Following a lackluster second season, Sleepy Hollow has already made some major lineup changes for Season 3. Now, this week we’ve learned another major character has been taken out of the equation, and this time he’s probably the most iconic character from Washington Irving's original novel. That’s right, Sleepy Hollow announced today that it will be dropping its headless horseman from the plot.
Early on in Sleepy Hollow, the headless horseman was one of the main villains series leads Abbie Mills and Ichabod Crane were up against. As it turns out, the headless horseman happened to be one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, working for a demon named Moloch. However, he also used to be Ichabod’s friend, Abraham Van Brunt, who in the 1700s wooed Abraham’s wife, Katrina before she ultimately chose Ichabod (thus causing a rift). Things got pretty complex during Season 2 between Abraham, Katrina and Ichabod, but now that Katrina is out of the picture, it looks like Abraham will be, too. Showrunner Clifton Campbell told TV Line that neither the Headless Horseman nor Abraham will appear during Season 3.
Obviously a lot of changes have to be made going into Season 3. Ichabod and Abbie have beaten most of the big baddies they have been up against. On top of that, Katrina and her son Henry’s storylines on the show seem to be finished and Orlando Jones, who plays Captain Frank Irving on the series, will not be returning for Season 3. To replace all of the major characters who won’t be back, Fox’s supernatural drama has signed on Shannyn Sossamon as a series regular character known as Pandora. Word’s still out on whether or not she’s that Pandora.
The new direction should be enhanced by the new showrunner. The Glades’ Clifton Campbell is taking over, and hopefully he’ll have some ideas regarding how to take Sleepy Hollow in a fresh new direction. He’s already worked with Fox and the network’s other TV series Bones to put together what should end up being a pretty crazy crossover event. Now, let’s hope the introduction of new characters and villains will be compelling enough to keep Sleepy Hollow going for a long time to come.
Sleepy Hollow will premiere its third season on Thursday, October 1 at 9 p.m. ET, following the premiere of Bones. You can check out what else is coming up with our Fall TV premiere schedule.
