Sleepy Hollow – Loco Parentis

By: Stacy Miller

Rosa Rodriguez (Julia Vasi) is visiting the grave of her brother Manuel when she is attacked by a wolf-like creature that claws her to death.  Meanwhile, Ichabod (Tom Mison) is in a toy store and picks up a talking action figure Captain Beast of Smash Force.  He reads the description on the box to Diana (Javina Gavankar).  It seems that Captain Beast and his team defends the universe against the forces of evil.  Sounds very much like Team Witness, should he collect all five? Ichabod comments on how the selection of toys is very different from when he was a child. “Dolls that speak, robots that transform, putty that is just silly,” Ichabod notes. Far different from the wooden hoop and stick he had as a child.  Diana and Ichabod are shopping for a birthday present for Molly (Oona Jaffe) who is turning eleven years old. Alex and Jake (Rachel Melvin and Jerry MacKinnon) won’t be at the party (which means that they won’t be in the episode) because they are at a training.  Diana comments how hard it is shopping for Molly because it’s an awkward age, she’s growing up from childhood but not yet a teenager. Plus, there’s that whole being one of the two Witnesses thing.  Diana suggests that she continue to fight the monsters for her daughter, but Ichabod reminds that there’s a reason that there can only be two Witnesses. Their conversation is interrupted when Diana gets a call about a body found at Arlington National Cemetery. Is evil about to rear its ugly head?

Jenny (Lyndie Greenwood) is searching the ruins of the explosion that destroyed The Philosopher’s Stone and finds the cracked Blessed Lantern.  She runs with it back to the tunnels below the Archives in Sleepy Hollow, draws symbols on the wall while chanting a spell and puts the lantern in the middle of a salt circle.  Not a moment too soon as Jobe (Kamar de los Reyes) is freed from the lantern.

Ichabod is caught by Molly trying to hide her birthday presents in the closet.  He helps Molly with her history homework.  She questions Ichabod about them being Witnesses, how are they supposed to help people and why were they chosen?  Ichabod would rather wait to answer Molly’s questions when her mother is home, but tells Molly to always trust her instincts.  They are interrupted when the doorbell rings. The man asks Ichabod whether Diana is home and says that he is an old friend.

At Arlington National Cemetery, Diana looks at the body of Rosa Rodriguez.  In Rosa’s chest cavity is stone that would only happen after naturally occurring petrification which takes thousands of years. So, this is probably a case of supernaturally occurring.  Diana receives a phone call from Ichabod and goes home to find Molly riding a hover board.  Diana greets Molly’s father Mitch (Bill Heck) with an uncomfortable hug.  They have a cup of coffee and talk about how Molly hasn’t seen her dad in two years.  Mitch tells Diana he respects her decision to raise Molly alone and calls Diana an excellent mom.  But after a few close calls, Mitch is evaluating his life and his priorities and at the top of that list are she and Molly.  He stresses that he doesn’t want to intrude on her parenting, but would love to spend some time with she and Molly.  This gets Mitch an invite to Molly’s birthday party.

Back in Sleepy Hollow, Jobe tells Jenny that the wards won’t hold him forever; she caught him by surprise during their last battle, but he assures it won’t happen again. Jenny arms herself with a crossbow. She intends to figure out what weakness a demon spawn like Jobe has. Greater warriors than she have tried says Jobe. “I’m not a warrior, I’m a demon hunter,” Jenny tells him.  Jobe realizes that Jenny is experienced in the ways of demons because she’s had a demon invade her body.  We get a flashback from Season One episode “The Vessel” where August Corbin tried to rid a demon from Jenny.  She realizes Jobe is trying to goad her into making a mistake, which won’t happen.  Jenny taunts that they beat him and his boss Malcolm Dreyfuss (Jeremy Davies). Jobe tells Jenny that Malcolm isn’t dead. Jenny questions Jobe about his loyalty to Dreyfuss.

Diana talks with Ichabod about her history with Mitch as they go to the VDH Medical Examiner’s office to look at Rosa’s body.  There have been other attacks, one in Sleepy Hollow after The Philosopher’s Stone was destroyed.  Ichabod learns from a phone call from Jenny that Malcolm Dreyfuss is alive and because The Philosopher’s Stone has the power to change forms “That means Malcolm Dreyfuss is the beast we seek,” reasons Ichabod.  Back at The Vault, Ichabod checks the library looking for a wolf creature due to the scratch marks on Rosa’s body while Diana goes to meet Mitch for coffee.  At the coffee shop, Mitch tells Diana he wants to be a father figure to Molly.  Diana gets a phone call and cuts coffee short.

Returning back to the Archives, Diana tells Ichabod that she received a call about another murder that happened a week ago in Plymouth Massachusetts.  This means that the theory that the beast is Dreyfuss is incorrect.  Ichabod uncovers a book that talks about a beast called the Barghest that the Pilgrims unwittingly brought over with them on their ship as they traveled to Salem. The Barghest preyed on young girls.  We get a flashback of The Barghest killing a young girl named Mercy Bradford (Aurora McBeth) after disguising itself as her father Captain William Bradford (Brent McGee).  The Barghest was the inspiration for the tale of Little Red Riding Hood.  The creature was eventually subdued and buried under an enchanted rock, Plymouth Rock. As the Barghest disguises itself as someone trusted that the girls know and remembering that Mitch had time left on his tour, Diana makes a call and learns Mitch is still in Afghanistan.  Meanwhile, Mitch (The Barghest) arrives at the Thomas house and asks Molly whether she wants to go for a ride.  Diana and Ichabod rush to her house and find Molly missing.  Ichabod tells Diana that the Barghest preys on Witnesses, but won’t do anything to Molly until she turns eleven years old at midnight. Meanwhile, Molly realizes that she’s not with her father when he doesn’t remember that he didn’t get her a bike last year for her birthday.  Molly says she has to go to the bathroom so the creature pretending to be her father stops the car.  Because she is a very smart little girl, Molly escapes through the bathroom window, but the Barghest realizes she’s missing and takes off through the woods after her.

Ichabod tells Diana that Molly’s sketching of supernatural symbols is what tracked the Barghest to Molly.  Ichabod calls Jenny and she makes a deal with Jobe:  If she lets him go, Jobe will help her find the creature. Jenny reluctantly agrees and gives the location information to Crane once she gets it. Diana and Ichabod find the rental car Mitch/The Barghest was using abandoned and the opened window in the bathroom.  Meanwhile, the Barghest sheds its Mitch form and adopts its true nature.  Molly hides in a cave, but the creature finds her and tries to reach inside.  Fortunately, Diana and Ichabod arrive with their crossbows just in time and shoot the creature, killing it.  Diana comforts Molly.

Later at Molly’s birthday party, Ichabod assures the little girl that as Witnesses any danger that they face, they face together. At Dreyfuss Industries, Malcolm makes his reappearance.  He tells his employees that he knows he looks the worse for wear, but he has been born again and the birth process is a difficult one.  Malcolm ushers everyone out of the room.  When he is reunited with Jobe, Malcolm tells his number one demon, “I swear to you that I will not rest until this world is born again.”