Previously on Sleepy Hollow, ‘And the Abyss Gazes Back’

In “Deliverance” we finally see the Cranes in love, and… I didn’t entirely resent it. They underplayed their scenes instead of their usual strongly-punctuated declarations and it worked to their purpose. The writers gave them room to breathe, pulling Abbie away several times lest her presence overshadow them with ICHABBIE LURVE. But don’t dismay: that ship is still sailing here at Project Fandom.

MIA? Jenny. Hawley. Frank for more than 5 seconds. Did they do all his scenes this season in one day? Because the Franklessness of this season is wearing on me. But let’s recap.

The episode opens with a flashback dream: Katrina and Ichabod are in bed the night before he reports for duty, their hair all flowy and their voices low, talking about children… when the dream turns trippy and the Jincan spider crawls out of his mouth and into hers. She chokes awake but doesn’t realize what happened. Well, then… buzz officially harshed.

Abraham tries to be helpful, but again has no clue. Who does? Henry, busting in on Moloch’s authority with a Hessian doctor and henchmen to wrestle her out of the house. Abraham is like, wait just a darn minute, that is MY WOMAN, but Henry breaks open a window and stops him with sunlight. He does get one Hessian with his axe, though, giving Katrina time to run to the nearest gas station, collapsing in the arms of the attendants. Girlfriend has some self-defense moves.

In his first experience with modern Elections Day, Crane is as offended as you imagine a Founding Father would be at the lack of enthusiasm, but Abbie pokes a few holes in his ideals, considering she wouldn’t have been able to vote three times over as a black person, a woman, and someone with no property. He acknowledges the lack of universal suffrage was an American failing. Despite the fact that he can’t “help” her vote and the lack of colonial beer at the polls, he’s somewhat mollified by his voting sticker.

On their way out, a policeman tells them Katrina was checked into the hospital as a Jane Doe. Ichabod and Abbie find a dark infection climbing through her veins. Realizing the hospital can’t do boo for her, they dress her up in a painted-on jeans and a corset and shuffle her out of the door just in time to miss the Hessians. She sets a hex at the archives door, telling Crane the Hessian doctor had a notebook containing the symbol of the Hellfire Club, familiar to Ichabod from a woman’s experience outlined in one of Franklin’s notebooks. When she mentions Abraham’s ignorance of this plan, Ichabod’s like *record scratch* and HOW do you know what a HEADLESS PERSON thinks? Much to his jealousy, she reveals the enchanted necklace’s purpose, but they make up with a real, not rushed kiss. They’re like a Pantene commercial right now.

Meanwhile Abbie breaks into the Hessian warehouse, spotting a tablet that says the curse will finalize within the day. Turning to go, she backs into a corpse covered in blue veins and runs through the warehouse taking pictures (crib, stirrups, forceps… typical demon baby stuff), grabbing the doctor’s notebook before escaping scot free. She’s so crazy! But awesome.

The doctor’s notebook says Katrina’s pregnant with a Jincan demon baby, the last “vessel” having given birth and died within 10-12 hours. Just then, the hex bursts into flames and they escape into the catacombs, easily giving the Hessians the slip. Now at creepy St Henry’s church where Katrina abandoned Jeremy, Katrina argues for his good side, saying it can be reached with familial love. Ichabod admits he hasn’t lost faith, but Abbie is like, HELLO HORSEMAN OF WAR. Outnumbered by the Cranes. See? She knew this would happen.

Back at Tarrytown, Frank has trapped Henry into meeting with Ichabod. John Noble laughs evilly, gleefully, like only he can. It’s no mere demon, a fact that Abbie discovers separately, finding its title, The Horrid King. Yeah. Moloch. Katrina wants to kill herself, but it’s Abbie that talks her back into hope.

Ichabod and Henry are still baiting each other; Henry’s jealous of Katrina’s love for Ichabod. He claims to have moved into his home because it’s a nexus of black magic and says he will paint his hands with their blood. Ichabod shoves his hand in Henry’s face, telling him to read his sin so he will know the depth of his pain as a father but Henry refuses, getting up to leave, choosing Moloch again. Ichabod grabs his hand, stricken by a vision of Jeremy as a little boy, running screaming through the forest.

Back at the church, Katrina urges Ichabod not to lose faith. The photo of the tablet reveals an aura and Crane has a thought: “I must Internet, immediately.” (dial-up tone) “God, it sounds like a swine being strangled.” Kind of miraculous an ancient church like that even has a phone connection much less a computer that “works.”

As it turns out, Franklin hid a prism in the tablet that, once exposed, will banish Moloch. Crane laments, “The one thing I miss about modernity: an army to assist me.” If it’s an army he wants, an army they will get, but they’ll have to leave Katrina with a walkie talkie and head back to the precinct. Reyes is there. “Mills, I told you to keep your walking historical society out of my precinct.” She would, except it’s time for some truth telling.

Well, not so much truth telling. They tell her there’s a cult in the warehouse and need a tactical team, appealing to her desire to bring normalcy back to the city. As the SWAT team combs the warehouse, the two sneak off for the tablet. The Hessians light it up while Crane tries obscure 3-digit codes which hilariously Abbie guesses as 666 for “Evil Club.” They nearly get away when Reyes offers her respect, which Abbie quickly deflects to Crane who manufactures his title: a criminal profiler with an expertise in colonial imitation. “Let’s be in touch,” Reyes says, returning to her work.

Unfortunately their victory is short-lived because Katrina is screaming the hell out of this scene, Moloch clawing and punching against her abdomen. Crane breaks the tablet, prying open a window and pointing the prism at her belly. Abbie restrains her as the evil dissipates.

She’s not breathing, but luckily Ichabod learned CPR since the Weeping Lady and saves her. Abbie looks away from the Kissing Cranes, saying, “I belong somewhere else.” Ichabod finds her outside, admitting he missed holding Katrina, but that was a bit too close for comfort. Plus pretty much everyone evil wants Katrina and he still has faith in his son, but for now, it’s a win, so they pound it out and blow it up. Don’t get too happy, y’all: Henry’s channeling lightning into a Jar of EVIL.

Next time: Hawley sluts it up with an evil siren. Way to go, Henley!