Last year, the classic short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” written by American author Washington Irving in 1820, was reborn for a new generation in the form of the television show “Sleepy Hollow.” As the first season opens, viewers watch as the main protagonist Ichabod Crane, played by Tom Mison, battles the Headless Horseman head on and is gravely injured doing so.
Unlike traditional renditions of the character, Ichabod is no longer a gluttonous, underweight coward, but a muscular, good-looking ex-Redcoat turned revolutionary.
In season one, he succumbs to his injuries when his wife Katrina, who is a witch, casts a spell that places Ichabod in suspended animation. Ichabod reawakens in the modern day town of Sleepy Hollow and is naturally confused by his surroundings. However, because his blood mixed with the Headless Horseman’s as they died next to each other, the Headless Horseman has also reawakened.
Elsewhere, police lieutenant Abby Mills, known as “American Violet” played by star Nicole Behaire, and her partner Sheriff August Corbin, better known as the voice of Lex Luthor from “Superman: The Animated Series” and “Justice League” Clancy Brown, are investigating a disturbance. This is when the Headless Horseman kills Sheriff Corbin. When Crane shows up at the crime scene, he is immediately arrested, and nobody believes his story of being from the 18th century, especially Abby.
Abby’s mood changes though after an encounter with the Headless Horseman, and she discovers that Corbin has been investigating the strange goings on in the town for years. Now, Crane and Abby must team up to prevent the demon Moloch from bringing forth the apocalypse and stop the Headless Horseman, who also happens to be the Horseman of Death, once and for all.
The first season features many twists and turns, surprising revelations and supernatural monsters for heroes to fight. Season one; however, ended on a dark note as Crane is betrayed by his son Jeremy, the Horseman of War, while Katrina is taken by the Headless Horseman. While all of this is going on, Abby is trapped in purgatory.
In the season two premiere, which aired on Sept. 22, Ichabod and Abby manage to escape their traps; Ichabod in a coffin buried underground and Abby in purgatory. Once they escaped, they were able to prevent Moloch from escaping purgatory through the use of the key from Benjamin Franklin’s famous kite experiment, which could allow anyone who used it to escape purgatory without the need of an exchange of souls, but Moloch is far from done plaguing his enemies.
Season one was an impressive reinvention of the classic story, and season two seems to live up to the fandom’s expectations by bringing the same quality storytelling and imagination each week to the television screen.
“Sleepy Hollow” airs every Monday night at 8 p.m. on FOX.