Sleepy Hollow
Episodes 1-4
The Good Nerd
With all the new genre shows airing this year, it may be overwhelming to navigate them all to find a show worthy of your valuable time. Fortunately you have us at Good Nerd Bad Nerd to help you make those decisions. That is what we are doing right now by telling you that Sleepy Hallow is a show that deserves your time each week.
Sleepy Hallow had a teaser trailer that looked amazing, but didn’t totally communicate what the show would be like on a week to week basis. From those first impressions the fear was that they had a good pilot and maybe a good season but that would be stretching it. At this point I can tell you; this show does not have that problem. Only 4 episodes in and it is clear that this show is a worthy successor to the X-files. In fact I am enjoying this more than I did liked X-files, is that blasphemy? The show does a very good job of laying out a clear path and mission for the characters and it promises to get more and more intense as the show progresses.
A good strategy is nice, but what about the cast, do they sell the premise of the show? The three leads of the show have one of the most difficult jobs for any show currently airing. How do you balance real world, historical, apocalyptic, and mystical drama all in a single show? Before this show, I am not sure I would have said it was possible but the cast pulls it off brilliantly. Our two protagonists Ichabod Crane played by Tom Mison and Lt. Abbie Mills played and Nicole Beharie. These two make the world that we find ourselves in believable, Mison as the out of time Ichabod and Beharie as the skeptical Sherriff with a strange past. Mison does an amazing job showing his confusion and frustration at the “modern world”. While this easily could have been distracting it comes across as genuine and not over used. Beharie is Lt. Mills struggles with what all of us would struggle with logic of “knowing”there is no such thing as demons and witches, and trusting what she sees with her own eyes; that inner conflict is not overplayed and feels real. The third lead is the police chief played by Orlando Jones. His character frustrates me to no end, and I love it. In a town with secrets and evil lurking in the shadows, you don’t know which side is he on. The writers crafted an amazing world, and these three actors brought it to life in a way that I didn’t think could happen.
If I have one complaint it is with the overused plot device that many pilots use. The Sherriff in town investigates a report. While he is investigating he gets killed or incapacitated to the point where he can’t do his job. A new guy comes into town by accident, fate, destiny or some other force. The new guy shows that he can help and he teams up with the Sherriff’s old partner to save the day. Maybe this formula is tried and true, but I am getting a little tired of it. Maybe I am the only one who wants something different, maybe not. Maybe this is the quickest way to get all the characters into place so they can focus more on the story. All I know is it would be nice for shows that have a mystery of the week theme to not use the same old mechanism for getting the players in place. Like I said though, this is my only complaint so far. The writers know where they want to take the story and they are going for broke.
Nothing is held back on Sleepy Hallow. You will either love this world they have created or not. So far everything seems to be top class; the writing, the acting, the effects, all of it. You need to start watching if you haven’t, this is a show that deserves your time!
Sleepy Hollow is on Fox, Monday nights at 9pm.
The Bad Nerd
Be afraid. Be very afraid...to miss this show each week. Simply put Sleepy Hollow echoes the great supernatural shows of the past like X-files and ... Essentially, Ichabod Crane was a soldier in the Revolutionary War under direct orders from General Washington. When he dies and is resurrected 250 years in the future, he must complete his mission to save the world from dark forces prophesied about in the Book of Revelations. It’s haunting and dark, and everything creepy about the 18th century’s superstitious world.
Everything bad is good in this horror-tinged weekly drama, which borrows from history, mythology, and Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The imagery will unnerve the average viewer. Even the cheesy costuming of Crane feels authentic. And the best news of all is that Fox has already renewed Sleepy Hollow for a second season. So, there’s plenty of nightmares left to give. Watch this show, or suffer the consequences...of not being as cool as those who are...??
Bad Nerd: Thumbs Up!
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