The Breakdown
Ichabod’s spirits are still down after learning he had a son that Katrina never told him about. He calls Henry Parrish (the Sin Eater, played by John Noble) to try to reach Katrina. Henry isn’t sure his gift goes beyond removing sins but Crane convinces him to try, despite the danger Henry warns it may cause him. He tells Abbie it may frighten her to see this so she might want to leave but she refuses. Henry grabs Ichabod’s neck and he goes to his knees. As he fades out, Henry says the closer he is to death the better.
Crane wakes up in a dream-like state in a Church and finds Katrina. He confronts her about having a son. His name is Jeremy after Ichabod’s grandfather. Katrina says she didn’t know she was pregnant when she buried Ichabod in the cave. She found out when she went to Europe to figure out how to unbind him from Headless, although failing the mission. When she returned, her Coven wanted her to reveal where she buried him, threatening a fate worse than death. That is when she fled to the Fredericks Manor. She knew she couldn’t keep her son with the Coven wanting revenge. She left Jeremy in the care of Grace (Abbie’s ancestor) and her husband Joseph, a pastor at Trinity Church. That was the last time she saw him.
The Church Ichabod and Katrina are in is an echo of the one she gave up her son it. It is a one of those cruel purgatory things. She was banished there by “The Four Who Speak as One”. She goes to the purgatory Church once a day to light a candle and in memoriam of her son. Crane vows to find out what happened to their son and that they will be together again. As they are about to kiss, someone starts banging on the Church doors and Katrina tells Ichabod to release his will to be there so he could return back to his realm. The door busts open by some large gray being whose face looks sewn up just as Ichabod gets out. The first thing he can say is about Henry trying to strangle him.
Ichabod tries to calculate how many offspring he may have and comes up with 6,000! Abbie suggests they go to the Historical Society to research Jeremy. Henry interrupts them, anxious to catch his train. He wants to be on the 8:05pm train, seat 15B, and do his crossword puzzles to settle himself. Ichabod tries to convince him to stay a little longer and help. Abbie brings up Henry’s family, his Mother dying from cancer when young and father having Alzheimer’s. She convinces him to stay playing the family card, no doubt with a little guilt. He agrees as long as he’s on the 12:44am train. The being that busted in the doors when Ichabod left dreamland is watching through the bushes as they drive away.
Captain Irving is in a Church asking his pastor about the two witnesses and if the stories are symbolic or literal. He finds out witness means martyr (in New Testament) and that the followers of the witnesses usually end up with the same fate. He reflects that he joined the service to help people, then his daughter was hit by a car and his wife left him from being gone too much. Now he’s hearing that his life in public service may be rewarded with death. The Pastor tells him to have faith in the Lords plan. The Captain wants to know if the “plan” is for God or for himself. He leaves saying he remembers why he stopped going there, ignoring the Pastor’s question about what is going on with him.
Ichabod, Abbie, and Henry research the Trinity Church and find information about Grace. She died young, trapped inside a building on fire. Jeremy was found without a scratch but people feared he was some type of monster. Local townspeople were afraid of him because he could start fires by crying (inheriting his Mother’s gifts). He was sent to a home for orphan children of the war. Ichabod feels bad that his son killed Abbie’s ancestors. Henry and Abbie assure him it wasn’t his fault and it was not his choice to not be there for his son.
They could not find anything else about Jeremy but Henry brought up that the librarian who pointed them to the books knew more than she was saying. She acted like she didn’t have a clue about what they were researching but the “Sin Eater” can smell a lie, which is a sin, from a mile away. They discover she is gone and then we see her running to her car. We hear her scream and when the three go outside they see her car smashed down with her hand sticking out of the window. Henry realizes he is not going to make his train.
Captain Irving goes to pick up his daughter Macey. He apologizes to his ex-wife (played by Jill Marie Jones) about always being gone. He said she deserved better. She told him if he had said that to her a year ago, he would still be living in the house. Macey comes in (in her wheelchair), hugs her dad, and they leave.
Abbie and Ichabod go through the librarian’s stuff from impound while Henry does a crossword to distract himself. Abbie puts a box down and Henry feels its pain. Ichabod notices it has the crest from Katrina’s coven on it. It turns out the librarian was a witch and must have known who Ichabod was. Ichabod pries open the box and Henry has another physical reaction saying it reeks of anger and pain, stronger than anything he has felt in years. Ichabod opens a book that has a familiar looking drawing. It’s of a doll that Abbie saw in a baby carriage when Katrina came to her in that dream (Ep. 6 The Sin Eater).
We see a blip of Katrina giving the doll to her baby, saying it would protect him. Henry holds his hands over the doll and realizes the pain is Jeremy’s. His eyes turn black and he says the priest who governed the orphanage had a dark heart. We watch the priest giving lashes to Jeremy. Jeremy’s pain grew so strong that he sought out that promise his mother made about the doll. A drop of his blood fell on the doll and suddenly it grew into the large gray creature we have been seeing throughout the episode. It lifts the priest up off the ground holding his neck with one hand and with one shake, his neck breaks.
Then he kneels down and strokes Jeremy’s face, making him smile. Ichabod says he still feels that being’s presence and realizes he must have followed him back from his dream-state when he was with Katrina. Henry says this is what he warned about. Ichabod figures it killed the librarian because she was a member of the coven that banished Katrina. He fears there are more deaths to come since there are other coven members living and they robbed him of his mother.
Captain Irving is getting school on Vine videos from Macey as they walk through the park. He sees her looking at people playing Frisbee and brings up a wheelchair sport camp they looked into. She tells him the way he talks makes her feel helpless but that she wants to keep fighting. She throws in that it would help if she had hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows. She goes toward a lady who is holding a dog while he gets her a hot chocolate. The vendor asks him if his daughter is strong enough to fight for her soul.
The vendor’s eyes turn white and he says, “God may have a plan Captain, but we have one too.” Taken aback he starts shaking the vendor asking what the heck he is. The vendor bumps into a lady walking behind him and we see a force move from him to the lady. The vendor turns back into his normal self and doesn’t understand why the Captain is shaking him. The cops happen to be nearby and now it just looks like the Captain was attacking this guy for no reason. He shows the cops his badge and he and his daughter leave. With an evil grin and white eyes the lady says, “We have one too”, but no one hears her.
Ichabod is sulking about not being able to advise, guide, and raise his son. Henry talks to him, having a heart-to-heart. Henry says he believes his son was a good man, molded from him. That gives Ichabod an idea about Washington’s Bible. He looks through it and they realize the doll became a Golem. The librarian had carnival and circus paraphernalia and as Abbie looks at one of the posters, it says “The Four Who Speak as One” and there is a picture of the four veiled woman she saw in her dream with Katrina. They figure the librarian visited them at different carnivals. Ichabod realizes these are the women that banished Katrina to purgatory. The three decide they must find the women before the golem does because they could bring Katrina back from purgatory. They find a ticket stub for the carnival the women are currently at.
When they get to the circus, Ichabod convinces Abbie to let him go in alone. He finds the tent of the four women. They read his palm and realize he is Ichabod Crane. They say his arrival seals their fate and that tonight they will die. To prove how in-sync they are, one is smoking a hookah pipe and another blows out the smoke. He tells them he could get them to safety if they get Katrina but they say their fate is sealed. He tells them about the golem. They tell him that rumors of Jeremy’s protective companion spread so they were hunted.
They said they offered to help when the learned who Jeremy was and what he had done but he refused and chose to be alone. Ichabod defends him saying Jeremy was scared. They couldn’t stop the golem with their spells so they imprisoned him in purgatory. Jeremy’s power was so strong that he was immune to them but they had to stop him somehow. They offered him a place in the coven but he refused so they stopped his heart with a hex and buried him. They say this is why their fate is sealed. Suddenly we hear a growl-like sound and everything shakes. They tell him since his son gave the golem life, only his blood can end it. Then they tell him to run. As people are running out, Abbie and Henry run in to the carnival asking Crane where the sisters are. He looks back at their tent and we see it shaking while they scream. He says, “They met a just fate”.
As they run, Ichabod gets tripped up by the funhouse mirrors, wondering what kind of hellish torment it is. The golem busts through the mirrors sending a shiv into Ichabod. As he pulls it out covered in his blood, Henry points out that his son’s blood is his blood. Ichabod goes toward the golem telling him that he exists because Ichabod did not. He tells him that Jeremy is gone and there is nothing left for him to protect; that they both have to let him go. The golem seems to understand him and starts to back down. Then he lunges toward Ichabod who is still holding the bloody piece of mirror out. As the golem lies on the ground, Ichabod holds his hand. He tells him to be at peace, talking to both the golem and his son. In Ichabod’s hand is now the doll in its original form.
Back at the police station, Henry says he’s glad Ichabod is okay followed by how much time until his train arrives. He admits to Ichabod that he was right about his calling being to help them in their mission. If he hadn’t separated Ichabod from Headless, he wouldn’t have been able to put the golem to rest. Ichabod thanks him for his help. Henry feels fate brought him a blessing by bringing them into his life. After Henry leaves, Abbie gives Ichabod a stocking. He tries to sound appreciative as he says “you embroidered my name on some oversized hosiery, how….odd”. They wish each other a Merry Christmas and Abbie walks off to get some food.
As Ichabod puts down the stocking, the mirror starts to crack and we see the woods through it. He walks toward it and suddenly he is in the woods. He yells, “Reveal yourself!” We hear Katrina yell, “Ichabod, no!” We hear wild noises in the background. Moloch says, “I offer this warning. A Saint’s name is a sign. When you know my meaning, war will take form. Then the end of days begins.” Ichabod yells that there won’t be an end of days. He tells Ichabod his and Abbie’s deaths are assured. This whole time we see him in the background but every time Ichabod turns his head he isn’t there. Ichabod calls him a coward and yells for him to face him. When Ichabod turns around, Moloch is there and with a swing of his arm knocks him down. He tells Ichabod that he touched her soul once and soon it will be his forever and Ichabod will give it to him. Crane wakes up on the floor back in the office. He tells Abbie that Moloch wants her so and believes Crane will give it to him.
The Analysis
I hope this is not all we hear about Ichabod’s son. It just seems like he would play a more significant role than a mere episode. I see that they are trying to show us more about Captain Irving’s background and I admit, I was curious, but so far it is kind of boring me. Overall, I think we had some pretty good reveals in this episode though. I hope we will have even more next time!
Sleepy Hollow – Fox Mondays 9PM EST; 8PM CST
