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Sleepy Hollow: Orlando Jones Exit’s Causing Further Speculation About The Direction For Season 3

By Alanna Vopni
Published on: 12:47 PST, May 5, 2015

[Caution: potential spoilers ahead for Sleepy Hollow]

Sleepy Hollow is losing Frank Irving — the character named after the author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving.

Variety made the announcement yesterday that Orlando Jones, who portrays the much-loved character on Sleepy Hollow, will not be returning. It’s still unknown exactly why the actor left the show, though it could be because he’s moving on to a new Robert Orci online show, Machinima’s High School 51, as reported by New Media Rockstars. That series will revolve around a bizarre school located in Area 51. Cue the teenage extraterrestrials?! Could be very interesting.

Good for Jones, but he will be sorely missed on Sleepy Hollow, and not only for his on-screen performance. The actor was in the habit of regularly live-tweeting episodes of Sleepy Hollow and bringing a lively and humorous perspective to the proceedings or just giving voice to the exact thing the audience was thinking.

As previously reported on Inquisitr, Jones isn’t the only one leaving — showrunner for the first two seasons, Mark Goffman, was out the door before Sleepy Hollow was renewed for the third season. Clifton Campbell, the man in charge of the now-canceled show, The Glades, will be taking his place. According to E! Online, Fox president David Madden made this statement on Campbell’s addition.

“He is an excellent producer, and we can’t wait to see what this team has in store for season three.”

Katrina Crane (Katia Winter) and Henry Parrish/Jeremy Crane (John Noble) were killed off at the end of the last season, and thus, effectively written off Sleepy Hollow. That leaves just the Witnesses, Ichabod and Abbie, and their sometimes helper and Abbie’s sister, Jenny (Lyndie Greenwood), to save Sleepy Hollow, and sometimes the world, from the dark supernatural evil that threatens it.

One of the main criticisms of Season 2 was that the storylines were too serialized, clunky, and confusing. Paring back the characters to the essentials and reducing the serialized elements should allow for more standalone episodes and keep the stories moving, which should deliver the kind of fantastical, fast-paced action that made Sleepy Hollow popular in its first season.

Fox issued a press release when they renewed Sleepy Hollow last month that gives a glimpse into what fans can expect in Season 3.

“The jaw-dropping conclusion of Season Two left Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) and Lieutenant Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie) with a decisive, albeit heartbreaking, victory over evil. In the name of good, Crane made the ultimate decision to kill his wife, Katrina Crane (Katia Winter). With evil seemingly at bay, the third season will explore how the partnership between Crane and Mills will evolve and what challenges these two witnesses will now face.”

Looks like the ailing time-traveling supernatural show, Sleepy Hollow, will be going through some major changes before it heads into the third season. Do you think Campbell will be able to take the show back to its Season 1 roots that made it so popular? Or is the loss of so many characters and the original showrunner, as well as the lacklustre second season, too much to come back from?

[Image courtesy Fox via TV Tyrant]

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