Remember how I kept calling Pandora socially awkward and lonely? I was kind of right. She wasn’t so much socially awkward as just really missing her husband. Yes, Pandora is married, and has been for several thousand years. It’s her husband that she’s been trying to raise all season on Sleepy Hollow, and she’s finally successful.
The Hidden One: Brought to You By Greenpeace
“Novus Ordo Seclorum” opens with Jenny still possessed by the Shard and still not feeling very well as a result. Pandora’s husband, who will later be revealed as the Hidden One, is sucking the energy out of her and killing her in the process. He needs it though. He comes back from wherever he was almost completely mummified and the energy gives him a face-lift.
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It would seem that this reunion has been a long time coming. The Hidden One has been mummified for centuries and is disgusted with what humans have done to the earth. Is he wrong? Am I supposed to disagree with him about this? His plan for a new order surely involves death and destruction, but he’s kind of selling it.
That Creepy Pyramid Eye Has a Purpose
That’s all just quality marketing, though, because Mr. One is bad news. Joe, Crane and Abbie track Jenny to the same spot where Pandora and Hidden were sucking her energy, but they’ve already left. Instead, they find one of the Hidden One’s wrappings, which is covered in Sumerian script. It doesn’t say anything good. The Hidden One isn’t his only name; he’s also known by words like “uncreation” and is a bona fide, living and breathing god.
This news will get even worse once the Hidden One accesses the Shard, which is not actually a Shard but an eye. In fact, it’s the very same eye we Americans see every day and frequently site as proof of the Illuminati conspiracies. The Eye of Providence, put by good old Benjamin Franklin on US currency, is a warning about the Shard of Anubis.
Since the Eye of Providence is a Masonic symbol, Crane decides they need to do some Masonic research to understand it. They’ll need to access a book of lore, of which there is only one copy. Luckily, it’s in the same state. (How crappy would it have been if the book were housed in Egypt or something?)
There is No Betsy Ross in this Flashback
When Team Witness finds the book, they learn that this is not the first time the Eye has showed up. Back in 1776, George Washington acquired it and hoped to use it as a weapon against the British. Back then it was housed in a staff and not a lump of rock. Washington called supernatural expert, Paul Revere, to consult, which would have been great if Paul didn’t bring his irresponsible nephew. Young Jonathan Revere touched the Eye, was infected just like Jenny, and that was the end of that.
To his credit, Jonathan made up in bravery what he lacked in common sense. He sacrificed himself by going alone into a forest before the Eye could explode. That’s how it’s going to kill Jenny, by the way. Via explosion. Paul Revere retrieved the Eye later by holding the staff to it, which essentially acted as an energy magnet. Why he didn’t try this on his nephew before he blew up, we will never know.
So the whole “Jenny’s imminently going to explode” thing is a downer, but the good news is Team Witness now knows that they can draw the energy out of her before that happens. Crane was also conveniently in the room when Paul Revere melted the staff into an amorphous stone lump, which they realize is the container Nevins used to hold the Eye. And since Nevins is currently in FBI custody, Abbie has access to his seized belongings.
A History of Witnesses
Speaking of the FBI, things aren’t going so smoothly for Abbie. Reynolds is mad that she blew a six month undercover operation, and Abbie is mad that Reynolds didn’t tell her that Sophie is an agent. The crux of the issue seems personal. Reynolds has been extremely patient with all of Abbie’s weird requests and side jobs this season. He’s even patient with her for the first half of this episode, as she storms out of his office to look for Jenny rather than answering his questions. But she has finally pushed too much.
His patience runs out after his case is blown even further apart. Nevins has been uncooperative in custody, as he knows that he has more to fear from Pandora than the law. But he does say that he’ll work with the FBI if he’s allowed to speak with Abbie. Abbie and Sophie plan to speak with him as he’s transferred to another location, but by the time they get to the transport van, all of the agents on duty are dead and there’s a puddle of blood where Nevins used to be.
Pandora, it turns out, really doesn’t like other people playing with her box. It’s beneath both her and her husband, so she arrives to take care of Nevins. Abbie finds her in the parking lot and demands to know where Jenny is. Instead of telling her, Pandora offers her a place in the new world she and her hubs are creating. After all, it’s part of her “lineage” as a Witness.
Let’s pause for a moment hear to absorb the fact that Crane and Abbie are not the only Witnesses. The biblical references to them made it seem like they were the only ones to have ever lived, but apparently Witnesses have been around for millennia. Is it a bloodline thing? Will Abbie’s father know something about it, and that’s why he’s being brought into Sleepy Hollow now? This is one of several themes that this episode appears to set up for the second half of the season.
Abbie Resigns
Lineage or no, Abbie is in a lot of trouble. Reynolds has just had the subject of his career-making investigation abducted while in custody, and he wants answers now. Rather than giving them, Abbie hands in her badge and gun. This is a problem, because as Reynolds tells his superior in a mysterious phone call that Abbie is an asset they have been cultivating. There’s no way he and Sophie don’t know about the supernatural stuff happening, right? Reynolds’ investigation is way too shady for him not to be, and Sophie couldn’t possibly have worked with Nevins for six months without catching on. There’s just no way.
With Abbie no longer having to go to work and the Eye’s container is their possession, Team Witness prepares for battle. They have some FBI military-grade weaponry, but they’re not overly optimistic about defeating a god. Joe gets particularly desperate and starts researching lycanthropy. The wendigo curse that was put upon him falls under this category, and he’s considering finding a way to access that power to save Jenny. Crane reminds him that, love or no, nothing is worth losing one’s humanity. Joe puts the book aside, but does not look convinced. We’ll see if this thread is continued when Sleepy Hollow returns from hiatus.
For all his big talk, Crane isn’t very confident about their success either. He and Abbie discuss all the foes they’ve faced together as they prepare to enter Pandora’s lair, and wonder how much it’s really prepared them for this moment. Abbie also worries that she’s working more on feelings than logic, but Crane assures her that feelings are the secret to their success. Remember that, Crane. You’re going to be doing a lot of feeling soon.
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A Victory, A Defeat
With an arsenal of machine guns, the Eye’s container, Nevins’ book of Norse and Sumerian spells, and Joe’s biceps, Team Witness storms the lair. Abbie faces Pandora first. Guns don’t do much against her. Pandora just keeps coming, saying that both Abbie and Jenny have sealed fates that are useless to fight against. Abbie may have a sealed fate, but she also has grenades. Take that, destiny.
Joe and Abbie manage to briefly incapacitate Pandora and the Hidden One. Abbie uses this chance to go to Jenny and begin sucking the Eye’s energy from her, even though Jenny warns her that it’s too late. Crane, meanwhile, finds Pandora’s Box and begins speaking Norse mischief. Pandora stops him before anything can be released, but she’s distracted long enough to not be present for what happens in the other room.
The Hidden One doesn’t stay down for long, and stops Abbie before she can finish extracting Jenny’s energy. He crushes the Eye’s container, seemingly sealing Jenny’s fate, but Joe provides another distraction. Abbie holds the pieces of the container together just enough so that it can finish extracting the energy from Jenny. But time has run out; the container is not stable, and is clearly about to explode.
Abbie only sees one option. Pandora’s tree is open, so she takes the shattered container and prepares to mirror Jonathan Revere’s sacrifice. Jenny and Crane realizes with horror what’s about to happen, but there’s nothing they can do. “Take care of each other,” Abbie tells them, and steps into the tree. It seals just as the Eye explodes, shielding the mortal world from most of the damage. Crane is left in the rubble, the last Witness standing.
What did you think of this fall finale? What questions do you have going forward? Will Joe try to get his wendigo on again? Will Reynolds prove to know more than he’s saying? And most importantly, why didn’t Abbie just throw the container into the tree? Share your thoughts below!
Sleepy Hollow returns to FOX Friday, February 5th at 9pm
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
