Previously on Sleepy Hollow: This Is War.

Things take a turn for the even more complicated with the arrival of the new Sheriff, Leena Reyes. She knew Jenny and Abbie as children, and their mother, of course. In short, she knows too much and yet not enough. With Jenny back in jail for illegal possession of firearms and with Captain Irving now transferred to the psych ward, Ichabod and Abbie are a few allies short — except, of course, for the Kindred. But something tells me he isn’t going to stick around for tea.

Tangled up in the relationships between Abbie and Ichabod and Katrina and Henry/Jeremy and Abraham, the episode plays a meaningful and interesting riff on the knife edge of drive, strength, and weakness.

Abraham attempts to manipulate Katrina’s feelings by suggesting that Ichabod loves Abbie more than he does her, twisting Ichabod’s logical (as well as emotional) decision to never abandon Abbie in Purgatory and to get her out before attempting to rescue Katrina from the Horseman of Death into a tale of betrayal. At the same time, Abbie is wondering whether her unconditional trust in Ichabod isn’t the one thing that’s bound to be her downfall. Ichabod, for his part, cannot believe that his devotion to his wife and desire to save her — as well as make sure that her considerable powers cannot be unwittingly harnessed for evil — might make him anything other than more determined and stronger than he ever could be without her. Or Abbie, for that matter, when he was racing to get her out from under Moloch’s stink eye.

Bless Katrina for playing Abraham like a cheap fiddle — and for not being the damsel in distress, for playing this game in her own way, the smarter way, seeing the big picture, not just her own destiny. Damn, that woman knows what to do in a crisis. She’s the Witnesses’ mole now, which is a huge advancement to the narrative and to her characterisation. For all that she was trapped in Purgatory for all of Season 1, this could be the writers’ chance to give her something real to do.

And it turns out, resurrecting a Kindred is a lot like putting up IKEA cabinets. There’s always one screw left that you have to scramble for on the carpet.

Oh no, Henry’s Irving’s lawyer. Not good, not good, not good at all. And with his blood, Irving is about to sign a deal with the Devil. Literally. We’re in trouble.

After the season opener’s tour de force, this was no less fast-paced, no less completely nuts, and no less enjoyable. The episode’s tone struck a darker, more somber chord in Abbie and Ichabod’s relationship, too, which is a necessary and actually welcome change. Can’t all be surprise birthday parties. The team took a hit and Jenny took one for the team, and with more than 250 years of personal history between them, this whole thing is a psychological minefield.

I’m loving the addition of Sakina Jaffrey to the cast as the new Sheriff. She’s a great gateway into finding out more about Jenny and Abbie’s family without it becoming weird exposition after the fact, and it’s going to be a lark seeing her discover more of what the hell’s going on in Sleepy Hollow, and seeing on which side of the issue she’s going to come down. The issue being: fight — or denial until it’s too late.

Next on Sleepy Hollow: Root of All Evil.