Sleepy Hollow – Freedom

By: Stacy Miller

As the episode opens, Ichabod (Tom Mison) rides up to an open field to meet his son Henry (John Noble) for a duel. Ichabod is dressed like the officer he was when he served as America’s soldier while Henry wears the red coat of the British Army. Jenny (Lyndie Greenwood) and Dreyfuss (Jeremy Davies) are acting as seconds.  “Will this war between us ever end Henry?” Ichabod asks. “I will be free of you,” Henry answers taking his shot, but not one damaging his father. “I brought you into this world Henry, I will free you from it,” Ichabod tells his son, his shot proving fatal to Henry.  Jenny and Ichabod awaken from their mythical vision, which tells them that Henry has taken over the mantle of The Horseman of War.

At The Vault, Lara (Seychelle Gabriel) tells Diana (Janina Gavankar) how Dreyfuss had sent her and Jobe (Kamar de los Reyes) there to rob The Vault and that Jobe served as a sort of guardian for her. Lara wants to one day meet little Molly (Oona Yaffe).  Diana realizes that Lara is there on a one-way trip and can’t go back to the future. Alex and Jake (Rachel Melvin and Jerry MacKinnon) uncover that The Four Horsemen are in route to Camp David and they can’t warn the President that Malcolm Dreyfuss has opened the Book of Revelations.  Meanwhile, The Four Horsemen storm into Camp David for the President. Ichabod tells Team Witness that there is only one way to stop Malcolm Dreyfuss. “We have to figure out how to kill an immortal man.”  Lara uses the last of her crystals to summon Jobe to the tunnels below The Vault. Lara tells Jobe that Malcolm used him; he became nothing more than the babysitter of a teenage girl.  Jobe shouts a phrase in Latin before taking his leave. Diana thinks it was an insult, but Ichabod realizes the demon was literally telling them (he and Lara as The Witnesses) to go to Hell to see his master.

So, in Ichabod’s apartment, Lara draws a pentagram on the floor surrounded by five candles. She and Ichabod stand in the pentagram and read the spell in unison when they are interrupted by a knock on the door. It is a workman from Nexus Cable there to install “Itchybod” Crane’s system (Okay, even if you can’t pronounce Ichabod, where is the ‘t’ in the spelling that would make the name Itchybod?)  Ichabod tells the man that now isn’t a good time and agrees to a rescheduled appointment for three weeks from the day, unless the world is engulfed in fiery Hellfire. After he closes the door, Lara and Ichabod resume the spell that transports them to Hell.  For Ichabod, it’s the cold death of the battlefield of Valley Forge.  But Lara is not seeing what Ichabod is seeing. Instead, she sees her younger self in the orphanage she was sent after she was told her mother had died. Hell is the painful memories that they carry, Ichabod tells Lara reminding her that “In this time, I have not abandoned you.  I mean that as a Witness and as a friend.”  They both see a door with the Latin phrase “omnes spes relinquite vos incidents,” translating into “abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” Lara and Ichabod open the door. They meet The Devil (Terrence Mann) himself and Ichabod asks him how to kill an immortal man. Why would he want to kill Malcolm Dreyfuss? The Devil asks; he has a deal with Dreyfuss. Plus, there’s that little thing called an apocalypse Malcolm is doing that will bring him tormented souls. “Shall we strike a deal?” Ichabod asks.

At The Vault, Jake, Jenny and Diana find a map of The Vault in the back of a painting of Washington’s Crossing of the Delaware. Benjamin Banneker (Edwin Hodge) had instructed Betsy Ross be removed from the portrait so her presence there would remain unknown. The map points out a wall that once Diana breaks through yields Team Witness a stash of weapons. Lara and Ichabod return from Hell.  Ichabod tells Team Witness that the Devil gave them something that will help turn Malcolm Dreyfuss mortal again: The Philosopher’s Stone. “If I can get close enough, I can reverse the effects of his immortality long enough to deliver a mortal blow,” Ichabod explains. Jenny tells Ichabod that Banneker hid a trove of magical weapons at The Vault. Crane is positive that as the descendants of Agency 355 they will stand strong and work together to defeat the evil that threatens the world.

Meanwhile, Henry is talking with Dreyfuss and tells him “My father is coming.” Henry recalls how he had once set his sights on an empire only to be bested by Ichabod Crane.  But Malcolm says that only happened because he was alone and Henry is no longer alone. Alex, Jake, Jenny, Diana and Ichabod are on their way to Camp David to stop the Horsemen and Dreyfuss.  Jake can’t believe that before they met Crane, he and Alex were just pencil pushers. “Now we’re at the front lines. So, if this is the end at least we go out strong,” Jake tells Alex, who confesses that he is someone that she can’t live without.  Then, Alex and Jake kiss.  After working together in The Vault for three years, Alex and Jake finally admit that they care about each other; so they really need to stop the apocalypse to see where this goes. Diana tells Lara to be careful. “You may be from the future, but you’re still my baby girl.” Ichabod gives the Team Witness a version of “Go Team” then it’s off to save the world.

Ichabod comments how far Diana has come in the fight against supernatural evil since Demon John Wilkes Booth. They face The Horseman of War a/k/a Henry. Crane throws down his weapon to show his son that he is unarmed.  He asks Henry to talk to him. “Because we’ve been here before, haven’t we,” Diana asks. She doesn’t think that Henry is in there, but Ichabod can see him because of his own time in the Horseman’s armor. We then see Henry through the armor. Ichabod wants his son to ask himself whether anger is worth sacrificing himself to the will of a tyrant. Is it worth sacrificing his freedom? Although Henry tells Ichabod that he will never forgive him, he adds that freedom is a cause that he would sacrifice everything for. And with that, Henry calls a truce between them and walks away. Malcolm notices that his Horsemen don’t appear to be attacking and questions Jobe as to where they are. Diana and Ichabod confront Dreyfuss.  Agent Thomas demands that he release the President (Charmin Lee) or she’ll shoot.  Ichabod moves in closer to Dreyfuss and has The Philosopher’s Stone hidden behind his back.  Malcolm doesn’t take Diana shooting him seriously.  After all, he is immortal so a gunshot is not going to hurt him, right? Dreyfuss is shot. He laughs it off until he realizes that he is not healing.  Malcolm begs Jobe to help him. “I’m sorry Malcolm, it appears that your contract with my employer has come to an end which makes me a free agent,” Jobe says before dragging a screaming Dreyfuss to Hell.  With Malcolm gone, the other Horsemen disappear mid fight with Team Witness. Diana asks the President to be transferred to Agency 355 and requests to bring on additional staff, citing how helpful Ichabod Crane has been. And since Ichabod isn’t technically an American citizen, the President gives him the oath of citizenship.

Lara comes to Ichabod’s apartment to say goodbye.  She’s decided not to meet Molly, but because Molly is no longer a Witness she can have the kind of life Lara never did when she was her age. (Though I would have loved to see the interaction between the two. It’s not every day that you get to talk to your younger self). Lara decides to travel to get her head on straight, but she knows that their paths will cross again. Ichabod then goes to the Thomas house and tells Diana and Molly about Lara leaving after fighting bravely to save the world.

Diana and Ichabod get a call from Jenny about a siren. At the lake waiting for the siren to appear, Diana questions Ichabod about how he got The Philosopher’s Stone from the Devil.  He shows her the burned pentagram on his wrist and admits that he sold his soul. But his years as a Witness have taught him that he can overcome any hardship as long as he has strong people in his life. “I’ll fix this,” Ichabod assures Diana. The monster comes from the lake. Ichabod says it’s not a siren, but a kraken.  He would stake his reputation as a Witness on it.  I guess it’s off to The Vault to gather lore on fighting a kraken. A Witness’ work is never done!