Miss Dee

*sigh* It's time to take refuge in here again. I'd never say that SH doesn't have issues and couldn't improve, but it is NOWHERE as bad as it was in Season 2. In fact, I'm enjoying it a good deal.

I'm not sure it is playing peekaboo. I think it's more like they're not going to ring that bell just yet, but neither do they want us to forget the bell is there so that we're still invested when they do start ringing.

In my opinion, we do not know yet if SH is going to get cancelled. In the meantime, the writers still have to make a story and this is not the one they want to tell just yet. If that means they don't get time, I will be sad but it is their story and their perogative. I am content with a slow burn as that is my favourite kind of story. I like the buildup and the slow, patient construction of a foundation. And in my opinion, Ichabod is not going to become brain-damaged and Abbie is not going to become monosyllabic. I don't believe holding out hope for a slow burn requires anyone to accept this as the only possible creative choice open to the writers.

It's not meaningless. He said it's something they're not *actively* pursuing - in other words, it's not a plot point yet. His next comment goes as follows: In other words, it's not off the table and it's going to be a slow burn if and when it does happen.

As I said, absolutely a perfect illustration of "grooming" and definitely creepy to our modern ears. But as you stated yourself, he waited until she was of proper courtship age - in other words, an adult. If he'd been a pedophile, Emily as an adult would have held no interest for him. I have no doubt that if Dean was based on behaviour LMM witnessed between young girls and older men, then in real life the girls were molested. But in her story, Dean doesn't molest Emily. I don't think there's even subtext to indicate Emily was molested at any point. She does state once in Emily Climbs that for a "crazy moment" she thought Dean might kiss her; she would have been 15 or 16 at the time. But he didn't.

Welcome LeoSwag! It's so much fun to talk about Sleepy Hollow when it's going well; please join in on the fun!

Yay!

You know, I could see this? The way Abbie is dressed is not how Ichabod has been conditioned to see a sexy, desirable woman, even though I'm sure she'd have to beat everyone else away with a stick. L'il Bo Peep might have been quite strategic in her course of costume (who are we kidding? Of course she was), because while she was just intending to match his love of history, that's actually closer to the type of women's attire that would get his attention in his own culture. Put Abbie in a long flowy dress and his eyes would probably fall out. With the exception of the middle of Season 2 (which tried everyone's patience), this is a show worth watching if you liked Ichabod. And Abbie is awesome. And we need viewers so this doesn't get cancelled, so please consider it! :)

I loved reading those script pages! If they cared that much throughout the entire episode, this crossover should be a hoot.

Bailey, I'm not sure you would consider his presence to be so large that it outshines Lucy Liu. Then again, you might find that you like Jonny Lee Miller and Jon Michael Hall.

I haven't watched the clip in question, so I'll reserve judgment on the nudity, but I agree Tom Mison looks completely different without the goatee - much more nebbishy and square. I fervently hope he keeps it because there's no way he'd look like the Ichabod we know and (mostly) love without it.

That told me there have been other witnesses. I'm guessing there's something about Ichabod and Abbie being from 2 different times that will make this stick.

Aw, get better soon phoenics! I was wondering where you were.

Should we start an Overarching Mythology Theories thread for this kind of speculation? So we can have fun with it all in the one place? My hat is thrown in the ring for Tony Todd, Michael Dorn or Avery Brooks. I think Dorn is the frontrunner for me; for a guy whose biggest role is a Klingon, he has such a gentle manner about him for such an imposing size. I love the idea of him being the Elder Guide figure on this "quest", maybe someone who's devoted his life to studying this stuff and that plants into why he suddenly abandoned the family. And that way we'd have another plausible window into past events without Colonial! Crane having to encounter it previously with Betsy every single time they meet a monster.

I'm sorry, I'm still processing Ichabod caressing Abbie's arm. Yowza. I'll come back later when I'm coherent.

HalcyonDays, is that a happy crying face or a wink? :)

Re. The ScreenSpy teases in the media thread: The potential Ichabod/Brennan and Abbie/Booth partnerships sound *so promising*! I'm crossing my fingers hard that this doesn't disappoint! ETA: Blackhoney, I really appreciate the way you did that review. I'd like to know ahead of time what I need to know to steel myself ship-wise, but I don't actually want to be spoiled for events. That was a great read. And I'm in agreement with you on Jenny and Corbin!

I thought Cuoco's non-verbal acting was on point this episode; I loved a lot of her reaction shots. I also felt like I learned a bit about fencing! Say what you want about Kripke, but he's a decent instructor. I too loudly clamour for old-school Stuart.

Ouch, potatoradio. As someone who has had to deal with those issues, occasionally at the same time, I really felt for you there!

Maybe so. I'm not well-versed on the various ways disease can spread. In any case, I can see Ichabod choosing to inject himself with malaria if need be because his previous exposure offered him the best chance of survival, and that works for me as the writers trying to write a coherent plot.

I've heard people fanwank that last one. HalcyonDays pointed out that strains of such diseases do exist in labs and the like. It's not hard to imagine the FBI having some or being able to procure some. Abbie can bull her way through it and she is friendly with the lab tech there from the first episode. Convince Ichabod to bat his baby blues at her as well, and there you go. In addition to HalcyonDays pointing out that malaria is not all that dangerous nowadays, Ichabod in his ailing state at the end mentioned about soldiers developing resistance to such diseases throughout the war; presumably he was one of them and he reasoned he'd pull through if there was no other way to stop Knifey (TM the Game of Thrones boards). Finally, people on other boards have pointed out that if a guy entered a hospital with a stab wound, ethically they would have to treat him first and ask questions later. Once he was stabilized, then they'd phone law enforcement. So if there was a friendly FBI agent on the scene to say," He's in my custody; release him to me once he's stable and send the bill to us", the hospital would probably leave it at that. So while not plotted with the deftness of an Agatha Christie novel or anything (and that bit about the knife hilt *was* an error, unless someone caught something the rest of us missed), I'm comfortable believing the writers did try to reason most of this through. Of course, these explanations depend on Abbie using her FBI resources in what are most probably unlawful ways.

I didn't really see him as a pedophile. He had no real interest in child Emily but recognized an adult Emily would be a woman he did want, so he waited for her. That said, I think you could use a lot of illustrations from that storyline to explain the notion of "grooming" in a teaching situation.

I agree; we only saw the blonde lady from the killer's POV. It would make sense that she would come across as a object rather than a live person. I'm not sure that was deliberate though. I wish we could have had an interrogation scene with Abbie so she would come across as a person; then it would have been apparent that the objectification from the killer was meant to be deliberate. LOVED the look between Abbie and Ichabod when she told him that "American" sounded good on him. If that had happened exactly the same way between Castle and Beckett in early Season 3, there'd have been 30 pages on TWoP about it by Friday and endless media speculation. Not to mention we'd all be 75% convinced by now (excitedly or angrily) that an endgame romance was in the works. *sigh*

I really liked this episode. I wasn't expecting Crane to get stabbed; I really did find that shocking. Loved the ending. They really go to town on the lighting for Pandora. It's effective, beautiful and creepy all in one. So is Abbie afraid Ichabod is going to abandon her, or that one of these days he's going to succeed in killing his damn fool self?

You nailed it - it's so different than anything else on late night. I can't stay up to watch it but I'm PVRing it now.