When Henry releases cursed coins into circulation, usually mild-mannered residents of Sleepy Hollow enact revenge against those who’ve wronged them. Meanwhile, the Mills sisters learn more about their mother’s past with Reyes. Here is a recap of the Sleepy Hollow episode “Root Of All Evil.”
Recap:
Abbie and Ichabod drop by Tarrytown Psych to visit Irving, but Henry has banned visitors. At least Ichabod makes a friend who will be important later. They get the number of Henry’s taxi and track him to a bank. As he exits, a teller surprises the patrons with a gun in their faces. A shot is fired, so Abbie calls for backup and rushes in to find the woman flushing with a dark spirit. Sheriff Reyes arrives and kills the woman. On the security footage, Abbie watches the woman pocket a coin Henry exchanged for cash. Naturally, Ichabod recognizes the coin from a secret mission he went on for Washington to seize a batch of coins. Benedict Arnold was turned by one and that turned the war, so maybe Henry is attempting to turn the tide of this war.
Abbie called in a favor with a judge, who got Jenny out of jail with just community service. Hacking into police documents, Jenny discovers that Reyes’ testimony had their mom locked up. To get a lead on the case, Jenny suggests they visit Nick Hawley, an expert in supernatural artifacts. The coin they’re looking for is one in a set of thirty Tyrian shekels – the same coins that Judas received to betray Jesus. The coin’s next consequence is a flower shop bombing. The perpetrator was arrested, so the coin is evidence. Abbie checks it out, only to find that Henry’s once again a step ahead and already took it. Reyes scolds Ichabod for being in the precinct and questions the lack of evidence that he exists. Whoops. Ichabod left his ID at home. While scrubbing graffiti, Jenny hears the coin drawing her in and picks it up as Henry watches with a devious grin.
Abbie and Ichabod meet Hawley at a bar where Ichabod can’t help but comment that Paul Revere is on the bottle of Sam Adams. When the bartender asks for their IDs, Ichabod decides he’s not drinking. Hawley tells them Jenny borrowed his rifle. She’s going after Reyes, who’s now on a hunting trip. To keep the coin from affecting them, Hawley brings Ichabod to a church housing stained glass capable of blocking the coin’s power. As a distraction, Ichabod goes into the confessional while Hawley steals the glass.
Abbie, Ichabod, and Hawley split up once they arrive at Reyes’ location, and Ichabod distracts Reyes with a pinecone. With Jenny ready to aim, Abbie steps in front of her gun and reasons with her that if Reyes is dead, they’ll never know the truth. Abbie succeeds in talking her down, and the coin falls to the ground. Abbie hears its call, but before she can grab it, Ichabod kicks it into Hawley’s stained glass trap. Although Hawley does not return the coin, he does give Ichabod his very own fake passport.
Ichabod returns to Tarrytown to visit the man from earlier. Passing by the community room, Irving spots Ichabod, who fills him in on Henry. If Henry wants Irving out, then the safest place for him is in here. Searching through her mom’s records, Abbie discovers that she was literally tormented by demons and killed herself from going crazy trying to protect her daughters. When Abraham gives Katrina dinner, she taunts him about Henry moving into the house he was born in, meaning he’ll always be connected to his mother. Henry ventures into his birth room and ignites the remnants of the bedframe.
Comments:
– At first glance, “Root Of All Evil” felt more like a season one episode since there appears to be no lasting ramifications from the case. The problem was stopped, and there weren’t any huge revelations on the war front. However, this is Sleepy Hollow, so there’s no telling what might come back later and be important again. Overall, this episode was an enjoyable reminder of the series’ absurd and amusing premise while delving into new character drama.
– Henry building a miniature model of the town of Sleepy Hollow was just as creepy as it was cool. Given the supernatural elements of the series, the payoff for this is limitless and will hopefully be as creepy and cool as we expect.
– Ichabod, Katrina, and Henry have by far the weirdest parent/child dynamic on television and also the most fascinating one. I am curious to see how Katrina’s mind games play out through the season, and how Ichabod makes up for being an accidental absentee father because those two aspects have been hinted at more than once already. Just for amusement’s sake, Ichabod in a roundabout way that only works in the television world is practically the great-grandfather of Elsa from Frozen. (Fringe spoiler to follow.) John Noble played Georgina Haig’s grandfather on Fringe, and now she is playing Elsa on Once Upon A Time.
– It is no surprise that this episode included the Biblical reference to Judas since the writers have already included the Biblical apocalypse, but it made me wonder just how far back Moloch’s plan was formed and how much of what he has taken advantage of is coincidence versus the plan.
– The bit with Ichabod going into the confessional booth to keep the church’s priest from stopping Hawley was a spontaneous and clever move on his part. This type of behavior is not something that we have seen much of from Ichabod since most of his ideas spring forth from his knowledge of history and various legends. I thoroughly enjoyed watching him think and react on his feet and hope we are given more of these moments.
– I wasn’t sure how to feel about Reyes last episode, but this one secured her importance and gave her a more interesting role in the characters’ lives. Having built upon last week’s revelation that she knew Mrs. Mills, we now know that their tie runs deeper than simple acquaintances. While it may be convenient to have Reyes come into the story at this point, it also looks like revealing the truth will be a slow enough burn to keep the audience from rolling their eyes.
– It’s about time Ichabod stepped into the modern world with (almost) proper identification. How long do you think it will take before he steps onto an airplane? I can’t wait!
– What is it this season with Ichabod throwing rocks and pinecones to distract people?
– “I meant gentlemen wearing hats indoors. I know about homosexuals, thank you. I trained under Baron Von Stuben … also I watched the finale of Glee.” – Ichabod. Not only did this remind the audience how progressive Ichabod is despite not relinquishing his nineteenth century garb, but it also seemed like a fun callback to the moment in the pilot when Ichabod and Abbie have their wires crossed from his comment on emancipation.
– “Allowed her? She’s 1) a grown woman 2) a witch 3) a redhead. You couldn’t have stopped her if you tried.” – Abbie to Ichabod about Katrina
