‘Sleepy Hollow’ Boss on the Team Witness Loss, Return, and New Ally

Spoiler alert! This post contains plot details from the Sleepy Hollow hour, “Delaware.”

As Sleepy Hollow heads toward its massive Season 3 finale, the Fox drama made big moves in its penultimate episode of the year—including a big loss for Team Witness.

Though Joe’s (Zach Appelman) Wendigo had been under control, The Hidden One (Peter Mensah) brought out the inner monster in Corbin. And when Jenny (Lyndie Greenwood)—with the help of Papa Mills (James McDaniel), who actually is a supernatural expert—couldn’t stop him, and she was forced to kill her boyfriend.

“We are ending this season as we always do—with a big dynamic, explosive end to the season,” executive producer Clifton Campbell teases.

Campbell dishes on losing Joe, gaining Ezra Mills, Ichabod (Tom Mison) and Abbie’s (Nicole Beharie) reunion with Betsy (Nikki Reed), and more.

What led to the decision to kill off Joe?
Well, I have to remind everybody that this is Sleepy Hollow, and things are not always as they appear to be in Sleepy Hollow. We had a very good run with Joe’s character, and his relationship he was able to give us with Jenny as we paired the two of them up in this crazy season has been phenomenal. And we really all loved this character. The character was obviously found with a demonic presence, and we needed to deal with that. I think that was the best way to do it, to bring this iteration of Joe Corbin to an end, and to also use it as a platform to bring Ezra Mills, Jenny and Abbie’s father, to the forefront.

How will being the one to kill him impact Jenny going forward?
Well, she’s going to have to deal with that for sure. [From] what we know about Jenny, while she was put in the position to do that, it certainly wasn’t something she would have chosen to do, which is first and foremost in her mind. The Hidden One is this season’s Big Bad, and it helps draw her to a conclusion.

At what point did the writers realize Papa Mills was actually very aware what was going on in the supernatural world?
This goes back to earlier conversations we had in the season: Abbie and Jenny’s world always seemed to be an incomplete history. Or at least it was suggested as one thing, and as the show does so well, it was revealed things were not always as they seemed. I’m fascinated by the idea that there’s this man who fled; there’s always this negative connotation to why he did what he did and why were the reasons behind it, and we just decided to turn the tables. There’s a very good reason why he did what he did. And as we unfolded this season, his history with both August Corbin and Nevins go back to the beginning with this family. So it seemed like the natural thing to do to bring this man back into their world and win their trust, and then when they need him, he be there for them.

What role do you see for him in Team Witness and with the show?
Well, you know, bringing in a father-figure at this point kind of frames everything differently for Abbie and Jenny in a very good way. They don’t suddenly feel as alone; there’s still a lot of healing that needs to be done because of the absence [in their lives] from Ezra’s disappearance. It’s not what they thought it was, and hearing his explanation, they’re not quite satisfied, initially. But that gives us an opportunity to do that in the future.

Betsy is now back. How will her being in the present impact the story?
We’re in the catacombs, which is a timeless realm. When she returns, she returns as the rules of well of time indicate, she returns from whence she came. That was always a part of the plan this season—the overall arc of Betsy Ross and their original partnership—to bring it full-circle. And to have Crane and Betsy have a final moment together, and to do the pass off with Abbie being his one true partner, was too enticing to pass up. When you have an opportunity like this realm and the catacombs, it really laid out nicely.

What is Abbie’s relationship with Betsy like?
Well, you have two women who care very much for Ichabod Crane. You have two women who have had a very intimate relationship, in terms of their working relationship, in the closeness and the emotional outpour people have for each other when you’re in tight spots like these two have. They’re looking at each other, trying to figure each other out. Wouldn’t want to give too much away about that, but it’s a fun trio when we finally see them all together breaking that down.

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What will it mean for Ichabod to have that kind of closure with Betsy?
That is part of the much bigger mythology we’re playing with, should we be so fortunate as to have a Season 4. It gives him closure. He finally realizes she didn’t walk away, there was something more going on, and allowing the two of them to have this relationship come to a head in a very critical point in the season. This tribulation gives them a great deal of solace, it feels like a tremendous mystery and sadness has been explained, and you can explore it.

What can you say about Pandora’s (Shannyn Sossamon) true loyalties and what it might take to stop The Hidden One now?
Well, at this stage, The Hidden One is all-powerful, he is omnipotent. And there isn’t anything that can come up against that. The only thing that could possibly topple the hidden one down and undermine his quest to burn the Earth and everybody in it is the box. Pandora doesn’t have the strength or the supernatural capacity to pull that together. It does seem to be that she has now reached out to what was once her enemies and has to align herself [with them] if anyone’s going to stand a chance of beating The Hidden One.

Sleepy Hollow airs Fridays at 8/7c on Fox.