Sleepy Hollow Review: Episode 2×09 - “Mama”

Nicole Beharie, Lyndie Greenwood, Aunjanue Ellis, Orlando Jones

Hawley, Katrina

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Acting

A+

Plot

A-

A+

Writing

A-

Character

A-

A+

BOTTOM LINE:

This episode deserves multiple awards, particularly for the performances of the Mills family.

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The Mills Sisters Give Us Everything We Needed

A string of apparent suicides in Terrytown Hospital is happening in Sleepy Hollow, and it’s up to Abbie Mills to solve the case. She enlists the help of Jenny due to her experience/expertise with Terrytown and Ichabod must stay behind, having come down with a case of the sniffles. The suicides are indeed caused by a supernatural force and Abbie and Jenny find themselves reunited with the last spirit they expected - that of their mother. With all these old wounds reopening, saving the patients of Terrytown will be no easy feat. Meanwhile, Katrina must tend to baby-Moloch, dragging her feet all the while towards what needs to be done to save the world. Will she be able to get it done? Is Lori Mills responsible for all these suicides? Could this be Sleepy Hollow’s finest episode yet? Let’s discuss.

Aunjanue Ellis and Orlando Jones: Double The Excellence

Though this was very much a Mills-Sisters episode, both Lori Mills and Frank Irving proved to be strong sources of dramatic content, too. Abbie and Jenny initially believe their mother is haunting the hospital and causing people to kill themselves. Strong special effects are utilised throughout the episode, including when Lori makes her appearances. Flickering lights, shaky cams, and sound editing all enhance her ghostly presence. Aunjanue Ellis gives just the right amount of emotionality, without ever using so much hysteria that would detract from the impact of her delivery. Ellis had the task of not only playing a ghostly spirit but a younger Lori Mills, alongside Abbie and Jenny as children. The writing was strong but even more so with Ellis’ brilliant portrayal of a woman being tormented by demons while her daughters (and the world) are left thinking that she is just another mentally ill person. The anguish and fire in this performance was so powerful that we would gladly welcome another appearance from Aunjanue Ellis.

“How many times do I have to tell you? They may not even be your so-called friends. These demons have no mercy. They’ll use any possible way to hurt you, to take you from me! The only defence we have is to think like them. Remember what Mama told you. But it’s all right now, come here. Remember what Mama told you?” ~ Lori Mills
“Eyes open, head up, trust no one.” ~ Abbie, Jenny, and Lori (in unison)

Finally, Frank Irving was given actual material after numerous episodes of little to none at all. He offers some insight at the beginning of the investigation, namely that the first victim was doing better in his sessions and was keeping up with taking his meds. The true tormentor and cause of the suicides, a ghostly apparition named Nurse Lambert, tricks Frank into taking some pills that make him open to suggestion and pushes him to take his own life. Orlando Jones absolutely nailed Frank’s tormented state. It was such a creepy scene with the whispered voices coming in and out and when Frank was pulled out of the water, begging to be left to die, we were left devastated. We’re so thrilled that Frank made his escape at the episode’s end because now he will have his agency back. We can’t wait to see Frank not only working alongside Team Witness right where he belongs, but fighting to get his soul back.

Baby Moloch Literally and Figuratively Leeches

Katrina has returned to Henry’s lair in some attempt to employ her nonexistent spy skills, after having a vision in which she and Team Witness learned that baby-Moloch wasn’t actually banished and is now alive in their world. Tonight, Henry pushed Katrina to employ some mothering to this baby and then became petulant when she did just that. Katrina has a vision of sorts recapping everything we already knew about baby Moloch and his manifestation into the real world, as well as the fact that the necklace she is wearing is enchanted. She finally decides she must kill baby Moloch, collects some Devil’s Breath, prepares it into a poison, but upon going to administer her concoction instead discovers that baby Moloch has now had a growth spurt into a young child.

“It seems you possess the maternal instinct after all.” ~ Henry

Despite the fact that baby Moloch being in the real world ups the stakes for Team Witness, overall this plot point fell flat, particularly when being interwoven with the Mills-Sister story which was compelling and gripping from start to finish. The sequence with Katrina’s vision made little sense to us, as hardly any of what she seemed to see was new information with the exception of her necklace being enchanted. But if she’s as powerful a witch as the writers have had Ichabod repeatedly claim, shouldn’t she have already sensed the magic within the necklace to begin with? Or are we to believe that the charm allowing her to see Abraham’s human spirit was sufficient enough to shield it? Admittedly, we enjoyed the special effects/design done on the demon-baby’s true form. It was just as creepy and unpleasant to look at as we hoped it would be. But even if this vision was enough to shake Katrina out of her enchanted state, why couldn’t she have just tossed the baby out of the window or against the wall or stomped it to death? Sure, some might have considered this display a bit gratuitous but in regards to plot, the way Katrina approached trying to take out baby-Moloch made little sense to us. In this form, it was at its most vulnerable yet she dragged her feet in taking care of business. We also didn’t understand the sequence with her having a vision because she initially didn’t seem to react to having it, making us wonder if she was having it at all, as she smiled eerily cradling the leechy-baby-Moloch. It wasn’t until she noticed the discoloration of her skin, a result of baby Moloch suctioning her with its mouth(?), that she seemed to get moving. Putting aside this weakly executed plot, we are interested to see how Team Witness will handle this fast-growing Moloch.

The Mills Sisters Save Everyone

There was so much quality with the Mills Sisters’ story in this episode, as Nicole Beharie and Lyndie Greenwood reminded us of why we watch this show. This was undoubtedly the strongest material we’ve seen all season, but possibly in the show’s entire run. So much of the pain in Abbie and Jenny’s lives stems from the difficult upbringing they had under a mother whom they had thought was mentally ill and incapable. The strength exhibited in these characters by them confronting this part of their life head-on exemplified much of why we admire them so much. There was strong writing throughout this story, such as Abbie’s admitting her fears about ending up like her mother and Jenny’s willingness to confront her time spent in this institution just to help Abbie and others from ending up dead, too. We loved the introduction of this family journal that goes back to the Mills bloodline all the way to West Africa and the amount of back story presented. We got a deeper glimpse into the childhood of Abbie and Jenny, thus strengthening our impressions of who these characters are, and there was a nice touch from director Wendy Stanzler in which the Mills sisters hold hands as they prepare to watch footage of their mother in her final days, echoing the hand-hold seen in the flashbacks as they stood face-to-face with their mother as she raved about demons.

“As much as I loved Mama, most of my earliest memories involved me being scared.” ~ Jenny Mills
“We know the reason she was unstable. Maybe this can help us understand it all more. I don’t know but, we do this together, like we used to when things got bad.” ~ Abbie Mills

This was a very heavy episode, due to the subject matter having so much surrounding depression, mental illness, and suicide, but Nicole Beharie and Lyndie Greenwood infused so much warmth into their performances and profoundly moved us. The Mills sisters get closure on one of the most difficult parts of their lives, and plead with their mother not to go after she gives them guidance on the mission ahead against Moloch and tells Abbie that she is destined to win this war. This scene between mother and daughters was so beautifully done, due in large part to Beharie, Greenwood, and Ellis’ performances. These ladies were so powerful that as Lori bid her daughter goodbye and they pleaded with her not to go, we were reduced to tears. The swelling score and warm lighting only served to amplify all of what these actresses were emoting, culminating in the highly cathartic, standout scene of the series.

FINAL VERDICT

This is probably our favorite episode of Sleepy Hollow to date. Director Wendey Stanzler did some beautiful work incorporating the flashback sequences, which were both heartbreaking and beautiful, into a well-written arc for the Mills Sisters, courtesy of Damian Kindler, that gave equal parts back story and character development for our most favorite heroines. The only weak part of the Mills Sisters’ story was the presence of Hawley. He did absolutely nothing to contribute to the story and they did not need him even once, unless you consider holding a flashlight and wrestling with a closed door meaningful contribution. The overall style of the episode had a stronger horror feel with its use of flickering lights, ghostly voices, and baseline terror level, but never at the cost of the dramatic material. Nicole Beharie and Lyndie Greenwood gave exquisite performances, even more so when Aunjanue Ellis was present. Orlando Jones also gave a commendable performance and we hope that writers will give him further opportunity to showcase these abilities. This is the Sleepy Hollow we’ve been waiting for and it proved that the focus should not be on Crane family drama but on the Mills Sisters and Team Witness as a whole battling the Apocalypse.

Questions, Comments, Concerns…

Crane is literally a child and it’s not so cute anymore…
YES! FINALLY JENNY IS BACK NO DON’T YOU EVER LEAVE HER OUT OF AN EPISODE AGAIN!
Don’t you try anything, Walter. These ladies will take you down without breaking a sweat.
AND IRVING’S PRESENT TOO, TEAM WITNESS IS COMING TOGETHER AND I WILL YELL ALL ABOUT THIS. #TheWayItShouldBe
Finally we get more information about Abbie’s pains and vulnerabilities and I am so weepy #Brava #NicoleBeharieOwesMeTissues
Mills Family Reunion trifecta! I am here for this!
Precious baby Mills sisters are too adorable ^o^
These poor girls had no idea what was truly brewing with their mother </3 </3
Ew, no, no more Hawley. No more Hawley ever. *rolls eyes*
NO, NO MORE CRANE FAMILY DRAMA NOT WHEN THERE’S MILLS MYTHOLOGY TO EXPLORE
Katrina, you fool, you should have punted that thing out the window.
Ghostnapped!
Do not trust that nurse. Everything about her is reading shady.
MILLS SISTER FOREHEAD TOUCH! MY EMOTIONS!
Oh hell no Nurse Lambert don’t you dare lay your dirty demonic hand on my precious Irving I WILL END YOU
I’ve got 99 reasons to love this episode but Hawley ain’t one #WhyAreYouEvenHere #BothBasicAndExtra
MAMA MILLS LITERALLY FOUGHT HELL TO TRY TO KEEP HER DAUGHTERS SAFE I AM LITERALLY CRYING
Irving is out! Irving is out! I AM SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW THE REAL TEAM WITNESS IS FINALLY INTACT *MORE YELLING*
Told you you should’ve punted the baby out the window. You should have listened.

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Sleepy Hollow Review: Episode 2×09 - “Mama”

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Jenevia Kagawa Darcy

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About the Author

Jenevia Kagawa Darcy

Full-time student, part-time writer, part-time Youtuber. Particularly fond of Jane Austen, Hayao Miyazaki, Marvel, fantasy/sci-fi, and conventions. Aiming to challenge content creators to put forth better depictions and representation for minorities.

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Sleepy Hollow Review: Episode 2×09 - “Mama”