RIP Head Over Feels and Sleepy Hollow: 2013-2016. With the fridging of Abbie Mills, one half of the show’s core Witness duo, we are completely done.
Sleepy Hollow may still return for a season four, even though the finale did the absolute most to set fire to anything the show ever had going for it. I refuse to do a full recap for that rushed, unfocused catastrophe, because it doesn’t deserve our established ranking system. (Let’s put it all under FU-HOLLOW and be done with it.) But as much as I may reject the narrative killing off Agent Grace Abigail Mills, I will not let her go un-mourned. (An epic “In Appreciation” post is coming soon.) Before we get to some of the many reasons why Nicole Beharie’s portrayal of Abbie will forever be one of our favorite leads in genre television (nay, general television) history, I’ve got some things to say about how this went down.
It’s almost unfathomable how Sleepy Hollow took a shockingly great thing and then slowly and methodically spoiled it. Sleepy Hollow season 1 is Jerry; the showrunners and writers are Andy; and tone-deaf treatment of minority characters is the pie. Tag yourself, I’m Jerry wincing as soon as he realizes he’s about to get it.
Look, I know I made excuses for this creative team last season. And for the most part, I’ve felt like the show recovered most of its verve in season 3. I didn’t see the pattern until it was all laid out behind me. But many fans did, because they’ve experienced this betrayal before. Those fans were mostly women of color, who supported this show in part because of Abbie and Jenny Mills, two bright spots in a TV landscape that’s still light years away from being realistically representational. Kim and I have both talked about fan entitlement and how frustrating it is on this blog, but there’s a big difference between entitlement (“If these two characters don’t kiss soon, I’m going to send hate to the writers.”) and being a viewer who is sensitive to ways that stories are twisted (over and over again) to serve one character over another based on some type of difference. I was firmly anti-Hawley and frustrated over the sidelining of Jenny and Frank in season 2. But from my vantage point, I couldn’t see what a dangerous path they were leading Abbie down or why it was so significant that Abbie never had a romantic relationship besides her toothless flirting with Crane. (Scully went on two dates in the whole series, I think.) That’s me, watching from my place of relative privilege. I own up to it, and fuck if the whole downward spiral isn’t clear now. Memo to certain showrunners: it’s freeing to accept that your intent doesn’t mean as much as a certain demographic of your audience’s interpretation of it does. In other words, dear white people: it’s not always about us.
I did see that Nicole Beharie seemed to step back in many ways from the show. She stopped attending conventions and doing other press. She rarely tweeted about it. And in one Instagram post that ignited a fan revolt, she stated that she hadn’t been invited to participate in DVD commentaries. (The word from on high was that it was a misunderstanding. A pretty big one.) The reason given for Abbie’s death was that Nicole wanted to leave the show, and I have no doubt that that is true. But we need to talk about why she wanted to do that. Why, when she joined the cast of a network sci-fi drama as the lead, obviously aware that it could go on for several seasons? Why, when she and co-star Tom Mison seemed to have a respectful and rewarding working relationship? Why, when she has no immediate commitments lined up? And why, when her performance was universally praised? Take into consideration the relative silence from set this year, the canceling of their SDCC panel, Tom deleting his Twitter, and most tellingly, Orlando Jones’ exit. This from a show that came out of the gate so strong, endearing itself to critics and quickly building a fandom while being praised for employing a diverse cast with terrific chemistry. These should have been GLORY DAYS.
You know what grinds my gears? When people simper at actors and call them “classy” for not being explicit about backstage issues in the press. Nicole Beharie has the absolute right to give whatever statement she likes and to keep any issues she may have had with her character and the production to those immediately involved. By no means do I begrudge her that privacy. But the “classy” compliment isn’t a compliment at all; it’s a warning. It implies that if Nicole HAD come out and said that she wasn’t happy and had sought the opportunity to move on that that would somehow be out of line. It’s another way of putting a black actress in her place, and I am viscerally disgusted by it.
Either way, the writing is on the wall. Stars don’t leave shows if they’re content with the material they’re being given and with their treatment. Another spin that was put on this news (and part of Nicole’s statement) is that Abbie Mills had carried out her role and in fact, there was nothing more for her to do. There’s even a scene in the finale where Abbie tells August Corbin (who she meets in the “waiting room”) that, as far as she was concerned, her life was complete when she made up with her family and Danny (??) and saved Crane. So, not only did the writers kill Abbie when that wasn’t absolutely necessary, they literally TOOK AWAY HER WILL TO LIVE. What those same writers seem to not understand about this backlash is that the most heartbreaking aspect of this death is how it occurred and what it seemed to say about Abbie’s purpose all along. Abbie is young, gorgeous, whip-smart, and incredible at her job. She has a sister and a father with whom she still has to make up lost time. She’s got Danny and Crane both at her feet. And she has goals and dreams of her own that have nothing to do with any of those people. I know she does, even if the people who wrote her don’t. Don’t you dare try to tell me that Abbie Mills didn’t want to suck every moment out of her life.
Could this have been handled any more poorly? Many, many leads have exited their shows and not had to do it via tombstone. (As Joe Adalian pointed out, “Shelley Long didn’t die on Cheers.” THANK GOD.) ESPECIALLY on a show that deals in the supernatural on the daily, there are places that Abbie could have gone, perhaps to return to a series finale. OR the show could have done the rational thing: make this season finale the series end – have Crane and Abbie triumph over Pandora, kiss, and walk off into the sunset to Witness some more. Instead, Abbie sacrifices herself to save the world and appears to Crane in a dream to tell him that her reason for existing was to help HIM on his journey. How blinded to your own privilege must you be to not see how patronizing and gross this is? In another scene that I can’t even believe was actually written and shot, Jenny consoles Crane about her own sister’s death, given no opportunity to mourn her herself. And I love me some Ichabod Crane, but in no universe do I want his story prioritized over his partner’s. And guess the fuck what? Neither does he. Not in four or four thousand centuries.
Abbie dies and she doesn’t even see her mama or Grace. She sees–wait for it–3 white men! (8) #SleepyHollow
— Veronica Pena (@gocomshukurself) April 9, 2016
Even in death, Abigail Mills got the shaft. SO MUCH was made of her family line, including Grace Dixon, whose journal helped them so many times along the way. Her whole life was shaped by the death of her mother and the temporary loss of her sister. And of course, it was lovely to see August and to see him reunited with his son (WAVES TO JOE); of course, we needed a final Abbie/Ichabod scene. But HOW HOW HOW does no one on the set of a major network drama see the problem in doing what this fantastic tweet describes? The ignorance is staggering. Pay their damn day rates and get those women on set. It’s the least Abbie deserves.
But here’s where I say that all the good stuff wasn’t left in season 1. There have been stumbles (like that time he disappeared on her for months), but Crane has always held Abbie’s opinion in the highest regard. He wouldn’t have even thought about setting foot back in the catacombs if she wasn’t 100% on board, for example. As he said to Betsy, she is his partner in (almost) every sense of the word. So why upend that balance? Why work so hard to make it canon that Abbie is literally replaceable?
(Also, remember when Ichabbie did FUN stuff together? Baseball games and karaoke and cappuccino by the water? Where did that all go?)
There are two scenarios here and I don’t like either one of them. One: the writers WANTED to favor Ichabod over Abbie in this finale to set up a pseudo-reboot of the show, which is shitty and insulting to Abbie, Nicole, and fans; or two: the writers couldn’t figure out a way out of this scenario without minimizing Abbie’s importance in the process, which shows both a lack of imagination AND a depressing adherence to culturally ingrained racist and misogynistic tropes. (The Magical Negro, anyone?) Pick your poison. They both suck.
To the Sleepyheads: I speak for both Kim and I when I say that we’ve had such a blast in this fandom. Thank you, thank you, thank you if you’ve ever commented on a recap, talked with us on social media, come out to one of our screening parties with Liz from Tom Mison Fans, or even just lurked. It’s been a rollercoaster with high highs and low lows, but I have learned a lot from so many of you. Passion is something to be applauded; your voices matter. I can’t tell you how much we appreciate you embracing our flail-y and often all-caps responses to this wild, weird show. Being a part of this group has been amazing. And while I’m sorry it had to end like this, hopefully the attention this relatively small fandom is getting on a national level will stop this from happening again. Or at least, happening with such disturbing frequency.
Remember Grace Abigail Mills. *fist bump* *blows it up*
I haven’t gotten to the finale yet. Frankly I never made it past episode 5 of season 3. Mostly? Because of all the above in your post. I saw this coming (Joe and Abbie) a mile away. I am sad (damn near cried reading this post) and disgusted at the same time. I will not watch a S4. I refuse. Season 1 is what made me fall in love with this show. Actually from episode 1 for that matter. I barely made it through S2. But I hung on. Hoping that somehow somewhere someone would do it justice in S3 that this show truly deserves. We all know what happened in S3. I am saddened by all of it. Its once again a sense of betrayal. Just when you think they are getting somewhere with shows as diverse as this, they never fail to disappoint. Its telling someone you love them, and then going “haha! just kidding!”. And yes that’s the type of betrayal I am talking about.
I still will subscribe to your site as you ladies have it together when it comes to saying what we all are thinking. Keep at it. Youre awesome!!
Thank you! <3
That finale and the whole of season 3 reminds me of how I felt over the character of Martha Jones (and actress Freema Agyeman) from Doctor Who. Sad Panda feels all over again….
Thanks to both of you for your recaps. I have appreciated all of them. I can’t say I enjoyed the last couple but I am in sad agreement with you.
I felt like Tom was talking to Nicole in that scene on the boat in Delaware (as well as it being Crane and Abbie). It was a goodbye to their amazing partnership as well.
How could the writers think- Agh! All that is coming in to my head is Calvin (as in Calvin and Hobbes) trampling all over his imaginary cities as Godzilla. The writers certainly had god complexes.
What a colossal squandering of talent, chemistry and story potential. I am infuriated at their tone deaf, clueless arrogance. It was such a betrayal and such a waste.
Anyway, I discovered you guys when I was looking for somewhere to share my Sleepy Hollow obsession, so that was a good thing! (It was the first step in realizing I needed an outlet.)
I’ll keep reading. I’ll even read about the shows I don’t watch. And I’ve never paid the slightest attention to One Direction but at least I know who they are now.
Take care and keep writing.
I came for Sleepy Hollow, but I stayed for two women who I don’t know but have somehow capture my feels expertly (and introduce me to 1D). I’m here for the long haul, ladies!
OH MY GOD, THIS IS SO SWEET. <3 --S
:sobs quietly in the corner:
I’m not woc, but I am a woman, and I hated the line Abbie said to Crane about helping him to move forward, or however she phrased it on the goodbye swing. Just tone deaf by the writers. I’m surprised Nicole was able to get it out.
I am just so mad that they seemed to be ramping up the Ichabbie and then… nothing. All those looks and dinner and talks, I was sure that the finale was going to have excellent payoff for this ship. So sure that I actually watched the show live, something I never do.
And then I just sat there in utter and complete shock. I’m glad I discovered Tom Mison, and this site!, through Sleepy Hollow. But if by some miracle they get a season 4, I’m not sure I can watch.
The ideal ending, aside from completely retooling the entire season and eliminating the ill-conceived Pandora/Hidden One storyline, would be Abbie and Ichabod giving themselves over to the box hand-in-hand. No sacrifice, no disgraceful undermining of Abbie and her role as a witness, just two Witness partners doing what they were meant to do.
Forget not sealing the deal on a romance (a mistake given the coy teases throughout this season, regardless), the fact that Abbie was not treated as an equal partner through it all is the worst part of her ending. She was not a tool to carry Ichabod forward, she was a Witness and cannot, should not be replaced.
I would have accepted this too. – S
I would have been satisfied with both the witnesses giving up their lives. Especially if they showed them in that netherworld place where Corbin was and that they were together. I can never see one existing without the other anymore. Another reason I didn’t like the ending.
I was bitterly disappointed in the finale (series or season, who knows or cares now) and couldn’t put my finger on all the reasons. I didn’t want to be a fan that bitches about the outcome of a show that doesn’t shake out they way I thought it should in my own personal view. But you put my swirling thoughts into clarity. Thank you for that–it makes a lot more sense now.
Yeah, so I only discovered Tumblr and the Ichabbie tag about a month ago and it led me to all sorts of lovely things like this blog. i was looking forward to years of canon Ichabbie (because how could they not) in this fandom. Psych!
I am a white woman, but I deeply feel for all the woc fans. This was not the way to go. But it did inspire me to think of another (white) sci-fi heroine who sacrificed herself to save the world. I wanted to see what were the similarities and what were the differences and whether if death was really deemed unavoidable (which if should not have been), there was still a way to write this with more dignity and care. What justifies calling one of these showrunners a feminist even after the heroine is killed and her calling is passed on in (what was supposed to be) a series finale and the other one a racist misogynist after the character is reduced to a pile of tropes.
So, Buffy dies twice to save the world and someone else becomes the slayer (the first time…). And there is a little bit of the same uncomfortable “one woman or another, does not matter which body it is, they’re interchangeable” going on as well. But Abbie’s is still a million times worse – not only is her body disposable, but apparently her soul is not her own either – it belonged to someone else before and will belong to someone (probably white…) after. At least Buffy was allowed to be unique. And neither time Buffy dies is there a partner/alternative who could have taken half of the burden – the prophecy and blood thing were specific to her. And I believe that the second time Spike or Giles would have stepped in if their blood would have worked. So there was a bit of “Abbie, no!” going on as well, in The Gift, but at least it was not by choice of letting the girl die while the guy could have served the same purpose (and at least Giles nearly died enough times to avoid the uncomfortableness of it always being the woman (of colour) putting others ahead of her. Although again, it would have been more justified on Buffy – not only because she does not evoke a specific racial trope (of the Mammy) but also because she does not come with a built-in equal who would be able to step in if needed. Abbie did and therefore there needed to be more awareness of that).
Curiously, Buffy’s friends also did not get a chance to properly mourn her afterwards, like Abbie’s. No funerals, no eulogies, no wakes for either of the warriors. Just a gravestone. But the biggest difference still was who they eventually got to live and die for. Buffy got to live as a continuation of a line of female warriors and while she ostensibly sacrificed herself for the world, she more immediately did it for her friends (so they could have a normal prom) and her sister (so Dawn would not have to jump). Abbie had to be reduced to a line of supporting players in Crane’s life (notice how those who previously provided stepping stones and carried him forward were not even Witnesses. So Abbie could have been just a random partner in their words) and to die so he could live. This is bullsh*t.
So is there a lesson here? Absolutely. I am probably writing from a place of privilege and therefore cannot perfectly fix this for woc fandom based on the white heroine example. But even from that we could have taken the following: if you really really could not figure out a way to keep Abbie alive, at least you could have handled her death a million times better by following this blueprint that has existed for years:
1. Let Abbie keep her soul and rest in peace with it. Hand over the job of the witness if you want, but let everyone bring their own spark to it. And make sure the follow-up act gives the same representation as the original (none of the new slayers were male…)
2. Have reason for Abbie’s death be specific to her (but obvs not specific to her as a woman or poc. God, that would have been even worse, if the writing on the wall had been “need the soul of the female or black witness please”). No, pull a Dawnie – have the one who has to sacrifice herself be the one who is a blood relative of the person who got possessed by the Eye of Whatever. At least then it’s not so glaringly obvious that Crane could have chosen to sacrifice himself instead, but let Abbie do it.
3. Have Abbie sacrifice herself for anyone other than Crane. Again, Jenny is a prime candidate, but they already used her in the midseason. Fine, it can be Ezra, it can even be Sophie who she does not know that well. But each of their pains would have been more interesting and new than Crane’s white man pain. Make whoever she sacrifices herself for the next lead in the show instead of Crane (who really should have gone with Abbie, but if the actor needed a paycheck, he can stick around, but in the same reduced capacity as Abbie in Season 2).
4 Give her a proper funeral. Let Crane sob over the coffin, instead of wittily chatting at her grave after (what I assume is) weeks or months later
5. And most importantly: the moment your show is unexpectedly renewed / taken over by another network, find some handy local witches (according to Katrina there’s still entire covens around) and have them resurrect her. Apparently it works for those who died of an unnatural death due to magic. “Osiris, here lies the warrior of the people. Let her cross over” and done. Buffy’s creators never envisioned a show without her. Neither should have Abbie’s.
Aaaaaaand SCHOOLED. This is glorious and so well put. –S
Very well said…Thank You!
> In another scene that I can’t even believe was actually written and shot, Jenny consoles Crane about her own sister’s death, given no opportunity to mourn her herself.
John Cho actually makes a similar point about Top Gun in an interview~ How Meg Ryan and her son consoles Maverick because of course _TOM CRUISE_ losing his flying partner needs more comfort than the mother of the dead man’s baby.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blY6n4cXJxE&feature=youtu.be&t=217
4:24-5:08
YES that was so fucked up. John Cho knows. –S
I can’t believe I’m discovering you when you’re bowing out. This article encapsulates a lot of my feelings about Sleepy Hollow and season 3 finale especially. It’s a wonderful read. Thank you.
Thank YOU. I’m glad it struck a chord. And we have a big backlog of Sleepy posts if you want more! –S
“What is there for me in a world without your phenomenal recaps?” Thanks, ladies, for three years of amazingness. My family went from “Awwww, we feel bad, your poor show” to “OMG get a GRIP” to “We are going to have you committed if you don’t stop CRYING”. I will still watch if there is a S4 because of, well, reasons… (TOM)… but this show is irrevocably changed. That’s what I was, and still am, mourning- the death of the show I loved. The partnership was EVERYTHING. I have to respectfully disagree with the poster who thought that Crane was “wittily chatting” over her grave. Tom Mison ripped my heart in two AGAIN at the cemetery (after the fistbump turned kiss and caress of the cheek and the BOW). His acting instincts are unparalleled and the understated grief behind that conversation was impossible not to feel. So, ladies, thank you again. I guess I will have to become a Dr. Who fan now.
As a man needless to say I was ‘there’ for Nicole, but the characters grew on me and I appreciated their talent. The chemistry was obvious and their banter was very entertaining, it was very enjoyable seeing a woc in a role that was not subjected to the usual nonsense and the relationship that was developing between she and her sister…the fact that Ichabod knew everyone and everything from his era was entertaining too… Shakes my head…truly, they want us to accept that having re established her relationship with her sister, renewing one with their Dad and the new gig with the FBI..Abbie Mills had nothing else to live for? After her ancestor told her the back pages in her book were empty because Abbie had to write her story was another bait they threw us, like they strung the shippers along for three seasons.
It is a damn insult to write lines whereby a dyeing Pandora tells Crane she knows he loved Abbie, they allowed Betsy Ross to tell Crane in Abbie’s presence that his heart belonged to Abbie, they allowed Abbie to visit him several times to say goodbye and not ONCE…could they give their devoted fans who endured all those lack luster episodes, when they focused on Katrina and kept Ichabbie separated…they refused to give the shippers a glimmer of appreciation for following, by allowing Abbie and Ichabod to confess love.
Great site you have here, will bookmark, the comments posted by Sage were the best I’ve read on the matter..thank you for sharing.
Thanks, Tony! – Kim
Going to assume y’all have already heard about this, but it makes me miss what this series was even more: http://io9.gizmodo.com/sleepy-hollows-fourth-season-wont-even-be-set-in-sleepy-1783334048