On this episode of Sleepy Hollow, “Sins of the Father,” an old nemesis returns to Sleepy Hollow seeking Abbie and Crane’s help, Abbie and Jenny both meet with their father, An unexpected threat with an unknown agenda emerges and Abbie is haunted by her time in the alternate dimension.
Domestic bliss remains out of the question for Pandora and the Hidden One. True, he looks in pretty good shape, a tall drink of water, but his power is still not fully restored. Meanwhile, his wife mopes about her diminished abilities. The Hidden One, in what appears to be an act of kindness, offers back some of what she gave, but it’s not much. He still resents the fact that the beacon Pandora sent out hasn’t yielded a return. The promise of a bevy of supernaturals descending upon Sleepy Hollow has yet to be fulfilled, and it until that happens, the Hidden One is still giving his beloved the cold shoulder.
Abbie Remains Distant
Ichabod, who used to have trouble reheating a microwave dinner, has upped his culinary game. He’s prepared a lovely dinner for Abbie in an attempt to cheer her up after her time in the catacombs. She’s appreciative of the effort but remains distant. She decides to skip the feast and head to the shooting range instead.
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Jenny Meets with Ezra
Jenny decides to meet with her father, Ezra. He’s fully prepared to get taken to the woodshed for abandoning his family, and after years of wondering why he left, Jenny gets an answer. When her and Abbie’s mother’s illness kicked in, Ezra couldn’t handle it, and the only way he knew how to cope was to drink. He wound up joining the Navy both for the medical benefits and to sober up. He was shipped overseas and stayed for three-consecutive tours. By the time he returned, everything had changed.
His wife was dead and his daughters were in foster care, but Ezra didn’t step up and fulfill his fatherly duties. He knows it was a crappy thing to do, and he’s regretted it ever since. But Ezra isn’t looking for forgiveness, he just wants Jenny to know that it wasn’t anything she or Abbie or their mother did wrong. He also expresses to Jenny a desire to see Abbie.
Atticus Nevins Returns
Abbie isn’t alone at the firing range. Reynolds is there, and he’s interested in revisiting their talk. The one where he admitted that he had been in love with her. It was his attempt to get things back on track between them. Reynolds wants them to trust each other again and have each other’s backs. Their fallout over the Nevins’ case mean they have to throw out everything they worked so hard to build. Abbie’s pretty guarded in general these days, but she seems open to moving forward with Reynolds.
Abbie receives a text message. There’s no name, but it says if she wants to save lives, she’ll meet the mystery person immediately, alone.
Abbie heads out into the foggy woods alone and comes across Nevins. He looks like hammered horse shit. She assumes he had another run-in with Pandora, but he says it was something worse. Nearby is the body of another cop, and his insides are oozing out. Nevins warns Abbie the creature is inhuman and unstoppable, and if she wants to stop it, she’ll need his help.
Abbie takes Nevins to the Masonic cell. He’s hit hard times since failing to obtain the Eye of Providence from Pandora. She literally took a pound of flesh–his spleen–and Nevins has been living on the streets. None of his former associates want to have anything to do with him after his arrest. He’s got nobody else to turn to, so he’s hoping to strike a deal. In return for helping them catch this mystery monster, Nevins wants safe passage out of the country, a passport and money.
Jenny is confident that they can find the creature themselves, but Nevins assures them they aren’t dealing with one of Pandora’s utility players.
Crane wants to try an old technique employed by George Washington when he wanted to loosen someone’s tongue. Abbie offers Nevins a deal. Depending on the value of the information he gives them, Abbie will consider getting him across the Canadian border. And as a gesture of good faith, Crane offers Nevins a scrumptious-looking meal. But if Nevins dicks them over, Abbie promises that they will hand him over to the FBI. Nevins agrees.
A New Ghoul in Town
Now officially a first alternate, Sophie is called in to hear what Nevins has to say. He recalls how while serving in Iraq in 1991, Nevins and some of his platoon members heard about a cave supposedly filled with gold. Nevins organized a little covert mission which included August Corbin. The rumors were true, and the gold was unguarded, begging to be taken. But the soldiers were attacked by something fairly hideous. Nevins and Corbin were able to escape after setting off an explosive, even managing to snag some of the gold as well.
After the war, August was obsessed with trying to figure out what they had seen. It was his first contact with the supernatural. If Abbie and company take him to August’s files, he guarantees he can get them what they need.
Nevins delivers, revealing a secret compartment in Corbin’s files that contains the information he promised. The creature is a demonic ghoul. They are used to guard sacred temples and crypts, ruthless hunters that hunt without mercy. Their only weakness is something called a Golden Scarab. Whomever possesses the scarab becomes master to the ghoul. Easy enough. They just need to find the scarab, and they can stop the ghoul.
Abbie attends a briefing and learns that two former associates of Nevins were found dead in a storage unit owned by Nevins. The men were killed in the same way as the cop Abbie found. Reynolds figures this could be a rival moving in on Nevins’ old operations.
All is Not What it Seems
As Reynold talks, Abbie sees the symbol from the catacombs, and she’s mesmerized, mumbling to herself that it is “beautiful.” She looks as if she’s starting to fall in a trance until Sophie asks if she’s okay.
Abbie excuses herself to do some research and returns to the Archives. She’s acquired a list of hundreds of missing ancient artifacts thanks to a U.S. Customs list. One of the items on the list is the scarab. The main suspect in the case, Randall Martin, former employee of Nevins, making a play to take over his empire. Abbie and Crane believe Randall is the one controlling the creature to help him realize his ambitions.
Sophie and Joe search a warehouse, apparently Randall’s base of operations. They come across a ghoul-sized box, but before they can open it, Randall and his muscle appear. Sophie and Joe appeal to Randall to stop using the scarab, but Randall has no clue what they’re talking about. One of his men opens the crate, and it’s full of cash, not a demon.
Realizing Randall isn’t the one controlling the ghoul, Joe warns Randall that they’re all in danger, but no sooner are the words out of his mouth than does an arm rip through Randall’s chest. Like most monsters, the ghoul is impervious to bullets and is PCP strong. Joe and Sophie are spared, only because it stops suddenly and leaves.
Sophie and Joe figure out they’ve been played by Nevins. They searched him, but the artifact isn’t on him, it’s in him. Jenny calls Abbie and warns her, but it’s too late. Nevins shows Crane and Abbie that’s he’s been hiding what he needs to control the ghoul in the spot where his spleen used to be. Gold wasn’t the only thing Nevins took from that cave in Iraq. He took the scarab, which looks like a giant beetle, too.
Pandora and the Hidden One may have summoned the creature, but Nevins can control it. That cave in Iraq was just the tip of the iceberg. Corbin identified tons of crypts and artifacts and creatures, which Nevins is going to use to buy his freedom. He just needed the access which he got when they showed him Corbin’s files.
Nevins summons the ghoul, and places the scarab on it’s chest. The creature burrows it’s way in and Nevins takes off. In the midst of fighting the thing off, Abbie manages to call Jenny and tell her they need to stop Nevins.
Crane thinks the scarab could be the ghoul’s Achilles heel and encourages Abbie to aim for the ghoul’s chest. As he fights it off, Abbie is plagued with flashbacks of her time in the alternate dimension and by the mystery symbol. She’s distracted, not to mention a bit rusty when it comes to shooting. Eventually, she pulls herself together and shoots and takes the ghoul down.
Joe and Jenny track Nevins down in the tunnels. He holds a gun to Jenny’s head. Joe pulls the dead-dad card, reminding Nevins how much Atticus meant to him. Nevins denies having any affection for Corbin, stating he was practically a saint, refusing to take so much as a bribe. But actions speak louder than words, and Nevins lets Jenny go and runs off.
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Abbie Questions Her Sanity
In the midst of their latest battle, Jenny found time to tell Abbie she’d met with their father, and that he wanted to speak with her as well. Abbie decides to meet up with him, but she’s not looking to reconnect, she wants details on their mother’s descent into madness. Ezra tells Abbie that it came on suddenly. One minute she’d be fine, and the next, she’d be having hallucinations. This can’t be comforting to Abbie who’s going through the exact same thing right now. Ezra says it was as if Abbie’s mom was living in two different realities. Also not good news.
Abbie’s worried that she’s destined to suffer the same fate as her mother, a Mills’ family curse. Ezra offers to be there for Abbie if she needs him, but she’s not ready, but I think dad is going to be a key player as the season rolls on.
Double Crossed
Reynold receives a call from the FBI Director. The man has some reservations about Abbie, but Reynold’s assure him that she’ll find her footing. Reynold’s boss also orders him to downgrade the source for Nevins.
The FBI Director has a good reason for wanting the heat off Nevins. The two are in business together. In return for getting Nevins money and a plane, Nevins hands over Corbin’s files that contain the exact coordinates of the “nine sacred sites.” Then the Director shoots Nevins in the head.
Abbie has a Secret
And Abbie, who’s trying her best to act normal, is obsessed with this symbol we still no nothing about. She’s carved it into a wall and now appears to be praying to it. Intriguing….How often does any character emerge from an alternate dimension and not come back with some serious issues?
Sleepy Hollow airs Fridays at 8pm on FOX.
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Jennifer has worked as a freelance writer in the entertainment field since 2012. In addition to currently writing feature articles for Screen Rant, Jennifer has contributed content ranging from recaps to listicles to reviews for BuddyTV, PopMatters, TVRage, TVOvermind, and Tell-Tale TV. Links to some of Jennifer’s reviews can be found on Rotten Tomatoes.
