SPOILERS AHEAD (or, um be-head?), so duck and cover, Sleepy Hollow fans!
Season One, Episode Nine: “Sanctuary”
Written by: Damian Kindler & Chitra Elizabeth Sampath; Directed by: Liz Friedlander
Thanksgiving comes to Sleepy Hollow, and that means a reflection on family. This week also marks a return to the monster-of-the-week format. I guess their quest to find Katrina won’t be an easy and quick one.
Quick Breakdown
Philanthropist, author, socialite, and billionaire Lena Gilbert (whose name very closely resembles that of The Vampire Diaries lead Elena Gilbert) has gone missing; and Irving puts Abbie and Crane on the case because he saw the name “Katrina C.” circled on a document she’d recently been attached to. With some quick detective work, they discover that she was last at an aging manor that quickly reminds you of American Horror Story: Murder House.
Lena was at the house because it belonged to her colonial ancestor Fredericks. In Crane’s time, the house was a sanctuary for freed slaves. As Crane later realizes, Fredericks was most likely in Katrina’s coven, making the house a sanctuary from evil as well.
Roots are now twisted and twined throughout the house. Abbie gets the creeps. They find Lena’s bodyguard dead in a chair and some bloody hand-prints indicative of Lena and a struggle. They track her to a closet in the house that is completely overrun with roots and vines, imprisoning her within. Crane hacks at the vines and blood squirts out. They free her from inside but also awaken an Ent-like creature from the outdoor garden.
Back at the police station, Irving is lightly reprimanding Jenny for stealing some of his guns last week — although she claims she thought they were gifts. She then gets extra flirty with Irving, inviting him to Thanksgiving with Abbie and Crane. Before things get too intense, Irving’s ex-wife Cynthia shows up with their wheelchair-bound daughter Macy. Jenny has a private chat with Macy and tells her to give her dad a chance. Cynthia lectures Irving on his absence as a father and gives him one last chance before filing for complete custody.
Before Crane, Abbie, and Lena can escape the haunted house, the Ent monster has found them in the house. They flee into the walls of the manor, but when they get separated, the monster snatches back Lena. Abbie gets distracted by the appearance of a ghost: servant lady Grace. She mysteriously says things like “It’s coming” and “It’s time,” leading Abbie to a vision of a woman giving birth. The woman, though, is Katrina; and she gives birth to a baby boy. As the boy is born, so is the Ent monster in the garden.
When Abbie meets up with Crane again, she relays her visions. Crane feels betrayed by Katrina because she never told him she was pregnant. Abbie insists that she didn’t tell him to protect the baby since Moloch appeared to have sent a monster to capture it. Crane now really wants to kill this monster.
They find Lena via her screams from the basement. Down there it is hard to get a shot at the monster, so Crane and Abbie attack the roots around the room to injure it. Lena escapes, and ghost Grace shows Abbie a secret passageway to help them escape (a passageway she used to save Katrina and the baby way back when).
Once outside, Abbie is all for driving away and never looking back. But Crane is too invested in the Ent monster’s demise. He grabs an axe and runs back into the house. His anger gives him the strength the hack the monster to death, soaking him in Ent blood.
In the episodes final moments of reflection, Abbie gives a Thanksgiving pep talk about family to Crane. He then shows her a box “from the Amazon” sent by Lena. It contains documents about Katrina Crane and also the genealogy of one servant named Grace. A cursory glance at her family tree shows Abbie that she is a descendant of Grace. Looks like these two witnesses have been linked together for a very long time.
Rating
B
The return to the monster-of-the-week format was inevitable (even a show as full throttle as Scandal does it); and this week’s was sufficiently creepy — I don’t blame Abbie for being so scared. The episode drags in places but does provide some fun revelations. I hope the next few episodes bring us a living descendant of Crane.
Now for some random thoughts and my favorite moments of the night…
Wardrobe Update: Nothing new to report. No one seems to mind Crane’s ancient clothing.
“What are holidays for if not airing our grievances.” – Abbie
“What happened, happened.” – Cynthia talking mystically to Irving. What exactly did happen? What put Macy in a wheelchair?
“Give Moloch my regards.” – Crane before hacking into the skull of the Ent monster.
Between Katrina’s coven and the haunted murder house, you have to wonder if Ryan Murphy is writing this show as well.
