The fall TV season finally is upon us. While we say good-bye to shows like “Dexter” and “Breaking Bad,” we get to say hello to new programs like “Sleepy Hollow,” Fox’s new supernatural drama.
Most of us are familiar with the concept of the creepy New England town, Sleepy Hollow, its headless terror and Ichabod Crane, its main protagonist. The new series takes that concept and upgrades it.
Ichabod and the headless horseman meet during the Revolutionary War in New York State. They slay each other and inexplicably wake up in modern day.
Did I say inexplicably? You know better than that. Evil is afoot.
The best thing this series has going for it are hip writers and great characters. Our female lead is Lt. Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie), a young African-American cop who has to juggle the headless supernatural axe man and Ichabod (Tom Mison), a man out of time. Mison is every bit as watchable as Beharie is, and supporting actors Orlando Jones and John Cho also are in the mix.
Sadly, the pilot’s plot is a bit of a mess. The episode is in a great hurry to not get any place in particular but to further confuse things. We have too many ingredients in the pot. The undead, the occult, witches, the Bible, the Revolutionary War, spies, machine guns, demons, priests...
While fairly entertaining, the execution is far from superb. It’s a haphazard soup, and I really, really, really want to keep watching, but...
I fear that, ultimately, I’m not a fan.
It could get better, right?
Maybe?