Be Still My Heart, Sleepy Hollow “Heartless” 

Hearts are bouncing all over the place in this week’s episode of Sleepy Hollow. Hawley’s got a thing for Abbie (after boffing her sister a few weeks ago). Ichabod’s had a change of heart when it comes to Katrina. Abbie’s lighting hearts on fire. (For realz). With the amount of heart-swapping going on, you’d think we were back in Sleepy Hollow High. Now let’s get down to the heart of the matter. (Wink.)

Henry, in his continued quest to bring in a monster of the week, summons a succubus to steal some healthy life forces from the townsfolk. Apparently, Sleepy Hollow has quite the night life. While the succubus is on the rampage, Ichabod and Katrina are cuddling and getting caught up on modern reality dating, aka a generic form of The Bachelor. Their conversation and Ichabod’s scorn, read: interest, sounds remarkably familiar to how my boyfriend and I watch the real version but I digress….It’s not long before they’re drawn to the first of the succubus’ victims, torched to a crisp outside Sleepy Hollow’s happening night spot. This is, of course, after Katrina and Ichabod have a little chat about the state of their relationship following his shaken trust in her.

Abbie and Ichabod try to resume their usual vibe of research and conquer, but Katrina’s presence is throwing off their synergy. Even if Katrina is incredibly useful when it comes to figuring out what’s going on. Not to mention, she’s got some kind of telepathic connection to whatever is cooking in Henry’s crib at Fredericks Manor. Pretty quick they figure out that they didn’t so much as kill the demonic spawn in her womb last week, as much as shift it somewhere else. Turns out Baby Moloch isn’t so dead after all. He’s somewhat alive and feasting on the life forces the succubus is collecting. Ruh-roh!

Enter Hawley, who is Abbie’s first call to get some info. When it turns out the succubus preys on those with secret desires that are hidden from the world, we get a glimpse into Hawley’s heart. Turns out he’s got his eye on Abbie, even though she’s blind to his affections. Not that you can blame her. He does keep them pretty well hidden under all that charm and hair. Ichabod catches on and he assumes the role of protector over Abbie. He awkwardly tries to feel out with Abbie if she’s interested in an, ahem, social relationship with Hawley. You can almost feel his collar tightening as he tries to delicately coach her. Nice try, Ichabod. You’ll never get there with all that propriety weighing you down. But you look so cute doing it.

Determining the succubus’ heart, which is kept separately from the body, has to be destroyed first, Katrina and Abbie set off to find it while Hawley and Ichabod try to lure the succubus away. It works a little too well and it’s not long before Ichabod is at the wrong end of the monster’s soul-sucking mouth. The succubus accurately calls out Ichabod for harboring a desire deep in his heart that he has yet to let himself realize. Three guesses as to what that can be and I don’t think working out his marriage is one of them.

Let’s look at that for a minute. From day one, Abbie and Ichabod’s relationship has been defined by certain parameters: they’re both witnesses that will play a role in stopping the Four Horsemen, they both are characters of unshakeable honor and Ichabod is married to “the love of his life.” While saving Katrina from one prison or another isn’t always at the forefront of their mission, Ichabod has been steadfast in his love for Katrina. Abbie, being who she is, hasn’t even come close to trying to shake that. Why would she? Abbie and Ichabod work the way that they are.

Yet now, their relationship is evolving. New elements are being introduced that are causing them to redefine how they stand together. As Abbie pointed out to Ichabod while giving him marriage advice, people change and you have to evolve together for the relationship to survive. If Abbie and Ichabod are to survive, we have to assume their relationship will evolve. In “Heartless,” it’s the first time they’ve put a real voice to what may have been brewing underneath the surface all along.

Katrina, on the other hand, doesn’t seem too worried about her husband’s relationship with Abbie. She even goes as far as using it to her own advantage. After Abbie conducts a spell to light the succubus heart on fire, Katrina vows to kill Moloch herself in order to save her son’s soul. Recognizing the strong bond between Ichabod and Abbie can be a good front, Katrina begs Abbie to be the one to tell Ichabod she was going to go back to Abraham in order to play double-agent. As she willingly goes back to Abraham’s captivity, Ichabod surprisingly gives in, spouting trust in her strength. As Henry accepted Katrina into the fold, so many warning bells went off. Katrina’s strength could be Ichabod and Abbie’s downfall. While she claimed she went back to put herself in position to kill Moloch, the look of awe and enchantment she gave Baby Moloch was seriously chilling. Ichabod called it in the beginning of this episode. “Secrets are a hard habit to break.”

Watch Sleepy Hollow Mondays at 9/8c on FOX.