The biggest breakout hit television show of 2013 was probably Sleepy Hollow. The show, which combined US Revolutionary War history, New England folklore and the Book of Revelations, was innovative, chaotic, and deftly combined humor and horror. Then Fox broke the news that it was going to be renewed, but they weren’t picking up the back nine episodes leaving viewers with a first season of only thirteen episodes.
There was some speculation at the time that Fox had decided to utilize an “HBO” strategy of only doing thirteen episodes per season, which improves the quality by reducing the quantity of episodes produced. How can network dramas compete with cable dramas when the latter spreads its creative juices over 13 shows per year while the former have to spread themselves thinner over 22 episodes?
It now appears that Fox’s decision was well considered. A show as crazy, insane, and delirious as Sleepy Hollow needs lots of time to develop its story lines. One can argue that some of Lost’s course corrections in seasons four and five might have been avoided if they had only had to produce 13 episodes per season, even as fans were clamoring for more than 22.
Sleepy Hollow has suffered from a major sophomore clump. The show still has the chemistry between stars Tom Mison (as Ichabod Crane) and Nicole Beharie (as “Leftenant” Abbie Mills), which is almost enough. But almost everything else that made the show special has evaporated away.
One thing the show did was build an impressive ensemble, supplementing Mison and Beharie with Orlando Jones, an excellent comedic actor (who rose to prominence as the spokesman for 7-Up who coined the phrase “Make 7 Up Yours!”) who did good work in the somber role of Beharie’s boss. They also added Lyndie Greenwood as Beharie’s sister Jennie, a bad ass ex-mental patient who was as comfortable operating outside the law as Beharie’s Lieutenant Mills was operating within it. And then there was the best addition to the cast, Fringe’s John Noble as Henry Parrish, a “sin eater” who turned out to have sinister motives.
In their second season they've unwoven the fabric they stitched together last season. Jones’ Frank Irving has been confined to a psychiatric institution for most of the season, rendering him mostly harmless (except for implausibly losing his soul because he signed a contract with a pen that cut his finger). Jennie has mostly gone on errands. Parrish took a central role in the second season’s plot, but he’s mostly been relegated to hatching far-fetched plans that fail, leaving him taunting the main duo over nothing.
And then there is Hawley. Hawley is Sleepy Hollow’s Nikki and Paolo. For those of you unfamiliar with Lost, that show attempted to expand the cast by integrating two previously unseen characters named Nikki and Paolo into the Island population. Fans hated them as superfluous and they were ultimately killed off. Hawley was added to Sleepy Hollow to . . . I’m not sure, provide sexual tension for Abbie and Jennie (because Ichabod, a married man, would never consider anything improper)? Anyway, he’s come across as some hipster doofus who is merely a convenience when the heroes need some mystical weapon.
And then there is Katrina (played by Katia Winter), Crane’s wife. The show did her no favors in season 1, trapping her in purgatory where her interactions with the other characters were extremely limited. In season two she’s escaped purgatory but is still useless, volunteering to be held hostage by the Headless Horseman so she might learn of his plans; except that he doesn't have any plans, and if she ever did learn anything she’d probably do more harm than good communicating them to Crane and Mills. Her ever-lasting love with Ichabod was supposed to be one of the bedrocks of the story, but now they've agreed that if they stop the Apocalypse they should go on a break (which may give Ichabod and Abbie a window of opportunity, although one would hope Ichabod could avoid Ross Geller's perpetual "We were on a break!" whining).
The show has had to go further and further afield to maintain the crazy plot lines that made season one such fun. In one episode, Ichabod and Abbie search for the Biblical Sword of Methuselah, which is not only hidden in upstate New York but is guarded by a Gorgon. You know you are stretching when you combine Biblical prophecy, Masonic mythology, and Greek legends. So much of the plot seems contrived and made up as they went along that it is hard to take the show seriously, which is a necessary element of a horror show.
There is still much to recommend Sleepy Hollow. Unlike most network TV shows, it is trying to be imaginative and unpredictable. Crane’s “fish out of water” situation is still mined for humor (after riding a motorcycle for the first time Crane dismounts and declares, “I . . . WANT one of those!”). And the acting is first rate when the actors are given something to do. But for how long can two people defeat the forces of Evil until Evil starts to look sort of incompetent? It’s like Buffy the Vampire’s Season Seven, when Buffy fought the First Evil and First Evil just kept swinging and missing.
Maybe with shows like Sleepy Hollow, networks should consider shorter runs. The pressure to keep a standard procedural or rom-com is hard enough, but a show known for crazy plots and unexpected developments? The creators may need more time to work out the details. Or maybe the answer was discovered by the creator of Fargo, who did one crazy season and will re-tool next year.
Maybe shows should try to live forever. Twinkies have a long shelf life, but that doesn't make them good.
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