‘Sleepy Hollow’ recap: Is love ahead for Abbie and Ichabod?

It’s been a year since the thoroughly whack day when Ichabod Crane was buried alive and Abbie Mills was trapped in purgatory in the season finale of Fox’s supernatural cop drama, “Sleepy Hollow.”

These freedom fighters, whose job is beating back an all-out apocalypse and tamping down any sexual tension between them, take a moment for a small yet significant celebration. Don’t they deserve it?

It’s Crane’s 251^st birthday, after all, so they should make merry. Abbie schools Crane in the art of the surprise party, and Crane gamely considers himself punk’d.

The red, white and blue cupcake surely is a nice touch, Leftenant.

The two beautiful people, at ease with each other, as always, exchange witty and warm banter. But underneath, there’s sadness. Her sister, Jenny, is dead. That’s bad. His wife, Katrina, has been killed, too.

“Squeeeee,” says every single ‘shipper among the series’ dedicated fan base.

Admit it, viewers, that’s the moment you’ve been waiting for since first realizing that Crane and his buddy cop partner are absolutely perfect together. They finish each other’s sentences, have each other’s backs in battle and remember every class/parable/lesson/language they’ve ever heard. They’re a match made in nerd heaven.

Alas, it’s not to be. The creators of “Sleepy Hollow,” which include Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, have thrown a bone, or seemingly so, in season 2’s premiere, dubbed “This is War.” But they just as quickly yank it back because – psych! – Katrina is still alive and Abbie is still no home wrecker. (Jenny’s OK, too).

It was all a wicked mind game.

So for those wondering how the team behind this everything-but-the-kitchen-sink series could top the first season’s ender from last spring, there’s your answer: a massive tease that lets the audience dream, if just for a split second, that Abbie and Ichabod can be a couple.

Say it loud: Curse you, tricksters!

It will take the two characters a while to figure out that they are being hoodwinked in this episode, as well.

A quick word for the uninitiated that simply can’t be overstated: suspend your disbelief and just let “Sleepy Hollow” wash over you without getting too mired in the details. Enjoy the ride like the rest of us who’ve forgotten most of our ninth-grade U.S. history.

This drama, starring Tom Mison, Nicole Beharie and Orlando Jones, throws a million outlandish curves, switching periods from the Revolutionary War to present day Sleepy Hollow, New York, and hopping from the real world to spiritual and demonic realms. Be prepared for anything.

Abbie and Ichabod usually are, but they fall for a trap in this hour, revealing an important secret to the show’s villains. And that vital bit of information is?

Well, see, Benjamin Franklin wasn’t really experimenting with electricity by flying that kite in a lightning storm. He was trying to destroy the conductive key because it unlocks purgatory. (See above under “suspend disbelief.”)

His apprentice at the time, Ichabod, pays careful attention to the spectacle even though he clearly loathes the arrogant “gasbag” Franklin (a nearly unrecognizable Timothy Busfield, in a white-wigged guest appearance). He figures out, in current day, where the key may be hidden. It’s a race against time and the bad guys to secure the key and spring Abbie from the place between heaven and hell without letting loose all manner of tormented lost souls.

“The impossible becomes our reality,” says Crane, using a line that could drop into any hour of this series and describe either the characters’ challenges or the viewers’ experience.

Now about those bad guys: so far, two of the iconic Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are in the house, as it were. One of those, the headless horseman, also known as the horseman of death, is holding Katrina, his former love, hostage. He’s briefly the shirtless horseman in this episode, possibly trying to impress his onetime fiancé with his six-pack, and he’s still unstoppable. Automatic weapons, fancy crossbows, nothing in Abbie and Ichabod’s arsenal can kill this guy.

His earth-bound minion, Henry Parrish, also known as the horseman of war, is pulling strings. He wants that key so the demon Moloch, a terrifying horned creature, can rally an army in purgatory and launch doomsday. He plans to open the door between the two worlds and let the evil troops run amok.

And, not incidentally, Henry is the son that Ichabod never knew he had. Oh, Katrina. You didn’t tell Ichabod about the bouncing baby boy and you’re a perpetual damsel in distress. Don’t be shocked that no one can really get behind you.

The good news in this episode is that Crane frees himself from his dirty grave, reunites with Jenny, fetches Abbie from purgatory and destroys the Franklin key. Whew! And he demonstrates a fairly committed fist bump.

The bad news? Henry is one determined dude. He may be Abbie and Ichabod’s prisoner, technically, but he still has his resources, including a brand-spanking-new armored warrior with a blazing sword. Moloch made that especially for him, likely as a tool in the “new work to be done.” Can’t wait to see what comes of that.