Sleepy Hollow struggled to get a third season last year when the original showrunner left. A year later we’ve finally started season 3 with a new showrunner, but we’re not exactly thrilled with it so far and we’re confused about the direction it’s headed.

One of the things that we loved about Sleepy Hollow when it originally aired was how crazy different it was from the rest of the shows on television. It was a mix between a historical and supernatural drama with all the epic antics of a cop show, and it was a blast!

But now, three years into the groove, we find ourselves wishing that each episode is better than the last. Frankly, every time an episode ends we’re left underwhelmed. Moreover, we still don’t know where the new showrunner, Clifton Cambell, is taking us.

Last year Fox TV Chairman and CEO Dana Walden had said they wanted to make Sleepy Hollow less serialized and more episodic, but if these past three episodes are any indication of how the rest of season 3 will turn out then we’re really worried.

We’re fine with episodic episodes, but they need to create villains that can rest on their own and don’t rely on Pandora, who’s entire arc is very serialized. Anyone tuning in this week that hasn’t been tuning in is going to be very confused as to why Pandora is grooming a gigantic tree underground and bringing out these demons and creatures from her box of evil. Hell, we’re still confused about that ourselves!

If Sleepy Hollow wanted to make their show more episodic then they should have kept Pandora’s existence a secret for most of the season, with the demons and creatures coming out with no explanation until the end of the season. This way they could spend more time focusing on the case of the week instead of focusing on Pandora being behind every single attack.

And speaking of Pandora and her serialized story line, Sleepy Hollow continues their tradition of creating characters but not developing them enough to make us interested. They first did it with Katrina Crane and now they’re doing it with Pandora. What’s with the lack of female character growth? Perhaps they plan to flesh her out more in the season, but right now we don’t understand her character.

Pandora, for all we know, is evil for the sake of being evil. There is no connection to Ichabod that we see, no real reason why she wants to destroy the world. This is a huge missed opportunity for Sleepy Hollow because as one of history’s greatest legends, Pandora’s Box can be a really epic story line if they followed through with it. This is why we think they should have kept her existence unknown to viewers because now we’re really interested in finding out more about her. Because of the episodic nature and creature of the week we don’t get enough time to learn about her.

As it stands all Pandora’s Box is in the world of Sleepy Hollow is a collection of horrible things meant to bring down the world. But why does it exist? Where did it come from? Why does Pandora have it and what motivates her to keep doing these things? These are all serious questions we wish and hope Sleepy Hollow has time to answer in season 3.

And with this very weird blend of being an episodic series vs having a very serialized storyline it looks like Sleepy Hollow is struggling to make things clear to the public. The season 3 premiere debuted with less than ideal ratings, and when you stack this show up against the powerhouse of #TGIT on ABC (Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy, How To Get Away With Murder) it’s no wonder that’s happening. If FOX really wants to keep Sleepy Hollow on the air, which doesn’t seem to be the case since they moved it to Thursdays, they need to move this show back to Mondays and let the show run the way it wants to.

We say that because it feels like Sleepy Hollow still wants to be very serialized but with this episodic style being pushed on them by the network it’s degrading the quality of the show from what it used to be in season 1.

Overall we hope that Sleepy Hollow does get better and gets renewed for a fourth season, but if they still struggle to balance the show between being serialized or episodic then it looks like this might be the last we see of Ichabod Crane and Abbie Mills.

What do you think of ‘Sleepy Hollow’ season 3 so far?

Do you think the series can succeed better with an episodic, creature of the week storyline or would you rather it keep one mystery all season long for a more serialized feel? Let us know in the comments below!