Wednesday 9 October 2013

Why You Should Be Watching Sleepy Hollow


I realise I haven't been talking about the new batch of fall shows we have on our screens, such as the excellent Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (more on that in another post). To be honest, I'm not watching many of them, aside from Modern Family and Bob's Burgers, but there's one show that's got me hook, line and sinker. That show is Sleepy Hollow.


I'm already a sucker for urban fantasy shows like Buffy and Supernatural and Sleepy Hollow has the same kind of vibe as these cats. It's a modern retelling of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving that gives us a Civil Revolutionary War turncoat, Ichabod Crane, returning from the dead in modern times along with the guy he decapitated right before he copped it - the headless horseman. Now the horseman is on the loose with a machine gun and Ichabod has teamed up with local officer Abbie Mills to uncover the weird supernatural conspiracy that brought them both back from the dead.

It's tried-and-tested monster of the week fodder, but with oodles of mythology behind it. Sleepy Hollow isn't content with just giving us one spooky plot thread - it gives us tonnes. You have an ongoing battle between two covens, a gang of evil Hessians that have integrated themselves into society, a blurry demon that is doing all kinds of malicious mischief, the love of Ichabod's life trapped in a place between worlds, an Obi Wan style ghost sheriff, an awesome sibling dynamic between Abbie and her Sarah Connor-esque sister, and, oh yeah, an impending apocalypse complete with the four horsemen.

Guys, this show is batshit crazy and you're missing out if you're not watching it. All the actors are superb, providing amazing deliveries even when they're talking about insane stuff. Importantly, though, the show doesn't take itself too seriously. It has a tongue-in-cheek feel sometimes, even when things get really dark and the humour is outstanding. Sometimes these fish out of time-water ideas can get really old, but Sleepy Hollow plays it well and sparingly.

If you like genuinely creepy supernatural dramas and police procedurals, I think you're going to enjoy Sleepy Hollow. It's already building a great fanbase and has been renewed for a second season so now is the time to jump on board.




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