Times were that a monster could just be that: a monster. Then Lost happened and everything went to hell, or purgatory. A monster was no longer a monster, or some embodiment of the human condition; a monster, or character or story, was literally all about that character. A brother shows up on the same island, because that's what the plot needed.
Sleepy Hollow 'Go Where I Send Thee...' Recap And Review
Sleepy Hollow took that idea and ran with it. Despite being in a small town and usually featuring no more than a handful of characters each episode, everything about Sleepy Hollow; the town, the protagonists, the antagonists and yes, the monsters, are all connected. The writers are clever enough to make you forget, be it with through the use of other contrivances or just the strength of the characters, but make no mistake: for all of Sleepy Hollow's world-ending, mythic scope, it's really just about the family bullshit of about four people.
'The Weeping Lady' is all about Ichabod and Katrina. In it, a former parmour of Crane's named Mary is resurrected by Henry as a local urban legend of a drowned ghost. The jilted lover goes around and kills, or attempts to kill any woman who seems to get close to our anachronistic gentleman, but only ever manages to off the delightful Caroline, Ichabod's new friend he met during his time at the Revolutionary War re-enactment. She exists to be killed; which is a very sad moment as the writers do a lot with her in the short time she has for this world. Mary, too, exists to be killed.
Constantine Premiere: Pilotitis Can't Keep A Good Exorcist Down
She needs to die so that Katrina can finally have purpose. Since she chose to stay behind with Headless, we've seen her sitting around, fending off Abraham's gentlemanly advances and mostly, not doing much. I sometimes forget she is even there. Mary is the shot in the arm that Katrina needed to be relevant again. Back in the 18th century, Mary confronted Katrina and, after an accident, the former died. Katrina forged a letter to Ichabod, so that he might not leave town. He was needed as a witness.
Say what you will about the decision, but it is in keeping with what little we know of Katrina. She's a big picture kind of girl, sworn to the war above all else. She knew that if Ichabod knew of Mary's death, he'd return to England and apologize for it (much like how he apologized to Caroline after a misunderstanding). This may not be Breaking Bad, but the writers understand the characters well enough. This secret, one of a great many (Ichabod lists them all) is just the rift Henry was hoping for, and precisely the thing that the show needed. Say what you will about television, but love triangles just work better here. Katrina's once cold demeanor towards Abraham warms up, and suddenly we are all interested.
Hawley's stock has dropped considerably. I like the idea of Hawley, a relic hunter who is off on adventures elsewhere, but the writers insistence of shoehorning him into every episode is aggravating. He served little purpose tonight except to be another roguish dude. Like Jenny, whom we see for only about five seconds at the end, he exists for the sake of others. Be more interesting, sir. Take a vacation, come back with something from someplace far away. Hawley is like a cookie: he's a sometimes food. Too much, and you run the risk of getting sick.
The concept of the weeping lady herself is a little contrived, but her design is top notch. Most shows would be content to simply have a Grudge-esque waterlogged woman. Sleepy Hollow goes all out and subtly changes the area around her, giving it an underwater glow. She is genuinely frightening.
Quick thought: what does the Headless Horseman do during the day? We keep seeing him arrive home...but from doing what exactly?
As always, John Noble makes the most of his limited screentime. The lashing he receives from Moloch is familiar in tone, if not severity, that I am sure we have all felt in the past with an employer. The episode ends with Henry, powerful sin eater, manipulator of men, crying on the floor of his bedroom; another child longing for someone to hold onto.
'The Weeping Lady' is a decent effort. It moves the characters in new and interesting ways for the future, but the episode itself is a bit of a dead fish. The humor isn't nearly as on point as it normally is and again, the way in which they dispatch the monsters seems mundane at best. It is a step up from last week's episode, though suffers from the same 'personal connection' that threatened to sink the Pied Piper. The new rift in the Crane marriage exposes another wound: that Katrina and Ichabod aren't the couple we want to see. Like Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts in The Mexican, they're two flavors that best work apart.
Now, thankfully, they are threatened apart by more than just the distance. When the Apocalypse decides to unpause I wonder on what side of the battle the Cranes will find themselves.
Background Noise is GameNGuide's television column.
