- Directed by John F. Showalter
- Story by Phillip Iscove
- Teleplay by Jose Molina
Catch ‘Sleepy Hollow’ on Fox, Mondays @ 9/8c. Catch up at Fox.com
BEWARE OF SPOILERS
In week three ‘Sleepy Hollow’ has completely left behind any ideas that it may be a simple retelling of the headless horseman and cemented itself as a strong entry in to the realm of occult television shows.
In other news the rating continue to hold strong so if the slippage can remain minuscule for the next couple of weeks it should level out as having a healthy enough audience to keep it on the air for a full season and potentially come back again for a second.
This week Crane and Mills are pitted against the Sandman in a nightmare world. The story brings the focus of the show off Crane and on to Mills, shedding more light on her backstory and fleshing out her character and bringing her sister in to the mythology of the show.
The immediacy that this show exhibits that I spoke about in my review of issue two remains throughout this episode. It continues to feel like a show which knows it cannot dawdle early on if it wants to survive the harsh world of network TV and it continues to work in this shows favour.
The opening dream sequence had me wondering if I’d missed an episode in between or that I’d jumped in half way through and from there the story motored through the story of the Mills sisters missing four days in the woods and the reasons why the Sandman was after them.
I know I’ve compared this show to ‘Supernatural’ already once so far but this again felt like an early season one episode of that show, in fact I feel like I’ve just seen ‘Wendigo’ again for the first time.
This feels like the kind of show where the writers have a predetermined bible of rules and that always helps make for a consistent show.
The acting on the show remains as it was in the pilot, I don’t yet feel we’ve been able to identify any weak link amongst the cast and that’s also a massive positive at this stage in the season. The main cast is small which means that plenty of screen time can be dedicated to the leads and other important characters as well as those all important demons.
The makeup in this episode is outstanding. The Sandman is genuinely creepy and an excellent mix of practical costuming/makeup that is augmented by special effects.
The budget of this show continues to be lavished on it’s visual and audio style and so sets and effects continue to dazzle. The music is again low key in this episode but actually it still shines in a way that felt similar to watching the US remake of ‘The Ring’ for me. The score is darkly gothic and enhances the atmosphere brilliantly again without smothering the story or the visuals.
‘Sleepy Hollow’ continues to be on my must-watch list.
7/10
