In
March, I complained here
about Pro7 starting to air a mystery/horror series and then cancelling the
whole thing after only four episodes. The series in question was “Sleepy
Hollow.” Happily, iTunes allowed me to pick up the full first season now, in
English, but that’s not a problem for me.
I
went on a full-fledged marathon with “Sleepy Hollow,” watching the first half
yesterday in the evening (getting to bed a little before 2 a.m.) and the second
half this morning. I’ve just finished the last two episodes (listed as one
double-length episode at iTunes) and I can just say one thing: “More please!”
The
first season ends with a huge cliff-hanger, but the second season has already
been confirmed, luckily. I might have to wait for quite a while (especially
since I will have to wait for iTunes to offer it), but I know the story of
Ichabod and Abbie will continue. On the ‘how’ I don’t even want to speculate
now.
I
can see now, with the whole first season under my belt, how the officials at
Pro7 might have believed that the series was not worth continuing. Not because
the series is bad, but because it is very complex and demands a lot of knowledge
of early American history and the more or less far-spread conspiracy theories
wrapped around early America. I suspect the station just thought people wouldn’t
be able to follow the series, which is stupid, but understandable.
As
a matter of fact, quite some stuff is explained pretty well in the series - and
we have Google and Wikipedia, which means everyone can check things online they
don’t understand. There is a lot of blood and death in the series, but it is
dealing with the headless horseman, after all. What else is a headless rider
with a sharp axe supposed to do with his time? Chop wood? Offer free rides to
small children? Naturally, he is making people a head shorter.
The
series so far has been written excellently, the threads merge, the story weaves
in and out, with twists and turns. There are no ‘monster of the week’ episodes
in the 13 (12 on iTunes) made so far. Even seeming ‘monster of the week’
episodes, like “Blood Moon” or “John Doe,” have a meaning for the overall story
arc. The middle of the season, the three episodes “The Sin-Eater,” “The
Midnight Ride,” and “Necromancer,” marks a change in the story, a twist into a
new direction. The motives and identity of the headless horseman are revealed,
the stage for the end is set, and the group that will have to stay together in
the end forms. It’s very obvious the writers knew what they were doing, where
they were starting, which ways they were going, where they would end up. I like
that in a series, because it shows the creators take it seriously.
What to do now? Well, it’s
time to wait for season 2. I still have to finish watching the series “Dracula,”
so I will be entertained. It’s too bad, though, Pro7 didn’t have enough faith
in their viewers to give an excellent series a chance beyond episode 4.
No comments:
Post a Comment