Sleepy Hollow was one of Fox Television’s underground hits of 2013. A lot of people scoffed at the idea of a headless horsemen fighting Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) in present day, and the whole fish out of water schtick is so overdone. Yet with such a talented cast available and excellent writing, Sleepy Hollow was/is truly incredible. And if the filled up 3000+ seat Main Stage is an indication, A LOT of people love this show. Not even the absence of main stars Nicole Beharie and Mison could deter this audience. As one of the many “Sleepy Heads” in attendance, here are my Top 5 favorite moments from this exciting panel.
Crane Continues to Despise Modern Customs
One of the most endearing aspects of Sleepy Hollow is Ichabod Crane’s inability to acclimate to this modern society. People love this so much, one of the few questions asked was on the presenters favorite “Crane is Confused” moments. As it turns out, each of them had their own. Jaffrey loves whenever Crane uses his phone and Wiseman went current by picking Crane’s recent trip to the bank, for example. By the crowd’s response to these answers, I’d say they agree with those picks. Goffman assured everyone that this will continue unabated, and even gave us two examples in future episodes: Crane discovers yoga and karaoke.
Everything Is Planned
Outside of it’s kooky humor, Sleepy Hollow is known to have some pretty crazy twists that actually fit perfectly within the narrative. The revelation that Henry Parrish (John Noble) is both Crane and Katrina’s (Katia Winter) son AND the Horseman of War is the leading example of this. But according to the Wiseman and Goffman, every single thing is planned from the beginning. Very little is done on the fly and without any prior intent. This might seem like normal practice, but considering how often shows update episodes as a season is rolling on, it’s refreshing to know that these talented people have it all laid out. And when you consider the insanity that is Sleepy Hollow, it’s even more impressive.
Mental Illness
Mental illness is an extremely hot button topic. A lot of programs have characters suffering from a psychological disorder but very few actually succeed in giving it proper representation. Sleepy Hollow is one of those shows for some. In the first season, Jenny Mills (Lyndie Greenwood) was unanimously viewed as “crazy” before it’s discovered that everything she’s said before about demons is totally true. Recently Frank Irving (Orlando Jones) was put into a mental health facility, and when Crane and Abbie (Beharie) went to visit, the attendee joked that Crane belonged there. Not horrible statements mind you, but not exactly pleasant either.
To prove that they are aware of the criticisms, Goffman exclaimed that he loves how the show’s structure allows them to explore these very serious issues in a fantasy setting. It brings the viewers into something they’ll love while also teaching them an important lesson. Goffman also assured everyone that he will do everything he can to address these very serious issues. With this in mind, hopefully they will do whatever they can to avoid these criticisms for the future.
Bad is Good
During the Q&A session, one fan brought up last season’s Parrish twist to ask how Jones, Greenwood, and Jaffrey would feel if their characters became evil. And wouldn’t you know it, they were all accepting of the idea. As an actress, Greenwood said that she would love the challenge. Jaffrey, a newcomer to the series, questioned why she hadn’t received a call yet to join the ever growing cast of enemies. Jones, however, gave the best response of all.
“I just want to get Moloch pregnant.”
The crowd and cast were so taken aback we all couldn’t help but laugh. Keep mind this was after we already saw the first half of “Go Where I Send Thee… “ which briefly had a brainwashed Irving killing many people with a sword on a burning street while the Horseman of War watched.
Sleepy Hollow and Supernatural Crossover?
Even though Sleepy Hollow is a really bizarre show, a lot of viewers like to compare it to a certain CW smash hit: Supernatural. The shows bear no discernable similarities in cast or crew, but the theme of fighting otherworldly demons and monsters is very much present between the two. So in this time where crossovers happen fairly often, on fan couldn’t help but ask if we’ll ever see a Sleepy Hollow/Supernatural crossover for the “Super Sleepy Heads.”
“It’s come up quite a bit actually,” replied Wiseman. “That would be absolutely fantastic.”
Wiseman made sure to keep fans hopes from getting too high though by saying he had no idea how it would even be possible. Again, Sleepy Hollow and Supernatural exist on different networks and have no behind the scenes similarities. To put the two together in any capacity would be immensely difficult. But it did look like plenty fans were satisfied that the idea was at least tossed around before. And who knows, one day we might watch Crane enjoying a quick episode of Supernatural and commenting on how it’s similar to his current life.
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Luke Kalamar is Pop-Break.com’s television and every Saturday afternoon you can read his retro video game column, Remembering the Classics. He covers Game of Thrones, Saturday Night Live and The Walking Dead (amongst others) every week. As for as his career and literary standing goes — take the best parts of Spider-man, Captain America and Luke Skywalker and you will fully understand his origin story.
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(The photo says Mark Goffman is Phil Iscove….which he isn’t.)
Thanks for the heads up! We actually took the verbiage from the FOX press site, which is weird they got it wrong, too.