Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Episodes: 18
Duration: 42 minutes (per episode)
Sleepy Hollow: Season 3 (DVD) – Series Review
For years now, detective series tend to reign supreme on many commercial channels, as they are easily accessible for everyone and more than often, they don’t put your grey matter to the test. Once in a while there’s an original attempt of doing something new, as was the case with Forever, which sadly got cancelled after the first season. That aside, we head back to the legendary town of Sleepy Hollow, to solve cases involving the supernatural. We fast-forward several months from the events of the second season, where Ichabod and Abbie haven’t spoken in months.
Months have passed since the tragic events where Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) lost his wife and son, as they both turned to the dark side (no pun intended). While averting the apocalypse, the loss of his family caused Ichabod to need some time for himself to process all that has transpired. When he finds himself locked in a prison cell for trying to import undocumented relics, he calls Abbie (Nicole Beharie) to come bail him out. Abbie has also moved on from the events, as she traded her job at the local law enforcement for a more exciting job at the FBI. Even though she misses the bond she had with Crane, she hopes she can leave the past behind her, as she has seen more than enough monsters for an entire lifetime. Sadly, Ichabod has not been sitting by idly, and has discovered that their role as ‘witnesses’, did not stop when they stopped the spawn of hell, Moloch.
As expected, there’s a new demonic presence lurking in the shadows, namely Pandora (Shannyn Sossamon), who we know from Pandora’s box, the box that contains all the evil of the world. She indeed follows the main concept of this legendary tale, and has a box, which contains the world’s most vile demons, who she then slowly starts to unleash upon Sleepy Hollow. The horrible incidents that unfolds may involve the witnesses, but in reality Pandora is trying to revive her love, an omnipotent god named ‘The Hidden One’ (Peter Mensah), a deity that was known for its cruel behavior. Fending off demons is one thing, tampering with the divine will prove to be a different task altogether.
The series follows the typical formula like the first two seasons, where one red thread runs through all episodes, while the witnesses and their allies tackle cases which are usually cracked in the course of one episode. In many ways this means you’ll get to see a new monster per episode, which is often based on legendary figures or demons we have seen for the umpteenth time, with an original Sleepy Hollow twist added to them. Even though everything remains qualitative and interesting, this season feels a bit like ‘been there, done that’, as it may look as if the story just underwent a reboot, with a new enemy in the shadows. Again, this isn’t really a bad thing, but to some it may seem that the series is just being dragged out.
Overall the cast hasn’t gone through any considerable changes, thus you can expect more of the same, guaranteeing you a qualitative experience. Tom and Nicole still play the perfect counterparts, with enough natural chemistry between them to make you wish they would just let their characters come to terms with their feelings. This season has a few new faces, namely Shannyn Sossamon, who plays Pandora, and Peter Mensah, who plays ‘The Hidden One’. Both play their supernatural roles quite good, and play out the role as the new nemeses of the forces of good perfectly.
Sadly, the special features on this DVD release of Sleepy Hollow don’t do the otherwise fancy looking box set much honor. All you’ll get are deleted scenes and a gag reel, and while the latter is an actual gag reel, instead of an acted one where the actors are just acting silly for the sake of it, it just feels like an underwhelming batch of bonuses.
Conclusion
Sleepy Hollow: Season 3 will still be a delight for fans of the first two seasons, but in many ways the season is just clamping to a new bad guy to drag it out further, which seems to be the norm nowadays. Nonetheless, the continuation of this new story direction does not interfere with the story and acting quality, allowing the series to run strong. If you’re fond of the supernatural, a hefty dose of British accents, a healthy dose of humor and of course the peculiar town of Sleepy Hollow, you’re still in for a treat.
No Comments