‘And The Abyss Glazes Back’ Review
The witnesses are preparing for their war against Moloch by trying to strengthening their body and mind through yoga. Ichabod’s mind seems to be drifting off in another direction, the direction of his wife. Katrina kept too many things hidden from Ichabod and hiding the news of Mary’s death was taking one too far. Ichabod Crane reveals clearly that he is disappointed but consoles himself, saying that Katrina did what she had to in order to protect Crane’s role as a witness.
At a bar where Crane and Abbie Mills are trying to drown their worries, Mills finds a young man, Joe, engaged in a fight and as it turns out, Joe is Joe Corbin, the late sheriff’s son. As Abbie tries to chat up with him, it is evident that the boy blames her for whatever his father had to undergo and even for the murder. As it turns out, Abbie and Joe go long back, she was once his babysitter.
There is another monster running around town and it has attacked Joe and also killed a couple other people. Joe, in his wounded state, confessed to Abbie about his father’s warning about what was coming to cause everyone’s doom. But brought back to his health, Joe refuses to mention any useful information to the lieutenant. And the reason becomes clear as Joe mentions how he felt left out and ignored by his father when Sheriff Corbin prioritized Abbie over Joe.
After some extended research and Ichabod’s dwelling over the past, they have some lead. As the witnesses go through Joe’s past records from when he was a soldier in Afghanistan, they figure out that the anonymous attacks prevailed there too and Joe was the only survivor in that incident just like the recent one he went through. Even the nature of the attacks were similar. Ichabod sticks out a story from the past about Daniel Boone. Apparently, Daniel’s brother suffered a condition where he would turn into the same kind of monster. Daniel was trying to find a cure for his brother’s problem and drawing upon that research, Ichabod pulls out a chapter on ‘The Curse of the Wendigo’. A creature that possesses both human and bestial attributes and partakes in the act of cannibalism and its feeding is triggered by its lust for human blood.
Sheriff Corbin had asked his son to take care of some of the ancient items that Corbin was in charge of before he died. Joe was digging up one of these items when the witnesses find him. Joe refuses when they offer to help him and at the first sight of Ichabod’s blood, Joe turns into Wendigo. After much effort, Abbie manages to injure him badly enough to catch and capture the beast. They keep him in a cell and the witnesses, Jenny and Nick Hawley are there to observe it. It turns once it has fed and we have Joe back. He is finally talking and confronting about how it all started. Turns out, dusted human bone sent to Joe in a letter from Henry Parish was what caused this curse to begin. The letter said that the curse could be reversed if Joe could give Henry a bottle of deadly poison form southern China that was under the possession of Sheriff Corbin.
The witnesses are determined to find a cure and Abbie comes across the information that the curse becomes permanent with the fourth transformation, so Joe was three-fourth there. Nick mentions that he knows some Shawnee and he and Ichabod go to visit them. After a lot of hard work Ichabod manages to get them to agree to help. On the other hand, Henry Parish comes to fetch the poison and Joe. Joe leaves with him hoping that Henry will give him the cure but instead, the evil horseman makes him turn another time, stating that his humanity was his real curse.
Ichabod has the cure for which to work, he has to chant a spell in the presence of Joe. It ceases from working for a while but upon Abbie’s request they wait for a while and finally it works its charm. Joe is back to being human and Ichabod is determined to take his advice on trying to make amends with his son, Henry. But on the other hand, Henry has used the poison to create a poisonous spider which makes its way into Katrina’s windpipe while she is asleep.
Aside from that, Irving has a chat with Henry Parish and learns that he did sell his soul to the devil and once he died, Henry would snatch his soul. As Henry is notorious for doing, he provides as escape route to his victim. Irving is told that the way out of this deal is by paying a price of another human life. A soul for a soul, as Henry calls it. Irving is absolutely against it until he encounters the man who is responsible for his daughter’s paralysis. Irving attacks the man and warns Abbie about this little act as he believes that Parish is getting to his head. How far Irving can fight this battle against himself, remains to be figured out!