his impending arrival, we learn that both Abbie and Ichabod have lost people they love. For Abbie it is her sister, and for Ichabod his wife. We also see that these loses have amped up their fighting technique quite a bit. The cynical lieutenant and perturbed man out of time have suddenly become baddies.

What we haven’t learned is how the heck Abbie got out of Purgatory and whether a year’s time has changed them as heroes or as people much. Good thing we have a Headless shoot out and a chained up Henry to show us! In both sequences we see that perhaps their weakest — and complimentary — parts are still present in some form, and Moloch is more than happy to take advantage of it. Surprised as we are to see Henry caught and detained by our witnesses, we are even more surprised to learn that it’s all a mirage created by the Horseman of War.

Pictured: John Noble as Henry Parrish — © 2014 Fox Broadcasting Co.

But what was it all for? To trick Abbie and Ichabod into giving him information about a key that will allow one soul to pass over from Purgatory without needing another soul to stay in its place. Also, apparently, to gloat a little about his awesome powers cause he did an awful lot of that again. (We get it bro. You are super powerful, super verbose and super bitter. You don’t have to tell us twice.)

Once Henry has what he needs, we also learn that the premiere is not in fact starting a year later, but right where the finale left off. None of us can figure out whether this makes things better or worse (they got worse, fyi), but we do know now that the real story of the episode isn’t just a repeat battle of the finale. It’s something far more important, but seemingly more impossible. Now that he knows there’s a way to get Abbie back, it’s time for Ichabod to get the hell out of that box.

And that’s exactly what he does, in a rather similar fashion to his season one introduction. Elsewhere, Jenny comes face to face with Henry (who I guess really likes telling people those they care about are dead), Headless takes Katrina’s breath away, Franklin shows up in his birthday suit, and Andy decides to actually be a nice guy. The episode also sees Ichabod and Jenny become Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Abbie play whack-an-Ichabod in Purgatory, and a giant A-Team reunion solidify the excitement of the coming  season.

The premiere was probably not what many expected, but in so many more ways it was the perfect beginning. After the finale separated the witnesses, it also divided its viewers who were committed to the show’s strongest element: the relationship between Abbie and Ichabod. It felt as if the bond the two had forged crumbled, along with our trust in it.  To make matters worse the finale left every character incapacitated, which made the goal of getting Abbie out seem pretty unfeasible.

“This Is War” handled many of last season’s biggest cliffhangers rather swiftly and dare we say conveniently. I mention the latter because at times it felt all too easy after everything else they had gone through. Figuring out the key to rescuing Abbie in a hallucination, having Ichabod discover his ancient cell phone to meet up with Jenny — then simply blow his way out of the box — was just too convenient. And yet none of that matters.

The show’s first season had quite a few continuity and plot holes. It got into the habit of tying up lose ends effortlessly, to the point where it was glaringly noticeable. The show’s first go also proved to us that for the large part we shouldn’t care. It’s funny, it’s exciting, it’s a little campy, and with our belief already suspended for a Headless Horseman wielding machine guns, sometimes we’re willing to suspend it a little more.

Pictured (L-R): Nicole Beharie as Abbie Mills, Tom Mison as Ichabod Crane — Photo by: Brownie Harris/FOX

This show isn’t about making sense. It’s about making us care about the people in it and that was done almost perfectly this week. The writers knew exactly what needed to happen to recover from last season’s fall out and they made it so. Neither Jenny nor Abbie had to relive losing each other. Andy proved that making bad choices doesn’t mean we have to be bad people. Most importantly, Ichabod came back for Abbie. Even at the risk of unleashing Moloch, even after Abbie had resigned herself to Puragtory, he put his fellow witness, and the world, first. To be honest, that’s really all that mattered.

Outside of our main storylines, other characters saw massive improvements over last season. Abraham got his head back, heeeeyyy! And while Katrina still may not have any real powers, she does potentially have a plot line of her own. Given it’s with creep two, but going from plot device to character with any plot should be celebrated. Henry now seems more dedicated then ever to bringing on the end of days, so three cheers for him having that consistent level of passion. And Frank… well, we don’t really know anything about Frank, but I suspect next week will update us on our favorite police chief. Hopefully the FBI aren’t being too rough with him.

All in all Sleepy Hollow’s “This Is War” managed to be a smashing good time full of action, drama and more than likely a bit of yaaasssing. Boy does it feel good to have this show back.

Favorite Moments

• Ichabod inadvertently shading Harvard.
• Jenny taking down a room of Hessians — yaaasss!
• Abbie taking down fake Ichabods in Purgatory to find her one true Icky — yyaaaaaaaasss!
• Ichabod having the inside scoop on yet another founding father
• Ichabod smashing into the Hessian’s hide out in a van… that he didn’t actually know how to drive.
• Jenny’s perpetual “this is some wild ****” face
• Ichabod leaving a goodbye voicemail for Abbie
• Andy actually helping Abbie and semi-redeeming himself while also losing his extra necks
• Henry doing that creepy look where he demonically pears out over the top of his invisible glasses
• The Mills sisters hugging it out (you cried a little too, right?)
• That time Ichabod and Abbie hugged
• That one time they slowly parted ways with their arms outstretched towards each other
• Those other times Ichabod and Abbie hugged
• Abbie declaring war on Moloch at episode’s end

Biggest Questions:

• Where did the other Abbie and Jenny go? Also, where did their giant pink dollhouse go?
• Will Moloch look less like a demonic plushy and more like a demonic demon next week?

What did you think of the Sleepy Hollow season two premiere “This Is War”? Let us know in the comments below.