Sleepy Hollow review- 1×05: ‘John Doe’

This week on Sleepy Hollow Abbie (Nichole Beharie) finally gets some faith in ‘John Doe’ and we get some good ol’ fashion plague action.

Let’s bitch it out…

We open with a little boy spotting a girl in the woods, and begins playfully chasing her. The boy is dressed a bit like Thackery Binx from Hocus Pocus (my obligatory shout out to the best Halloween movie ever). All of the sudden, the little girl disappears but out pops another Horseman of the Apocalypse who gives chase to the little boy, somehow landing him in modern day Sleepy Hollow.

Abbie and Crane (Tom Mison) get called on the case when the boy lands in the hospital with an illness causing black veins. Good thing Crane is there because turns out this kid only speaks Middle English. This was a solid tie in to use Ichabod’s Oxford educated past-I buy it. Also, Middle English is pretty right? I felt like I was watching some Tolkien elves from Sweden…

The boy becomes quarantined (“Plastic. How did we survive without it?”) and Ichabod talks to him through a TV monitor. We find out the child is named Thomas, and is from Roanoke. Ichabod deduces that Roanoke refers to the Lost Colony. This first American colony on an island off North Carolina disappeared in 1500. Ichabod now thinks they must have relocated to Sleepy Hollow.

The urgency level to find out where Thomas is from ramps up as the EMTs and nurses that treat him start to become infected. Abbie and Crane go to the woods where Thomas was found and track his footprints thanks to Crane’s fox-hunting past. After a walk across water, they discover the Lost Colony of Roanoke, the entire population of which is infected with the black veins.

Turns out, the original colony was infected by the Horseman of Pestilence (the lovely gentleman we met earlier). He cursed the land. The spirit of the youngest colonist that died led the entire Colony to new Roanoke, where the plague doesn’t affect them. When Thomas left, he introduced the plague to the outside. The only way to save him and others affected is to return Thomas to Roanoke.

If they can’t stop it, Horseman of Pestilence will come back to Sleepy Hollow and unite with the headless one (I guess he needs this plague to stay?) and we are one step closer to the ‘pocalypse.

Just when we think we’re heading to an easy resolution, boom-Ichabod gets infected and quarantined. While sedated, he sees his wife Katrina (Katia Winter). She is dismayed since he only comes to her when he’s on the verge of death. She remains in purgatory, being held captive by Molloch. She’s about to tell him why she’s there, when he gets pulled awake. Argh!!!

Meanwhile, Abbie wanders into the hospital chapel. She asks for guidance and comes to the realization that the waters in the Roanoke woods must be what provides the cure for Crane and Thomas. Working with Irving (Orlando Jones), she rushes to get them to the woods before the Horseman catches up with them.

Once Crane and Thomas rise out of the water, the colonists all disappear and the woods return to their untended state. They were dead all along! The Horseman lured Thomas to the living world to spread the plague and he returned to flesh and blood when he did so (there are some things we just have to accept with a show based on the Horseman of the Apocalypse). By having faith, Abbie stopped the plague. Let’s not give a sigh of relief too soon though, the headless horseman rises out of the water to rain death and destruction down upon us in the final scene…

Other observations

• Sleepy Hollow continues to give us at least one great Ichabod/Abbie scene per week to solidify their friendship. This time out-when they’re looking for the Lost Colony in the woods. We get some great sarcastic banter (“this is where the mail carrier saw Thomas. Right next to the Welcome to Roanoke sign”) and historical references (Jefferson likes puns; John Adams, dirty limericks). But also, Ichabod is genuinely concerned about Abbie’s well-being being back in the woods after her previous demon experience. This is why this show succeeds where others have failed in such a tough genre.
• Ichabod’s moving into Corbin’s Cabin. Love his new hate for plastic after not being able to open the razor packaging. Also, I appreciate that the show is at least acknowledging the fact that Crane really needs some new clothes.
• Sleepy Hollow is figuring out how to use Orlando Jones a bit better. This week he had a couple of good one liners (Ichabod: The Boy speaks Middle English. Irving: Naturally.) Love that his name is an homage to Washington Irving, who wrote the original Sleepy Hollow story.
• Abbie’s ex-boyfriend/cop Morales (Nicholas Gonzalez) voiced what all of us are wondering-what’s Crane doing here? How can he go from suspect to consultant so quickly? Also, what’s with the random introduction of Morales’ partner? This guy’s going to be evil right?
• Where’s Jenny (Lyndie Greenwood)?
• Bad news: it looks like we have to wait three weeks until the next episode. Good news: John frickin’ Noble (Fringe) is in it!!!
• Buzzfeed plays a ridiculous game of F#&$, Marry, Kill with the Sleepy Hollow cast

What did you think of John Doe? Are you ready to learn more about our supporting characters or just waiting for more Abbie/Crane screen time? Sound off below!