Let’s Talk About Last Night’s Sleepy Hollow

Diving into spoilers in three, two, one…

Okay, I need a minute to vent about the horrific garbage that was Sleepy Hollow’s third-season finale.  I was just disgusted afterwards; I had to go run off some steam at the gym, and when that didn’t help, I had to get ice cream and watch Daredevil hit people for a while.  That helped a bit.

But honestly.  Honestly.  I can’t believe those dickwads killed Abbie.  I mean, I can believe it in the sense that the show practically sidelined her into oblivion last year, so they clearly don’t understand a good thing when it’s being an awesome BAMF right in front of their faces, but I just can’t believe it.  What on God’s green earth were they thinking?  How is it that they still don’t get that the Witnesses are what make this show?  Witnesses, plural.  Crane is great, but the show is Crane and Abbie, plain and simple.  Accept no substitutes.

I hate that she’s killed in the first half of the episode and no one even realizes it’s happening.  Everyone thinks she’s just transported somewhere (not unprecedented for her) and they can get her back.  And when the bomb drops, it’s in the midst of so much craziness, there’s just… It’s awful.  You can’t do Abbie like that.  It’s not right.  I hate the bull they try to pull at the end of the episode about the whole “Eternal Soul” thing, the idea that Abbie’s spirit will be uploaded into a new Witness for the hypothetical season 4 and it’ll be just as good and you’ll never notice the difference.  I hate that Crane and Abbie seemed to be moving toward something that will never happen now.  Yes, I shipped them, but I’m not saying I needed a sex scene or a passionate kiss or a grand declaration of love.  But something, something more than we got.  And not just because I’d have liked to see them together.  Because Abbie was so amazing, and I needed someone to say that in no uncertain terms.  Finally, as lovely as the scenes between her and Crane are when he’s momentarily caught in that in-between place with her, I really hate that she says she’s “done” because she’s taken Crane as far as she can.  The whole point of the Witnesses is that they’re two equal partners and both are vitally needed to combat the coming apocalypse.  To kill her off for nothing and then suggest that her life was all about facilitating Crane’s journey is so gross and reductive and stupid, not worth the dirt on Abbie’s shoes.

Let me try to bring a few modicums of fairness into the conversation.  First, Nicole Beharie apparently wanted to leave the show – and given Abbie’s treatment in season 2, I can understand why – so it’s not like she was thrown under the bus for Teh Drama!!!  Second, it’s hugely in character for Abbie to sacrifice herself to protect others.  It’s not really a season-ender without Abbie leaping into the path of danger on someone else’s behalf, but she’s always come back, and it sucks so hard that she won’t this time.

In the event that the show is renewed for a fourth season, I think I might be out.  And look, I watched all of Dexter.  I stuck it out with How I Met Your Mother until the bitter, bitter end.  I do not quit shows easily, and this would be a huge bummer, because I still love Crane and Jenny’s still wonderful.  But what would be the point?  Abbie was what got me into the show, and Crane and Abbie are what made me stay.  They’re what kept me hanging in there even when things went south, and whether I’ve rooted for them as friends or lovers, they’re the beating heart of the series.  Without Abbie, it’s just… I can’t begin to imagine what they were thinking.