‘Sleepy Hollow’ recap: Happy entrails to you

You might think that a bony, fur-covered wolf-like creature with antler horns, a demon face and a penchant for disemboweling its victims would be the star of this episode of Fox’s hit supernatural, sci-fi buddy cop drama, “Sleepy Hollow.”

Or Ichabod Crane doing broga.

And both of those are kind of true.

But the real standout may actually be Henry Parrish, menacingly played by John Noble, who shows us just how low he’ll stoop. Man, oh man, is this guy rotten to the core. And to some viewers he may have just proved himself to be irredeemable in the hour dubbed “And the Abyss Gazes Back.”

If you’re even the slightest bit arachnophobic, he’ll be dead to you.

Redemption proves to be the word of the day and the thread that connects multiple stories, situations and relationships. Is it possible for Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) to forgive his wife, Katrina, for lying to him about some pretty important stuff for a couple of centuries? He’s not so sure, even after some yogic deep breathing and handstands with fellow Witness, Lt. Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie). His chakras are still all out of whack, poor thing, and he definitely didn’t find his bliss.

Can a father reach out to a neglected son from the grave? Can Nick Hawley ever do anything right? (Short answer: no). Will pseudo-siblings work past their rivalries? And does Jenny need to donate about a gallon of blood to make up for stealing fresh human organs from the teaching hospital? (Another short answer: Jenny’s golden. No apology necessary).

Henry propels so much of the action this week that he’s nearly a one-man Armageddon-planning band. Headless who? The Horseman of War is on the loose, and he got skills.

He admits that he’s stolen Frank Irving’s soul and notes, smugly, that there’s a way for the imprisoned former police chief to win it back. All that’ll take is one measly little cold-blooded murder, and the distraught Frank (Orlando Jones) nearly goes through with it.

The turn of that knife? The target was the convicted drunk driver who crashed into Irving’s daughter, confining her to a wheelchair. But Frank, as much as he wants to kill the guy, resists the overwhelming temptation to become a monster himself. How long will that last?

And if you’ve been wondering what Henry had in store for the weaponized bone flute he bought a few episodes ago -- you remember, the one made from the tibia of a slain child? He crushes it into powder and laces it onto a letter he sends to the late Sheriff Corbin’s son in Afghanistan.

That “supernatural anthrax,” as Abbie calls it, serves two purposes: it curses soldier Joe Corbin (guest star Zach Appelman) by turning him into a Wendigo, a cannibalistic man-beast hybrid, and it essentially blackmails him into giving up his mysterious occult-themed inheritance.

Corbin ships back home to Sleepy Hollow -- there was that small, unsolved matter of his entire platoon being ripped to shreds -- and sets about unearthing an ornate box filled with the world’s most poisonous concoction, also known as the orange Chinese gunk Henry wants.

We can guess that it’s a means to an end, not necessarily the end itself, judging from his past doomsday-centric mad scientist approach. But we don’t see the depths of Henry’s depravity until the closing scene, when he untwines all the potion’s lethal, creepy crawly ingredients and boils them into one huge, venomous spider.

If that’s not nightmarish enough – oh, it surely is – he sends the eight-legged invertebrate straight down his sleeping mother’s throat. Katrina may feel differently about finding the good in her son when she realizes what’s now nesting in her innards. Fangs for all you never did for me, Mom, says Henry.

It’s not all bad news in this episode, though, since Abbie and Crane manage to save Joe Corbin with an odd mixture of human blood, the aforementioned fresh cadaver parts, a Shawnee Indian ritual and good old-fashioned faith. (About this time, Hawley gives Crane a new nickname, Dances with Wendigos, which is good for a chuckle. Otherwise, he’s useless in this hour, as per usual).

Abbie and Joe go way back because Sheriff Corbin was Abbie’s mentor and surrogate father. She was the favorite, according to Joe, who’s still hurt over all the attention she got from the lawman. Maybe he’s also still fuming because she babysat and saw him in his Superman PJs. And, well, he blames her for his dad’s death. But come on, Joe, that’s on the Headless Horseman.

Abbie has a chance to tell Joe how proud his father was of him and to fill him in on the sheriff’s pastime (no, it was not fishing and crossword puzzles). And Joe gets that recommendation to Quantico, now that he’s no longer addicted to entrails.

But there’s no denying the pall that now hangs over Ichabbie, conveniently setting up future wild and wooly episodes. The Witnesses are rocked onto their heels, and Henry has made major inroads. What in the (under)world will he do next?

Odds and ends: Crane can chug like a frat boy, but he’s really a lightweight. “I do believe I’ve won,” he says after exhaling deeply into Abbie’s patrol car Breathalyzer.

Jenny “Badass” Mills keeps showing up at the right time with the right firearm.

Daniel Boone preferred beaver pelt to coonskin caps, says Crane, who seems truly offended that Abbie recalls this pioneer mainly for the raccoon he wore on his head.

The legend of the Wendigo has a Valley Forge connection, according to “Sleepy Hollow” twistory, but these beasts sure make tracks around pop culture these days, appearing everywhere from “Hannibal” to “Teen Wolf” to “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.”