Sleepy Hollow - Kali Yuga - Review: "Ichabod-iana Jones"

2.14 - "Kali Yuga"

Directed by Doug Aarniokoski

Written by Sam Chalsen and Nelson Greaves

Reviewed by Gavin Hetherington

Hey, Gavin here with the review for last Monday's Sleepy Hollow. Romain couldn't write the review for this episode as he's really busy so I'm helping out with it. I'll also be previewing the next episode tomorrow and reviewing this Monday's episode and then Romain should be back at reviewing Sleepy Hollow for the last three episodes of the season.

Season Guide

Click on the episode title to be taken to that review of the episode. Advance previews will be linked in paranthesis after the episode titles. Some episodes did not get an advance preview. Episodes 1-13 were covered by Romain Ossust.

2.01 - "This Is War" (Advance Preview)
2.02 - "The Kindred" (Advance Preview)
2.03 - "Root of All Evil"
2.04 - "Go Where I Send Thee..." (Advance Preview)
2.05 - "The Weeping Lady"
2.06 - "And the Abyss Gazes Back"
2.07 - "Deliverance" (Advance Preview)
2.08 - "Heartless" (Advance Preview)
2.09 - "Mama" (Advance Preview)
2.10 - "Magnum Opus"
2.11 - "The Akeda" (Advance Preview)
2.12 - "Paradise Lost"
2.13 - "Pittura Infamante"
2.14 - "Kali Yuga"
2.15 - "Spellcaster" (Advance Preview)
2.16 - "What Lies Beneath"
2.17 - "Awakening" (Advance Preview)
2.18 - "Tempus Fugit" (Advance Preview)

'Kali Yuga' Recap and Review

Maybe I'm Crazy?

At the tavern, the one last thing Ichabod has left to do in the twenty-first century is karaoke. Abbie actually sounds great singing 'Crazy' and it's not a song I thought she'd sing. Jenny has noticed Abbie and Ichabod have been spending less time together as there has been some tension. One of the themes of this season has been the test of their friendship and the Angel fiasco a couple of episodes back really strained that. When Ichabod is looking at the songs to pick for karaoke, Ichabod mentions "Oops, I Did It Again" and is it just me or would we all absolutely love to see Ichabod get his Britney Spears on? Hawley has to go and we get a nice moment between him and Jenny. I actually really dig their little romance. It's really great to see the girls happy. So of course that will not last long.

Hawley arrives at a scrapyard where he meets Carmilla. It's Jaime Murray of Defiance whom I absolutely love! She's the woman who raised Nick and we get some backstory of why he's been a fly on the wall for the past decade. Carmilla needs his help with robbing Theodore Knox's estate. Fort Knox. It's life or death for Carmilla and she reveals she is now a monster! Hawley owes her. Jaime Murray still looks great with black eyes and pointy teeth. Back at the Tavern, it's Ichabod's turn on the karaoke. "Not exactly Billboard Top 100" Jenny says, and she's totally right. It's not exactly the riveting karaoke experience I was hoping for. I really wanted to see Ichabod let loose on some Nicki Minaj or something. Abbie and Jenny talk about Katrina, who Abbie admits was right about the Angel stuff. I do feel pretty sorry for Katrina. She gets so much stick from the Sleepy Hollow community but I quite like her. I understand partly why people dislike her but it's also hard to see the dislike coming from some of the characters in the show.

"Perhaps I should have done the one about the bass. About the bass." - Ichabod Crane

Hawley is a no-show which worries Jenny and they're about to investigate but there's a breach at the Archives. I had a feeling it would be Hawley anyway so they rush there. Everything is a mess and a movement has Jenny chase someone into the tunnels. It is Hawley which confuses Jenny and she still chases him even though he tells her not to. She runs into Carmilla who, after being shot by Ichabod and Abbie, turns full-on monster. Okay, so maybe she's not as attractive in monster mode. I love the costume, it's really freaky. She runs off leaving behind the arrow she was shot with and some very strange-looking luminescent residue. Looks pretty actually.

Can I just take a moment here too to say how much I love the opening credits of Sleepy Hollow. The score, the effects, what happens in it when it begins with Katrina lifting her arms up. So good!

Supercalifragalistic-SleepyHollow-docious

At a court hearing, Irving is being represented by his wife. The judge says the State isn't persuing any charges and with new evidence, Irving will be exonerated. That was really easy. Too easy. Something isn't right there. His wife is really happy until Irving says about going home with her and Macey. It seems to throw her off, and with good reason. At the Archives, Abbie, Ichabod and Jenny discuss the residue where Abbie already had it analysed without them knowing. It can burn through anything, like acid. Ichabod realises Carmilla is a Vetala, an undead human being of Hindu lore that serves the Goddess of death and regeneration. She's crazy fast, inhuman strength and is immortal. There's a small moment between Ichabod and Abbie where they seem to clash over what to do, but it's brushed under the rug. It's going to fester though.

Abbie and Jenny visit McKenna's place. Jenny has picked up on the tension again and calls Abbie out on it but she doesn't think there's a problem. "It's not going to stay small forever Abbie." McKenna comes and they ask him who paid him to set up Hawley. He won't talk, so sisterly love wins out and Jenny makes him talk by smashing his head into a glass display. I love this exchange between Abbie and Jenny, they are a fantastic team of sisters. McKenna blabs that it was Carmilla Pines who Jenny knows as a treasure hunter much more dangerous than Hawley. At the Archives, Ichabod is telling Katrina about Mary Poppins, which is a funny little exchange also. "Miss Poppins seems quite fulfilled." Ichabod says. I would love to see Katrina watch it and get her reactions. In fact, I want to see both Ichabod and Katrina watch every movie I love and see what they think about them. Ichabod sees the charm that the Angel gave Abbie a few episodes back which Katrina reveals that it calls an Angel. Another secret Abbie kept from Ichabod, further distancing the couple.

Abbie and Jenny arrive and reveal the name of Carmilla. Ichabod believes they will be going after Fort Knox as Hawley now has the blueprints. There's a vault filled with supernatural objects. Hawley and Carmilla discuss getting into the vault. Carmilla asks about the people in the tunnels but Hawley dismisses it. Hawley asks what happened to her and a bit more backstory is revealed. Hawley ran when he saw Carmilla kill someone and she went after him, she ended up in Mumbai where a death cult turned her into the Vetala. Fort Knox has an artefact that will return her to being a human. She begs Hawley to help her one last time. "One and done."

If You Like Pina Vetalas, and Getting Locked In a Vault

Ichabod is driving a really fast sports car with Abbie and Jenny. It's Hawley's and they're on the way to Fort Knox. There's going to be an event there so it's a perfect distraction while Carmilla can break in with Hawley. "At all costs, we must stay together" Ichabod says. Will they though? I'm sensing more storm in the friendship horizon. Irving is getting into bed with Cynthia when she voices her concerns, that he was dead. She needs to know if Irving is really there, to be sure that Irving is actually back. Cynthia suggests Katrina could help. Carmilla and Hawley are in Fort Knox when Abbie, Jenny and Ichabod arrive. They see Hawley and Carmilla but Hawley goes inside the house so Jenny follows while Ichabod and Abbie stay with Carmilla.

Unfortunately, a problem arises when Knox notices the bow that Ichabod has and begins to talk about it. Abbie needs him to come but he can't so Abbie goes on without him. Bad move Abbie. Hawley goes inside a room with a very tricky looking puzzle. It begins to open the door to the vault and it's actually really cool. Carmilla is now inside the vault, meaning our band of heroes failed to stop it. Jenny catches up with Hawley and they argue about fighting Carmilla. Hawley agrees to fight her but tricks Jenny and locks her in a room. Hawley says it's for her own good but she's going to be pissed.

Abbie catches up with Carmilla and stays back, watching as Carmilla looks around the vault. She gets a statue and Abbie shoots and misses. Nice reflexes Jaime Murray! She uses her superhuman speed to lift Abbie up by the throat. Ichabod arrives but the situation is dire. Hawley comes and tries to diffuse the situation by negotiating a deal. Hawley says he will stay with Carmilla if he leaves them alone and suggests locking them in the vault. Hawley says he will tell Knox they're in there but they need to get out quick. Ichabod recognises the statue and it doesn't turn her human, it's for a ceremony to turn humans into Vetalas. DUN DUN DUN!!!

Big Brother

Ichabod and Abbie argue over what the plan was, which they seem to have different ideas about. Ichabod is right though, they were supposed to stick together. Being locked in a confined space with someone really does make everything come out in the wash and secrets start coming out, like Abbie's failure to mention the Angel charm. Hawley and Carmilla toast over a victory and Hawley starts saying things like he shouldn't have left and he knows better now. Something is off with that, right? His eyes appear a little scared so he might just be saying that to appease her. We find out straight away actually as Carmilla doesn't believe him. She does something to make him faint and he realises it was a con.

Trying to get out of the vault, Ichabod notices a Liberty Tree on the door. A set of buttons appear that control the hinges. Each knob has a symbol and if they choose wrong, well, we all know what will happen. Thinking they could die, they decide to reveal they were each wrong and forgive each other. It's a nice moment and I hope this will be the last time they will have to "forgive" each other. They better make sure their bond stays intact by being honest with each other. Ichabod has a moment and uses history to press a button, thinking the answer to be iron. It's wrong. Uh, oh!

The wall on the far side reveals spikes and starts to close in on them. They actually look pretty far apart, they could have contorted their bodies to fit between the spikes. Abbie and Ichabod have a Star Wars moment - "they had a robot!" - as they try to figure out how to get out of the mess. Ichabod lists things that Knox loved and concludes with gold and pushes the right button just in time. Phew. I had no idea if they would make it out alive or not (that was a little sarcastic) but it was nice to see Abbie and Ichabod work together under duress to get out of it. Well done my friends, big pat on the back.

Ichabod is NOT going back to Yoga Class!

Outside, Abbie and Ichabod meet with Jenny and they conclude to track Jenny's cellphone which Hawley still has. They arrive at a building and Jenny leaves to patrol the perimeter, leaving Ichabod and Abbie to work together again. "Thank you yoga class." "I'm still not going back." Haha, amazing. The figure out that they can kill the "immortal" Vetala with iron and fire. Inside, Carmilla is performing the ceremony to turn Hawley and another person. Just an observation, Hawley's chest is so hairy! She starts to cut his flesh, which is very traumatic. It appears Abbie and Ichabod are taking forever to get there and save him. Ichabod fights with other Vetalas and Abbie goes in to help. It's a good fight sequence.

Ichabod lights an iron arrow that kills one of the Vetalas. Jenny saves Hawley by fighting with Carmilla but it appears Carmilla is winning until Hawley stabs her. He's about to finish her off but Carmilla dashes away. She may come back at a later point in the show which would be cool but it's a temporary victory for the gang. At the archives, Hawley visits Jenny. Jenny says he has a family in Sleepy Hollow which Hawley appreciates, but he's still leaving. He betrayed her trust and put her in danger so he's going to hunt Carmilla down. This might be the last kiss they ever have, or ever see each other again, so I thought I'd put the photo here for everybody to see.

I knew their happiness would be short-lived.

We end the episode in the Tavern with Abbie and Ichabod as they mend their fences and move forward. They start this new slate with a duet. Hells yeah! They're going to do Proud Mary, which is a good song. "That makes no sense". This is a fantastic moment. I absolutely love it and it's a much better song for Ichabod than the one he sung before. I can now tick the karaoke duet off my "list of things I want to see Ichabod do in the twenty-first century" list. I'd love to see the full thing, but we cut to Katrina and Irving doing that supernatural test. Cynthia is there too and Katrina warns her to stay back. Katrina asks Irving where Henry is as she believes him to still be alive but Irving is clueless. Katrina begins the test by having Irving drink something. Irving has flashes of things he did since signing his soul to Henry. Katrina reveals the magic that bound him to the Horseman is gone. Henry now has no influence on Irving's soul. But when Irving hugs his wife and looks through the window, he has no reflection.

Episode Verdict

It was another good episode of Sleepy Hollow though to me, it wasn't one of my favourites. I was glad to get some backstory on Hawley but since he has now gone (probably not permanently but most likely for the rest of the season) I think there may not have been any point to finding out about him at all. It could have been more interesting and nothing really took me by surprise. I'm confused about the whole Irving being alive thing which I'm hoping we get some clarification on by season's end. With the absence of his reflection, it means that something supernatural is going on, it's just something unrelated to Henry. I'd suggest vampire but he's been out in the sun, so he could be some ghost-like creature or something. Either way, I'm very keen to learn about what happened with him after he died. I enjoyed the several dynamics in this episode, including Abbie and Jenny which we don't see that much, and Abbie and Ichabod which we have seen tested in the past but I think we are now moving forward there since most of their secrets are now exposed and forgiven. I always love the exposure of modern ways to Ichabod and how he deals with them so the karaoke aspect of this episode, while it was predictable, it was such a joy to watch. I'm one of those people who enjoy Sleepy Hollow for what it is, an enjoyable entertaining show filled with the supernatural, so I don't really have any complaints about season two as a whole. I'm still loving this show and I look forward to more.

Irving isn't human any more, right? Do you think we'll see Hawley again? What did you guys think of 'Kali Yuga'? Let me know in the comments and be sure to watch the next new episode of Sleepy Hollow on February 2nd on FOX!

About the Author - Gavin Hetherington

Award-winning author of 'Abyssal Sanctuary: Remnants of the Damned'. Gavin joined SpoilerTV on August 9, 2014 and will be reviewing 2 Broke Girls, Mistresses, Orange is the New Black, Pretty Little Liars and Salem in the 2014-15 season. Gavin's favourite shows include Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, The Walking Dead, Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Scandal and much more. You can contact him at gavin@spoilertv.com.

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