Fox's Sleepy Hollow, an update of Washington Irving's classic story, is typically strange and strangely typical. Despite an outlandish plot that strives for thrills and intrigue, it's just your run-of-the-mill horror fantasy.
The show tells the tale of Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison), a soldier from the American Revolution who blacks out after beheading a Redcoat on the battlefield. He wakes up to find himself in present-day America, in the town of Sleepy Hollow.
He teams up with Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie), a local detective, to defeat the Headless Horseman, that decapitated soldier from so many years before. Turns out, he just woke up, too, and is on a killing spree. If he's not stopped, it will mean the end of the world. Literally.
As you may have noticed, there's a lot going on in Sleepy Hollow, and it's all pretty familiar. First, it's a modern version of an old story. Once Upon a Time, anyone? Or Grimm? Or even Sherlock? Plus, it's a fantasy, and there's no shortage of that on TV right now. Lastly, Sleepy Hollow doesn't forget one of TV's most ubiquitous genres: the procedural. Much of the pilot is spent in a police station or on the streets following detective Mills and Ichabod's adventures.
This stylistic fusion doesn't have to be a problem. Most shows borrow from others, and many still find a way to be marvelously effective. Sleepy Hollow is not one of those shows. It's decent; that's all.
It feels lazy, relying on clichés for plot points. Where's the sense of originality? What sets this show apart? Nothing. That's a shame because it's in desperate need of a personal stamp. The dialogue is average. The characters are average. Even the action sequences are average. No thrills, no suspense, just derivative moment after derivative moment, played against a generic, bombastic score.
Sleepy Hollow does have a few things going for it. Number one: aside from a few gimmicky camera tricks, it looks good -- dark, sinister, and stylish. Number two: it's evenly paced. Too speedy, and it would be ridiculous; too slow, and it would put people to sleep. Number three - and this is most important: it has potential. Sleepy Hollow is neither compelling nor exciting, but it could be. The genres it borrows from are popular for a reason. They're different and weird and let imaginations run wild.
As it stands, Sleepy Hollow is simply a passable fantasy struggling to stick out, and there's certainly nothing fantastic about that.
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