''Sleepy Hollow'' is an American supernatural

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

that aired on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

from September 16, 2013, to March 31, 2017. The series is loosely based on the 1820 short story "

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a gothic story by American author Washington Irving, contained in his collection of 34 essays and short stories titled ''The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.'' Written while Irving was living abroad in Birm ...

", by

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

, with added concepts from "

Rip Van Winkle "Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Dutchmen, imbibes their liquor and falls aslee ...

", also by Irving. The first three seasons are set in a fictionalized version of Sleepy Hollow, New York, which portrays the town as much larger than it actually is. For the fourth and final season, the setting moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In October 2013, ''Sleepy Hollow'' was renewed for a second season with 13 episodes. The season was extended to 18 episodes in May 2014. Early in March 2015, after the second season, ''Sleepy Hollow''

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...

Mark Goffman Mark Goffman is an American television writer and producer. He currently serves as an executive producer for the Netflix series ''The Umbrella Academy''. Prior to that, Goffman worked as the showrunner and an executive producer for CBS's ''Bul ...

left the series. On March 18, 2015, Fox renewed ''Sleepy Hollow'' for an 18-episode third season, with a new showrunner, Clifton Campbell, taking over. On May 13, 2016, Fox renewed the show for a fourth season, which premiered on January 6, 2017. Albert Kim, previously an executive producer on the series, was named co-showrunner for the fourth season. ''Sleepy Hollow'' was officially cancelled on May 9, 2017.

Summary

In 1781, Ichabod Crane works for

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

as a

double agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...

. Crane beheads a Horseman, who doesn't die. In desperation, Crane kills him with a mutually fatal blow. Crane next awakens in 2013 Sleepy Hollow, with Washington's bible to guide him. He meets Sheriff's Lt. Abigail Mills and learns that the Horseman has also returned. Crane learns that he and Abbie are the two

Witnesses In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...

of Revelation, and the Horseman is

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

. Should he regain his severed head, his master,

Moloch Moloch (; ''Mōleḵ'' or הַמֹּלֶךְ‎ ''hamMōleḵ''; grc, Μόλοχ, la, Moloch; also Molech or Molek) is a name or a term which appears in the Hebrew Bible several times, primarily in the book of Leviticus. The Bible strongly co ...

, would be released from

Purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...

and the End of Days would occur. Crane also learns that his wife, Katrina, was a witch, banished to Purgatory for saving him. His blunder has linked his life with the Horseman's. Fighting off Moloch's army of demons, Crane discovers that the Horseman of War is his own son, Jeremy Crane/Henry Parish, who loathes Crane and Katrina for abandoning him. Crane also learns that "Headless" is actually his former friend, Abraham Von Brunt. Crane and Abbie manage to defeat Moloch, but at the cost of releasing everything trapped in Purgatory, including demons looking for a replacement for Moloch. Henry convinces Katrina to side with him and awaken the descendants of their coven, but both are killed by Crane, who is filled with regret and remorse. In the following months, Crane investigates all myths about the Witnesses, learning that Moloch was the first of Seven Tribulations. The second comes in the form of Pandora and her master, the Hidden One, an ancient Sumerian god. Because Moloch is dead (and thus cannot end the world), Crane gives the Horseman back his head, allowing him to destroy Pandora. However, the head is sucked into

Pandora's box Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod's c. 700 B.C. poem ''Works and Days''. Hesiod reported that curiosity led her to open a container left in the care of her husband, thus releasing physi ...

, which is destroyed. This battle costs Abigail her soul. Learning that there will always be two Witnesses, Crane vows to find her replacement and face the last five Tribulations. Relocating to Washington D.C., Crane discovers that the next Witness is a young girl named Molly. Crane works with her mother, Agent Diana Thomas of Homeland Security, to combat supernatural threats until Molly is old enough to help. Crane also allies with Agency 355 agents Jake Wells and Alex Norwood, taking command of the organization as George Washington wished. The third tribulation comes in the form of Malcolm Dreyfuss, who sold his soul to build his business. Dreyfuss seeks immortality for he fears death. After Dreyfuss becomes immortal, he decides to assemble the Four Horsemen, kill the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and take over the United States of America. A woman named Lara arrives from the future that Dreyfuss wishes to create, revealing herself to be an alternate version of young Molly. Because she is in her prime, Lara takes the Witness title from Molly, releasing her past self from the burden. Crane is forced to make a

deal with the devil A deal with the Devil (also called a Faustian bargain or Mephistophelian bargain) is a cultural motif exemplified by the legend of Faust and the figure of Mephistopheles, as well as being elemental to many Christian traditions. According to ...

for a piece of the

philosophers' stone The philosopher's stone or more properly philosophers' stone (Arabic: حجر الفلاسفة, , la, lapis philosophorum), is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold (, from the Greek , "gold", ...

that will strip Dreyfuss of his immortality and send him to Hell. While Lara goes on a journey to discover her place in the world, Crane continues working with Agent Thomas to combat supernatural threats, hoping that he can someday escape his bargain with the devil.

Cast and characters

Tom Mison Thomas James Mison (born 23 July 1982)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''. Ancestry.com; accessed 6 February 2014. is an English film, television, and theatre actor, voice artist, and writer. He has had leading ...

as Ichabod Crane, Esq., soldier of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and Biblical witness. Ichabod Crane also acts as both a Sheriff's consultant and an FBI consultant whilst working with Mills. *

Nicole Beharie Nicole Beharie is an American actress. She is best known for her starring roles in films such as the drama '' American Violet'' (2008), the psychological drama '' Shame'' (2011), the biographical sports drama '' 42'' (2013), and the independent ...

as Abbie Mills, Sheriff's Lieutenant, FBI Agent and Biblical witness (seasons 1–3) *

Orlando Jones Orlando Jones (born April 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for being one of the original cast members of the sketch comedy series ''MADtv'', for his role as the 7 Up spokesman from 1999 to 2002, and for his role a ...

as Frank Irving, Sheriff's Captain (seasons 1–2) *

Katia Winter Katia Winter (born 13 October 1983) is a Swedish actress. She is best known for her roles as Nadia in the Showtime series ''Dexter'' (2012), Katrina Crane in the Fox series '' Sleepy Hollow'' (2013–15), Freydís Eiríksdóttir in The CW seri ...

as Katrina Crane, a witch (seasons 1–2) *

Lyndie Greenwood Lyndie Greenwood (born June 6, 1983) is a Canadian actress best known for her recurring role of Sonya on The CW's '' Nikita'' and being a series regular cast member of FOX's '' Sleepy Hollow,'' playing the role of Jenny Mills in 2013. In 2019, s ...

as Jenny Mills, artifact hunter (seasons 2–4; recurring season 1) *

John Noble John Noble (born 20 August 1948) is an Australian actor. He is known for his roles as Denethor in the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Dr. Walter Bishop on the science fiction series ''Fringe'', Henry Parrish on the action-horror series '' ...

as Henry Parish, the son of Ichabod and Katrina, and the Horseman of War (season 2; recurring season 1, guest season 4) *

Nikki Reed Nicole Houston Reed (born May 17, 1988) is an American actress known for her portrayal of vampire Rosalie Hale in '' The Twilight Saga'' (2008–2012). She became known in 2003, after the release of the film ''Thirteen'', directed by Catherine ...

Betsy Ross Elizabeth Griscom Ross (née Griscom;Addie Guthrie Weaver, ''"The Story of Our Flag..."'', 2nd Edition, A. G. Weaver, publ., 1898, p. 73 January 1, 1752 – January 30, 1836), also known by her second and third married names, Ashburn an ...

, soldier of the revolutionary war (season 3) *

Shannyn Sossamon Shannon Marie Kahololani "Shannyn" Sossamon () is an American actress, director, and musician. She has appeared in the films ''A Knight's Tale'' (2001), '' 40 Days and 40 Nights'', '' The Rules of Attraction'' (both 2002), '' The Order'' (2003), ...

as Pandora, a supernatural entity (season 3) *

Zach Appelman Zach Appelman (born August 5, 1985) is an American film, television and theatre actor. He is known for portraying Luke Detweiler in the 2013 film '' Kill Your Darlings'', Joe Corbin in the television series '' Sleepy Hollow'', and Alton Finn in t ...

as Joseph Corbin, E.M.T., artifact hunter and Wendigo (season 3; guest season 2) *

Lance Gross Lance Darnell Kwaku Gross (born July 8, 1981) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Calvin Payne on the TBS sitcom '' Tyler Perry's House of Payne'' and OWN sitcom '' Tyler Perry's The Paynes''., as well as appearing in other Ty ...

as Daniel Reynolds, FBI Agent (season 3) *

Jessica Camacho Jessica Lisa Camacho (born November 26, 1982) is an American actress. She is known for her recurring role as Gypsy in The CW superhero series '' The Flash''. Camacho also starred on the second season of the NBC drama series '' Taken''. Early ...

as Sophie Foster, FBI Agent (season 3) *

Janina Gavankar Janina Zione Gavankar (; born November 29, 1980) is an American actress and musician. She is trained as a pianist, vocalist, orchestral percussionist and majored in theatre at the University of Illinois Chicago. Her roles include Shiva on ''The ...

as Diana Thomas, Homeland Security Agent (season 4) *Jerry MacKinnon as Jake Wells, research analyst at Agency 355 and The Vault (season 4) *

Rachel Melvin Rachel Melvin (born February 9, 1985) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Chelsea Brady on ''Days of Our Lives'' (2005–2009) and as Penny in ''Dumb and Dumber To''. Early life and education Melvin was born in Elmhurst, ...

as Alex Norwood, engineer at Agency 355 and The Vault (season 4) *Oona Yaffe as Molly Thomas, Diana's 11-year-old daughter, and Biblical witness (season 4) *

Jeremy Davies Jeremy Davies (né Boring; born October 8, 1969) is an American film and television actor. He is known for playing Ray Aibelli in ''Spanking the Monkey'' (1994), Corporal Upham in ''Saving Private Ryan'' (1998), Snow in '' Solaris'' (2002), Bi ...

as Malcolm Dreyfuss, a billionaire tech mogul, who is seeking out mystical artifacts (season 4)

Development and production

The pilot episode was filmed in Gastonia,

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

, and

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. The rest of the first season and the second season were filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina. The third and fourth seasons were filmed in

Conyers Conyers is an Atlanta suburb, the county seat of and only city in Rockdale County, Georgia, Rockdale County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The city is 24 miles (38.6 km) east of Atlanta, downtown Atlanta and is a part of t ...

and Lawrenceville,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, in the metro Atlanta area. Aerial footage for the series is filmed over the actual village of Sleepy Hollow and the surrounding

Tappan Zee The Tappan Zee (; also Tappan Sea or Tappaan Zee) is a natural widening of the Hudson River, about across at its widest, in southeastern New York. It stretches about along the boundary between Rockland and Westchester counties, downstream fr ...

region of New York.

Episodes

Broadcast

''Sleepy Hollow'' airs simultaneously on

Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

in Canada. For the third season, the show moved to

CTV Two CTV 2 is a Canadian English-language television system owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. The system consists of four terrestrial owned-and-operated television stations (O&Os) in Ontario, one in British Columbia and two regional ...

. In India, the series premiered on September 24, 2013 on Star World Premiere, where it ran for the first three seasons before moving to the network's sister-channel, Star World, for the final season. In Australia, the series premiered on September 17, 2013 on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

. The series was moved to Eleven on January 13, 2014. In the United Kingdom and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, the series was acquired by the

Universal Channel Universal TV, formerly Universal Channel, is an international pay television network specializing in movies and television series in the thriller, drama, comedy, horror, crime and investigation genres, owned by NBCUniversal International Netwo ...

, which premiered it on October 9, 2013. The second season debuted on October 15, 2014 and the third season debuted on October 22, 2015. Season 4 premiere on Syfy February 22, 2017. In

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, the second season began airing on

M-Net Edge ''M-Net Edge'' was a channel broadcast by South African pay TV Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television se ...

alongside the network's launch on October 20, 2014. In

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, the series aired on Channel 3 every Thursday night starting November 26, 2015. By mid-year,

Ion Television Ion Television is an American broadcast television network owned by the Katz Broadcasting subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998, as Pax TV, focusing primarily on family-oriented enter ...

acquired syndication rights for the

series and was broadcast on June 6, 2017. As of July 2020, it ceased running on

and currently airs on syndication on

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

and

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

Reception

''Sleepy Hollow'' has received generally favorable reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the first season holds a rating of 77%, based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Despite its overstuffed plot, ''Sleepy Hollow'' is a fun romp with exciting action scenes and sparkling production values." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

the first season has a score of 64 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Verne Gay of ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'' commented that although there is "nothing scary here", the show is "fun enough". Robert Bianco of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' gave the show 3 out of 4 stars. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'', which originally doubted the premise of the show, gave the show a B+ after seeing the first half of the first season, citing the Crane & Mills' chemistry and the show's surprisingly fun mythology. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' called ''Sleepy Hollow'' one of 2013's Ten Best new shows. The series premiered on September 16, 2013 to 10 million viewers with 3.5 rating/9 share which was double the amount that Fox's ''

The Mob Doctor ''The Mob Doctor'' is an American television drama that aired on Fox from September 17, 2012, to January 7, 2013, as a part of the 2012–13 network television season. The series was created by Josh Berman and Rob Wright and is based on the boo ...

'' brought in at the same time last year and marked the network's highest rated fall drama premiere since the 2006 police drama '' Standoff''. In Australia the first episode had 597,000 viewers and in the United Kingdom the same episode had 527,000 viewers. In the real Sleepy Hollow, New York, the local newspaper has regularly enumerated the many fanciful fictions told about the village, including its labyrinth of Revolutionary-era tunnels and a vast increase in population (from an actual 2010 census of 9,870 to roughly 144,000 reported in the show). On Rotten Tomatoes season two has a rating of 100% based on 15 reviews. The consensus reads, "''Sleepy Hollow'' continues to pack a punch in its sophomore season, with fantastic writing and lots of chills." Season Three had a rating of 55% based on 11 reviews, with the observation, “(The) third season retains …the invaluable chemistry between leads Tom Mison and Nicole Beharie, but this go-around shows signs of strain as it attempts to further flesh out a mythology that isn't substantial enough for viewers to lose their heads over.”

Ratings

Awards and nominations

Other media

''Sleepy Hollow'' had a crossover with the eleventh season episode of fellow FOX series ''

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, a ...

'', "The Resurrection in the Remains" and concluded with former's third season episode "Dead Men Tell No Tales". Two official tie-in books were released in September 2014. The Secret Journal of Ichabod Crane, written by Alex Irvine, is an in-universe journal covering the events of the first season from Crane's perspective. Sleepy Hollow: Children of the Revolution, a novel written by Keith R.A. DeCandido, is set between episodes ten and eleven of the series.

Boom! Studios Boom! Studios (styled BOOM! Studios) is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Origins In the early 2000s, Ross Richie and Andrew Cosby had been working in Ho ...

released two comic book

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...

from 2014-2015, Sleepy Hollow and Sleepy Hollow: Providence, and a one-shot Sleepy Hollow: Origins comic.

Home media

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sleepy Hollow (TV Series) 2013 American television series debuts 2017 American television series endings 2010s American crime drama television series 2010s American horror television series 2010s American mystery television series 2010s American police procedural television series American horror fiction television series American action adventure television series American fantasy television series English-language television shows Demons in television Fox Broadcasting Company original programming Historical television series K/O Paper Products films Fiction about purgatory Television about magic Nonlinear narrative television series Serial drama television series Television series based on short fiction Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television shows filmed in Georgia (U.S. state) Television shows filmed in North Carolina Television shows filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina Television shows set in New York (state) Witchcraft in television Works based on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Works by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci Television shows featuring audio description Television series created by Alex Kurtzman Television series created by Roberto Orci