Recap: SLEEPY HOLLOW Makes Me Squirm

Season 3, Episode 14 “Into the Wild”
Written by Albert Kim, directed by Paul Edwards

Even when going on a wilderness survival exercise for the FBI, Abbie (Nicole Beharie) can’t escape the supernatural. The icky, dangerous supernatural.  And she has to work overtime to keep Reynolds (Lance Gross) from seeing her doing her other job, killing monsters.

 

Abbie has gained some serious rock climbing skills from her time in the other dimension. Crane (Tom Mison), on the other hand, is obsessed with the symbol that fascinates Abbie, as well he should be. After running tests on the metal one that they found in Leeds’ laboratory during the last episode, he decides to take it to an expert, a Dr. Cranston (Tyler Cravens). Abbie has to go to wilderness survival training and Jenny (Lyndie Greenwood) and Joe (Zach Appelman) are hot on the trail of a Sumerian artifact, which must be related to Pandora(Shannyn Sossamon) and the Hidden One (Peter Mensah). I have to say the light in the archives while Crane and Abbie are discussing this is very flattering to Mr. Crane.

Abbie and Sophie (Jessica Camacho) get a chance to bond at the wilderness training but they are also saddled with Reynolds because their third partner is in the hospital with appendicitis. Reynolds  and the obviously doomed wilderness guide find an old well that was boarded over but the boards have been broken away. A ghastly white creature that looks like it was made from plastic kitchen bags with Elmer’s glue painted over it comes up behind Abbie, Sophie and Robbie (Jason Looney), the wilderness guide. Abbie and Sophie chase it off with a knife and sticks, but it bites Robbie in the shoulder. This is the point where I am wondering, do they really send FBI agents into the wilderness without guns? Reynolds shows up and Abbie tells him Robbie was bitten by a coyote. Sophie sees the well on Robbie’s camera (his phone got busted, no one else has one) and says the word on the well is Dutch, Verslinder. It means devourer.

Abbie falls back to take the monster on by herself. It regenerates and tries to drop worms in her mouth. Eew. Sophie saves her and it runs off. They find shelter for their injured party and Reynolds goes off to get help, but not before getting snippy with Abbie.

Joe and Jenny buy the artifact at auction, which turns out to be part of Pandora’s box. Pandora sees this in her pool.

In time honored Sleepy Hollow fashion, Sophie finds a diary in the cabin that they are using for shelter. It tells the story of the two men who dumped the monster in the well. In taking the monster to the well, one of them was bitten, came back and attacked the other. I wonder how he lived to write that part. They now know that the wormy guy is a sort of vampire. This is then proven by Robbie getting up, eyes white and glazed over, and worms in his wound. The girls knock him out and tie him up. Abbie decides that antibiotics might kill the parasite. Abbie gets to work making some and puts it on spears.

Pandora shows up for her box while Jenny and Joe are being robbed by one of the other auction goers. She gives Jenny and Joe a speech about her power being her own, and no one would take it from her ever again. She is giving the speech to the wrong people! Her emancipation declaration should be made to the Hidden One. Joe tries to give her the box fragment but he starts turning into a wendigo when he touches the box. He scratches Pandora and she takes off.

Meanwhile, Crane has found out that the symbol is in two parts. While he is at the good doctor’s lab, he hears and sees what is happening to Abbie while holding the symbol. He places it on the Witness’s tablet and gets a better connection.

Abbie and Sophie are out hunting the monster. They fight the monster but the spears don’t work, at least not immediately. Crane shows up and shoots the monster twice with his flintlock pistol, enabling Abbie to stab it. It disappears and the worms dissolve (or just go in the ground, to return again..). Robbie gets better, and the symbol is for good, not evil, and Daniel Reynolds is none the wiser. A win, all the way around.

Abbie tells Reynolds that she doesn’t think of them as over. Darn. Jenny hides the box and tells Joe he will be fine if he is away from it. Joe is horrified that the wendigo is still inside him. Pandora tells the Hidden One of her failure and the wendigo. She hopes that he will give her her power back, but he vows to kill the Witnesses.

Thoughts: This was a gross, gooey monster. If it’s not frightening enough, go for the gross out. The story worked well. I always enjoy survival stories out in the woods.

We have another unnecessary flashback to the past, and another coincidental finding of a historical document. The flashback is unnecessary because it’s obvious that the monster was put in the well because it was hard to kill, and Robbie’s transformation showed that it spread like a vampire. It wasn’t necessary to tell the tale at all.  I like the flashbacks for the most part, though, as long as they aren’t always centered on Betsy Ross.

Crane and Abbie now have a Star Trek-like communicator. That would be useful.

The lesson to learn is that things that we think will hurt us, will actually save us? They repeat this a couple of times. While it might be good foreshadowing, it’s a pretty stupid aphorism. Things that we think will hurt us generally do. Or could. If it’s a rattlesnake, it’s not going to turn into a snake of healing or wish-giving or some such. However, I am sure that they are setting us up for Pandora fighting for the Witnesses and against the Hidden One, or Joe’s being a wendigo saving them. Or Pandora turning into a wendigo and saving them. Or the Hidden One’s brother showing up.

Just one more thing: what happened to the second monster? They never finished the story. It’s practically invulnerable and there was only one in the well.

Next week the Hidden One tries to kill the Witnesses and yes, there is a wendigo. Get ready for a showdown!

 

Sleepy Hollow airs on FOX on Fridays, 8 PM/7 central.