The Horsemen are drawing nearer!! Sleepy Hollow Two-Hour Season 1 finale Recap!!

WARNING: WATCH FOR SPOILERS!!

When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come and see!” Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.

— Revelation 6:3-4˄ NIV

Abbie is at her home when Andy appears and tells Abbie to hand over the bible and that Crane will desert her. She meets up with Crane at the archives where Crane informs her of the message left by Washington regarding the story of Lazarus. Looking through the bible, they notice extra lines in the story. Crane uses the solution to expose the invisible ink. Washington did in fact die on December 14 but he was resurrected so he can deliver Crane a message. He drew a map leading to Purgatory. Crane concludes that he can use the map to rescue Katrina. Searching further, they learn that Reverend Knapp was present when Washington was resurrected and that his prayer beads are cursed. Crane meets Parrish at the reverend’s grave. When Parrish tries to read the beads, his hand is burned by the hex placed on them. Abbie advises that Parrish not try again but Parrish refuses, severely burning his hand in his second attempt. He tells them he saw Washington return to life and the map he drew. While Crane and Abbie place the lid back on the reverend’s coffin, they are attacked by Moloch’s creatures. They dispense the monsters. Crane realizes that they need to find the map despite the consequences.

Abbie, Crane and Parrish return to the archives and begin their search for Washington’s grave, deducing that the map may be buried with him. Andy has been turned into something for more formidable by Moloch. Abbie and Crane arrive on the possible island where Washington may be buried. Crane finds the marker stone place by the Masons and turns it. A door opens leading underground to where Washington is buried. In an underground Masonic Temple, Crane finds a secret room containing Washington’s crypt. Inside, he finds his body and the map. Just as Crane looks at the map, Andy enters the tomb and seals it. He attacks Crane and Parrish and grabs hold of Abbie, demanding the map. Abbie tries to appeal to Andy. Parrish manages to awaken Andy’s memories long enough for Andy to beg Abbie to destroy the map for Moloch needs it to start the war. He then begs for Abbie to kill him which she does. With the tomb sealed off, Crane searches for another way out. He finds a Masonic stone and uses it to open a path. Andy stands up and attempts to stop them when Abbie shoot the trigger on the pyramid that collapses the tomb and buries Andy. Once outside, Abbie tells Crane that Andy begged that the map be destroyed. Crane makes the difficult decision and burns the map. Later, Crane recreates the map.

After having a vision, Parrish meets Crane and Abbie at the cabin where he tells them about the coming of the second horseman War who will ride on the eclipse. At the police station, Abbie receives a book containing tapes recorded by Sheriff Corbin. She returns to the archives and has Jennifer search the tapes for information about Corbin and the reverend’s conversation. Later, Abbie and Crane follow the map to the location inscribed. Parrish warns them about the dangers of Purgatory. Crane and Abbie recite the incantation and open a doorway to Purgatory. Abbie wakes up in the cabin where she encounters Corbin and Andy while Crane arrives at a Mason Lodge where he meets some familiar faces; one in particular is his father. While Abbie and Crane are reliving happier times with friends and family, they suddenly realize that everything they are seeing is not real and break Purgatory’s hold on them. At the archives, Jennifer listens to Corbin’s tapes. He talks about the church named Trinity and Reverend Knapp. In Purgatory, Crane finds Abbie. Their search for Katrina takes them to the church where they find her. Katrina tells them that she cannot leave unless another takes her place. Abbie decides to stay but Crane objects. With no time left, Katrina places a necklace on Abbie that will protect her from Moloch. Crane and Katrina recite the incantation and return to the real world. Crane asks Katrina to find the location where the second horseman will ride. The location is the four white trees. Meanwhile, Jennifer finds the church Corbin described. There, she finds the symbol. As Jennifer rides back to meet Abbie without knowing that she is in Purgatory, she is attacked by the Horseman of Death. Abbie meets her younger self who helps her remember exactly what happened that day she saw Moloch. Katrina tries a binding spell but it doesn’t work. She notices that nothing is there. It is then that Henry Parrish turns on Crane and Katrina, binding them to two of the white trees. Parrish hands Katrina over to the Headless Horseman after he is handed an object wrapped in cloth. He then opens the grave he was in and places Crane inside. Parrish breaks the seal that will allow War to ride into Sleepy Hollow. He closes the coffin on Crane, leaving him screaming in terror.

Whoa, what a season of Sleepy Hollow this has been. Let’s get right into it. Crane’s desire since the series started was finding his beloved wife Katrina and freeing her from Purgatory and put an end to the demon Moloch’s plan to bring about the Apocalypse. Abbie has joined him as the second witness thought she was reluctant at first. Thankfully, she is full on board with him. In the season finale, they get the chance to save Katrina and put an end to Moloch. But before that, they have to clear the air. Abbie is told by Andy that Crane will betray her and hand her soul over to Moloch. She doesn’t believe him until she remembers that Moloch said the same thing, that Crane’s betrayal was prophesized. She wants to believe that Crane will honor their friendship that is until she speaks with Henry Parrish, the Sin Eater, about the same thing. He tells her there is such a prophecy but it was rejected and that she should be the same. Abbie’s faith in Crane is tested when he is ambitious about finding the map that links the living world with Purgatory. She would rather leave the map right where it is instead of finding it. Crane clearly disagrees; his desire to be with his wife is too strong. He was even reluctant to burn the map when Abbie told him that Moloch needs it to bring about the second rider. He eventually sets it ablaze; however, he still wants to be with Katrina. Thanks to his photographic memory he recreates the map, much to Abbie’s dismay. For the moment is looked like the prophecy may come true but Abbie and Crane keep their faith in each other which carries over when they enter Purgatory. Unfortunately, their faith is not enough.

It turns out that just about everything they have done was planned out by a puppeteer pulling their strings from in the shadows. Henry Parrish has manipulated Crane and Abbie from the first time he met them. What’s more, he is the grown up son—Jeremy—of Ichabod and Katrina. He was resurrected a decade ago when Abbie and Jennifer were in the woods at the time. Parrish has lead Crane and Abbie along, leaving bread crumbs on their path to stopping Moloch. They were never meant to stop Moloch. Parrish made sure of it. He likely knew that Katrina cannot be taken out of Purgatory without a replacement staying behind. I have a feeling his purpose was to get the witnesses separated so he can fulfill his master’s plan. The ultimate betrayal was to Crane who trusted Parrish and now he learns that he is his son. Well, Crane was warned that he wouldn’t like the truth about what happened to his son. Furthermore, Crane brought Katrina back from Purgatory for her to prevent the arrival of the Horseman War only to learn from Parrish that War was already in Sleepy Hollow. He just needs to be free. But the real shin kicker was that Parrish hands over Katrina to the Headless Horseman Death aka Abraham. Crane did exactly what Parrish and Moloch wanted. It’s shame that a guy so smart can be so clueless. His major weakness was exploited to the fullest extent and shoved back in his face hard. Likely, Parrish knew that Crane would do anything to find Katrina and he has, just as planned. Talk about being majorly screwed. Crane’s reward for his service nice is a cushy coffin for him to rest in.

Frank Irving makes a difficult choice of his own. His daughter Macey is a suspect in the murder of the priest at the safe house. Obviously, he can’t tell the investigators the truth. Hell, I don’t think he half believes it himself. Nevertheless, he can’t let his baby girl go to jail. To save her, he turns in his badge and gun and confesses to the murder. I don’t think this is the end of Irving but then again, he hasn’t really played an important role other than helping Crane and Abbie hide the Headless Horseman’s head. Besides that, he hasn’t done much else. He may return for a few guess spots here and their but the focus on him will be his personal issues with his family.

Jennifer proved herself to be an asset to her sister Abbie and Crane. She has shown be very helpful when it came to getting necessary items such as the lamps for trapping the demon Ancitif. However, her assistance also proved to be a threat to Moloch’s endeavors and the Headless Horseman takes her out. Even though Death shot her truck and made flip numerous times, I have a feeling this will not do Jennifer in. She’s a fighter and she will make it through this.

“The Horsemen are drawing nearer/On leather steeds they ride
They have come to take your life
On through the dead of night/with the four Horsemen ride
Or choose your fate and die” — “Four Horsemen” by Metallica from the album “Kill ‘Em All”

Well like I said, we will be introduced to the Horseman War but it’s not until next season which has been green-lighted. Abbie is trapped in Purgatory. Crane is buried alive. Jennifer is lying unconscious in her demolished truck. Irving is going jail. The key players are currently out of commission while War sets to join his brother Death. Moloch has the upper-hand now who will stop him. I have enjoyed Sleepy Hollow with its twists on history and the chemistry between the main characters is wonderful. At first I feared that the show would run cold. I cannot wait to see what Orci and Kutzman have in store for the second season. As Ichabod Crane would say, “what a fool I’ve been.”