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Sleepy Hollow may sound silly but it's scary, self-aware and very, very good Sleepy Hollow may sound silly but it's scary, self-aware and very, very good
(35 minutes later)
Warning: contains spoilers for season oneWarning: contains spoilers for season one
There’s a famous segment in Eddie Izzard’s Dress to Kill in which he’s imagining the panoply of stage names that Gerry Dorsey’s management must have rejected before eventually settling on Engelbert Humperdinck. “Zingelbert Bembledack! Yingybert Damblebaan! Zangelbert Bingledack! Winglebert Humptyback! Slut Bunwala!” Sleepy Hollow, FOX’s surprise hit of last year, is almost certainly the result of similarly desperate, caffeine-fuelled pitch meetings: “What about ... Peter Pan, in space, with dragons instead of Lost Boys? Sleeping Beauty, only she’s an MMA champion, and the Prince is a cyborg played by Mario Lopez! Fear and Loathing in the Jungle Book! Sleepy Hollow, set in the present and the Headless Horseman has machine guns and is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse!”There’s a famous segment in Eddie Izzard’s Dress to Kill in which he’s imagining the panoply of stage names that Gerry Dorsey’s management must have rejected before eventually settling on Engelbert Humperdinck. “Zingelbert Bembledack! Yingybert Damblebaan! Zangelbert Bingledack! Winglebert Humptyback! Slut Bunwala!” Sleepy Hollow, FOX’s surprise hit of last year, is almost certainly the result of similarly desperate, caffeine-fuelled pitch meetings: “What about ... Peter Pan, in space, with dragons instead of Lost Boys? Sleeping Beauty, only she’s an MMA champion, and the Prince is a cyborg played by Mario Lopez! Fear and Loathing in the Jungle Book! Sleepy Hollow, set in the present and the Headless Horseman has machine guns and is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse!”
The last one was the charm, because that is exactly what happens in Sleepy Hollow. The fabled Horseman is indeed Death; he does indeed wield machine guns – big, loud, shooty ones; and the show is indeed set in the modern day, with Twitter and electric windows and the word “Kickstarter” and everything.The last one was the charm, because that is exactly what happens in Sleepy Hollow. The fabled Horseman is indeed Death; he does indeed wield machine guns – big, loud, shooty ones; and the show is indeed set in the modern day, with Twitter and electric windows and the word “Kickstarter” and everything.
Tom Mison plays Ichabod Crane, the type of plummy, deferentially charming Brit who exists solely in the imaginations of swooning Americans. Crane is an Oxford professor turned American civil war spy, and the 1781-set prologue sees Crane facing Death – both conceptual and corporeal – on the battlefield, where he manages to decapitate the Horseman before succumbing to wounds sustained during their dust-up. Crane then awakens in Sleepy Hollow in 2013, as does Death, albeit with a severely impaired ability to wear interesting hats. The Horseman promptly takes an axe to Sleepy Hollow’s sheriff, bringing his murderous, bonce-less antics to the attention of Lieutenant Abbie Mills. Mills (Nicole Beharie, one of the depressingly few black female lead actors in American TV) forms an unlikely alliance with Crane, and the two battle the Horseman’s plans to resurrect his three Apocalyptic Horsemates and bring about the End of Days. Crane and the Horseman’s fates are entwined, you see, for daft and largely irrelevant reasons that gradually unspooled over the show’s riotously entertaining first season. Tom Mison plays Ichabod Crane, the type of plummy, deferentially charming Brit who exists solely in the imaginations of swooning Americans. Crane is an Oxford professor turned spy in the American war of independence, and the 1781-set prologue sees Crane facing Death – both conceptual and corporeal – on the battlefield, where he manages to decapitate the Horseman before succumbing to wounds sustained during their dust-up. Crane then awakens in Sleepy Hollow in 2013, as does Death, albeit with a severely impaired ability to wear interesting hats. The Horseman promptly takes an axe to Sleepy Hollow’s sheriff, bringing his murderous, bonce-less antics to the attention of Lieutenant Abbie Mills. Mills (Nicole Beharie, one of the depressingly few black female lead actors in American TV) forms an unlikely alliance with Crane, and the two battle the Horseman’s plans to resurrect his three Apocalyptic Horsemates and bring about the End of Days. Crane and the Horseman’s fates are entwined, you see, for daft and largely irrelevant reasons that gradually unspooled over the show’s riotously entertaining first season.
It’s a hard sell. But Sleepy Hollow is brilliant.It’s a hard sell. But Sleepy Hollow is brilliant.
Despite its preposterous premise and the smooshing together of comedy, preternatural gubbins and drama, Sleepy Hollow still knows exactly what it is. Like Buffy or Fringe (whose co-creators Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci also created this), it offers the perfect balance of creepiness, story, character and humour (mainly at the expense Crane’s adjustments to living in the modern day). It doesn’t need to be overly sombre or arch – it’s aware of its own silliness, but plays it straight enough for you to invest. Anyone who’s seen Guillermo Del Toro’s The Strain will be aware how off-putting sudden tonal about-faces in ostensibly silly shows can be. Sleepy Hollow doesn’t do this. It’s fun, scary and consistent.Despite its preposterous premise and the smooshing together of comedy, preternatural gubbins and drama, Sleepy Hollow still knows exactly what it is. Like Buffy or Fringe (whose co-creators Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci also created this), it offers the perfect balance of creepiness, story, character and humour (mainly at the expense Crane’s adjustments to living in the modern day). It doesn’t need to be overly sombre or arch – it’s aware of its own silliness, but plays it straight enough for you to invest. Anyone who’s seen Guillermo Del Toro’s The Strain will be aware how off-putting sudden tonal about-faces in ostensibly silly shows can be. Sleepy Hollow doesn’t do this. It’s fun, scary and consistent.
The evolving central relationship between Crane and Mills is the backbone. It’s up there with Mulder and Scully for endlessly watchable on screen chemistry. It’s also refreshingly free of the “will-they-won’t-they?” tedium that would have been shoehorned into any other show with two leads with biologically compatible genitalia. Crane is married, so that’s the end of that. Crane and Mills are mates. They bicker. They fall out. But they learn to like and respect each other. And it’s all a bit lovely.The evolving central relationship between Crane and Mills is the backbone. It’s up there with Mulder and Scully for endlessly watchable on screen chemistry. It’s also refreshingly free of the “will-they-won’t-they?” tedium that would have been shoehorned into any other show with two leads with biologically compatible genitalia. Crane is married, so that’s the end of that. Crane and Mills are mates. They bicker. They fall out. But they learn to like and respect each other. And it’s all a bit lovely.
That doesn’t mean Sleepy Hollow is schmaltzy, chummy nonsense. The X-Files comparison is apt, as while the first season’s underlying arc is the Horseman and his dastardly designs, there is ample time for agreeably creepy “monster of the week” episodes. Burned-at-the-stake witches (who, according to Sleepy Hollow, are best despatched with copious quantities of high explosives), the Sandman, Golems, creepy kids and the reanimated dead are all here. Though Mills and Crane’s supernatural crime-fighting duo is as much a reason to keep watching as the monsters themselves, the nasties don’t phone it in.That doesn’t mean Sleepy Hollow is schmaltzy, chummy nonsense. The X-Files comparison is apt, as while the first season’s underlying arc is the Horseman and his dastardly designs, there is ample time for agreeably creepy “monster of the week” episodes. Burned-at-the-stake witches (who, according to Sleepy Hollow, are best despatched with copious quantities of high explosives), the Sandman, Golems, creepy kids and the reanimated dead are all here. Though Mills and Crane’s supernatural crime-fighting duo is as much a reason to keep watching as the monsters themselves, the nasties don’t phone it in.
Fans of shows such as Buffy and The X-Files should be watching Sleepy Hollow by default. If you are and you’re not, I urge you to rectify that immediately through the modern wonder of catch-up TV. Don’t let a shonky premise prevent you from catching one of the most downright enjoyable shows of the past few years.Fans of shows such as Buffy and The X-Files should be watching Sleepy Hollow by default. If you are and you’re not, I urge you to rectify that immediately through the modern wonder of catch-up TV. Don’t let a shonky premise prevent you from catching one of the most downright enjoyable shows of the past few years.
For those of us who are up-to-date and are feverishly awaiting the season two premiere, Crane is still buried alive, his son is the second Horseman of the Apocalypse, Abbie is trapped in a doll house in purgatory, and it’s all looking grim.For those of us who are up-to-date and are feverishly awaiting the season two premiere, Crane is still buried alive, his son is the second Horseman of the Apocalypse, Abbie is trapped in a doll house in purgatory, and it’s all looking grim.
And for anyone who hasn’t been watching, I appreciate that must look like a very stupid sentence indeed.And for anyone who hasn’t been watching, I appreciate that must look like a very stupid sentence indeed.
• Sleepy Hollow season two begins in the UK on Wednesday, 9pm, Universal. It continues in the US on FOX on Mondays• Sleepy Hollow season two begins in the UK on Wednesday, 9pm, Universal. It continues in the US on FOX on Mondays
• This article was amended to correct an error which stated Ichabod Crane was a spy in the American civil war instead of the American war of independence