TV Review: Sleepy Hollow (2×05) – “The Weeping Lady”

Let’s get this nugget of the episode out of the way real quick.

I can’t say I was too fond of the use of the “jilted woman” trope this week, even if it was pushed to the extreme. It’s a tired archetype, and on a show where the female characters are strong, independent women who are defined by their own merits and personalities and not by the men who surround them, it’s even more disappointing. Factor this in with the character Caroline being introduced and then unceremoniously killed just for the sake of the episode, and it adds salt to the wound. It’s an immensely annoying portion of the episode, which is such a shame considering that it was one of most enjoyable ones of the season so far in terms of pace, writing, cute moments and a feeling that likened itself to season one. Sleepy Hollow is a great show for female characters, and this one episode doesn’t ruin my opinion, but it does frustrate me.

The main focus of the episode is the Weeping Lady, the aforementioned past love interest of Ichabod, Mary. Mary loved Ichabod, but when Ichabod told her he only saw her as a sister, a friend, her love turned to hate. Borrowing from the folk lore of “La Llorna,” the idea of The Weeping Lady is a tragic one. The original tale says it’s about a woman who drowns her children to earn a man’s love, and when he turns her down, she drowns herself as well. Due to her crimes against her children, she isn’t allowed into the afterlife and is sentenced to finding her children before being allowed peace.

In Sleepy Hollow it’s simply a woman who gets jealous, turns into a literal green-eyed monster, and is now trying to kill any woman who seems to be close to Ichabod. This includes Caroline, with whom Ichabod had found a new friend in their shared interest in colonial history. She attempts to drown Abbie, who is able to fight it off with Ichabod’s help. And then, of course, there’s Katrina, who Mary has just figured out is alive and well and that she and Ichabod are still wildly in love.

Which I’ve still yet to be convinced of, maybe due to Tom Mison and Katia Winter sharing very little chemistry from what we’ve seen and maybe, due to my growing annoyance at Katrina’s character and how poorly she’s being handled. I can guarantee that for most viewers, we’re not tuning in to see what antics Katrina finds herself in, we’re watching to see the Abbie and Ichabod adventures and their battle against evil, and after that, we’re looking for scenes between Abbie and Jenny that help expand their characters.

We’re not tuning in for Katrina, so the show needs to add her into the action, shorten her scenes, or write her some interesting storylines and quick.

Ichabod and Abbie go to rescue Katrina, but by the time they’ve reached the cabin she’s already nowhere to be found. Piecing it together, Abbie realizes that she’ll be at the same river where Caroline was found.

Since Abbie is fantastic, she’s right, and Katrina has been busy using her magic (finally) to escape Mary. Once free, she tells the two of them that they can defeat her by trying to set her soul free, and says that it must have been Henry who raised her from the dead. She says that her and Abbie can recant a spell while Ichabod distracts her. The spell works and Mary is sent off to be in peace, but not before pointing an accusing finger at Katrina.

Katrina is forced to tell Ichabod about a night he never knew about: one where a jealous Mary visited Katrina alone in the woods to spit vitriol at her, and during the argument fell off a cliffside and died. Katrina didn’t want Ichabod to feel guilt over it, so she enchanted her handwriting to look like Mary and penned a letter saying Mary had left for London. She said that Ichabod would have been too distracted for his mission had he known otherwise.

Ichabod is suitably perturbed by all of the lies Katrina has kept from him for the sake of their mission, and they part angrily as Abraham comes to take Katrina away.

The episode ends with Ichabod and Abbie mourning Caroline’s death, with the former mentioning that in order to potentially save the world from an upcoming apocalypse, they’ll need to turn their trust to only each other. They’re all they have. This will likely be made difficult due to the flirtatious scenes between Abbie and Noah, and then the reveal that Jenny and Noah had a thing together but who knows – I’d love it if romantic relationship drama was kept off the show.

The last reveal is that Moloch wants Katrina turned, not killed. She is one of Hellfire’s shards, a chosen vessel of evil. I’m curious to see how they continue her storyline, but I don’t know if writing her to go evil will be the most seamless plot choice.

Fun episode, with some rough patches. What did you think of “The Weeping Lady?”

7/10