The dark side of the force is strong in this latest episode written by Albert Kim. Will team witness be able to see the treachery that is lurking in those they trust the most?
We start the this episode with a security guard and an assistant from an auction featuring Elizabethan collectibles get killed for being in the way of a mysterious warlock. Dressed in puritan garb, he stole the journal of John Dee, Queen Elizabeth’s advisor. Legend has it that Dee was a powerful sorcerer. From the writings in the journal it does appear to be writing and markings that are magic in nature.
Ichabod calls Abbie to “house hunt” with him. Abbie helps decode realtor talk for Ichabod and does a brief overview of the concept of marketing. Crane is considering trying to get a place of his own. Abbie does point out credit checks and applying for loans while Crane points out the crux of the whole thing, needing income. Abbie informs him of the robbery at the auction house. The puritan warlock boiled the blood of those poor people he killed. Security cameras got damaged, so not enough footage was saved. The journal is also known as the Grand Grimoire. Dee was a scholar trying to study dark magic to keep it hidden away and his journal is a collection of those spells according to Crane. There’s only one person they know that could help them with this investigation.
Katrina Getting Her Groove Back
They find Katrina in the woods practicing her magic. She says that her powers are growing stronger especially near the perigean tide, a time of year where the moon is closest to the earth. Abbie shows her a picture of the Grimoire. Katrina recognizes it immediately. She thinks someone used a summoning spell so it would show up in Sleepy Hollow. Crane wonders if it is someone else who escaped from purgatory. He mentions how Katrina is mourning Henry. Her words say that she hopes he has found peace, but her eyes are telling me that she knows something about her son.
At the archives, Abbie comes back with forensics on the warlock’s blood taken at the scene from when he performed his death ritual. His blood had jimson weed mixed in it. Also known as moonflower, the plant is eaten to increase powers before performing dangerous spells according to Crane. Abbie calls it magic steroids. Crane further explains that this warlock, based on how he killed, must be using blood magic, which is very dark. Fortunately the police were able to salvage a few images from the security camera. A friend from Quantico hooked Abbie up with using software to help zoom in on mirror reflections. They are able to get a clearer picture of the warlock. Katrina, walking back with books with more information about Dee’s journal looks at the image and identifies the warlock. Family history time!
Rejected Love
His name is Solomon Kent (Johnathon Schaech). A puritan priest, he also practiced magic. He was respected by the settlement near Salem. Katrina’s grandmother, Helena knew the man. A twisted take of how the Salem witch trials started. Kent was the catalyst after accidentally killing Sarah Osborne, a woman who rejected his love. He changed Osbourne’s appearance so she would look evil. With the witches in danger Helena tries to get Kent to turn himself in before the hysteria grew. He betrays her by accusing her of witchcraft and having her burned at the stake. Katrina’s mother passed down that story since she lived through it. He was eventually caught by the surviving members of his coven and exiled to purgatory until now.
Katrina tries to get a read of where the book would be located. We see Solomon with white eyes trying to perform a spell from the book after snorting some powdered moonflower. He notices there are pages missing. From the energy Katrina sensed at the crime scene that the Grimoire was not complete. The spells will not work without the book being whole. Now the gang has to find the other pages before Kent.
Watch Your Back
Abbie is about to get into her car when Irving “sneaks’ up on her. He wanted her to know that there are no hard feelings about her being suspicious of him. He does tell her that Katrina gave him the soul bill of health. She later tells Crane of her run in with Irving. He is cautiously optimistic. Ichabod gets an epiphany of a reason why Kent wants to use the book. There is a resurrection spell that can bring back the dead. Kent is still hung up on Sarah. The concern is that by opening that portal several undead could also return. Zombie apocalypse! Abbie tells Crane that another shipment of collectibles just arrived so they head there to try to intercept the other pages. Katrina goes with them.
Trash Talk Part I
At the warehouse, Abbie and Ichabod have one of their heart to heart discussions. From Abbie noting the similarities between Crane and Kent, to Ichabod hoping they don’t forget the reason they are fighting against evil. They come across Kent searching for the missing pages. Kent is one step ahead of them by knocking them off balance when they try to rush him. Katrina hits him with a white light strike. Kent thinks he’s seeing a ghost but Katrina acknowledges she is Helena’s descendant. Katrina’s confident she will defeat Kent. He claims that she will not be able to because he senses darkness waiting to be tapped. Abbie and Ichabod snap out of it just in time to see Kent conjure up demons from his blood. With that distraction he finds the missing pages and connects them to the book, making it whole. Ichabod attempts to use trash talk to lure one of the demons so they can kill it. Katrina tries to battle Kent again. It appears she is winning but now that Kent can use the grimoire he is more powerful. He cryptically tells her to embrace the darkness to find her true self. Who knew Kent was a Sith Lord? Could that also mean Henry though? When she does briefly she is shocked and dismayed. Her eyes turned white too! Solomon leaves just as Abbie and Ichabod return. How convenient. She admits that now that Kent is way more powerful with the book so she will not be able to win against him. Great!
Embrace your Bad Side
With Katrina’s power depleted, Abbie and Ichabod try to find another avenue of defeating Kent. Abbie leaves while Crane tries to figure it out with Katrina. She does admit that there are facets to her powers that she has not tried yet. Code speak; I’m gonna try dark magic honey! Ichabod vows that when he finds Kent he will take him down. Abbie finds Irving at a bar. She asks when Irving returned was he aware of how he got back like a portal or something. He doesn’t recall but he does advise her not to give up or stop fighting. Was that his way of telling her that he is still struggling with his soul? Abbie is glad that Irving is back. They crack jokes then Abbie leaves. Irving seems to smile more these days. What’s that all about?
Abbie catches up with Crane back at the cabin. Crane remembers some of what Kent was chanting and it was Arabic in nature. One of the words translated was traveler. This triggers a memory of Abbie seeing a traveler spell in her ancestor’s journal. This particular spell helps the person travel back in time. Kent wants to change the past so he can be with Sarah. The implications if Kent is successful are huge, especially since Helena, Katrina’s grandmother, was around at the time. They figure out a way of using modern magic aka electronics to defeat Kent.
Trash Talk Part II
With the help of Irving, they were able to subdue Kent just as he was about to step into the past by first tranquilizing him with a chemical to help counteract the jimson weed and electrocuting him with a generator. Crane then takes out his aggression by kicking and punching Solomon. Ichabod’s trash talk also improved in this confrontation. It was getting to the point that Abbie has to hold Crane back. Initially they both look for a disappeared Irving but he comes back to where Kent was knocked out and he snaps his neck with his boot and takes the journal. When Abbie and Crane find him he lies about the book disappearing. Darn it! I was hoping Irving was good!
With the battle won, Crane reflects on how people are always on a slippery slope between good and evil. Foreshadowing! Abbie invites Crane and Katrina out for drinks but Crane says that his wife is resting. After they leave Katrina steps out of the bedroom and starts practicing her magic with a hint of darkness. Let the dark side of the force flow through you Katrina. What a rush!
Henry’s Back!
Speak of the Devil! Henry is in a motel room. He looks like he is in a real depressing funk. He’s flipping channels when Mary Rawlings (Andrea Powell) comes in to see about the hot water problem he called about. She says that her son will come up to fix it. She offers to send a cleaning lady up but Henry refuses, wanting his privacy. As Mary is leaving (she has a slight limp) the news report about the auction robbery is on. She comments about the strangeness of the crime. Henry just wants to forget.
Henry comes back from an errand to find Mary’s son, Ronnie (Nolan Bateman) fixing his sink. Ronnie shares the same hobby as Henry in creating wood models, only he does figurines. He admires the model church Henry is creating with a pocket knife. Henry asks what happened to Mrs. Rawlings. Ronnie responds that it was a drunk driver and that it was a few years ago. His mom is holding up okay. Henry admires her strength. Henry takes a crap shot at Ichabod when he comments that “father’s are never what they crack up to be,” after Ronnie talks about not needing dads. Ronnie insists on Henry keeping his figurine when he leaves.
Later on Ronnie and Mary gets harassed by a group of young male guests. Henry watches from the door to his room. When one of the men starts talking trash to Henry he just gives them the evil eye. The next day Henry goes to the young men with vigor in his step. He has reflected on his life and while the simplicity of the Rawlings was tempting he will always be a wolf. He then proceeds to twist the necks of the three men that threatened the small family using his powers.
Henry is hanging out in the woods waiting for someone. That person is Irving. Big surprise there! Irving gives Henry the journal. Henry’s going to make his own destiny now! He no longer calls himself the Horseman of War. How creepy they met in the spot where Irving died. Henry calls it a place where journeys begin instead of ends. Uh oh!
What does Henry have up his sleeve? Will Ichabod and Abbie figure out that Irving’s soul is definitely Henry’s? How do you think Icabod will react to the fact that Katrina lied about Irving being free of Henry’s influence? Looking forward to next week’s episode! Sound off below in the comments!
