kimberella

On the contrary, he was needed to be a romantic partner for Jenny, as you yourself mentioned, because Jenny is the de facto Abbie replacement, when it comes to be given the complete character treatment, as you cleverly remarked in the unpopular opinions thread: Abbie's sexuality can only be references to the past, that don't even need their own flashbacks, like Crane's romances, because how dare we hope them to be treated equally? It's not that she's asexual. I'm sure they (Goffman, CC...) prided themselves on the fact, that we couldn't call them out on this, because they made sure to give her "A Past". Except that they were completely wrong, as I'm sure they soon realized. In the end, the on screen treatment is the only thing that matters and what is happening on screen is that Abbie is given the working mule without a love life treatment. Another more disturbing idea, that has been proposed (assuming Ichabbie is endgame), is that, besides being a dependable friend and partner, Abbie needs to be sexually pure on screen, to be thought worthy of the White Male Lead. The only man we'll ever see her be sexual with is Crane. Of course, that idea was completely repugnant to me, but I can see why these people, who think that giving her the working mule treatment is okay, could find the merit in this if they are ever forced to write Ichabbie. But back to Joe, his inclusion this season as romantic partner to Jenny was also necessary to dodge any criticism about racism in the writing room. They are pro interracial pairings, you guys! Pity that none of that involves their black lead. Oop!

I'm sorry, but this is not accurate at all. The journalist, who made the announcement on Hollywood Reporter, called her sexy. It was his own subjective opinion. Why would anyone be outraged about that? In SBR's case, it was one of the producers describing Betsy as the one to bring the sexy and the smarts to the show. TPTB described her relationship to Crane as that between Mrs. and Mr. Smith, hinting at a romantic entanglement. They described her as the key to defeat the monsters. All of that has been proved true. I don't care that she has little screentime (is it any surprise after the fan outrage?), so did Katrina at first. She and her relationship to Crane were the first things they decided to promote and hype over everything else to an already traumatized audience. A character, who is clearly a Katrina replacement. The concerns were valid and right on the money, seeing how awful the character is. I don't blame the Ichabbie shippers for giving up. CC admitted he was baiting and switching on them, nothing true or deep to look forward to, which is the same Goffman did. So what if they got tired of getting played? I had already given up on the show, by the time they published that interview anyway. It wasn't enough that Iscove shamelessly described Abbie as a black woman trope. I witnessed that debacle, in which he defended their decision to make her a work horse without a love life, while Ichabod could pursue multiple love interests. Then they had to add insult to injury, by making Abbie a match-freaking-maker for no good reason. Sorry, there is a good reason, they had to use her to sell yet another love interest of Crane's, just like Goffman used her to sell Katrina and the Epic Tru Luv between the Cranes. Gross. That's when I decided I couldn't do it anymore. If I need to be subjected to that narrative, I can watch hundreds of other movies and shows with black women playing little helpers, whose mission in life is to further their white companion's character and romantic development, while they get nothing themselves. Fuck that. It's very telling that I had to wait until a crossover with a show I'm not interested in to see a character tell and show Abbie she is worth something. Workhorse Abbie is not the only problem. They swept under the rug every problematic thing Crane has done, so that they don't have to improve the character and are trying to convince the audience he is great, because every woman (white, of course!) throw themselves at him, this cartoonish character, like he's some sex god. It doesn't seem to be drawing their target audience, as they intended. It could be because it's mindbogglingly stupid. The writers have stopped caring about continuity, world building, not to mention the "bond" between the Witnesses is more unbelievable than ever. They had the chance to turn this show around, but Campbell chose to make an improved version of the same mistakes Goffman did. They chose to die from Crane on the Brain illness. Nothing has really changed. The only improvement, other than Pandora, is the lack of Katrina. That's it. If they don't care, why should I? The show's failure is on them exclusively.

Nice article and all, but I find it too rosy colored, because it still fails to address, why her relationships never happen on screen, while Crane's do. That imbalance can't be erased. Even the author doesn't hide the fact, that Abbie is interested in romance (Luke, Daniel), even if those relationships don't last long. Why isn't this reluctance to be in a steady relationship explored on screen? Both relationships, her feelings and reasons for breaking up happened, when we weren't looking. That is a huge problem. The article is meant as a defense to Iscove's words, but, in the end, it's nothing more than a flowery "black woman that needs no man" defense, which is how Abbie has always been treated and described from the beginning by the producers and now the creator of the show. The article mentions her family drama as primary example of Abbie's complexity, but fails to mention how little screentime it gets compared to anything Crane. I think it's superfluous to mention it as a beacon of light. Even when it comes to Witnessing, Crane wins by a landslide. He holds the past mythology, the present one in the form of the tablet and even the writers have given him the only part that belonged to Abbie, Grace's journal, something Abbie seems to have lost all interest in for no good reason. Abbie's validity has been undermined in virtually every aspect, except when it comes to be Crane's support system, not just when it comes to romance. However, even if the complaint was only about the lack of romantic development, one should always consider the source, who is in charge of the show and how they treat their white female protagonists versus Abbie (loveless/not desirable in comparison).

The "Wait and see!" from Clifton Campbell and Leigh Dana Jackson turned out to be very much like Moloch's "Come and see!" to the Mills sisters, a traumatic and ugly experience. From the moment they announced their best thing ever in the form of Sexy Betsy Ross, it was clear the mindset hadn't changed at all. This is not surprising, considering that the writing room is not that different and that TPTB still live vicariously through Crane. So nothing has really changed. They just split the character of Katrina into two, SBR and Zoe, so on their own they aren't as annoying as that flop witch, but the rest remains the same. They're still ignoring all the issues that sparked the Abbie Mills deserves better hashtag. CC has taken the show's already formulaic writing to new extremes. Crane rants and whines, still as self-centered and entitled as ever, while Abbie smiles benignly to his often harmful antics. Abbie is still treated as a work horse with no right to an onscreen love life. My biggest fear comes from something LDJ said once during his meltdown on Twitter, when he mentioned one of his biggest achievements, when it comes to representation for black women: a black female character kissed the white male lead. Incredible feat, it seems, but now I'm scared that this is, what they are planning for Abbie in the last episode, so that they can consider their hands clean.

But giving Crane other scene partners doesn't threaten the Ichabbie chemistry? No, I don't think that's the reason. IMO, the reason is that in the writing room Abbie is a lesser, who exists to prop up Crane, therefore there is no reason to consider her a woman worthy of respect. Which explains the way Crane treats her, by the way. It's always been like this. Abbie rarely has scenes with other people, that don't include Crane in the room. If you can call that monstrosity a friendship. Not a thing in real life between healthy people. The problem is that the show is not acknowledging any wrongdoing. Abbie is mildly miffed and quickly moves on with no effort on his part. Then again, that seems what the show is trying to say. The hook phase. Once the writers convinced the audience Crane was honorable and attentive, there was no need to make an effort. No matter how horrible he has been to Abbie and everyone else, the shiny armor remains, even though it's hollow inside and it looks like that's the only thing that counts. We only saw that doing that once. I doubt he did it again. He is a narcissistic psychopath. The only thing he has ever cared about is himself and whatever he fancied at the moment. You have this individual, who leaves his "friend" behind without a word for months, probably living off her money, not giving the smallest shit about her, whether she lives or dies... He knows she has a very dangerous job, where she could get killed or get hurt any moment and yet her well-being didn't bother him at all for those long nine months. Amazing. The excuse that he needed time for himself To Heal doesn't hold scrutiny, because she wasn't going to hold onto him and beg him to stay. So he gave her the silent treatment for almost a year for no good reason. Then he came back and contacted her, because he needed her help. Some friend that! I don't see a reason why would Crane ask Abbie what's wrong? So that he can use it against her? She told him her secret about her father and what did he do? Give her comfort? No, use it against her the first opportunity he had. But for some reason Abbie repays him by opening her home to him, by supporting him in every way possible and, of course, by play matchmaker for him, because in this show her main purpose is to prop him up.

I have no doubt, that it's about Abbie being a black woman, not just "a woman". As much as they want to compare this show to The X-Files, this show has nothing to do with it, except that they are genre shows. I prefer to compare Sleepy Hollow to the other shows Orci&Kurtzman have produced and see if this pattern of "respecting" the woman vs. the black woman holds. Alias and Fringe, both shows by the same production team with white female leads. On screen love interests from day one and declarations of love with the male lead 2-3 seasons in. Their latest project, Scorpion, with a white female lead: also no problem giving her a love interest. We have been explaining from day one to all of them: Iscove, A. Baiers, the writers in their general twitter account as well an indivisually, Albert Kim, etc... how problematic and racist it is to turn Abbie into a work horse without a love life. There have been essays and articles written about it. They are professionals in this business, so they are well aware of this and more. They can't feign ignorance. It's a conscious choice to deny Abbie a love life on screen. It's also a conscious choice to give the white women in this show love lives and have people praise their beauty and talk about how special they are. So yes, they do have a problem with their black female lead, a very hideous one.

I'm impressed with Campbell's whitewashing of Ichabod Crane. It's not believable, but I'm giving him an A for effort. They can throw as many the love interests in Crane's general direction as they want, but shouldn't they have learned their lesson and cast these actresses after a chemistry read with Mison? It's getting embarrassing. Speaking about chemistry... Abbie/Daniel for the win! There was no way to fail that one, because the actors worked together before and their chemistry was scorching. I wish they did something similar to the intimate relationship in that movie they did, but unfortunately that's highly unlikely in this show. I don't think I'm prepared to Jenny's reaction, when Abbie tells her about their father. She tends to be self-righteous and have the moral high ground like Crane, but with a little luck, if there is conflict between them, it won't be about shaming Abbie for not telling her immediately, but whether to contact their father or not. I'm crossing my fingers. Betsy Ross *sigh*. I've never seen the actress in anything else, but I feel that Reed could be good in a completely different role. Unlike Winter, who is a personality and acting blackhole, Nikki Reed looks like there is life behind the eyes and at least she is good in action scenes. I'm not saying I am convinced she's a good actress otherwise, but I think that she has potential to be decent in the right role. Unfortunately this is not it. The question is, is Campbell wise enough to limit her appearances/fix the character or will he double down with the awfulness, like Goffman did with Katrina? Pandora is very interesting to watch, but her monsters of the week are underwhelming so far. Campbell has failed to capture the sense of danger and high stakes from S1, and that needs to be fixed. If they are going for a wedding to get the green card for Crane, I think it would be between him and that new love interest they introduced this episode. I still miss Orlando Jones.

One thing I'm sure of is that, had Abbie been the one behaving like Crane did just in S1, Nicole would be without a job by the end of it, because the fans would have crucified her. A MOC wouldn't have lasted much longer and a white woman would have followed shortly after as well. As the white male lead, Crane can get away with everything, the writers know this very well and exploit it. Crane is not original, the television landscape has been littered with such men, Quirky White Jerkwads, for far too long. Crane must be QWJ #5k and I find it exhausting. It's not that I can't be a fan of asshole characters. I have been and continue to be, but the writers acknowledge this and those characters are held accountable. There are consequences to their actions and this is something that's lacking shamefully in Crane's case. Goffman missed that boat so often, that I don't think the character is redeemable anymore. I don't think CC will ever address the Crane mess either. He might try to whitewash the character, tread more carefully and hope for the best, but that only cements the problem: QWJ get away with everything.

Everyone has their own motives to be awful, but that doesn't change a thing. Not the results, not the damage and not the fact that they remain awful. In Crane's case it's even more glaring, because he remained unrepentant and convinced of his moral superiority. Naming Katrina/Henry does nothing to help the character. He was despicable to Abbie, there was no reciprocity on his part to her kindness. That's more than enough good reason for me to hate the character. Blaming the writing and not the character is so weird to me. Crane was an asshole to his partner for one season and a half. That's not a fluke of occasional bad writing, that's character consistency. Crane has always treated Abbie like a lesser and like his servant. She was his private punching bag, while she fed him and paid his bills. Some friendship that!

I hope that's what Daniel is here for, although I'm prepared for disappointment. Something tells me he'll get the Luke treatment.

Narcissistic psychopath. Yep, I see a lot of what's happening in the writing room reflected here. It's not surprising, because the show DOES insist every second on air, that Ichabod and his feelings are the priority, so it doesn't matter what he does or if he's causing others pain. His supposed depression calls for Abbie's feelings to be sidelined and for her to spring into action and make sure he is okay, like he always does with her. Oh wait, he never does! I've even read some comments calling Abbie a bitch for not relenting fast enough. Not here, thankfully, but this kind of mindset is not surprising to me, because the writers are feeding it with gusto. I am over the justifications for Crane. Honestly, I don't care that he left, a trip she probably paid, but it peeves me that he disregarded Abbie once again, when it was convenient for him. He, who insisted way too often about their bond, must have known how it must have hurt her to see someone, she considered a friend, dismiss her very existence like she was nothing. He didn't care once and forgot about her, but then he found his purpose and once again it included that pesky Abbie. Good thing he never has to worry, because, as always, she doesn't matter and accommodating him always comes first. I don't want to be completely dismissive of Crane, but, seriously, I have to be practical here. So let's say poor Crane feels his Manpain deep in his soul, to the extent it must absolutely overshadow everyone else's feelings and it justifies: backstabbing Abbie repeatedly, the dismissal of every concern of hers, neglecting his job as Witness, so that he can be with his wife (but not doing anything to mend that relationship), actively hinder the fight against the apocalypse, let Abbie take care of him emotionally and financially. Wait a minute, something is not quite working here. Even accepting the writers' view that Abbie is nothing but a work horse, whose only purpose is to serve Crane's character, I need to assume she is liked at least a little bit (for my sanity) and no one would like to see her in an abusive relationship, so why would anyone wish a man like him for her, a man, who gleefully invalidated Abbie's vote, after hearing from her the struggles black people had to go through, to get that right for themselves? There is pure malice in this and this is just one example. Poor Crane feels displaced, like he doesn't belong and that's understandable (to a point)... but it's not Abbie's fault! Why does she have to do all the work there? He has done nothing to help in this situation. He's just gone with the flow, enjoying or disliking all the new stuff thrown at him, but he never actively worked hard to adapt. She has been paying his bills. supporting him with her money and her soul, but he never showed any gratitude, willingness to help or reciprocity. She had to juggle two jobs and take care of him and his wife and not once occurred to him to help her with this lot. There are quite a few jobs he could have given a try, a part time job at Starbucks or whatever, but no, that was beneath him. Whining about Katrina was a much worthier pastime, while he let a black woman work hard to keep them all. No wonder those slave-owning founding fathers were his heroes! These aren't the actions of a man, who thinks himself unworthy of Abbie, like some are suggesting as an excuse for his lack of communication. These are the actions of a man, who thinks she is beneath him and his dismissal of Abbie during his walkabout makes more sense in this context. She is not even his type! He has certainly never showed any attraction to her. Those things cannot be summoned at will, just because his One True Love is dead and he needs a warm body to replace her. I just find the idea of Abbie as poor replacement seriously abhorrent.

Tumblr user catlovesmocalike posted this wonderful piece about Nicole Beharie's use of her remarkable acting talents in this season premiere and how hard she's trying to make up for lack of good writing for Abbie Mills. It's rather long, but a very interesting read. A few excerpts: The show has allowed virtually everyone but Abbie to react, to show concern, to withdraw their trust. She must endure like a good black woman, she has to carry the work load and take care of everyone. Shut up and endure. Support horrid people against all sense of self-preservation, because black women's mental and physical health are always at the bottom of the list, when it comes to priorities. Abbie is losing people, who are important to her, in real time. Yet the script insists that Crane is the priority and that her role is to provide comfort for him. She doesn't matter, her main purpose is to support him. The arrow of "friendship" is always pointing in one direction. There is only one main character in this show and the season premiere made it very clear, but I guess that's okay as long as the promise of Ichabbie exists. Maybe it's too soon, maybe not. I consider this episode a declaration of intentions, because even after all the criticism and the changes they promised, this is what they chose to do:

My opinion of Tom Mison is not as high as yours, I'm afraid. I don't think it was a deliberate acting choice. He didn't become a stand-in for Goffman until later in S1 and yet his lack of chemistry with Winter was present from the start. His job was to sell Crane's big love for Katrina, but all he managed was to stare blankly at Winter with open mouth like an idiot, mirroring her. Some actors act up. He acts down. He tends to crumble in scenes with less talented actors. But perhaps there's some truth to the idea that he has trouble doing romantic scenes. He's alright, when he has to hug Nicole and sell friendship, but I shudder to think what he'd turn into if he ever had to kiss her. I have never bothered watching his other work, but other people have and many comments after that awful kiss between him and Reed went along the lines that he is just not good at that kind of thing. This is a clean slate for Campbell, according to him, so I doubt he'll do an effort to fix Crane's past actions and make a friendship or romance with Abbie believable or desirable. As it is now, I shudder to think Campbell could make Ichabbie happen. It would be so wrong! Just because the writers keep giving him a pass and putting him on a pedestal, even through Abbie (trampling all over her character, I must say), it doesn't mean it's not an abusive relationship.

Exactly. You see, that would be fine if he had done anything like that in the past on screen, but all he has done is treat her like dirt and get away with it every single time without apologies. He has always behaved like he's entitled to use her at will and dismiss her, when shinier things got his attention. There is no good reason for me to believe that changed, when we weren't looking. In fact, he displayed the same old behavior in this episode, where he only remembered she existed, because he needed something from her, like the good old narcissistic psychopath he is. What a deep friendship on his side! Such a strong bond! Bros forevah! Please. No, the reason she is cool with him being a jerk to her is because the writers have always been happy to disregard Abbie's character to benefit Crane at every turn. God forbid he's accountable for his actions. That plays into the "strong black woman that needs no man" trope, which says black women are not worthy of romantic love, while white women get rewarded with it, badass or not. Isn't it convenient that the white couple got their Epic Love Story? They can be badass and romantic, at least on paper. Whether it failed or not is secondary to the fact, that Abbie has only been treated as a work horse by the writers and therefore Crane himself. It's funny you mention The Affair, when it's a show about white people and their love stories. All that matters is if Crane falls in love with her? No, not really. That would be ridiculous. Crane has never respected her, even less cared about her as a friend. Where would that mythical love come from? I'm sorry, but it would be forced and completely unbelievable. Abbie is not the kind of woman he'd ever be into. I mean, he keeps romanticizing a past, where he'd have the right to beat up, rape and murder women like Abbie without consequences. His best friends were slave owners. That's the place and the people he belongs with. It's no big surprise he treats Abbie so abysmally. Forget about Crane, what matters though is that Abbie is given a good love story on screen. No exes, no references to what it could have been. It doesn't need to take up much screentime. Just replace those stupidly annoying ichabbie shipper bait scenes, with Abbie and an actual love interest, who respects and appreciates her. She can be a badass the rest of the episode.

Or two women (if I considered that travesty a friendship), yet nobody is calling them sisters or sistas. The show and Goffman have done more than enough to desexualize Abbie and to paint her as undesirable black woman (yes, the show gave her a couple of men interested in her, but creepy sleazy ones), so the term bro applied to her plays into this disturbing dynamic. But isn't that what they did with Crane and Katrina, in spite of their blatant anti-chemistry, romantic or otherwise? Clearly the show has never cared about chemistry or the lack of it. There are tons of people who think Abbie and Crane have sexual chemistry. Personally, I don't think it matters anymore. It's more simple than that. It just doesn't make logical sense to turn them into a romantic pairing, considering the way he has treated her throughout the series. The writers have bent Abbie's character over backwards to accommodate Crane's many betrayals, general ineffectualness and general shittiness, instead of repairing his character. Hooking them up would be gross, she shouldn't be treated like a doormat. Chemistry be damned.