Top 5 Best Episodes of 2013: Episode #4...

Sleepy Hollow 1.01 – “Pilot”

I started hearing rumblings about Sleepy Hollow in August and I literally decided to tune in to the premiere when I saw a taxi promoting drive past me one day. I liked the look of the two stars.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I tuned in to the premiere with my sister but by the end of the pilot, during which we had laughed, screamed and went aww, we were both hooked.

Sleepy Hollow has had stronger episodes this season than the pilot but it was this episode that caused this potentially gimmicky show to completely captivate me.

Ichabod’s resurrection in modern upstate New York immediately had me hooked. He looked so damn scared and confused surrounded by police cars and sirens! And Abbie… Abbie was immediately perfect.

She’s professional, intelligent, funny, understanding, compassionate, tough, and really, really good at her job.

A great deal has been written about Tim Mison and Nicole Beharie’s chemistry. I’m not going to repeat what critics and fans have said except to say that I haven’t enjoyed watching a pair’s friendship and mutual respect evolve like this in ages.

 

Sleepy Hollow’s pilot showed us a man from the 18^th century who did not doubt a woman’s ability to do her best in a traditionally male-dominated career. Once she explains that she is a Lieutenant and he must listen to her, he does. I don’t think I can stress enough how important and awesome it is to see a (seemingly extremely traditional) white man completely defer to a woman of color. Ichabod respects Abbie utterly and totally. And Abbie spends the pilot (and the rest of the season) repeatedly demonstrating why she deserves that trust. Her introduction to Ichabod may be my favorite start to a partnership in recent memory:

“I am a black female Lieutenant for the Westchester County Police Department. Do you see this gun? I'm authorized to use it. On you.” 

The only moments that come close to being as perfect between the two are Ichabod’s faces when he a) realizes Abbie is planning on leaving Sleepy Hollow and b) Abbie is staying. My heart!

Aside from Ichabod and Abbie’s awesome and adorable partnership, the pilot gave us plenty of suspenseful and downright scary moments (oh God, JOHN CHO!), a fun reimagining of Christian theology and American folklore, and humor. Ichabod’s struggle with modern technology could have been overdone for cheap laughs but it was used just enough to make us giggle and endear us to him without being overplayed.

The shocking ending of the episode, however, was what made my sister and I know that we were going to keep tuning in. Like I said earlier, I’ve enjoyed other episodes of Sleepy Hollow more but this was not only the best pilot I’ve seen this season, it captivated me enough to know that Sleepy Hollow would be one of my absolute favorite new shows on television. 

All images copyright FOX