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Sleepy Hollow! Not the Tim Burton movie, though that has its charms :) No, the new tv show in which British Oxford history professor Ichabod Crane dies fighting in the American revolutionary war, only to awaken in modern day Sleepy Hollow. He's linked by blood with the Headless Horseman (one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse) and when the Horseman rises, so does Crane, to fight him.
Lt. Abbie Mills begins investigating the Headless Horseman after he beheads her friend and partner. Mills' investigation reveals the presence of two occult groups, one for good, the other evil, in Sleepy Hollow both of which are concerned with the Four Horsemen and the associated apocalypse. The killing spree the Horseman embarks on causes Crane and Mills to team up. (from the wiki article.)

Most of the action takes place in the present, but there are frequent flashbacks to important events of the past.

Supernatural adventure, humour, two very competent leads and a great supporting cast have led to viewing figures guaranteeing the show a second season een before the fifth episode aired. Guest stars include Star Trek's John Cho, Fringe's John Noble, True Blood's James Frain, and Legend of the Seeker's Craig Parker.




Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) has to adapt to a new environment very quickly. He's intelligent and sassy, and has an editic memory – I think that helps handwave how quickly he can adapt. Once he's read the manual on how to use an iPod he won't forget it. He's very forward thinking – he's pleasantly surprised to see an African-American female in command as proof that emancipation finally happened. He also seems insightful, correctly guessing that Abbie was in a relationship with Luke, and calling out the sisterly fight between Abbie and Jenny in a way that makes me want fic about Ichabod Crane, Relationship Therapist.

As a child, Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie) saw the demon that is behind the supernatural events now plaguing Sleepy Hollow, but lied that she did not in fear of losing her place in a foster home where she felt safe. Her sister, Jenny, however, continued to talk of the demon and has spent most of her life incarcerated in mental institutions – when we meet Jenny, we find she's been preparing for this day in ways Abbie would never have imagined.
Abbie and Ichabod have quickly developed a rapport. She's having to adjust her worldview almost as much as he is, accepting the supernatural destiny that has been laid upon her. A lieutenant in the police force who was about to join the FBI training programme, Abbie is a skilled observer and investigator.

Katrina (Katia Winter) is Ichabod's wife. He first believes she is dead since it's been two hundred years, but the truth is more complicated. A witch, she cast the spell to keep Ichabod entombed until he was needed, and now she is trapped between worlds. She can sometimes appear to Ichabod in dreams/visions.

Captain Irving (Orlando Jones), named for the author Washington Irving, is, to me, a wild card. On one hand he helps Abbie by allowing her to pursue the supernatural investigations, on the other he wants to keep himself distant from the truth. So long as she gets the job done, he's happy to keep his plausible deniability about the details. I suspect he may know more than he's letting on, though only time will tell. There have been comparisons made to "The X-files" with the tall male believer and the petite female sceptic, and this would make Irving their "Skinner" which is probably a good parallel.

I really like the characters and the set-up. I have some issues with Abbie – I have strong feelings about people who sell out their little sisters for selfish gains. At least here, though, Abbie was trying to protect them both, begging Jenny to keep quiet so they could stay together in the foster home that had become a refuge. Also Abbie has had to face up to what she did by lying to everyone and how that's impacted her and Jenny, and she's now trying to make amends.
My only other quibble is that Ichabod has adjusted so well, so quickly. Overnight he lost everything and everyone he cared about. Perhaps it would have detracted from the action to have him grieve more, and it's a subject best left to missing scene fanfics to have him reflect on his losses. It can be argued that once Katrina visits him in a vision, he feels her loss less keenly and that there may be a way to save her.
The Katrina/Ichabod and Abbie/Ichabod shipping presents some interesting conflicts given the odd circumstances. Right now Abbie/Ichabod as close friends and comrades works best, though the relationship could turn romantic later. I think it will depend on if Katrina is truly "gone" with no hope of reunion.

Articles about the show

Here's why you should be watching Sleepy Hollow right now
"Usually, with a pilot, there are visible seams: awkward pacing, not-quite-there moments between the leads, tone issues. That’s fine – pilot-itis is a recognized television illness plaguing many shows that went on to greatness, and Sleepy Hollow’s pilot has some dialogue clunkers that it needs to smooth out in the long run – but of the laundry list of greater concerns, the pilot addressed almost all of them. Its leads are well-acted and already being fleshed out beyond the tropes they’re starting from (with Nicole Beharie in particular delivering some fantastic beats); the man-out-of-time angle flies for about thirty seconds and then everyone largely moves on; the high-concept angles get locked in early."

10 reasons to love 'Sleepy Hollow
"1) The show is committed to keeping a diverse cast...
3) That time Orlando Jones put a halt to fanshaming/5) That time Orlando Jones told fans that a good creative team should always respect them
Orlando Jones, who plays Detective Irving on the show, is a one-man PR vehicle all by himself…I would still be a rabid fan of Sleepy Hollow (and an active although more anonymous part of the fandom) even if I didn’t have the ridiculous good fortune to be on the show.
10) Everyone is hot. "

Sleepy Hollow FAQ: Everything You Need to Know to Jump Into This Season's Hottest New Show
"So I know this show's about Ichabod Crane showing up in the present and teaming up with a detective. But what are they actually doing? They're working to solve the string of mysterious crimes that keep popping up around Sleepy Hollow. The stakes here are high; Crane believes that the modern world he's traveled to is on the brink of apocalypse. (In this version of the story, the Headless Horseman is one of the end-of-times' famous four.)
So why do people like this show so much?For one thing, it's really funny. The drama gets its fish-out-of-water comedy not just via Crane not knowing what things are, but also by his lighting up the silliest aspects of modern culture. Like when he tries to open something in one of those classically difficult plastic packages and asks, "What is the impenetrable barrier around this instrument?" "

The 'Sleepy Hollow' Fandom Demands to Be Heard
"For a show that has only been on the air for four weeks—the fifth episode airs tonight—Sleepy Hollow's fan base is loud. That's, at least, what you would assume from the decibel level during the show's New York Comic Con panel Sunday."

SLEEPY HOLLOW: Q&A with Tom Mison

8 Things ‘Sleepy Hollow’ Showrunner Wants You to Know About the Series’ Future

Sleepy Hollow Exclusive: Ichabod's Clothes Are Finally Coming Off — But There's a Twist!

Links

You can vote for the show as People's Choice "Favourite New TV Show" - here

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Tumblr

Imagine Ichabod Crane Often hilarious tumblr which posits the simple "Imagine Ichabod Crane…" where examples include "Imagine Ichabod Crane discovering an escalator" and "Imagine Ichabod watching a History Channel marathon about the Revolutionary War…#’Abigail they’re getting it all wrong.’ #’ABIGAIL TO WHOM DO I ADDRESS THIS STRONGLY WORDED LETTER I AM COMPOSING?’ #’Abigail they haven’t even mentioned me yet and it’s been three hours long.’ "
People can and do use some of these as prompts for fanart and fanfic.

Sleepy Hollow Fandom

Ginger Haze's Sleepy Hollow tag

ETA: This post has a list of Tumblrs including a TFLN</> one! Also check out Orlando Jone's Tumblr, he's the show's own self professed fanboy :)

Fanfic
There is so much fic for this fandom it's untrue. Since before the show even started airing! I've read a small amount and most of it is amazing. My rss feed from AO3 has almost 150 new fics listed. So while I did want to rec some fic, I'll do so at a later date!