'Sleepy Hollow' heads into a wild new season
WILMINGTON, N.C. — When Sleepy Hollow returns Monday (9 ET/PT) after an eight-month slumber, "SleepyHead" fans will find nothing is as it seems.
Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison), based on the Colonial soldier from the Washington Irving story, his unlikely partner, detective Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie), and the Headless Horseman will be joined by more monsters and historical figures such as Benjamin Franklin (Timothy Busfield).
"We really worked hard to find an opening story that was going to pay off all of the insanity that we had in Season 1, where we left our (characters) in true cliffhangers where their lives are in jeopardy," says executive producer Mark Goffman. Producers knew the show would follow Fox's Batman prequel Gotham, potentially bringing new viewers to the series, so they had to re-introduce it "in such a way that if you've never seen the show before, you can catch up quickly."
Sleepy was one of last season's top newcomers, averaging 11.2 million viewers for its 13 episodes; 18 will air this fall, and the show is halfway through production in North Carolina (filling in for Upstate New York), where studios are filled with replicas of a modern-day police department, a Colonial period tavern, underground tunnels and the hallway of an asylum.
Fans have become accustomed to the series' wild storytelling ride: Crane awoke from his own 230-year nap and set on a mission to find and rescue his wife, a witch stuck in Purgatory. But he's out of place in a modern-day America with paved roads, automobiles and cellphones.
Humor is a big part of the show, as evidenced by its fantastical plots. As last season ended, Crane and his witch wife Katrina learned that Henry Parrish, a "Sin Eater" played by John Noble (now a series regular), is the present-day incarnation of their son, who was buried alive by her coven during Colonial times. And the fates of Abbie, her sister Jenny and her police captain boss are in question after facing supernatural monsters and the Headless Horseman.
As star Beharie says, "It's so fantastic it can be super, super, super corny."