Sleepy Hollow – Dawn’s Early Light

By: Stacy Miller

One of the best things about “Sleepy Hollow” is its use of Ichabod Crane’s (Tom Mison) Revolutionary War time past as a tool to aid Team Witness in their efforts to defeat what entity they are facing in the present. This wasn’t more prevalent than in the episode Dawn’s Early Light with the mystery of George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware and Betsy Ross’ flag.

As the episode begins, The Hidden One is punishing Pandora (Shannyn Sossamon) for her betrayal in not telling him that The Witnesses had the Emblem of Thura. How dare she keep such important information from someone as powerful as he? Didn’t she know that “Hell hath no fury like a God scorned?” He tells her to clean herself up and the punishment will continue later. Yes, the one thing a cruel God hates is to see a dirty and bruised body when he’s punishing because HE prefers to make the body dirty and bruised.

Meanwhile, it’s awkward family reunion time. Ezra Mills (James McDaniel) stops by to see Abbie (Nicole Beharie) and Jenny (Lyndie Greenwood) and brings photos from their childhood. Aw…the Mills girls were such sweeties. Looking at the pictures makes Jenny so misty-eyed that she runs straight into her dad’s arms. Ah, no. This isn’t the Hallmark Channel or some sappy movie of the week in which all is forgiven. Jenny harbors deep resentment towards her father and suffers from abandonment issues. Seeing the photos makes the resentment grow as it reminds her that he wasn’t there for them.

The thick tension in the room is broken when Ichabod arrives saying something about the wonders of fast food fried chicken. I love Ichabod as he continues to be in awe by the 21^st century, which makes him endearing. After a brief introduction to Mr. Mills, Ezra leaves.

Later, Ichabod finds Pandora lurking and is all ready to shoot first, forget the questions. Pandora is looking for The Other Witness (Abbie) because she needs to get the piece of her box back to reassemble it in order to stop The Hidden One (Peter Mensah). As she tells Ichabod, “It was forged by the Gods themselves in order to contain their power.” The Hidden One’s wrath is at an all-time high. If he’s not stopped, humanity will be destroyed quicker than you can ask, “What happened?” But Pandora’s box can’t be fixed – only regenerated in the catacombs.

Ichabod shares Pandora’s information with Abbie, who’s not thrilled about the idea of possibly journeying back to the place of her year-long captivity. But Ichabod remembers something about Betsy Ross (Nikki Reed) and Paul Revere recovering The Eye of Provenance for Washington, which happened to be located in the catacombs and how Betsy found a way out of there. Ichabod recalls the last time he saw Betsy was Christmas Day in 1776 as Washington’s forces were preparing to launch an attack on The Hessians. Ichabod was peeved because he was allowed to join the mission and lost sight of the party as he watched from the shore because of the thick fog. A mystic fog perhaps? What if George Washington and troops weren’t actually going to cross the Delaware, but trekking to the catacombs? Hey, if “Sleepy Hollow” wants to change history let’s add more intrigue and excitement to this well-known fact.

Team Witness studies a painting in the archives of Washington’s famous crossing and Ichabod spots a figure hidden in the shadows, which he surmises is Betsy. Could she have been aboard the boat? He also remembers her sewing an early American Flag and wonders whether the gold thread used for the stars could have been a way to map out a path to the catacombs. They realize they need to get that flag to find out.

So, it’s off to Paul Revere’s old home in Boston, which is where the flag is kept. And also where we get a hilarious mention of Hamilton The Musical when Ichabod is peeved and shocked that there is a musical about Hamilton. “The man had a voice like a stuffed goat. Seriously, that’s why he wrote so many pamphlets because no one could bear to listen to him speak.” Once located, Ichabod identifies that the flag is a counterfeit because Betsy always used a cross-stitch. When he touches the flag, a creature created by the Sisterhood of The Radiant Heart called “The Eternal Soldier” arrives. Ichabod reasons that Paul Revere must have assigned the creature to protect Betsy’s flag. Great, in addition to finding Betsy’s real flag, they must now avoid a demonic guard dog determined to hunt them down. And, the clock is ticking.

Abbie sends Joe (Zach Appelman) and Jenny pictures of the flag and after researching they determine the holes in the flag aren’t bullet holes. They are actually musical notes that are the keys to “The Star Spangled Banner” written by Francis Scott Key, long after Washington’s crossing of the Delaware. Joe and Jenny share their findings with Abbie and Ichabod. Francis Scott Key was a mason who learned about The Eternal Soldier from information passed down from generations so he would have also known how to avoid it when he took the original flag. The songwriter of “The Star Spangled Banner” smartly hid the real flag’s location in the line ‘But our flag was still there.’ The real flag is at Fort McHenry in Baltimore.

Agent Reynolds (Lance Gross) interrupts the trip when he angrily confronts Abbie because he got a call from the historical society about Paul Revere’s home being trashed. And, of course, Abbie can’t say, “It wasn’t us, but a guard dog demon.” Speaking of which, The Eternal Soldier then appears and begins hurling his fire balls. Agent Reynolds is shocked when shooting it does nothing. After escaping from The Eternal Soldier, Abbie tells Agent Reynolds that what he saw was a “Hell Spawned Demon” and all about their ever looming supernatural fight.

Back to The Hidden One and Pandora, she tells him that The Witnesses are stronger because of their bond, they care about each other when he only cares about power. The Hidden One is tired of Pandora’s insolence and vows he will destroy the humans by sundown tomorrow. “If you want to live among the humans, you can die with them,” he seethes.

Reynolds questions Sophie (Jessica Camacho) about her knowledge of the supernatural. I’m not sure how I feel though about every character on “Sleepy Hollow” knowing the truth, as I don’t want Reynolds and Sophie joining in on every mission. I like the original core of Team Witness.

Back at Fort McHenry, Ichabod and Abbie find Betsy’s flag. They face off with The Eternal Soldier again who is defeated by Joe and Jenny’s use of liquid nitrogen and a sledgehammer. Yay team!

Back at home, Abbie and Reynolds talk some more about the supernatural and share a kiss. Ezra comes by Jenny’s motorhome and brings her a gift, the taffy he used to buy for her and Abbie when they were kids. This leaves the door open for them to have a chance to get to know each other.

Abbie meets Ichabod at Memorial Park at dawn and they realize that when dawn’s early light hits the gold thread on the flag, the path to the catacombs is shown. “Are you ready to go back Lieutenant?” Ichabod asks Abbie.

Only two more episodes until the end of the season. I can’t wait to see the final battle with The Hidden One and how it all ends!