Sleepy Hollow S2Ep11 The Akeda Review

The first half of Sleepy Hollow’s second season has ended on a high mark. For those who have read some of my reviews of the first season will know I criticized the uneven quality of the show. For the most part that has been fixed during season 2. Furthermore the cast has been extended to include Matt Barr as Nick Horley while John Noble and Neil Jackson have become regulars. All this does mean Sleepy Hollow had to take its time to work on the shows exposition. Too many episodes of the second had a plot featuring the antagonist Henry Parrish (John Noble) working on a scheme to resurrect the demon Moloch only to be foiled at the last moment by Ichabod and Abbie Mills. Perhaps several episodes could have been cut, or they could have extended the shows scope to include some other horror storylines.

Sleepy Hollow S2Ep11 The Akeda Review

Nonetheless, this episode The Akeda and the previous episode Magnum Opus form an incredible capstone for the mid-season mark. Quite frankly, they have been spectacular TV. I think special mention should go to John Noble and Neil Jackson as The Headless Horseman / Abraham van Brunt for carrying the story into the next level. There has been nothing wrong with the performance of Tom Mison, Nicole Beharie or Lyndie Greenwood. But in the case of Tom Mison and his portrayal of Ichabod Crane there is also a positive side to taking a step back. Ichabod’s character has already been fleshed out, his past is jam-packed and so it is time for others to receive the same attention. While Ichabod deals with the marriage on the rocks between him and Katrina (played by Katia Winter) other characters can step forward.

One such character is Abbie Mills. So far in a season and a half she has remained the counterweight to Ichabod’s jovial character. In this episode, when she discovers that the sword of Methuselah will ask for a soul when they slay a demon (in this case Moloch) she quickly does the math. She decides she will go first, then Ichabod and finally her sister Jennifer in slaying demons thus improving their chances of getting to Moloch. Ultimately she manages to convince Nick Horley and on the run ex-Captain, Frank Irving, to join them. Frank, after already having lost his soul to Henry, threatens Abraham with the sword. From Abraham they learn how Moloch attempts to resurrect. Some of it sounds familiar from previous episodes but they run into a twist when Moloch summons an army of the undead. In this case Colonial era soldiers. One shoots Abbie while Frank fights an incarnation of Henry. Despite his victory he is mortally wounded.

In the end Ichabod confronts his son Henry about his misdeeds. Ichabod makes him a deal, he will sacrifice his own soul at the chance to kill Moloch. Henry refuses and manages to subdue Ichabod. He takes them to Moloch. Moloch orders him to kill Katrina, his mother. Instead, Henry swings the sword around and ends Moloch. The redemption of Henry, in my opinion, comes too quickly after the disasters he created during the first half of the season. That said, the attempts by Ichabod and Katrina to save him had to be rewarded sooner or later. I have no idea what second half of the season will bring, but considering there is still the issue of the new police captain and the fate of Abraham to decide. Sleepy Hollow deserves to be on TV, if it tries hard enough. This was Sleepy Hollow S2Ep11 The Akeda Review

Score; 9 / 10. A wonderful mid-season finale of Sleepy Hollows that sees the redemption of both Abraham and Henry.

Source; http://www.fox.com/sleepy-hollow/