Yes, I’m a bit late in sharing my thoughts on “The Kindred” episode of Sleepy Hollow, but better late then never, right? 🙂
Recap
Abbie’s out of purgatory and Team Witness is back together again.
The demon Moloch is up to his scheming ways, and he berates Henry the Sin Eater (aka Jeremy) for mucking up the purgatory job and warns him not to fail again. The headless horseman (Abraham) holds Katrina hostage and taunts her with the fact that Ichabod sprung Abbie from purgatory with a haste that should leave her questioning his devotion to her. There’s a new sheriff in town (Reyes), Irving gets transferred to the psych ward (why didn’t he do that to begin with?) and Jenny went and got herself arrested again. Totally not her fault though–can’t a girl lug around a cache of weapons? Sigh.
As Abbie and Ichabod hash out their rescue plan for Katrina, our hero expresses his concerns over saving his bride and adequately working as a Witness–he thinks he can do both, even though there seems to be some tension there. Abbie and Ichabod definitely got an eyebrow raise from me when they decided their best plan of attack was to raise a Frankenstein-like monster to fight the horseman of death (and Henry’s war armor) while they sneak into his compound and rescue Katrina.
They go through all that trouble just to have Katrina refuse to escape. She assures them she’ll remain a spy at the horseman’s house. The Kindred (Frankenstein monster) sort of rode off, and Team Witness agrees that next time let’s NOT raise a zombie to fight our enemies.
And then Henry shows up and totally jacks Irving.
My Thoughts
The Kindred monster was an interesting idea, though I agree with Abbie and Ichabod that raising a being like that, especially when its loyalties and ability to obey are in question, probably isn’t the best recourse. Sure, going toe-to-toe with the horseman is not easy. In fact, so far it’s been “shoot and run, wait for sunlight” for our characters. Now, if they had gotten back Katrina as they’d originally planned (and Ichabod noted this), they would’ve had a powerful witch (Katrina) helping them.
Now let’s talk about the obvious Ichabbie vs. Ichatrina issue…
I like Ichabod and Abbie as friends, and even at this level they have great chemistry. I enjoy their banter, their trust in each other, and their affection. Sure, in the back of my mind, I think they would be cute as a couple, but we all know how it goes when the hero and heroine get romantically involved. It kills suspense and tension, and then things tend to revolve around their relationship and not the plot. AND, Ichabod’s married…and I’m sooooo Team Marriage. With that said, I’d LIKE to see a passionate, “I’ll fight the Apocalypse for you” love between Ichabod and Katrina, but why don’t I FEEL that way when I watch them together?
Could it be because we didn’t see as much of Katrina except in flashbacks and a few tenuous apparitions (even when she escapes purgatory, she’s kidnapped and separated from Ichabod again)? Could it be that I’m put off by the fact that he sort of stole her from his BFF?
Or, maybe this is a failure of Courtly Love.
Courtly Love is all about falling in love with that unattainable woman who the lover sets on a pedestal and would do anything for. The courtly lover will fight dragons, write love poems, and bring gifts to his beloved just to receive her acknowledgement. Sometimes he loves from afar, and sometimes he’s blessed with her reciprocation.
But the courtly lover does not marry his beloved.
Because in the world of Courtly Love, marriage is boring and the unattainable woman has now been attained. In fact, many classic stories of this nature end in death (Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Iseult, etc.)
Ichabod and Katrina’s love started off in this manner:
- she was engaged to his best friend, thus unavailable/unattainable
- the pendant necklace was a gift to her (he chose it, remember?), a token of his affection
- he had to love her from afar (in a sense) because he couldn’t publicly be with her since she was engaged to Abraham.
And one being in a suspended state and the other in purgatory for a couple of centuries don’t help the relationship.
So how can this be fixed? I’m not sure. I would’ve liked to have seen more fiery interaction in those Ichabod-Katrina flashbacks. And by fiery, I don’t mean physical, I mean emotional and personal. Let her challenge him, wow him, teach him something about himself or the world that makes him in awe of her. Show them enjoying a moment of delicious banter, or Katrina gazing in admiration of him as they crouch in the woods amidst an abolitionist mission together.
Am I right? Wrong? Over-analyzing?
I’ll be tuning in next week though. Dang, Irving, why did you have to sign that document???