Slight more coherent thoughts on the Sleepy Hollow Finale:
Tuesday, January 21st, 2014 08:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
retsukoFirst of all, obligatory freaking out to get out of my system: NO NO NO NO AUGH EVERYONE IS IN TROUBLE OMG OMG CLIFFHANGER AUGH!
Ahem.
Better now. I must confess that I really do like this storytelling trope where *all* the characters are pushed to their limits and grow and change because of the challenges, but I do HATE it when it takes cliffhanger form. It's also (for lack of a better word) nice to see that the writers aren't afraid to have all the characters fail or risk losing everything and lose a lot.
All that said, I will say that the fannish part of me who just wants to watch Ichabod introduce Katrina to modern pastries, spa treatments, and movies, while Abbie and Jenny grin knowingly in the background and have meaningful, sisterly discussions, is rather crushed at the moment.
I was especially impressed at the way all the families in this episode were, essentially, made completely dysfunctional, and much of the horror stemmed from that idea that family might not be the thing that saves the day.havocthecat had a great entry recently where she made the point that the show is about two families mending their troubles (Abbie reconciling with Jenny, Irving becoming a better father and possibly husband to Macey and Cynthia, respectively) in order to make a third family whole again (Ichabod and Katrina, and their son, although all hopes of that are dashed now.) The tests that Abbie and Ichabod faced in Purgatory were essentially watching their family structures fall apart all over again: Abbie's adopted family turned poisonous (and may I just say, that black goo oozing out of the apple pie was disgusting) and then horrific (Brooks begging Abbie to spare him torment for the second time that evening was pretty hard to take, although serious props to John Cho for imbuing his character with a perfect mix of menace and desperation), and Ichabod's father rejected him for a second time. But the ultimate horrors was that the third family, the Cranes, could not be mended at all, and the agent of their torment was their own child.
It's this betrayal that gives the most lingering, slow burn of horror. In retrospect, Parrish's interest in Abbie and Ichabod now seems calculated and creepy, rather than the reluctant ally he was initially presented as. But the idea that he spent more than two hundred years underground, hating his parents for apparently deserting him, and then finally joining the only side that actively offered him aid, is an awful, sad one because it represents the unintentional yet complete failure of a family to protect its own. 'Sleepy Hollow' has poked at this idea a little bit before, with the recurring theme that Abbie somehow abandoned Jenny by lying about what happened in the forest. However, with the revelations about Jenny's trials over the years and her active decision to leave Abbie alone, and the further revelation last night that Abbie was missing a fundamental piece of her memory largely absolves her of any guilt. Instead, Ichabod and Katrina, regardless of what their intentions were, left their son behind, and now they're paying for that mistake in the worst way. The breakdown of the family unit is both the agent of its demise, although possibly the key to its salvation (at least, I hope so.) I would hope that the eventual solution to this particular set of conundrums involving Jenny getting up, dusting herself off (because I really don't buy that she's actually dead--injured, certainly, but not dead), helping Irving out of his legal troubles, and then with his help somehow finding Ichabod. I highly doubt that Abbie and Katrina will remain damsels in distress for long; Abbie isn't one to let the grass grow under her feet, and having Katrina in peril for yet another season would be poor storytelling, since she's been stuck in Purgatory so long. My greatest hope for the story, though, is that Ichabod and Katrina will be reunited, and have a chance to rebuild their shattered family structure.
On a separate, non-spoilery note, I have never hated commercials as much as I did during the second half of this show. Every exciting moment, every turn and twist of the plot, was ruined when we cut to a car or campaign ad. I'm starting to think that I would actively patronize companies that presented TV shows without commercial interruption.
Ahem.
Better now. I must confess that I really do like this storytelling trope where *all* the characters are pushed to their limits and grow and change because of the challenges, but I do HATE it when it takes cliffhanger form. It's also (for lack of a better word) nice to see that the writers aren't afraid to have all the characters fail or risk losing everything and lose a lot.
All that said, I will say that the fannish part of me who just wants to watch Ichabod introduce Katrina to modern pastries, spa treatments, and movies, while Abbie and Jenny grin knowingly in the background and have meaningful, sisterly discussions, is rather crushed at the moment.
I was especially impressed at the way all the families in this episode were, essentially, made completely dysfunctional, and much of the horror stemmed from that idea that family might not be the thing that saves the day.
havocthecat had a great entry recently where she made the point that the show is about two families mending their troubles (Abbie reconciling with Jenny, Irving becoming a better father and possibly husband to Macey and Cynthia, respectively) in order to make a third family whole again (Ichabod and Katrina, and their son, although all hopes of that are dashed now.) The tests that Abbie and Ichabod faced in Purgatory were essentially watching their family structures fall apart all over again: Abbie's adopted family turned poisonous (and may I just say, that black goo oozing out of the apple pie was disgusting) and then horrific (Brooks begging Abbie to spare him torment for the second time that evening was pretty hard to take, although serious props to John Cho for imbuing his character with a perfect mix of menace and desperation), and Ichabod's father rejected him for a second time. But the ultimate horrors was that the third family, the Cranes, could not be mended at all, and the agent of their torment was their own child.It's this betrayal that gives the most lingering, slow burn of horror. In retrospect, Parrish's interest in Abbie and Ichabod now seems calculated and creepy, rather than the reluctant ally he was initially presented as. But the idea that he spent more than two hundred years underground, hating his parents for apparently deserting him, and then finally joining the only side that actively offered him aid, is an awful, sad one because it represents the unintentional yet complete failure of a family to protect its own. 'Sleepy Hollow' has poked at this idea a little bit before, with the recurring theme that Abbie somehow abandoned Jenny by lying about what happened in the forest. However, with the revelations about Jenny's trials over the years and her active decision to leave Abbie alone, and the further revelation last night that Abbie was missing a fundamental piece of her memory largely absolves her of any guilt. Instead, Ichabod and Katrina, regardless of what their intentions were, left their son behind, and now they're paying for that mistake in the worst way. The breakdown of the family unit is both the agent of its demise, although possibly the key to its salvation (at least, I hope so.) I would hope that the eventual solution to this particular set of conundrums involving Jenny getting up, dusting herself off (because I really don't buy that she's actually dead--injured, certainly, but not dead), helping Irving out of his legal troubles, and then with his help somehow finding Ichabod. I highly doubt that Abbie and Katrina will remain damsels in distress for long; Abbie isn't one to let the grass grow under her feet, and having Katrina in peril for yet another season would be poor storytelling, since she's been stuck in Purgatory so long. My greatest hope for the story, though, is that Ichabod and Katrina will be reunited, and have a chance to rebuild their shattered family structure.
On a separate, non-spoilery note, I have never hated commercials as much as I did during the second half of this show. Every exciting moment, every turn and twist of the plot, was ruined when we cut to a car or campaign ad. I'm starting to think that I would actively patronize companies that presented TV shows without commercial interruption.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-22 09:36 am (UTC)And . . . my husband had to get up at 3 to do snow clearance, and I felt bad for him so got up to give him tea and moral support, so I have no more brainpower than that at the moment.
ETA: OK, now I am more awake. (And why??? I am in bed and not teaching today and should be curled up going back to sleep . . . ) One of the nicest things I saw in my latest foray onto Tumblr was a cartoon where Henry/Jeremy is talking like a teenager and saying to Ichabod "I don't care, I'm going to hang out with my friends! Moloch is the only one who understands me!" Which has an element of truth to it -- Moloch has offered him something whereas his own parents seem only to have abandoned him, from his perspective.
Katrina's magic seemed to be getting stronger, so hopefully she will be able to rescue herself from Abraham/Headless. Show, please give her some agency.
I know what you mean about your fannish side feeling a bit crushed at the moment -- all of the fic I wanted to see has been sidelined, and fix-it fic is just going to be jossed when September comes, so there's not much I can see myself writing except maybe Abbie & Corbin backstory.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-22 03:26 pm (UTC)Ha ha, that cartoon sounds awesome and definitely on point. If Moloch is a metaphor for addiction/poor life choices/rock 'n' roll music, then it makes all the more sense.
My hope that is Katrina's magic is somehow linked to the Earth (at least, if she's Wiccan, that makes sense in some small way) and that the more time she spends back on the mortal plane, the more powerful she gets; her batteries charge up, and she blasts Bram away. I cannot imagine how a conversation between them is going to happen--I mean, his head is in a jar! Since this isn't Futurama, I assume some sort of magic dream sequence will need to happen, at the end of which she'll say something like, yeah, not gonna happen and get away from him in short fashion.
My policy with fanfic is write whatever the heck you want anyway, but I understand the reluctance to try something new that will only be overruled by canon.