Courtesy of FOX
‘Mama’ made me feel all the feels. Thanks to a rash of suicides at the Psych Hospital, Jenny (Lyndie Greenwood) and Abbie (Nicole Beharie) finally get some clarity and closure with their mother.
Let’s bitch it out…
Tarrytown Psychiatric Hospital calls in the police to investigate after they have three suicides in one week. You remember Tarrytown Psych, where Mama Mills committed suicide…and Jenny was held for years…and where Irving (Orlando Jones) currently resides? I hope the team has some sort of “frequent visitor” card.
Anyhow, as Abbie and Jenny start to investigate (Abbie sure is big on bringing along those non-official “consultants”), they discover the ghost of their mother is in each of the rooms where the suicides took place. The framework of the episode gives us a chance to get more insight into the girls’ lives with their seemingly paranoid mother, like coming home to a house where the windows are boarded up with newspaper or sitting in a car filling up with carbon monoxide. Typical stuff, you know?
In present day, as Abbie and Jenny stop another suicide in progress, their mom reappears and sends them a message: the number of a video file from the psych ward archives. When they watch the video, they see that Lori didn’t commit suicide of her own volition. Nurse Lambert (Cynthia Stevenson), an angel of mercy ghost that haunts the Psych Hospital trying to “put people out of their misery” is behind all of these deaths. Lori has been trying to stop Nurse Lambert all this time.
The bad news for us? Nurse Lambert has taken a special liking to Captain Irving. After forcing some psychotropic drugs down his throat, she urges him to drown himself in a very institutional-looking bathtub. The team gets there in the nick of time (as they are wont to do), but the nurse is still out there.
Nurse Lambert decides Abbie is next in need of a mercy killing and kidnaps her (Side Note: what made her decide to choose Abbie to “free from this hellish life” over Jenny? Is the anguish in her soul at being a witness so much greater?). Lori tells Jenny and the Blonde Bombshell (Matt Barr) to find the family journal. Conveniently, this journal was originally the property of one Grace Dixon, their witchy ancestor (remember her from waaaay back?) and has a spell that can save Abbie. More conveniently, it is in the hospital basement in a clearly-labeled box. Jenny finds it, says the catchy incantation, and we get some solid special effects as Nurse Lambert disintegrates.
Jenny manages to bring their mother back with one last spell, allowing the girls to get closure and acknowledge all that their mother has done to protect them. And I start tearing up on the couch as Lori tells Abbie she “was meant to win this war.” Well done, Sleepy Hollow.
Courtesy of FOX
Other Observations:
- Someone get that damn necklace off Katrina (Katia Winter). That’s right, thanks to the enchantment, she is still seeing a baby instead of baby demon Moloch. As she holds it, the “baby” begins sucking the life out of her. When she sees the world’s worst demon hickey on her neck and realizes the truth, it’s too late. No amount of crushing flowers in a cup will help when she finds out that the baby is now a full-grown middle schooler.
- Not surprisingly, Irving decides to escape from Tarrytown. I would too after all that craziness. From a storyline perspective, it’s a good move to get him back with the gang. How will his “sold my soul to the devil and must take a life” predicament play out now that he’s back?
- Crane (Tom Mison) isn’t around too much tonight, which puts the spotlight on the sisters’ relationship with their mom. While demons can’t hold Crane back, the flu sure can. “I fought at Saratoga with dysentery, I can certainly muddle through this affliction.”
- Hawley makes Jane Austen references…could this dude get any better?
- Speaking of Hawley, is it appropriate for a civilian to wear a shoulder holster to a Psychiatric Hospital?
- It’s nice to have someone other than Crane find a magical journal that is key to defeating evil. This should come in handy down the road…
What do you think? Were you happy with the focus on the sisters and their mom? Did you miss Crane? Sound off below!
Sleepy Hollow airs Mondays at 9pm EST on FOX. Next week is the fall finale, which means Abbie wears a hat (for some add reason). Here’s a preview: