Sleepy Hollow Review by Henry Tran

Sleepy Hollow 2.05: The Weeping Lady

Sleepy Hollow 2.05: The Weeping Lady

Written By:
M. Raven Metzner
Directed By:
Larry Teng


During this show's short life thus far, there has been little direct action initiated by Katrina Crane. This episode was designed to alleviate that concern a bit. She has been sidelined for some time, spending most of the show's run stuck in Purgatory and now by the Headless Horseman/Abraham's side as his hostage. The motives of the writers are clear on this point: Abbie and Crane are supposed to be the leads of the series so that relationship has to be played up at all times. Katrina is supposed to be a supporting character that is mainly seen through the eyes of her husband.




Piece by piece, Moloch's plan for unleashing the end of the world is becoming clearer. So that would partially explain why Katrina is kept with the side of evil. This feels like the beginning of something larger to come. I have faith that the writing staff knows what they're doing in slowly laying out the various pieces of the puzzle.


The basis of this episode's plot is rather simple: Henry Parish searches for a sin that he can use to torment both of his parents. He picks the sin of adultery, or at least the appearance of adultery. This has already been covered somewhat with how Katrina picked Ichabod over Abraham but in this instance, the genders are flipped. The titular "Weeping Lady" is actually the ghost of Mary Wells, an Englishwoman who was promised to Ichabod back in the day. He rejects her because of his feelings for Katrina. The Weeping Lady starts going after the women who are close to or have the appearance of being Crane's lover. This makes for an effective first act where the Weeping Lady kills Miss Caroline, the Revolutionary War re-enacter who provides Ichabod with some new threads. 






Caroline may have had a tiny crush on Ichabod but that certainly didn't mean that the ghost of Mary Wells should have taken her out. Ichabod admitted as much in the episode: He doesn't have many friends outside of the Mills sisters so Caroline provided an outlet for him to have possible interactions with that don't involve the main plots. It's a pity that she had to be escorted so quickly from the series. There could have been more of Caroline in lieu of the show's continued use of Hawley. "The Weeping Lady" marks his third consecutive appearance and I'm finding it hard to see what he brings to the narrative other than to be someone that rubs Crane the wrong way. It would have been better to show further ways for Crane to integrate into present times.


When the Weeping Lady shifts to another target, it's where the plot strains a bit. When Ichabod rescues Abbie from a watery death, he conveniently drops the letter he just received from a messenger raven that was sent by Katrina. Putting aside the wonky (and probably unintentional) connection to Game of Thrones, the letter is solely designed to make Katrina more involved with the narrative. It leads to the revelation that Katrina set all of this in motion by confronting Mary in the past and inadvertently being responsible for her death. Katrina made her jealous by preying on her insecurities surrounding their mutual feelings for Ichabod in the past. It doesn't really present anything that we don't already know about the Crane marriage to the overarching narrative.




An incantation both creates the Weeping Lady ghost and defeats her as well. Then Katrina returns to being under the yoke of the Headless Horseman. Ichabod does get in a great speech about all of the secrets that Katrina has kept from him throughout the run of the series so far, and it's not just for exposition. They are all valid points that would make any sane person re-evaluate why they would choose to stay with the offending person. Ichabod does love his wife and I think divorce would be out of the question, but Katrina's wealth of secrets deserve further delving into at a more convenient time.


Our Grade:
B
The Good:
  • More focus on Katrina Crane
  • Katrina's secrets should prove fertile ground for future plot points
The Bad:
  • A few plot points strain credibility
  • What exactly is Hawley meant to bring to the narrative?

Henry Tran is a regular contributor of review for Critical Myth; The Critical Myth Show is heard here on VOG Network's radio feed Monday, Wednesday & Friday. You can follow him on twitter at @HenYay

Sleepy Hollow by - 10/22/2014 9:35 AM176 views

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