Before the season started, we did an episode of “Hard N.O.C. Life” in which we talked about the shows we were excited for. Sleepy Hollow made the cut, but we speculated that the show would probably be terrible. That said, we were all intrigued by the premise. Several episodes in, and it’s become one of the buzziest shows on television. It’s also one of the most diverse, with article after article pointing to its importance as a bellwether for diversifying TV’s primetime landscape.

Shows what we know for shitting on it back in August. Well, not all of us did. Jason sang the show’s praises as soon as the pilot premiered.

To look back at the first half of Sleepy Hollow‘s debut season, some of the Nerds assembled around the Roundtable once again. Here’s what they think of the show:

RAYMOND: Ichabod realizing Thomas Jefferson is a dick is my favorite moment on the show so far.

JAMES: I haven’t yet viewed Sleepy Hollow, but this statement is the best ad for the show.

JASON: The scene running up to his revelation, with two black cops schooling him on Sally Hemmings, had me rolling.

SHAWN S.: Second favorite moment: the look on Crane’s face when Abby told him we pay for water now….

RODRIGO: I’m hooked since catching the first episode. One of the things that intrigued me when I watched the pilot episode was the fact that one of the protagonists is a woman of color. The story line was crazy, though. The fact that there are Four Horsemen (every time I read that, I think of the X-Men).

I like the cast too, and the sheriff was played by Clancy Brown, the guy in Pet Semetary 2 — who has contributed many voices to DC and Marvel cartoon characters — and of course John Cho.

So far so good. Ichabod has some great one-liners, too. And the fact that he is, like, 250 years old has its pros.

N’JAILA: Orlando Jones becoming king of tumblr has won me over. Can’t take anymore Arrow or S.H.I.E.L.D., but yay to Sleepy Hollow!

JUNKO: Overall, I’ve been a bit lukewarm to the show, although I do enjoy it for its diversity and for Ichabod’s time-warped character. The level of diversity in “a small rural town” did blow me away. And of course seeing John Noble guest star was great, but I think I’m a few episodes behind.

Also I do like the scariness level. It’s not PG-scary, but it’s not American Horror Story‘s almost R-rated level either!

SHAWN T.: It’s on the good side of WTF. It can be sub-Supernatural at times — in terms of narrative and having a mythology that is more smorgasbord than cohesive chain of mythic events  — but it is consistently well-acted and had a few genuine; not scares, but startles. That Moloch to the mirror scene shook me.

I was a bit worried about the Native shaman storyline, but they pulled it off. My native NOCs were ready to go bad, but they thought the episode took an approach to honor their, albeit cinematic interpretation of native tradition, and not mock it.

It feels less “white boys are the only folks who can save us” — like Supernatural — and more “this is how the world would be saved if this shit were real.” In other words, a diverse array of characters, with different skill-sets.

RODRIGO: Yeah, it’s nice that people of color are given the chance to save the world. Because we know we can damn well do it! I mean if Korra can save the world, why can’t the rest of us?

BAO: Man, I gotta check this show out!

Related articles

• Hard N.O.C. Life: What’s on TV? (thenerdsofcolor.org)
• First Impressions: Sleepy Hollow (thenerdsofcolor.org)