Sleepy Hollow is officially returning to Fox for Season 4, but it looks like the drama pretty much plans to revamp itself once again. After losing Abbie Mills at the end of Season 3, Ichabod Crane is going to be on a new mission and that mission is apparently going to take him from the small town of Sleepy Hollow to a much bigger city: Washington D.C.
The move from the New York state town to the bigger city might mean the series has a nice change in pace. It was always a little bit unbelievable that such a high percentage of supernatural creatures resided in the small town, although the series did its best to explain why Sleepy Hollow was a veritable hub for supernatural beings. Still, the series is called Sleepy Hollow, so it'll be pretty strange for the show to have that moniker without actually being set anywhere near the small town.
Plus, leaving Sleepy Hollow also means that a slew of other changes will have to be made. Nicole Beharie will obviously not be back for Season 4, and over the last few months we learned Shannyn Sossaman, Nikki Reed, and Zach Appelman were also out. Yesterday, we also learned Lance Gross, who played Daniel Reynolds, and Jessica Camacho, who played Sophie Foster on the series, are also out for Season 4 despite reports last spring mentioning they should be returning. TV Line says that in the characters' place, 5 newbies will be introduced, one of which looks to be Ichabod's new partner in demon fighting.
A couple of seasons ago, Sleepy Hollow opted to cut out a lot of plotlines fans were not as excited about, including stories involving John Noble's Henry Parish and Katia Winter's Katrina Crane. Orlando Jones also left the show around that time. Fox really worked to revamp the drama for Season 3, bringing in big names like Shannyn Sossamon and Nikki Reed to fill in the gaps and promoting Appelman to a series regular. The revamp didn't exactly exceed expectations. Not only was Pandora just an OK villain, but it was weird to see Nikki Reed act as romantic interest for Crane in the past, since much of the two seasons prior had been devoted to Crane's relationship with Katrina. Perhaps another revamp was in order, but moving the show away from Sleepy Hollow still seems odd.
Sleepy Hollow was on the bubble last year in terms of cancellation and renewal and at one point Fox even opted to ship the drama to Friday nights. However, the network didn't cancel the show, and the higher ups are clearly hoping another revamp will entice fans to tune in once more. However, it seems like a strange choice to essentially shift the show to an entirely new city. I also wonder how Jenny will fit into the fold when Ichabod Crane moves to a more populous location, but I'm sure we'll learn more as filming progresses. On the bright side, perhaps moving to Washington D.C. will give Crane the chance to bump into the Bones cast on occasion.
Sleepy Hollow isn't expected to return until midseason, but you can find out when your favorite fall shows will be premiering here.
