Sleepy Hollow 1.1-1.4, Witches of East End 1.1
As people who follow me on twitter know, I kind of fell head over heals for Sleepy Hollow. The series is very loosely based on the short story, and featured Ichabod Crane being a Revolutionary War hero who dies and is resurrected in the present day to fight the headless horseman, who has also been resurrected in the present. Ichabod is joined by Abbie Mills, a police lieutenant who's about a foot-and-a-half shorter than him (seriously, the show wants to make sure we never forget that), who met a demon in the woods when she was a teenager and has spent the rest of her life trying to forget that.
It's cheesy and the plot holes are ginormous, but I adore the characters and, while the plot makes it hard to take it seriously, the show really knows its visual gothic tropes, and revels in them. It also often reminds me of shoujo manga in some ways, probably because it's like something Kaori Yuki would come up with. Only somewhat more logical, with way way way less misogyny, and less incest.
-So, at this point, I'm convinced that Ichabod is wrong, and Abbie and Jenny are the witnesses and he is their perky and useful sidekick who has to remind them that there is no squabbling to be done now, there's an apocalypse to avert already.
-Guys, lyndie greenwood is SO RADICALLY DIFFERENT here from Nikita. Like, almost unrecogizable. Of course, now I sit here fretting about what will happen to Sonja in Nikita's last season.
-I like the show's method of making sure we like Ichabod:
1) Have him sass. A lot.
2) Random gratuitous shirtless scenes.
3) Ichabod vs The Modern Age. Ichabod always loses.
4) Have Ichabod think the WoC lead (and her sister) are the most awesome thing ever. Be sure to include at least one "Abbie! Abbie! The bible ships us! The bible!" speech per episode.
5) More sass.
-Boy do the writers ship Abbie/Ichabod. Like, I can't remember the last time I watched a show where half the scenes made me picture a bunch of writers sitting at a table going "I ship iiiiiitttttt!" I don't ship them myself so much as I assume I will eventually, but I'm enjoying the show's shipping, not to mention fandom's shipping. Except for the ship wars that erupted seconds after the pilot ended. Sometimes I want to make a post to tumblr saying "Look, guys, I'm pretty sure that when people say 'I ship Ichabod and Abbie and can't wait for them to get together!' they don't mean 'the show should forget all about Ichabod's probably dead wife who is waiting for him to rescue her from another dimension so my OTP can hook up,' but rather something more like 'I hope things with Katrina are resolved in a satisfying and nonfaily way so that there will be nothing to mar my eternal elation when my OTP finally makes out in the last 5 minutes of the season 2 finale."
-I have FEELINGS about the Mills sisters. Very strong feelings. Wibbly ones. They better keep Jennifer around and promote Lyndie Greenwood to being a regular soon.
-I...have not decided how I feel about the idea that Corbin was training/employing Jenny all those years but didn't tell Abbie, and doesn't seem to have done much to push them towards reconciliation. Actually, I know I don't feel very positively about it at all. Like, I wonder if their being separated was something he helped keep in place to send them down specific paths. I think Jenny said he encouraged her to forgive Abbie, but it seemed to me that he more went through the motions than anything else.
-So, Mama Mills probably saw demons too, I'm thinking? And also was maybe a witch, but kept that from her daughters. And "Dad ran off and we never heard from him again" is probably code for "dad disappeared because of demons and will magically reappear at some point."
-Right now, the plot really reads as if it's Abbie's story and Ichabod is along for the ride more often than not, and I hope it stays that way.
I also watched the pilot of Witches of East End, which is based on books by Melissa de la Cruz that I haven't read. The pilot was a bit slow to get going and rather silly in large places, but I liked it a lot. Julia Ormond and Madchen Amick are sisters who are semi-immortal witches named Joanna and Wendy who have been estranged for the last century when Wendy finds Joanna again after learning someone is trying to kill Joanna. Joanna also has two daughters, Freya and Ingrid, who don't know they're witches. Freya is recently engaged, but keeps having sex dreams about her fiance's estranged brother, Killian. Estranged siblings appears to be a Thing here.
They appear to be going for "soulmates from a previous life" with Freya and Killian, and I roll my eyes at all their scenes, but ok. Actually, their scenes reminded me somewhat of Aria and Ezra's pilot scenes in Pretty Little Liars with the whole "free spirited tiny brunette meets Tall Dark And Handsome Man and there's a magic instant connection and they are suddenly making out FOR DESTINY five minutes after they meet" way, so that pretty much started them off on the wrong foot for me. But, err, I'm more likely to go along with "my soulmate from previous lifetimes is now the brother of the guy I've convinced myself I want to marry, WHOOPS" than "sneaking around with my teacher who sometimes punishes me and/or my friends in class when I make him mad."
The witches are falling a bit into stereotypes-Joanna is serious and responsible and wants a normal life, while Wendy is a Bad Girl who fully embraces her witch nature and has wild adventures, Freya is freespirited and a little wild and dreamy and impulsive, while Ingrid is serious and cynical and logical-but I like them and their interactions. Very cheesy and soapy, but I liked it and am interested in the plot, though even if I hadn't cared much for it, I probably would have stuck around for a few more episodes for Madchen Amick and Julia Ormond.
It's cheesy and the plot holes are ginormous, but I adore the characters and, while the plot makes it hard to take it seriously, the show really knows its visual gothic tropes, and revels in them. It also often reminds me of shoujo manga in some ways, probably because it's like something Kaori Yuki would come up with. Only somewhat more logical, with way way way less misogyny, and less incest.
-So, at this point, I'm convinced that Ichabod is wrong, and Abbie and Jenny are the witnesses and he is their perky and useful sidekick who has to remind them that there is no squabbling to be done now, there's an apocalypse to avert already.
-Guys, lyndie greenwood is SO RADICALLY DIFFERENT here from Nikita. Like, almost unrecogizable. Of course, now I sit here fretting about what will happen to Sonja in Nikita's last season.
-I like the show's method of making sure we like Ichabod:
1) Have him sass. A lot.
2) Random gratuitous shirtless scenes.
3) Ichabod vs The Modern Age. Ichabod always loses.
4) Have Ichabod think the WoC lead (and her sister) are the most awesome thing ever. Be sure to include at least one "Abbie! Abbie! The bible ships us! The bible!" speech per episode.
5) More sass.
-Boy do the writers ship Abbie/Ichabod. Like, I can't remember the last time I watched a show where half the scenes made me picture a bunch of writers sitting at a table going "I ship iiiiiitttttt!" I don't ship them myself so much as I assume I will eventually, but I'm enjoying the show's shipping, not to mention fandom's shipping. Except for the ship wars that erupted seconds after the pilot ended. Sometimes I want to make a post to tumblr saying "Look, guys, I'm pretty sure that when people say 'I ship Ichabod and Abbie and can't wait for them to get together!' they don't mean 'the show should forget all about Ichabod's probably dead wife who is waiting for him to rescue her from another dimension so my OTP can hook up,' but rather something more like 'I hope things with Katrina are resolved in a satisfying and nonfaily way so that there will be nothing to mar my eternal elation when my OTP finally makes out in the last 5 minutes of the season 2 finale."
-I have FEELINGS about the Mills sisters. Very strong feelings. Wibbly ones. They better keep Jennifer around and promote Lyndie Greenwood to being a regular soon.
-I...have not decided how I feel about the idea that Corbin was training/employing Jenny all those years but didn't tell Abbie, and doesn't seem to have done much to push them towards reconciliation. Actually, I know I don't feel very positively about it at all. Like, I wonder if their being separated was something he helped keep in place to send them down specific paths. I think Jenny said he encouraged her to forgive Abbie, but it seemed to me that he more went through the motions than anything else.
-So, Mama Mills probably saw demons too, I'm thinking? And also was maybe a witch, but kept that from her daughters. And "Dad ran off and we never heard from him again" is probably code for "dad disappeared because of demons and will magically reappear at some point."
-Right now, the plot really reads as if it's Abbie's story and Ichabod is along for the ride more often than not, and I hope it stays that way.
I also watched the pilot of Witches of East End, which is based on books by Melissa de la Cruz that I haven't read. The pilot was a bit slow to get going and rather silly in large places, but I liked it a lot. Julia Ormond and Madchen Amick are sisters who are semi-immortal witches named Joanna and Wendy who have been estranged for the last century when Wendy finds Joanna again after learning someone is trying to kill Joanna. Joanna also has two daughters, Freya and Ingrid, who don't know they're witches. Freya is recently engaged, but keeps having sex dreams about her fiance's estranged brother, Killian. Estranged siblings appears to be a Thing here.
They appear to be going for "soulmates from a previous life" with Freya and Killian, and I roll my eyes at all their scenes, but ok. Actually, their scenes reminded me somewhat of Aria and Ezra's pilot scenes in Pretty Little Liars with the whole "free spirited tiny brunette meets Tall Dark And Handsome Man and there's a magic instant connection and they are suddenly making out FOR DESTINY five minutes after they meet" way, so that pretty much started them off on the wrong foot for me. But, err, I'm more likely to go along with "my soulmate from previous lifetimes is now the brother of the guy I've convinced myself I want to marry, WHOOPS" than "sneaking around with my teacher who sometimes punishes me and/or my friends in class when I make him mad."
The witches are falling a bit into stereotypes-Joanna is serious and responsible and wants a normal life, while Wendy is a Bad Girl who fully embraces her witch nature and has wild adventures, Freya is freespirited and a little wild and dreamy and impulsive, while Ingrid is serious and cynical and logical-but I like them and their interactions. Very cheesy and soapy, but I liked it and am interested in the plot, though even if I hadn't cared much for it, I probably would have stuck around for a few more episodes for Madchen Amick and Julia Ormond.