- "The Lieutenant's spirit is strong; she may be hurt, she may be suffering, but she is alive, it is up to me to find her."
- —Ichabod Crane to Jenny Mills
"One Life" is the ninth episode of Season Three of Fox's Sleepy Hollow. It was written by Albert Kim and directed by Kate Dennis. It is the fortieth episode of the series overall, and debuted on February 5, 2016.
Synopsis[]
Following Abbie's sacrifice, Crane and Jenny find themselves at a loss. In an effort to save Abbie, Crane forms and unlikely partnership and Jenny confronts a former foe.[1]
Recap[]
Flushing Bay, New York - 1776: Ichabod Crane and Betsy Ross pass by the manor belonging to the British Quartermaster General and assess the guards on duty. She spots one of the American spies, Nathan Hale, blatantly watching the manor with a spyglass and angrily pulls him away. Crane explains that the British have taken precautions against spies and advises him not to indulge in recklessness.
Back in the present, Crane bursts out of a warehouse on a motorcycle. Two trucks full of apocalyptic cultists pursue him across a bridge and down the highway, firing on him. Crane goes off the road and plunges into the river, and by the time his pursuers get there, there is no sign of him. Once they leave, Crane emerges from hiding holding a golden jug.
Back at the Archives, Crane tells Jenny and Joe that he recovered the Lideon Jug. According to legend, Orpheus used the Jug to find Euridyce in the Underworld, and Crane desperately starts looking for spells to find Abbie. Joe points out that it’s been a month since she disappeared, and Crane insists that Abbie is alive and says that it’s up to him to find her. Jenny takes offense, pointing out that it’s up to all of them, she wants her sister back as much as he does. Crane apologizes. Jenny says that they have a lead on an artifact that will let them track down Pandora and the Hidden One, and hopefully Abbie. They tell Crane to let them handle it so that he doesn’t burn out, and he agrees to take a rest. Jenny promises that they will find Abbie and leaves with Joe.
At an old mill, the Hidden One sits sulking in the shadows. Pandora assures him that all will be set eventually, and the Hidden One telekinetically tosses a cog wheel across the room. He complains that humanity has spread across the world, and he doesn’t have the power to stop them. He complains that they failed because of Pandora’s inadequacies, and she shows him a fragment of the Box that she says can restore her husband to full power. She chants over it and it glows with magical energy. Waves of power spread out from the mill.
Crane, of course does not rest, he goes to Pandora's tree, and begins the ritual with the Jug. Nothing happens, and he angrily knocks the Jug aside. Crane despairs briefly, and then turns and asks Sophie why she’s following him. She wants to know what he’s doing there. He suggests he just likes hanging out in creepy ruins, and she tells him he is a person if interest in Abbie's disappearance. He coldly tells her to press charges if they will, but otherwise leave him alone. He walks away and after a moment, Sophie follows. Behind them, energy emanates from the Jug and lights up a root of the tree, leaving a face behind.
Jenny and Joe go to an antique store and Jenny tosses a wad of money in front of the owner, Matt McKenna. She wants a map belonging to a Russian occultist, and figures that he knows where it is. He refuses the money, and Jenny offers him a necklace in payment. Once he goes in the back to check it, Jenny admits that she doesn’t know if the map will work, but figures that they needed to do something to get Crane to stand down. When Joe wonders how she can be so sure they’ll find Abbie, Jenny insists that there’s no alternative. Matt comes back and says that Nevins had the map; and when he disappeared, dozens of relic hunters came to Sleepy Town looking for it. Randall acquired the map.
Sophie returns to the FBI office and checks in with Daniel. He’s studying reports of Crane’s movements, and Sophie says that she has nothing on him. As Daniel starts to file for a warrant to tap Crane’s phone, Sophie warns him that stress will mess him up. She suggests that he take a break at his cabin in the woods and clear his head, and she’ll put in for the warrant; Daniel finally gives in.
That night, Crane is at home heating his dinner in a frying pan when he hears something upstairs. When he investigates, he finds a women’s lingerie on the stairs. Upstairs, he finds an open window and the shutters blowing in the wind. He closes them and sees the words “Help me, Crane” being written on a fogged-over mirror. A hand reaches out and grabs Crane’s wrist, and he pulls himself away. The words fade from the mirror and Crane finds a symbol raised on his forearm.
Sophie then calls Crane and asks how he got into her apartment. He has no idea what she is talking about, and she says that someone left her a message. Crane arrives and finds the words scratched into the wooden floor. Sophie says that she heard a wind, and realizes that it wasn’t him. Crane suggests that someone is trying to send him a message, but doesn’t know why they went through Sophie. He examines the agent’s arm and finds a similar symbol raised there. When they hold their arms together, the completed symbol glows and a figure made out of mist appears. It moves through Crane, and he has a vision of Abbie asking him for help. He collapses to the floor, and he tells Sophie that it was Abbie, and she’s dying.
Jenny and Joe go to a bar where Randall is celebrating. He figures that they want the map, and reminds them that the last time they met, they handcuffed him to a bathtub. Jenny starts flirting with him, and Joe says that she doesn’t have to do it. Randall says that he’ll let them go in one piece, and that he only bought the map to annoy Jenny. As they leave, Jenny shows Joe the phone she lifted from Randall.
Crane takes Sophie to the archive and shows her a book with the symbol listed. It’s the Shinto symbol for “gateway,” and he thinks that they have to build a gateway. Sophie says that there’s a tribe in New Guinea that use symbols to represent mirror, and Crane realizes that Abbie seems to want them to make the gateway out of mirrors. As he searches for a mirror, Crane explains that the archive contains books belonging to first the Founding Fathers as well as August Corbin.
Flushing Bay, New York - 1776: after sunset, Crane tries to sneak into the quartermaster’s manor. Betsy warns him that the sentries have changed the pattern, and they both see Nathan hale climbing over another wall. Before they can help him, the sentries capture Nathan and Betsy says that there’s nothing they can do, and departs. After a moment, Crane follows her.
Crane and Sophie make the mirror gateway in the Masonic Cell, he tells Sophie that the room concentrates mystic energies. He ties a rope around his waist and has Sophie anchor it, and then casts the spell. They place their arms together, and a gateway opens in the mirror. Crane jumps through, and Sophie manages to pull him back. Crane is holding a corpse-like woman who grabs Crane by the throat. Sophie shoots the creature, and it attacks Sophie and pins her to the floor. Crane stabs it in the back, and the creature flees into the tunnels. In the archive, Crane pours Sophie a drink and says that evil engages them when they least expect it. He admits that he knew he might summon a monster, and Sophie points out that he was so desperate that he let a demon play him. The agent warns that Crane is pushing too hard, and he wonders why she agreed to help. Sophie says that she knows when someone has screwed up.
Later, Crane returns home and wonders if he is to blame for Abbie’s disappearance. Sophie arrives and says that the local cops found a body, killed in an unusual manner. She figures that it’s the work of the mirror creature, and asks Crane for his help. He lets her in and Sophie says that the murder victim was a car thief who was found in a diner parking lot. A witness saw the creature, a woman in white. Sophie confirms that the diner was away from town, he has to examine the area.
Crane and Sophie drive toward the diner, and he explains that the creature is an Onryo, a Japanese vengeance demon that feeds on desperation. He assumes that it focused on him and pretended to be Abbie. It marked Sophie because she was with Crane. He says that he recently learned that a partner was one’s better half, and admits that Sophie was right about him. She says that she understands and explains that her parents were archaeologists, they disappeared during a dig and local tribes said that they were taken by demonic forces. Since then, Sophie studied the supernatural looking for proof of another world. Sophie gets a call that they found the body of a hitchhiker on Route 10 with the same marks on his throat as the first victim and Crane. Crane wonders why the Onryo is heading out of town, and Sophie suggests that the creature is looking for people who are desperate to find Abbie, and she realizes that it’s going after Daniel.
Pandora tells the Hidden One that their call has been heard, and soon he will have what he needs. The Hidden One tells her to find the Witness who took the eye, and Pandora says that if she still leaves then she will find him. He warns that if she fails to find Abbie then he won’t suffer alone.
Joe and Jenny track down a storage facility from Randall’s phone log, and Jenny picks the lock on the unit door. He warns Jenny that sooner or later she’s going to have to face the truth of what happened to her sister, that she’ll be okay because he isn’t going anywhere, and Jenny finishes her work. Inside the unit is a single crate and inside it, Jenny finds the map. Randall enters behind her, his men holding a gun to Joe’s head, they drag Joe away. Joe then returns and puts a gun to Randall’s head, when Randall tries to attack him, Joe knocks him out and Jenny hugs Joe before they leave with the map.
At his cabin, a man goes to the bedroom, and the Onryo follows behind him. When it enters, it discovers that Crane has taken Daniel’s place. He shoots it with a flintlock loaded with the glass from its mirror, and it is injured. Crane shoots it again and the Onryo flees. It sees Sophie and lunges at her, and enters the mirror they positioned it to show Sophie’s reflection. The spirit is trapped inside, and Crane gives Sophie a fireplace poker. The agent shatters the mirror, trapping the Onryo in the other world.
Back at Jenny’s trailer, she tells Joe that she is not the kind of person who talks about feelings, that she’s a person who knocks heads, and doesn’t see a reason to change. Jenny points out that her father left her and her mother checked out, and Abbie left her, then came back and disappeared again saving her. She admits that when she thought Randall’s men had killed Joe, she believed she was going to lose another person that she loved. Joe kisses her.
At the FBI office, Sophie apologizes for calling Daniel away for a Mills sighting that turned out to be nothing. She says that she hasn’t put in the warrant, and suggests that Crane is not capable of hurting Abbie, "Crane dresses funny, yeah, and he talks like a Jane Austen novel, but is he really capable of having done something to Mills?" Sophie thinks that it might be time to change focus, and Daniel agrees.
Back at the archive, Crane ruminates on Nathan Hale's fate; Flushing Bay, New York - 1776: As the British prepare to hang Nathan, Crane and Betsy blend into the crowd. He wants to mount a rescue, but Betsy says that they can’t afford to, they’re only there to let Nathan know that he is not alone. She explains that if they rescue Nathan, the British then would know that Nathan wasn’t operating alone, and would hunt down all of the other American agents in the area. Nathan drops to the end of the rope, and an angry Crane says that they just let their partner die. Betsy tells him, "Not all our partners will survive, sometimes you must accept that there aren't going to be any miracles. The best you can do is continue your mission."
Crane takes down the photos of Abbie as Sophie enters and asks if he’s suspending the search. Crane says he will never stop, but his single mindedness led to dreadful consequence. He echoes Betsy’s words and says that Abbie would agree the mission came first. Jenny and Joe arrive and Crane says Sophie is an ally, they show Crane and Sophie the map. It shows the presence of monsters, and the map indicates that dozens of demons are converging on Sleepy Hollow. They assume that Pandora is summoning them, and Crane says, "I believe if the Lieutenant were here, she would urge us to 'kick some demon ass.'"
Abbie, meanwhile, wakes up in a strange world, completely alone, with no idea where she is.
Cast[]
Starring[] |
Guest Starring[]Co-Starring[]
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Trivia[]
- Nathan Hale is shown to be executed by hanging on a gallows with a trap door. The "standard drop" method of execution was invented in 1866 and the "long drop" in 1872. Death by hanging prior to 1866 was a long, slow, painful procss because the condemned was strangled; the drops break the condemn's neck.
- An Onryo is a mythological spirit from Japanese folklore that returned from the Otherworld seeking vengeance. They are mainly represented as female, although few very rare male onryo have been mentioned. It's traditional objective, vengeance, is not quite in keeping with its role in this episode where it is drawn to desperation.
Multimedia[]
Gallery[]
Promotional Photos[]
Screencaps[]
Soundtrack[]
- "Through the Roof" (feat. Young Tapz) - Hermitude
Videos[]
