Abbie
could’ve easily been a nothing character.
A small-town police officer, she’s mundane compared to Ichabod Crane the
time-displaced Revolutionary War soldier.
Since she’s more reluctant than Crane to believe all this headless
horseman business, there’s a tendency to automatically label her the Scully of
the pair, an important but often thankless role. And yet, she’s awesome. Seriously – I’m a
grown woman, and when I watch Sleepy
Hollow, my brain keeps saying, “I want to be Abbie when I grow up.”
First
of all, as you get to know her, you see there’s nothing mundane about
Abbie. At the outset of the series, she’s
preparing to leave Sleepy Hollow for Quantico; clearly, she’s no flatfoot. Her early actions show her to be driven,
curious, perceptive, warm, and tough (and no, those last two aren’t mutually
exclusive.) And while Crane obviously
has more extensive experience with the supernatural, Abbie’s life hasn’t been
untouched by the freaky and inexplicable:
back in junior high, she and her sister blacked out after seeing a demon
in the woods. It’s an event that had a
profound effect on her life, and she spent a long time getting in trouble as
she tried to bury it.
So,
though she’s skeptical about horsemen of the apocalypse, warring covens, and Crane
being from the 18th century, her newfound partner doesn’t have to
drag her kicking and screaming into the brave new world. Her rationalizations, excuses, and comments
about Crane being certifiable dry up fairly quickly. Granted, she still makes plenty of “you’ve
gotta be kidding me” remarks, but it’s more about acknowledging how bizarre her
life has become than remaining willfully ignorant in the face of blatant
evidence.
As she
starts to believe, it’s in a hesitant but inevitable way; her head wants to
tell her these things can’t be true, but she also can’t deny the things she’s
seen. This is a major adjustment, of
course, especially since she tried so hard to put her encounter in the woods
behind her, but Abbie steps up like a pro.
Before long, it’s second nature to scour scriptural passages or centuries-old
legends for vital information. She stands
her ground against spirits, witches, and demons, and she accepts that “impossible”
is a word that no longer has a place in her life.
Also,
she’s hardcore amazing. The woman has
nerves of steel and a real hero’s heart, she’s a shrewd tactician and a dogged
researcher, and she can more than hold her own in a fight. She’ll put herself in danger for the greater
good, she goes to extreme lengths to help those she cares about, and she
displays tremendous strength and grace when confronting her fears. She’s an honest cop who prefers to keep
everything above board, but she’s not such a stickler that she won’t step outside
the lines when she has to. Plus, she has
a fun sense of humor and enjoys teasing Crane during her frequent crash courses
for him on 21st-century living.
On a
side note, I find it interesting that several characters have expressed
romantic interest in Abbie but, apart from awkward conversations with an
ex-boyfriend coworker, she’s basically untouched by it all. Her focus is on the mission and her
friendship/partnership with Crane, and I never get the sense that she’s a)
angsting about being “unable” to pursue a romantic relationship because she’s trying
to combat the apocalypse, or b) secretly pining for the unavailable Crane. I like that romance isn’t a big part of her
storyline and that lack of romance
isn’t, either – no one’s running around making constant comments about her
being unattached. It’s so refreshing.
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