Sleepy Hollow 1.10 Review: The Price of Living

Anyone that has yet to watch Monday night’s episode of Sleepy Hollow, entitled ‘The Golem’, this would be the time to do that. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

In my opinion, this week’s episode was incredibly well done. And I say that, despite having to watch it on the Internet because my stupid DVR skipped the recording. This was the perfect continuation of last week’s episode, where Ichabod learned he had a son. We actually got to see a bit of what happened to the boy, and what his name was. The only thing I do have to say, is that his death better not mean they’re done with his character because you cannot just drop a bombshell like that one week, and then just expect nothing more of it the next. I think that the season finale should have the hex lifted to stop his heart, and he’ll be alive for next year, but more neatly written then that.

Alright, so I realize everyone is feeling like Abby and Ichabod, because they are the two witnesses and because of their “chemistry”, is a couple worth shipping, but I am still adamant that they don’t work that way. Ichabod just has way too much chemistry with Katrina for there to be any other woman in his life, romantically speaking. I mean, did no one see these two and their ability to convey such passion between them when they’re in purgatory? And even if Katrina were to eventually die, I don’t see Abby and Ichabod working out as couple, even though they’re the only two they can share their fate with because they have very little chemistry in a romantic capacity. They work brilliantly as friends, and wonderfully as partners, but if they were to start up a relationship it would seem more as one of convenience. Okay, that’s all I’ll see; I’ve made my peace with it now, I think.

When it comes to the characters and the acting, I have to say that Ichabod is brilliant, and someone I constantly want to listen to speak – both because of his accent and his eloquent use of the English language… Why can’t people speak like that these days? Anyways, I also think Irving is my third favourite character (behind Ichabod and Katrina), and that Orlando Jones plays him superbly. My one problem with this series lies with Abby. I just find that her use of tone grates with me and doesn’t make her acting anymore natural – and it wasn’t seeming that way to begin with. And while she didn’t seem to do it nearly as much this week (yay, improvement!), she definitely is one to overact with her facial movements. It’s very distracting having her on screen sometimes; she may even be my least favourite character of this series. Also, I’m still having trouble differentiating Henry Parrish from Walter. I just… don’t think his character is as good, or as unique as he could be.

All in all, this was a very enjoyable episode. I loved the rush to find out what had happened to Ichabod’s son, and then the grief in having to let him go. Also, I really enjoyed Irving’s interactions with his ex-wife, and his apology to her, and especially his daughter (played by the lovely Amandla Stenberg, whose acting abilities will really take her places). This series can definitely be a hit and miss each week, particularly with its pacing of the story, but for the most part I think it was very adept at getting the point across this week. Although, I do think they seemed to wrap up what happened to the son rather quickly, but there are only two episodes left in the season, and that does make for a need to rush. Sure, twenty-two episodes may have meant a few filler episodes, but this twelve episode business is not making the story any tighter, and just increases the need for rushing progression, and I really think that detracts from the overall story. Also, I’m not really caring that it seems Moloch is going after Abby’s soul; I kind of couldn’t care less about her character. Honestly, her sister is kind of more interesting than she is.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“If your God has a plan, who’s it for – me or Him?” – Irving asks.

“Without books we have neither a past or a future.” – Ichabod states.

“That is not a choice you were given, my friend.” – Henry tells Ichabod.

“When did irony become a national pastime?” – Ichabod questions.

“You’ve embroidered my name on some oversized hosiery, how… odd.” – Ichabod remarks, regarding the Christmas stocking.

Okay, so I’m going to probably watch Trophy Wife and then call it quits tonight. I am so exhausted still, and this headache is threatening to become a migraine, so I’ll probably make it quick. Stay tuned.

Sleepy Hollow 1.09 Review: Family Lineage

For all those that have yet to watch last night’s episode of Sleepy Hollow, entitled ‘Sanctuary’, this is your last chance to do so before proceeding ahead into spoiler territory. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

Now that was an hour chock full of tantalizing and exciting new information. So, Ichabod and Katrina had a son; now that is an intriguingly surprising turn of events that I’m quite happy with. Knowing that now, I’m actually starting to wish we were getting a full twenty-two episode season, rather than the guaranteed thirteen and thirteen. Still, I look forward to how the end of this season is written.

This episode definitely had it’s good and it’s bad. Bad was definitely the shaky, uneven cinematography as well as the terrible lighting that made it far too difficult to orient where everything was. Also, I kind of liked the bodyguard, so it’d have been nice if he hadn’t died, although that’s more my disagreeance with the writing rather than the overall episode. Good was both the segue into the title sequence with Abby’s statement about being in a haunted house, and the perfection that was emotional Crane.

Tom Mison was beyond brilliant in this episode. I mean, honestly, for the tearing up and catching in his stance upon hearing Katrina had been pregnant was absolutely phenomenal. The man made me feel for him in such a real, gritty kind of way. And then to tack on his anger towards the creature that had threatened his wife and child was fantastic, although it could’ve used some instrumentals behind it, little, or some type of noise. Then for him to come out covered in blood was just the cherry on top of the cake, so magnificent. This man deserves an award for merely that emotional moment inside the house as they looked for Lena. Honestly, it was so wonderful.

Otherwise, I am curious to learn more about Irving and his daughter. I’m guessing it has something to do with her being in that wheelchair, but that’s just me assuming. Maybe it was because of a car accident, or the man had someone come after him and his daughter got in the crossfire, I don’t know. The young actress does seem to make the character interesting, so I would like to see her around some more. Also, I find it very interesting that they seem to be pushing Irving and Jenny towards each other. Jenny may not like the guy now, but it’s cliché how often that leads to eventual romance. While she seems like she’s young enough to be his daughter, it might be an interesting pair. But then, any pair is more interesting than those that are delusional enough to think Abby and Ichabod are anything more than just partners. The man is married, for Christ’s sake, stop acting like that doesn’t mean anything, especially now that there was a child involved.

Anyways, for the most part this was a good episode. This series certainly has its pitfalls, but what show doesn’t? I do feel like this series does, at times, take itself too seriously, and also the young woman that plays Abby (whose name currently escapes me, and I don’t feel the need to look up) over exaggerates her expressions, as well as when she speaks, but otherwise this series can be good. For the first two minutes, though, I did think Lena and her bodyguard were better than the leads, but I still love Ichabod.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Line:

“You’ve surely come to realize by now, lieutenant, that when the two of us are involved, rarely is a coincidence, a coincidence.” – Ichabod shares his wisdom with Abby.

Okay, I’m off to watch The Blacklist in a minute, so stay tuned.

Sleepy Hollow 1.08 Review: Selling Your Soul for Vengeance

For all those that have yet to watch Monday night’s episode of Sleepy Hollow, entitled ‘Necromancer’, now would be a good time to go and do that before reading ahead. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

This week’s episode was more of what I was looking for: continuity, strong character development, and no focus on the delusional romantic chemistry between Ichabod and Abby. Now we know who the Horseman is, and while it might’ve been better if they kept Death as this eternal Horseman, it does make a lot of sense concerning who they went with. And this will certainly make things more interesting as the apocalyptic battle moves forward.

Can I just say how much I love the Captain? The pilot episode made it out to be like he might be some villain type character, but I’m quite happy that that’s not the way they’ve chosen to go. The actor does a phenomenally hilarious job in his role; I’m just completely surprised this is the first time I’ve seen this guy around. He’s fantastic!

There are a few other things that need to be commented on. First, Abby’s sister looks so much better with her hair down because it’s not completely flattened down. Every time it’s up, it makes her face look dramatically sharp. Also, how did no one think about what if the power got cut off? That was the first thing I questioned when I started the episode, so how could they not think of it. Also, it was pretty obvious Abraham was Death as soon as Ichabod left him and didn’t see for certain that he had been killed.

Overall, this is definitely the way I prefer this series going. This was a much stronger episode than in weeks before. I really loved the way all the good guys were able to come together this episode in a cohesive unit. If they keep things up this way, I will definitely get excited over a second season.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10

Best Lines:

“Seriously?” – the Captain states, regarding Brooks’ unrequited feelings for Abby.

“Nope! Apologies, it’s this way.” – Ichabod remarks, after leading Abby and Brooks in the wrong direction.

“Check your math, Adolph.” – the Captain tells the Hessian.

Okay, apologies for not posting this after the review of Almost Human, but I didn’t feel like watching this last night. Here it is, even though my Internet is currently down, so I don’t know when this will exactly be up…

Sleepy Hollow 1.07 Review: The Regulars are Coming

Anyone that has yet to watch last night’s episode of Sleepy Hollow, entitled ‘The Midnight Ride’, I ask that you do so now before reading ahead. For this is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

This week was much of a continuation of last week’s episode, aside from not having Walter – I mean Henry Parrish – around. We got more of the Headless Horseman these last two episodes than we did in four episodes combined. At least this week it was somewhat resolved by catching the Horseman and he now appears locked up in that supernatural jail cell.

My one big problem with this series is that they appear to resolve things and move the progression of the story along unnecessarily fast. This series already has  a second season pick up, so I don’t understand the need for that. I mean, why kill the other Masons so soon after introducing them? It’s like I can’t even get attached to characters before they’re killed. It’s becoming annoyingly tedious that this series seems to wrap things up all too quickly. Getting progression earlier than necessary is just as bad as having to wait indefinitely for it. Then we just begin to expect things will resolve themselves and we’ll get instant gratification. It’s not a good way to sell a series.

Aside from that, this series had progression with the Captain finally seeing the Headless Horseman, and thus now believing in his existence. I’m happy he found out if only that it means we’ll see more of this guy, and not just more of his constant disbelief. John Cho was also back as Andy Brooks, this time apparently trying to keep Abby safe. I don’t quite understand that angle just yet; it seems a little unbelievable. He also seems to have somehow bewitched Morales as well, Abby’s ex. I’m not sure where they’re going with that either. This series isn’t really predictable, if only for the reason that it seems to be all over the place with its writing that I never really know what’s up, even in the episode sometimes.

The one great thing this series has going for it, aside from maybe the Captain, is Tom Mison and all his British glory. I mean really, the man’s voice is beautiful, he’s always written to speak so eloquently, and the garb he dresses in and long hair actually works for him – and that’s coming from someone who notoriously despises men with long hair. Aside from the decently written episodes, he’s probably what keeps me coming back each week because he really is enough. I love this guy, and think this role is perfect for him, if only the writers knew the direction they were going in with this series, and it had gotten a full twenty-two episode season. Where it is now, we only have six episodes left and I’m really not sure how this season wraps into an overall story arc. But I digress.

As it stands, this was a pretty decent episode, wrapping American history into the writing of it, with Paul Revere’s ride through the colony. It was enjoyable having a nice plug in about how this and the previous few generations have really screwed up the environment. Nice little messages that are easy to write in when a character such as Ichabod exists from one period of time to the next. His character’s breaking of the word smartphone was perfect for him, and his strong dislike of incorrect facts helped make this episode. All in all, it did pretty well this week, although this series seems to be more or less a toss up at times.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Rumours of my demise have been… pretty much true.” – Brooks says to Morales.

“I got you, you headless son of a bitch.” – Irving mutters to himself.

“For further questions, please call Ichabod Crane; the man who beheaded him in 1781.” – Irving sarcastically explains what he’d say to the governor.

“It’s apocryphal what this man is telling these children.” – Crane complains. “Let it go.” – Abby tells him.

“I’m the only one amongst you who doesn’t require medication.” – Crane yammers on, after having told the museum the true account of Paul Revere’s ride.

Alright, that’s going to be all for tonight probably. I will be watching The Blacklist tonight and taking notes, but I don’t think I’m going to be awake enough to post it afterwards. Check back in tomorrow around five or six and it should be up.

Sleepy Hollow 1.06 Review: Sometimes We Need to Forgive Ourselves

Anyone that has yet to watch yesterday’s episode of Sleepy Hollow, titled ‘The Sin Eater’, then I suggest that now would be a good time to do so before reading ahead. This is not a spoiler free blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! Proceed at your own discretion.

For a series with only thirteen episodes in a season and thus cannot throw away episodes, this one sure felt like a filler to me. Sure, it introduced the character Henry Parrish and his ability to eat sins, and it dissolved the connection between Death and Ichabod, but otherwise there wasn’t an overall movement to the episode. And besides, it seemed a bit early to cut the connection between Death and Ichabod, but that could just be my opinion.

I was really disappointed with this week’s episode. Other than the flashbacks that showed how Ichabod came to fight under General Washington, there wasn’t much I liked about this episode. To me it felt kind of blah, like not much thought went into it. I knew after the pilot episode going into this series that each episode would basically be resolved by the end, but that’s not helping it to blend together very well, and it’s beginning to cause me to lose interest, which is sad because I absolutely adore Tom Mison.

The writing isn’t completely working with this series. Other than my belief that the individual episodes aren’t quite stringing together well enough, the idea that Ichabod could be as cheery as he is sometimes when his wife is held captive in some sort of purgatory astounds me. Perhaps following a miserable Brit would be less than fun, but I’d like to at least see him trying to find a way to her, or subtle hints that add up each episode. Also, it’s my fear that if she is ever rescued, all that means is that her soul is set free to go to heaven, or wherever, and that this series will move forward with a relationship between Ichabod and Abby. And let me tell you, they have no sexual chemistry with each other, at all. Until recently I didn’t even consider them a possibility, until websites like TVLine gave a refresher on how couples were doing and all I could say was no. Every time I look at them with those subtle looks in this episode, the romantic chemistry felt forced and wrong. They’re partners, they work well as friends, they fit together as sibling-like characters, but they don’t have any romantic chemistry together. And this is not me in denial, I just don’t see any form of spark.

While I was looking forward to the introduction of Henry Parrish, after missing the actor since the conclusion of Fringe, there wasn’t much the intrigued me about him other than the sadness I got from his situation. The man looked miserable, all secluded with his plants, and I felt for him, but I didn’t see much he could add to this series. Besides, it felt like this sin Ichabod felt he had clung to was just randomly thrown in to bring this guy in. No mention of it before, but suddenly it’s there. Like I said, I’m growing quite disappointed in this series. And I loved Fringe, so I can’t understand why the creators of that series could seem to make a mess of this one. At least on Fringe there were little hints to be had that strung the episodes together, but I’m not getting that here. But again, that’s more to do with the writing – which I seem to be running back to – then anything to do with Henry Parrish.

All in all, these actors envelope their characters well enough, although I do find Abby’s expressions are over exaggerated, but the writing doesn’t seem to match to their abilities. Basically what I’m saying is that the acting is good, but the writing just isn’t up to par. Maybe I’m expecting too much of these creators, maybe it’s like with Fringe where the first season was a bit slower than the rest. If that’s the case, I will try to give them the benefit of the doubt and wait to see how season two goes before I fully commit to letting go of this show. I mean, I love the gothic style to it, but the police part is less than interesting.

My rating: 6 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority agrees.” – Katrina wisely states.

“The love of power is the demon of all men.” – Arthur Bernard says to Ichabod.

Okay, just one more show to catch up on with a review. Before I do that for The Blacklist, though, I have to go run over to Shoppers, so check back in about an hour.