Season 2, Episode 11: “The Akeda”
We knew someone from Team Save the World was likely to die in Monday night’s confrontation with Moloch on “Sleepy Hollow,” and by process of elimination we probably had a good guess whom it would be. But it was still dismaying to see Frank Irving (Orlando Jones) fall during the battle, mortally wounded.
Frank was a well-drawn character, convincingly played by Mr. Jones, who has come a long way as an actor since first attracting public attention on the sketch comedy show “MADtv” in the mid-1990s. Frank hadn’t been seen much this season, leaving his fans to hope that his story arc would re-emerge in a prominent fashion at some point.
Well, it did on Monday, but only long enough for him to play the martyr, killing the Horseman of War but being killed himself. It was nice of Frank to volunteer to take on the Horseman of War so that Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) wouldn’t have to, since that would have pitted Ichabod against his own son. But I’m always wary when I hear one character tell another, “I’ve got this,” because often, as here, that turns out not to be true. Still, maybe we haven’t seen the last of Frank. This series isn’t exactly shy about resurrecting the dead in various forms.
The episode began, as usual, with a pretty good gag as Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie) and Ichabod were speeding toward
the rendezvous with Moloch. Ichabod was consulting a map to determine the distance to their destination, while Abbie was going with GPS. “Forgive me for not trusting an electronic device during an apocalyptic storm,” he told her huffily.
Eventually they had to switch from a car to a motorcycle. It was Ichabod’s first motorcycle ride, and apparently it suited him. “I want one of these as soon as this is over,” he exclaimed as he leaped off the bike at the end of the trip. Then it was down to business: Moloch raised an army of ghouls up from their graves, and the battle was joined.
Except for the duel between Frank and the Horseman of War, it wasn’t actually much of a battle. The way the ghouls evaporated when stabbed or shot seemed borrowed from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” I’m a little hazy on why the killing of the Horseman of War didn’t also kill Henry Parrish (John Noble), since they are one and the same, but a supernatural series gets to play by its own rules.
Frank may not have been the only casualty of the evening. Before the battle, Ichabod and Katrina (Katia Winter) argued and apparently severed their marriage, or put it on hold, or something. Would any of you be upset if this was indeed the end of the Ichabod/Katrina romantic relationship? I didn’t think so.
This episode was billed as the fall season finale. Presumably Season 2 will resume next year. Given that, what do we make of the way this episode ended, with Henry defying Moloch’s order to kill Katrina and instead plunging the sword into Moloch?
Two possibilities that I can see: Either Henry’s better nature has triumphed just as his parents had hoped, or Henry hopes to assume Moloch’s throne of evil. What did you think of the fall finale? Has the series left itself no place to go?