- "Let me guess. You think this is an ancient prophecy about our place and the war between good and evil? Shamans thousands of years ago predicted what was going to happen. And, this Babylonian artifact will hold the key to what we're supposed to do with your lives. Am I right?"
- —Abbie Mills to Ichabod Crane
"I, Witness" is the first episode of Season Three of Fox's Sleepy Hollow. It was written by Albert Kim and directed by Peter Weller. It is the thirty-second episode of the series overall, and debuted on October 1, 2015. This episode is the third season premiere.
Synopsis[]
With old enemies gone, Abbie and Crane are seemingly moving on with their lives. However, the discovery of a mysterious tablet shows that there may be a new dark prophecy surrounding our Witnesses. The two team together, with the help of an old amulet, and continue their epic take down of the forces of evil.[1]
Recap[]
Nine months have passed, the Horseman rides through the forest and comes across a hooded woman. As the Horseman raises his axe, the woman gestures, and the Horseman and his horse are drawn into a nearby box. It glows red and the woman opens the box, and says that she has given the power of Death, and demands the power of fear. A demon emerges from the box, and the woman says that they have work to do.
In town, a man runs out of a building to the street, and Abbie knocks him down . She drags him to the car where Abbie's new boss Special Agent Mitch Granger reminds Johnny that they had a deal. He asks where Lorenzo is, and Johnny says that he doesn't know what's going on. He offers to check, and Abbie frees him. Once Johnny leaves, Mitch tells Abbie that she had better trust her CI, and reminds her that she's not the in sheriff's department anymore. Abbie takes a call and reacts with surprised, "He's where?"
Abbie goes to the ICU detention center and has Crane brought out. He thanks her for coming, and Abbie wonders why he was arrested for bringing restricted material into the country. Crane says that he has been incarcerated for five days, and she points out that he went walkabout nine months ago. He tells her he needed to clear his head. Abbie isn't happy that he didn't call her in until now, and Crane admits that he has been delinquent. He shows her Katrina's necklace and explains that it was linked to the soul of Abraham Van Brunt, but something happened to it the night before. The energy was drained from the necklace and it fractured, and Crane figures something happened to the Horseman.
Abbie agrees to get Crane out, but says that she needs to know what he was smuggling; he tells her says that it's an artifact that may hold the key to their destiny as Witnesses. Abbie can get him released, as an FBI agent she has some pull. When Crane demands his possessions back, they tell him to file a request online.
Meanwhile, two hunters are at their cabin in Westchester National Park shooting at cans. One of them asks the other how his girlfriend is doing, and the first suddenly attacks him and then storms into the cabin. He then hears a scream and something growls, and his friend goes in to investigate. He trips over a bloody body, and the same creature attacks him as he freezes in fear.
Abbie drives Crane back to Sleepy Hollow, and reminds him that they're a team. Crane wonders if that's true, noting that they no longer seem to have a mission or a purpose. He had gone to his family ancestral home in Scotland, there he found his own drawer in a mausoleum, and inside was an ancient tablet. Customs arrested him when he tried to bring it back. It was a 4,000 year old Sumerian tablet that spoke of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Crane believes that shamans foresaw their destiny, but Abbie insists that their mission is over. A dispatcher calls to tell Abbie about the two dead men, and requests Abbie's assistance. She says that she's on her way and tells Crane that she has a new mission.
At the cabin, Abbie and Crane go inside. The theory is that it was an animal attack, but Abbie knows there are no large predators in the area. There is some kind of residue on a banister, and Abbie has a technician take a sample. Crane goes back outside and finds a footprint in the nearby mud. Abbie joins him and he confirms that it's not human or animal. She tests it for demonic activity using Dragon's Breath, and the water in the print heats up... and then explodes. They realize that evil has returned to Sleepy Hollow.
Abbie takes Crane to the Westchester office of the FBI. She explains that she couldn't put her life on hold after he left, so she went to Quantico and trained as an FBI agent just as she had always planned. There is a board up about Abbie's current case, a drug trafficking ring led by Lorenzo Chang. Lorenzo is supposed to be in town the next day. Mitch, the agent in charge of the investigation, comes in and tells Abbie to meet him in his office in ten. Abbie introduces him to Crane.
Once Mitch leaves, Crane says that there is a far greater role for them. Abbie suggests that Crane might have seen what he was looking for in the tablet translation, but Crane reminds her that the Bible foretells of seven tribulations. She agrees that something strange was responsible for the deaths, and promises to help Crane get to it, but that doesn’t mean it's the Apocalypse. A technician, Dani, comes in with the forensics on the dead hunters. They show that the hunters were terrified at the moments of death. Dani, who is smitten with Crane, promises to get an analysis on the residue. Once Dani leaves, Crane says that they need to tap into less terrestrial information.
The partners go back to the archives and Abbie explains that the city sold the building to developers and it's scheduled for demolition in the morning.Crane is outraged that the historical site will be destroyed, just as Jenny enters. They hug and Jenny says that Irving left without word or warning, and she has no idea where he went. Crane goes through the packed up boxes looking for bestiary texts referring to mythological creatures.
In a ruin in the wood, Pandora summons an image of the dead hunters in a fountain and says that she wants more fear. She then pours some of the water on the plant.
At the archives, Abbie receives the lab report. It shows the residue was cinnabar, which was used as a pigment in supernatural artifacts. The hides of demons are believed to contain large amounts of it, including the Yao-guai. The Yao-guai are known as battlefield demons because they are drawn to conflict and can paralyze their victims with fear. They are servants, not masters, and the trio figures that someone powerful has summoned a Yao-guai.
Crane locates Franklin's sketchbook. Inside of it is a report of an encounter with a red devil after the Battle of Bunker Hill. The colonials took heavy damage in part due to the Yao-guai. Washington got a message to Colonel Prescott, who turned the tide of battle. Crane figures that the message contains the key to defeating the Yao-guai. The messenger - Betsy Ross - penetrated the British front lines and deliver Washington's message to Prescott. Her role as a seamstress was a cover and she was one of Washington's most able agents..
Crane says that they have to find out what was in the message Betsy had carried. Jenny brings it up on the computer and determines that the message and the satchel containing it were passed down and sold to an entertainment franchise company: Colonial Times. Abbie and Crane head to Colonial Times: a theme restaurant. Crane is less than happy that items from his time have been used to decorate an eatery. The partners take a look around and spot the satchel among the exhibits. Crane stands guard while Abbie pries open the case and gets the satchel. Out in the car, Crane discovers that the message is in a cipher. Abbie offers to drop him off at the archives to work on it while she goes after Trevor.
Pandora walks along the highway and a police car pulls up and asks if everything is all right. She says that she's heading for Sleepy Hollow. At the archives, Jenny goes through a box of her things. Among them is a bag holding a piece of black stone. Crane enters and asks for help interpreting Betsy's message. Jenny explains that she has been looking for work since he disappeared, and Crane admits that it's been difficult finding a role in the world. He then shows her the message, which says that the Yao-guai is attracted to aggression and gunpowder. When Crane then explains that Abbie is on a drug bust, Jenny points out that angry guys with guns will attract the Yao-guai.
Abbie and Mitch take a team into Lorenzo's meeting place, and shots are exchanged. Mitch enters the building and Abbie spots the Yao-guai on the roof. As Mitch corners Lorenzo, the Yao-guai enters the room and paralyzes Mitch. It rips out his throat and Abbie arrives and opens fire on it. She hits it, and it runs off, and Lorenzo flees while Abbie calls for medical assistance. Mitch dies in her arms.
At the archives, Abbie explains that the FBI is blaming Lorenzo for Mitch's death. She tells Crane and Jenny that she wounded it, and that the Yao-guai's eyes turned white like a shark when it attacked. Crane reviews the message and realizes that Prescott told his men to fire when they saw the white of the demon's eyes. Abbie warns that the eyes were only white for a few seconds, and they determine that it will take precise teamwork to kill the Yao-guai. Abbie gets a call from the FBI that Lorenzo is holed up in a warehouse with hostages, and they want her there. She leaves with Ichabod and Jenny right behind once they get guns.
At the warehouse, the FBI agent tells Abbie that Lorenzo wants to talk to the agent who was there when Mitch was killed. Crane and Jenny sneak around the back and Jenny lights some gunpowder to attract the Yao-Quai. Abbie goes in and promises the freaked out suspect that she'll tell people that Lorenzo didn't kill Mitch. She says that she's seen demons, witches, and ghosts, and knows how he feels. But it is her job to stop them because it's her mission. Lorenzo collapses, sobbing, and Abbie motions the hostages to run out. The mobster sprays the room with gunfire, and Abbie shoots a steam pipe.
Crane and Jenny spot the Yao-guai approaching the warehouse. They light more gunpowder but the demon ignores it, and Jenny shoots it to get its attention. They run into the warehouse and Ichabod tells Jenny to take the shot. Abbie knocks Lorenzo out and handcuffs him as the FBI agents burst in. Crane fires off a shot and the Yao-guai approaches him. Jenny draws a bead on it as the demon paralyzes Crane with fear. As it advances, Jenny shoots it but it misses. The Yao-guai attacks her and then knocks Crane to the floor below. As it leaps down, its eyes turning white, there is a shot and the demon explodes. Crane looks up to see Abbie. He thanks her and Abbie welcomes him back, hugging him.
Later at the ICU center, Abbie recovers the tablet for Crane. She notices another piece on the edge, revealing a drawing below. The drawing shows the Witnesses. They go to the bar where Jenny works, and Crane finds a single word on the drawing: "destroyers." He doesn't believe that their work is complete, and Abbie concedes that the another Tribulation may have begun. Abbie assures Crane that he belongs there, and he figures that he has to accept the country just like he wants it to accept him. They drink to Abbie not being alone, and Abbie goes to settle their tab. She bumps into a woman, who says that she's from out of town and just arrived; she introduces herself, Pandora. As Abbie goes back to her table, Pandora says that Sleepy Hollow already feels like home.
Cast[]
Starring[]
Guest Starring[]
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Co-Starring[]
Uncredited[]
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Trivia[]
- Sumerian cuneiform script was first deciphered in 1830s, so if Ichabod can read it, he must have learned to do so after his 'rebirth' in the 21st century.
- Abbie Mills identifies a tablet as a Babylonian artifact. Ichabod corrects Abbie Mills saying "It was Sumerian, not Babylonian." Dr. Egon Spengler used the same words to correct Winston Zeddemore in the jail scene of Ghostbusters (1984).
- In the first and second seasons they always spoke of seven years of tribulations. This was the first time they altered that to seven tribulations, of which this would have been the third, not second.
- In the popular Fallout video game series, the 3rd release in the franchise introduced the mutation of the the black bear in the post apocalyptic world as yao-guai.
Multimedia[]
Gallery[]
Promotional Photos[]
Screencaps[]
Soundtrack[]
- "Catch My Fall" - The Elliots
- "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem) - Jay-Z
Videos[]
