Sleepy Hollow Season 2 Finale – “Tempus Fugit” Review.
Since the beginning of season two, Sleepy Hollow has taken us an adventurous, albeit tumultuous, journey filled with mystery, intrigue, doubt, and betrayal. While there have been occasional moments of laughter and joy, even brief reconciliation, the irreparable damages inflicted by the choices of our main characters come to a decisive head in “Tempus Fugit,” forever altering and destroying relationships.
As we witnessed in the penultimate episode “Awakening,” Abbie (Nicole Beharie) unwittingly follows Katrina (Katia Winter) back in time when Katrina casts the “traveler spell” to change the past after her son Henry (John Noble) is killed. Katrina’s blinded by her remorse and guilt but Henry’s death in “Awakening” is much her fault as it is Abbie’s for pulling the trigger. Ultimately, Henry brought this fate upon himself when he chose to side with Moloch (Marti Matulis) instead of seeking the truth about his abandonment by his mother. Henry chose to ignore the fact his father Ichabod (Tom Mison) had no knowledge of his existence but instead acted on impulse and hurt to get back at his parents. And now Henry is dead and Katrina follows in her son’s footsteps letting her grief obstruct the truth regarding her part in his demise.
This whole season, Katrina’s actions and demeanor have led her down a path of self-destruction. Her lies and secrets she kept from her husband began to ebb away at the shaky foundation of their relationship. I wanted so desperately for Ichabod and Katrina to find a way back to each other but it was clear in “Heartless” the differences of opinion between Ichabod and Katrina, Katrina and Abbie, and Ichabod and Abbie about Henry’s redeeming qualities were permanently rooting themselves to later sprout and spread venomous doubt among them.
As Abbie seeks Ichabod in the past to warn him of the dangers, Katrina finds an ally of her own to help her cause. Abraham (Neil Jackson), aka Horseman of Death, already had a mission to kill Ichabod but now Katrina has added another to this list. Katrina’s magic is more powerful now that she’s tapped into the dark side but it may not be enough to fight fate.
Ichabod and Abbie venture to enlist the help of one of our nation’s founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin (guest star Timothy Busfield). Abbie gets quite a history lesson meeting Franklin but time is of the essence. Franklin believes Abbie’s story of her time travel and tells her “…for a brief period, all spells can be undone.” Aside from the obvious, Abbie must employ the help of her ancestor to reverse the traveler’s spell but it proves to be a challenging order.
Throughout “Tempus Fugit,” there are glimmers of hope for Sleepy Hollow to return for another season. When Grace Dickson (Onira Tares) tells Abbie about the blank pages in her journal and telling her the battle against evil isn’t done, it gives me hope the writers will be able to create an elaborate plot for another season. While there is death in “Tempus Fugit” of key characters, the one thing that puzzles me is the vision Katrina has in the final scenes of the episode.
I enjoy the historical aspects of Sleepy Hollow and truly hope the series is renewed but with the way things end in “Tempus Fugit,” the scales can be tipped in either direction with relative ease. There is so much potential for an amazing third season for Sleepy Hollow. There are several story lines that have opportunity to be elaborated on, particularly the Hawley (Matt Barr) and dark angel Orion (guest star Max Brown) story arcs. Ichabod and Abbie still face all the evil that escaped purgatory when Moloch was slain in “The Akeda.” Let’s just hope the powers that be see the potential as well.
What did you think of “Tempus Fugit?” Do you want Sleepy Hollow to return for a third season? Leave me a comment below and/or tweet me @judybopp.
For more on the show, go to http://www.fox.com/sleepy-hollow/.