What is Sleepy Hollow without Ichabod Crane? The show’s panel at New York Comic Con forced fans to grapple with that question. Tom Mison, Ichabod Crane himself, had been slated to attend but was forced by a scheduling conflict to back out. Instead, Zach Appelman, who plays the new character Joe Corbin, a recovering Wendigo, joined fellow cast members Lyndie Greenwood and Nikki Reed and producer and writer Raven Metzner for the panel.
But while Mison couldn’t be there in person, he did manage to dominate the panel. After being introduced, Appelman announced that Mison had sent him an email to read to the gathered fans. He proceeded in his best English accent (at least, that was the intent) to declare:
“Dear Sleepyheads, I wish I could have been there with you to watch that episode we’ve all seen before, but alas I had to remain in Atlanta for the weekend. I think we can all agree the panel in front of you is all the more impressive without my hairy mug grinning at you and it’s nice that it’s made up entirely of women. Although I agree Zach’s reading of this letter is a little lackluster, perhaps together we can spruce up his dead-eyed performance a bit. On the count of three, all shout ‘Show us your pecs!’ One, two, three … Come on, you all can do better than that. One, two, three. That’s much better. But God I hope he didn’t.â€
Appelman opted not to flash the audience, and the panel went on to discuss some of the upcoming tidbits from the third season. Metzner revealed that one member of the show will switch sides, discussed non–Sleepy Hollow locations they would like to visit (New York City), talked about monsters they would love to revisit (the Kindred — a monster created from the body parts of dead soldiers), and reassured fans that during the episodes for the crossover with Bones, the characters were faithfully represented by both writers’ rooms.
However, Mison reemerged during the audience Q&A. As Greenwood, a Canadian, joked that she learned all her American history from the show, Appelman broke in, saying, “Speaking of foreigners, Tom just texted me and said, ‘That accent was a disgrace.’ What should I write back?†A wit in the audience shouted out, “He should have been here!†and it was sent. Mison responded, but his exact words remained a mystery. “I actually can’t read it out loud,†said Appelman. “You’ll have to use your imagination.â€