Last week, I watched the first season of Sleepy Hallow.
Way back in the early '90s, Chris Carter was dismayed that there was nothing scary on television. So he created the X-Files.
Since then, we've had Fringe, which openly acknowledged itself as heir to the X-Files, and now there are a dozen or so shows on network and cable TV that center on the idea of the supernatural. They range from creepy (the Strain) to campy (American Horror Story), silly (Once Upon a Time) to stupid (The Walking Dead).
Sleepy Hallow is the latest entry to the genre and it's pretty good.
The premise is that Ichabod Crane was a British soldier who joined the rebellion, became Washington's right hand man and died on the battlefield after beheading a Hessian soldier. He was buried by his wife, Katrina, who was a witch. Hexes placed on his tomb caused him to rise again when the Headless Horseman (the very same Hessian) appears on earth again. The Horseman is not just a bogeyman; He is the first of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, here to bring about the end times. All of this, George Washington and the Founders knew, so the American Revolution was not merely a bid for Independence from the Crown, but an attempt to create a society that would fight to prevent the end of the world.
How's that for Pro American programming?
Better than that, the show is well written, has several very interesting characters, isn't afraid to be politically incorrect, is frequently extremely creepy and sometimes laugh out loud funny. Plus, the two leads, Crane and his partner in the sheriff's department, a young black woman, are charming and very easy on the eyes.
There were, naturally a few moments that couldn't help but remind me that this is still a Hollywood production. For instance, a scene in which Abby (the deputy) asks Crane what they were thinking when they wrote the second amendment. The two of them are being chased off private property by the gun wielding owners. I found it out of character for Crane not to point out to her that without the right to bear arms, such property owners would be at the mercy of armed state officers like herself, not all of whom were acting in the interests of holding off Armageddon. Likewise, there's an instance of a character consulting with his priest over what was to be done. Bear in mind, this character had already witnessed a Headless Horseman rampaging through the neighborhood, a dead deputy come back to life and the demonic possession of his own daughter. This character was disturbed to be told that in fighting evil, he may well be killed. He doesn't like that. The priest, the priest, doesn't bother to point out to him that he is definitely going to die someday, whether he joins the fight against evil or not.
Apparently, no one in Hollywood gets what priests are all about. You'd think for a show that obviously employs at least one consultant to get the history of the revolution correct, they'd bother to ask a priest about a little thing like good/evil, life/death battles. It's kind of what the Church exists for. Worse than the theological mismanagement, the show blew an opportunity for the equivalent of Wallace's speech at Sterling.
"Lying in your bed, many years from now, what would you give for the chance, just one chance, to come back here and show the enemy that he can take your life but he can not have your SOUL?"
But two scenes in an entire season is nit picking. I found the show great fun and very creepy right to the cliff hanger ending.
I know the second season is airing right now but I'll wait for the dvds to come out.