Sleepy Hollow Recap ‘The Weeping Lady’: Stay and Drown in Me

On the latest Sleepy Hollow recap, Ichabod finds out another awful secret his wife Katrina has been hiding as he battles a restless spirit hell bent on taking out any woman that’s ever gotten close to him…

By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer

Following a week filled with demon hunting and Pied Pipers, Sleepy Hollow returns with another fun adventure this time delving into Ichabod’s romantic past (and present as it turns out) as a lady he was once betrothed to comes back to haunt him in a big way.

He also finds out a secret that’s been hiding in Katrina’s closet for hundreds of years (because all of her secrets have technically been hiding for hundreds of years), that could shatter the very foundation their relationship stands.

Another perfectly executed episode from one of the best shows on television. Sleepy Hollow gets it right and rarely skips a beat — this week is no different. So with that let’s get into the recap.

Insane in the Membrane, Got Crane on the Brain

This week’s episode titled ‘The Weeping Lady’ starts out with Ichabod receiving some new clothing from one of his colonial role playing partners named Caroline (she’s also Raj’s girlfriend on The Big Bang Theory). She’s been nice enough to sew a button back on his jacket, make him a few new shirts out of freshly woven fabrics and even made him a pillow, where she would love to lay her head next to his. Caroline’s advances finally put Ichabod on a tricky place where he has to explain that he’s married. Rule No. 1 Ichabod — if you’ve known a woman this long and she still doesn’t know you’re married, chances are you were subconsciously leading her on all along.

When he tells Caroline about his wife, she backs off and then takes a few more steps away when Abbie walks into the cabin. She addresses the leftenant as ‘Mrs. Crane’, which is something almost every fan of this show is begging to actually happen. Caroline scuttered away in great haste while Abbie has a good laugh at her partner’s ‘misfortune’ while telling Ichabod that it’s clear this little red headed lady has some Crane on the brain.

Ichabod feels terrible that he somehow led the poor girl on so he has Abbie take him to her residence where he profusely apologizes and asks for her hand in friendship. While clasping onto her coffee mug that reads ‘I heart the founding fathers’, Caroline graciously accepts his apologies and enters into a new plutonic relationship with the best role player in the history of colonial times club! Ichabod bids her adieu with a bow and says he will see her next at the reenactment of the Battle of Saratoga next weekend.

The only problem is Caroline won’t be alive to see it.

Later that night a pair of teenagers are doing a little making out in that hidden spot where high schoolers go, but they are interrupted when hearing a woman crying. Seconds later, the weeping lady crashes into their car and they start the engine and peel out in great haste. The next morning police are on the scene at the same location because a body has washed up on shore and it’s none other than poor Caroline.

When Ichabod and Abbie investigate based on some tire tracks that made a quick getaway that same night, they go to the local high school knowing what this spot by the river is really all about. The teenagers confess to being there, but leaving when they heard a crying spirit outside the car.

Some quick deduction leads Ichabod and Abbie to a local legend known as ‘The Weeping Lady’. As Sleepy Hollow legend tells it, the Weeping Lady is an restless spirit who was jilted by her husband and now haunts all those who find love.

A Second Strike

The dynamic duo heads off to the library to do some additional research where they run into Nick Hawley again (of course) and he wastes no time making eyes at Abbie. Ichabod has his own relationship to tend to when he receives a note from his beloved Katrina wishing him well and promising to contact him as much as she can while the Horseman and Henry continue to limit her witchcraft while they have her captive. Meanwhile, Ichabod also can’t keep from giving Hawley a steely stare of his own. Before these two can get into a sword fighting competition, Abbie is accosted by the ghastly spirit, who drags her down a oily pit that transforms into a watery grave. Thankfully, Ichabod gets there in time to pull Abbie out, but she’s unconscious and not breathing.

Good thing Hawley is there and he knows CPR! He resuscitates Abbie and revels in his own deed well done. This situation is about to get strange, however, after we discover that Hawley has been playing mattress tag with Abbie’s sister Jenny for who knows how long, although he cut things off after the friends with benefits thing wasn’t working too well. When she shows back up hinting at a restart to their relationship, Hawley is hesitant until she plants a kiss and he’s right back on board with Team Jenny. Hawley is definitely showing affection towards Abbie as well and this whole situation could get really uncomfortable at Thanksgiving.

With Abbie safe from the watery abyss, she shows Crane a piece of the shawl she was able to rip away from the ghostly creature who tried to drown her. It doesn’t take long for Crane to recognize the material and with Caroline dead and Abbie nearly accosted, it’s clear that this spirit is seeking vengeance against the women he loves most in the world.

The Promise Ring

Crane tells a story about his first days in America where he was clearly in love with Katrina, but she was already engaged to Abraham. In the midst of this, a woman named Mary Wells shows up from England and reveals that she was promised to Ichabod when they were both children, but they decided to break off the engagement when he traveled to the new colonies out of fear the he wouldn’t make it back alive. Mary is convinced that they belong together while Ichabod’s hard clearly belongs to another.

He finally tells Mary the bad news that they be getting married and she quickly figures out that it’s Katrina coming between the two of them. Mysteriously the next day, Ichabod receives a letter from Mary telling him to go about his life and she’s going on with hers back home. He thinks this was the end of things, but clearly with Mary back as a haunted spirit, she wasn’t quite over it after all.

Two seconds later, Ichabod realizes the awful truth — Mary is the Weeping Lady and she’s executing any female who gets close to the colonial mack daddy. That means his wife Katrina is in more mortal danger than anyone else in town.

Stay and Drown In Me

Ichabod and Abbie race to find Katrina at the site of the river where all of the Weeping Lady’s victims have popped up. When they arrive, Katrina has battled her way free using a little witchcraft to slow down the maniacal spirit. Ichabod uses a crossbow he secured from Hawley that might have some supernatural power to combat the restless ghost, but it has no effect.

He does, however, finally get to confront Mary for all his transgressions and the way he heart her all those years ago. While this is going on, Katrina and Abbie concoct a spell that will send her tortured soul to a much better place. When Mary thrusts for her final attack, she’s cast in Katrina’s witchy web and disappears into nothing. Day is saved, demon is thwarted, but we’re not done yet.

Why was Mary so drawn to this river and why did she reappear as a ghost after apparently going home to England hundreds of years ago? And why was she so vengeful when she wrote Ichabod a letter telling him how she was moving on?

Well, Katrina finally unveils a whopper of a lie as it seems the night after Ichabod told Mary that he was not going to be with her any longer, she confronted his future wife. Mary was angry and agitated at Katrina’s attempts to pass off her affections for Ichabod and when she charged at her adversary, she tripped, fell and went off the side of a cliff where she felt to her death on the banks of the river below. Katrina covered up her body and used her witchcraft to write the note that Ichabod would receive the following day. She did all this — according to her — to save Ichabod from feeling guilty that he played any part in her death.

The problem is now Ichabod feels betrayed by his wife yet again. She failed to tell him she was a witch. She failed to tell him that she was a spy for General Washington. She failed to mention she was pregnant with their son. And now she’s lied yet again about playing a part in the death of his ex-fiancee and essentially damning her to a life of torment as a vengeful spirit. Before Ichabod can feel too much angst towards his wife, the Horseman shows up ready to wield his axe and lop off his old rival’s head.

Thankfully, Katrina convinces him otherwise because without Ichabod’s efforts, she would already be dead. The Horseman spares his life (which can’t go over well with the boss) and picks up his lady love as they ride back to his house. Katrina accuses the Horseman of sending the Weeping Lady after her, but Abraham of course denies that he would ever do anything to hurt her. It seems Henry was the one who sent the vengeful ghost after his mother and father to continue to wreak havoc in their lives, but this act of treachery doesn’t sit well with Moloch, who summons his Horseman of War for a meeting in Purgatory.

There, Moloch reprimands Henry for being so bold as to make a plan that could have ultimately led to Katrina’s death. No matter how many mommy issues he has, Moloch has plans for the real Mrs. Crane as he reveals in a cryptic series of statements to his underling.

“She is one of the Hellfire Shards. A chosen vessel. You do not plan. You do not think for yourself! You are a soldier. A soldier’s duty is to obey!”
~ Moloch

Side note — no clue what a Hellfire Shard is but Katrina is one of them. It sounds ominous.

When Henry arrives back at his empty house, he sits in a puddle of his own tears after being yelled at like a child by the only father he’s ever really known. You have to wonder if Henry will ever try to seek out his real parents if this false one keeps telling him all the ways he’s screwing up. Henry is at heart a damaged child with a fear of abandonment. Abraham is at heart a spurned lover who only wants his lady back. Cue the Dashboard Confessional.

Maybe Moloch needs to rethink using these two emo bastards as Horsemen of the Apocalypse, what do you think?

Sleepy Hollow returns next week at 9pm ET on FOX.