BWW Recap: 'The Abyss Gazes Back' on SLEEPY HOLLOW

It's tense. It's hot. We see an extreme close-up of Ichabod, and he's in distress. He's being...tortured? Maybe. It's okay, though, Abbie's there to calm him down. But an equally close shot of her shows us that she's not exactly relaxing herself. She's calm, but focused. The camera moves back, and we see Abbie and Ichabod upside down...doing yoga. That's a relief. Let's be honest: is there anything more endearing than watching Ichabod trying to understand modernity? He's stressed and disappointed about Katrina lying to him, and Abbie's trying to get him to relax. Ichabod prefers the bar, though, and it's there that he dynamic duo stumble upon Sheriff Corbin's son, Joe. So begins this week's SLEEPY HOLLOW battle to save humanity.

There's a lot of mystery surrounding Joe: where was he for his dad's funeral? Why did he choose to come back now? What's his problem with Abbie? Fortunately, Abbie's the one with the answers, and she helps us clear the fog. Joe returned a few days ago from a stint in Afghanistan, which is why he couldn't make it for Corbin's funeral. He was given an honorable discharge after being the sole survivor when his platoon was attacked. Joe and his dad never had the best relationship. Corbin spent much of his time mentoring Abbie, and Joe's simply jealous. Joe was always a hero - a little Superman, according to Abbie (not, as Ichabod guesses, "Peter Parker," or "the arachnid fellow").

Bonding time can only last so long, though. Abbie gets a call over the police scanner reporting an incident in the woods at Pioneer Point involving Joe Corbin, and she and Ichabod head over to investigate. When they get there, they find two dead bodies, one of which is (prepare yourself) completely hollowed out and removed of all its organs. Nearby, Ichabod finds clawed footprints. Abbie hears something around the bend, and they find Joe, alive and unharmed, but disoriented and confused. He calls for his dad, and warns that "it's just the beginning."

Happy Halloween, everyone!

While Abbie tries (and fails) to uncover why Joe was asking for his dad, Frank Irving confronts Henry in the psychiatric hospital. Henry has stolen Irving's soul, and Irving wants it back. The problem is, the only way to reclaim a soul, claims Henry, is to commit murder. His suggestion? Irving should murder the drunk driver who paralyzed his daughter. Frank refuses; he doesn't want to become a monster.

Meanwhile, Ichabod researches traditional forest-dwelling monsters (as you do), and pieces of the puzzle start to come together. He notices similarities between what happened to Joe at Pioneer Point and what happened to Joe in Afghanistan. In both instances, he was the soul survivor, and one person in each attack had their organs ripped out of their bodies. Crane recalls a story he heard about after Valley Forge, involving Daniel Boone's brother. Boone went to the Shawnee Indians for a cure, and they believed that his brother transformed into a Wendigo. But what is a Wendigo (besides that creepy monster-metaphor that randomly shows up every now and then on HANNIBAL)? It's a beast that can only return to human form after consuming human organs. Well, that explains Joe's battle history at least: Joe's a Wendigo. Crane and Abbie look for Joe at the hospital, but he's not there. They head instead to his apartment and find Corbin's will, which contains clues for Joe to use to find something very fragile that needs to be protected. Encoded latitude and longitude coordinates point to - you guessed it! - Pioneer Point.

Abbie and Crane find Joe, who has by this point uncovered the box his father wants him to protect. The only problem? He's turning into the Wendigo right before their eyes. Crane and Abbie run, but the Wendigo catches up and knocks Crane to the ground. Abbie manages to restrain him, and they bring him to Nick and Jenny in an attempt to cure him. To lighten the mood a bit, Jenny waltzes in with a box of organs, fresh from the cadaver lab, and soon it's feeding time at the zoo. Once the Wendigo eats, it transforms back into Joe, and he starts explaining the origin of his predicament.

While in Afghanistan, Joe realized that blood is the trigger for his transformation. He traces his transformations back to a letter he received from an anonymous source containing "supernatural anthrax," or, as Ichabod explains, crushed bone hexed with black magic. The letter states that he will only be cured once Joe trades the item Corbin left for him. It's obvious that Henry sent the cursed bones to Joe, and it's only a matter of time before Henry finds him. Henry wants what's in the box: a potent poison from China.

They have to work quickly to find a cure. The Wendigo can transform 4 times, with the last transformation being permanent. Joe has already transformed 3 times. Thankfully, Nick knows some Shawnee, and he and Ichabod pay them a visit. They gain access to the Chief, thanks to Ichabod's knowledge and respect. The chief gives them the materials they'll need to cure Joe: a skull with an incantation that must be read aloud, and a knife made of bone that must be used to collect the blood of the Wendigo.

A lot happens while Nick and Ichabod meet with the Shawnee chief. Abbie tells Joe that Corbin's love for Joe is what made her want to change her ways; Irving confronts the drunk driver that paralyzed his daughter, but stops harming him when he realizes that this behavior is exactly what Henry wants; and Henry barges in on Abbie and Joe to collect his trade. Joe follows Henry's orders and gives him the box in return for a cure. If you think that this sounds a teeny bit too good to be true, you're exactly right. Instead of curing him of his curse, Henry slashes his arm and sparks Joe's transformation into the Wendigo.

Abbie and Crane put their plan into action. There are two possible outcomes: either they save Joe before his fourth kill as the Wendigo, or they kill him for good. Ichabod follows the Shawnee cure, and after a few ridiculously tense minutes, Joe returns to his human form for good. He reconnects with Abbie, and all seems to return to normal.

But this is SLEEPY HOLLOW. Things are never normal.

Irving calls Abbie and explains that Henry owns his soul. Abbie vows to fix whatever it is that's happened, but Irving isn't as optimistic. He trusts Abbie, but he knows their options are limited. He leaves us with some deep, philosophical words: "Even God thought the devil was beautiful before he fell."

If that quote's not enough to make your spine tingle, how about that spider that Henry makes out of the poison that crawls into Katrina's mouth while she's sleeping?

I don't know about you, but I'll be doing a double check for bugs before I go to sleep tonight.

Do you have as much faith in Henry as Ichabod does? Or is Henry just a bad seed? Let us know in the comments below or tell me on Twitter @CourtHenley! Then we can commiserate about that creepy spider, too. (Come on, you know it freaked you out, too!)

Check out a sneak peek of next week's episode titled 'Deliverance':

Photo Credit: Fox

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