Warning: Spoiler Alert
Tonight’s episode begins with a Katrina flashback to a very satisfying memory. Just to be awakened by horrible imagery and the sensation that she swallowed a spider. Which according to the final minutes of last night’s episode, is in fact the case.
Today’s Ichabod culture shock moment comes when Abbey attempts to vote. Ichabod incensed because there is typically only a 40% voter turnout for something he fought with his life to ensure. Abbey coming back with having to wait through 180 years and two constitutional amendments for her to vote. Ichabod adds that as a Black woman it was actually three hurdles to overcome as she would have been considered ‘property’. Then Ichabod tries to follow her into the voting booth. And everyone has a problem with that.
Right about the time Abraham tries to convince Katrina that he had nothing to do with her ill state, Henry bursts through the door with three other men. Abraham and Katrina demand to know what is going on. One of the strange men, takes a close look into Katrina’s eyes, turns to Henry and says, “Everything is going as expected”. Abraham in as furious as an obedient soldier could be. Eventually, he attempts to strike Henry. Henry is able to control Abraham to the point of exposing him to the sunlight of daytime which appears to almost kill him. Very much like the Wicked Witch of the West and water. Moments later, Abraham is able throw his ax at one of the strange men breaking free their grip on Katrina and she runs off.
Abbey gets a tip from another officer that a redhead in full colonial gear was brought to the hospital. After dispensing through the red tape, Abbey, Ichabod and Katrina are left alone. Katrina gives a simple explanation. Then she goes into convulsions and blackness begins to spread from her back across her abdomen. The decision is to get out of their before Henry comes looking. But, Katrina’s in a hospital gown. They raid the lost and found and we see Katrina in a corset (not surprising) and form-fitting jeans. It’s a little strange to see Katrina in jeans. But who’s complaining? They split up. Abbey one way, Ichabod and Katrina another.
Abbey follows the strange men to an old warehouse. Inside the only guy to say anything to this point is on a cell phone claiming that there is only one translation, as he stares upon a stone tablet with engravings. I hate scenes like this. You’re always waiting for something bad to happen.
Snooping around always makes for a painfully uncomfortable scene. Back at the archives, the trio come to the conclusion that Katrina is pregnant. But with what?
Considering Ichabod and Katrina have not shared an intimate moment in over 200 years, this is a little off-putting. Naturally, Ichabod’s first conclusion is that Katrina has been with Abraham. Logical but not accurate. Upon further review, it seems that Henry is attempting to grow a demon inside of Katrina.
Katrina, in her infinite optimism as a mother, thinks that if they can appeal to his sense of family, he may just remove the demon. Which is stupid. It feels like we are setting up a meeting between Ichabod and Henry which inevitably will end badly.
A meeting must be set up immediately. Irving convinces his psychiatrist to get Henry to the psych ward urgently. Then Ichabod enters the room and Irving exits. While Ichabod attempts to reason with Henry, Katrina (it seems) is going into demon labor. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Henry would not have gone to such trouble for an ordinary demon. The demon growing inside of Katrina is none other than Moloch himself.
The scene between Henry and Ichabod is deliciously well acted. And as much as I am inclined to transcript the scene in its entirety, the depth of it would be lost in translation. After baring it all out, putting all his cards on the table, Henry chooses Moloch. As Henry attempts to leave, Ichabod grabs his hand and witnesses a young boy scampering through the woods. Despite facing absolute evil directly, Katrina still believes her son is still in there somewhere.
Abbey tells Ichabod about the tablet. In the picture the tablet is stone but radiates a distortion that resembles the Aurora Borealis (i.e. The Northern Lights). Benjamin Franklin wrote a paper on the potential ability for the Northern Lights to extinguish demons. Of course he did.
Ichabod: The Aurora could banish demons from earth. He wrote a paper about it. I must internet. Immediately.
Within the stone tablet Benjamin Franklin inserted a stone of his own creation that would mimic the Aurora Borealis and end Moloch before he can be born. They will need reinforcements or an army as Ichabod puts it. Apparently, Abbey knows how they can acquire one on short notice. Abbey and Ichabod play Sheriff Reyes by playing this up as a cult with evidence of torture. Just to get their hands on the tablet. As luck would have it, Reyes sees this raid as a success and has a new-found respect for both Abbey and Ichabod. All seems on the up and up until Katrina radios to Ichabod that “it’s coming now”.
They make it back to Katrina as Moloch begins to crown. In a painfully slow-moving scene (literally, slow motion) Ichabod breaks the tablet, grabs the stone and breaks open the church windows. Then places the stone in the path of direct sunlight. The Northern Lights effect seems to attack Katrina’s womb. In the end it seems the evil has been stricken from her, and that the act may have killed her. Moments later (after Ichabod performs CPR on her left abdominal), Katrina comes to. All seems well. For now.
Ichabod finds Abbey outside reflecting. They breathe a sigh of relief. Complete with a fist bump (or ‘dap’) in which Ichabod articulated and gestured the ‘explosion’ sound. Then we see lightning strike and follow a cable through a window and into a mason jar. Inside there is a red explosion that is tiny and gradually grows as the camera gradually pulls back to reveal Henry.
