The major networks have made plenty of scheduling changes this year, which has meant some fan favorites like Scandal and Sleepy Hollow have been kept off of the schedule for midseason. Luckily, we are hitting the holidays, which means winter TV is on the way, including Season 4 of the Tom Mison-led series. Unfortunately, when the show returns, it won't feature Nicole Beharie as Abbie Mills after that character's exit. In her absence, a slew of new characters have been signed on, and you can take a first look at what the new version of the show will look like, below.
Basically, it looks like Sleepy Hollow will be going through a sort of reset. When the Fox series first hit the schedule, it was a bit enchanting thanks to being a fish-out-of-water story with supernatural beings. Ichabod Crane has clearly adjusted to life in the present day at this point, but because new characters are entering the story, they aren't familiar with the supernatural creatures and demons Crane and his team have been fighting against all along. Which is why we get some hilarious comments from the new team members including the uneducated:
Demons don't exist.
Sure, they don't lady.
Part of the reason that Season 4 is going to be a reset is that the show is heading from New York State to Washington D.C. for its latest set of episodes. The bigger change, however, is going to be the show's new cast. A few months ago, we learned that Sleepy Hollow had signed on Janina Gavankar--of True Blood fame--to play Ichabod's new partner in crime-fighting, Diana. Her daughter will be played by former Masterchef Junior contestant Oona Yaffe. There will be new supernatural archives in D.C. manned by characters who will be played by Jerry MacKinnon and Rachel Melvin. Another big change is that Tom Mison looks as if he may very well be sporting a new haircut.
A few familiar faces will still be around, including Tom Mison and Lyndie Greenwood, who has played Jenny through the show's run. John Noble is also expected to make a return this season.
Sleepy Hollow has gone through a lot of tumultuous changes on Fox during its four-season run. It's a goddamn miracle---and also a testament to Tom Mison's likability---that Sleepy Hollow is still on the air, especially after it was shuffled into the Friday night death slot last season. The show has capably figured out how to reboot before, but it's biggest problem is that as soon as the show has had any sort of momentum, it has lost major characters. Hopefully, Season 4's big reboot will be the one that sticks. If not, we may be saying sayonara to Sleepy Hollow later in 2017.
Sleepy Hollow is schedule to return to Fox on Friday, January 6 at 9 p.m. ET. To find out when the rest of your favorites will be returning to the schedule, check out our midseason TV premiere list.
