Angels and Demons, Sleepy Hollow “Paradise Lost” 

Welcome back, Sleepy Heads. We’re back and it’s not just the bad guys who are wreaking havoc in Sleepy Hollow. The appearance of an honest-to-goodness angel on the return of Sleepy Hollow isn’t too surprising, considering we’ve been wading in biblical legends this long. Everybody, meet hottie angel Orion (guest star Max Brown) and I think the black wings are a dead giveaway that he’s maybe not the ally our witnesses could use.

Abbie and Ichabod have been doing a bit of recuperating since Henry tore down Moloch in front of them. Six weeks later and there hasn’t been sign of either one. While Abbie takes this as a sign to get life back on the right track, Ichabod is patrolling nights and picking up subtle signs that evil is still brewing. Perhaps to keep his mind off his estranged wife, Katrina. Or perhaps he’s not ready to answer the big question over their heads: After averting the apocalypse, now what?

Sure enough, Ichabod’s hunting digs up some demons begging for a master now that Moloch is, well, dust. Enter Orion in all his winged glory, sporting a cool halo-type blade that he can boomerang around and take out demons. He immediately fights said demons and shocks our witnesses. After some awed introductions — let’s face it, I would have asked him about God, heaven and dinosaurs, too — Orion filled them in on a few things since Moloch’s demise. First up, the demons are latching themselves on to the next best thing, Moloch’s servant, good ol’ Headless, who just happens to still be chained up in the dungeon under Katrina’s eye. Next, Orion had been trapped in Purgatory for several hundred years and he wasn’t the only thing that escaped when Henry took down Moloch. Hmm….I sense a few more beasties popping up in the coming weeks.

Abbie and Orion bond pretty quickly, she’s impressed because he’s, you know, an angel and he’s impressed by her moral fiber and willingness to fight. So when Orion fills her in on wanting to kill Headless, Abbie’s on board. Yet once again, Katrina stands in the way. Determined she can separate Abraham from the Horseman of Death, she sneakily releases Headless under the promise he won’t kill anyone. Why is it Katrina is always trying to save the bad guy? At first it was annoying, now it’s just predictable. I suppose it’s meant to show her character will always find the hope, light and good in any situation……but I’m just waiting for her it to come back and bite her.

But I digress….as Abbie and Orion find Headless, Ichabod has discovered the other side to Orion’s tale of revenge. Angel Orion is a little bit of a harbinger of death and destruction himself. Orion doesn’t shy from it; he’s proud of his plagues and firestorms. With his halo-blade, he can steal Headless’s powers and do an overdue purge on the evil in the world biblical-style with him as executioner.

Headless and Orion battle it out in Headless’s carriage house with Abbie and Ichabod preoccupied with a demon minion outside. (Headless has minions now.) When Orion gains the upper hand and begins to drain Headless’s powers, Ichabod steps in and saves Headless. I bet that’s a spot he never believed he’d be in—saving Headless from destruction. But he has to figure Headless is a better Horseman of Death than this judgy angel. Smashing the halo with Headless’s ax, Ichabod and Abbie can only watch Orion fly away in anguish. So…death and destruction at the hands of an angel averted for today.

What’s surprising is Abbie’s take on Headless following the battle against an angel. Ichabod and Abbie agree, or rather, they don’t try to fight, when Headless demands he be left on his own while Katrina devises the way to unhitch Abraham from the demon within. Perhaps it’s witnessing a true zealot in Orion that shifts her staunch position on Headless, who she referred to as a murderous monster earlier in the episode. But by the end, she’s willing to let him stay on his own under his promise he won’t kill. Foolish or open-minded? Ichabod seems too distracted by his marriage woes (he and Katrina haven’t solved anything yet) to really weigh in. The looming presence of a Horseman free should be enough to keep everyone on their toes for a while.

In the cliffhanger of the week, he’s back!! Hooray! Frank Irving is back! Undead? Maybe. In need of a shower? (Yes.) A stunned, confused and shoeless Frank Irving stumbled his way into a convenience store and dazedly helped himself to some milk. Was he actually dead or perhaps just his soul was stashed somewhere? Did being dead make him thirsty for vitamin D? So many questions!

Oh yeah and Hawley and Jenny were doing things this week. They did have an egg rock that hid a sphere that tracked the demons so they could find Headless. But other than that, not much. Oh, except Hawley seems to have a thing for both Mills girls. So…there’s that.

Catch Sleepy Hollow Monday nights at 9pm on FOX.