Wash n' Wear; Rock n' Roll; Scratch n' Sniff; Gag n' Puke

[taste_is_sweet]

Sleepy Hollow, Ladies and Gentlemen: a recent debut on the pit of voles Fox network with the winning premise that mixes The X-Files with Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and CSI. Ichabod Crane, instead of being a dick, is a warrior-scholar who was BFFs with George Washington, as well as resurrected over 200 years after he croaked while putting the 'Headless' in 'Headless Horseman'. Two requisitely beautiful heroes banter and angst a lot and together they solve crime.

But, there is one major aspect of it (leaving aside the general crazyness) that bugs the hell out of me, and I'm not the only one.

He's trying to breathe, not getting a blow job.

Ichabod never changes his clothes. The same clothes he was buried in.

"The mildew and rot remind me of happier times."

Now, the show's writers and producers are obviously aware of this. Entertainment Weekly even quotes the Executive Producer as saying that "It’s like his security blanket... He can never feel comfortable in our world. The minute he gets comfortable, the show is over." (Because jeans and a fresh shirt = instant acclimatization.)

On the costume-design blog Hello, Tailor, the blogger says:

The show needs to keep him in the 18th century costume for more than a couple of episodes, purely to remind the audience that he’s from the 18th century. It’s a visual cue.

Which makes me glad the SH producers didn't also make The Avengers.

Who the hell are these guys?

Do I buy that? Well, sort-of. I mean, yeah: anyone newly tuning-in will need a bigger clue that Ichabod pulled a Captain America Lazarus than a ponytail and sexy accent. But how many people will start watching the show without knowing what it's about? And sure, while I can buy both that Ichabod is used to wearing the same stuff for weeks on end as well as that he's clinging to the security of his outfit, this is an outfit that he was buried in. In an underground cave, which he then dug himself out of after 200 years. Now, I don't know about you, but I might forgo a bit of familiarity to not smell like a swamp.

It's gotten to the point where Ichabod's outfit is distracting attention from the plot, and I can only imagine how much Lieutenant Abby Mills wants to stand downwind of him. Maybe in a future episode the fungus doubtlessly growing behind his lapels will help repel a demon. Because that outfit's gotta be repelling everyone else.

( All screencaps from Screencapped.Net.)

Comments

Re: However...

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

:) Another commenter reminded me that he cleaned his shirt at least in the pilot episode, and it's cool that they're showing that he's still cleaning it. But seriously, he needs new clothes, and we really are smart enough to know that it won't mean he's magically adjusted to the modern world.