Sleepy Hollow Shocking Exit: Orlando Jones is Out
After a messy season and a tense waiting period, Sleepyheads breathed a sigh of relief when Sleepy Hollow was renewed despite flagging ratings. The show also brought on a new showrunner, Clifton Campbell, to take over this coming season. In the final scene of season two, Abbie Mills and Ichabod Crane were left standing with allies Jenny Mills and Frank Irving, many took that as a good sign. It turns out that the end of “Tempus Fugit” was the last scene for Irving. Variety reports that Irving’s portrayer, Orlando Jones, has been given the axe. This is surprising given the fact that Jones has been the show’s biggest booster and the only member of the cast to regularly engage with fans on social media. The actor’s active Twitter presence delighted many fans — and provoked others, especially when he’s made his shipping preferences known — for Sleepy Hollow and other fandoms. Jones often pokes the bear and exhibits a tongue-in-cheek response to the nickname/alias “Trollando.”
In the pilot episode, Lieutenant Abbie Mills lost her mentor, Sleepy Hollow’s sheriff, August Corbin at the hands of the Headless Horseman. Captain Frank Irving was brought on to run the department in that same episode. Despite Abbie’s account and corroboration by time traveler Ichabod Crane, Irving ordered the lieutenant to have Crane taken to a psychiatric facility, but he soon became a part of Team Witness. In the second season, Frank was placed on the back burner, despite a potentially interesting plot: he’d unwittingly sold his soul. When Frank was killed, it was widely suspected he’d be resurrected, that assumption was proven to be correct. Frank was possessed but set free in the final episode.
There’s no word now on how Frank’s exit will be explained, but presumably he’ll reunite with his family off-screen. Captain Irving, is not the first Sleepy Hollow cop to drop off the radar So far, four prominent members of th Sheriff’s Department have been knocked off or disappeared: Though August Corbin died in the pilot, the Witnesses relied on his audio recordings, which abruptly ended; Andy Brooks was relegated to Purgatory and seemingly the only one who didn’t escape it after Moloch’s death, Abbie’s former boyfriend Luke Morales disappeared without explanation. Sheriff Reyes better watch her back.
Personal moment: TV Recappers Delight will fondly remember the way the actor gave us a few plugs.
You can read Captain Frank Irving’s bio here and follow Jones on Twitter here.
Have an opinion on this casting development? Sound off in the comments section. Comments don’t appear immediately, but we’ll get to them ASAP.
I will miss both Irving and Orlando “Trollando” Jones but I really think that Captain Reyes could be a character with unearthed potential and mystery. She could end up being connected to what happened to the Mills sisters as young girls for good or bad and I hope that Grace is brought back in some way. How awesome would it be if every time Abbie opened the journal Grace would appear because having traveled back in time has connected them in some way. And now they are bound to each other by their family magic. The meta of having an ancestor be able to interact with their descendant would be uniquely amazing….just like the show itself!
Thanks for writing, Allegra, we love comments! I’ll miss Irving, Cynthia and Macey again. At least you know there will be an explanation for his absence, unlike Luke Morales. Sheriff Reyes has potential, did you see her on House of Cards?
They should definitely bring Grace back, she was set up as an important character and there’s so much potential.
I am extremely disappointed to see Orlando Jones leaving the show! I really like him as an actor as well as a personality – he has been a valuable addition to Sleepy Hollow. I do not believe anyone else has been or will be as dedicated to this production as Orlando!! I really feel it is a mistake to let him go.
As far as the opinions regarding the controversy about race/gender – I must agree with what I have read recently. It disheartens me that there exists an issue at all! There should be NO room at all in this day and age for such such nonsense….. but I suppose since we do not live in a perfect world the people holding the purse strings are either allowing their personal feelings to cloud their better judgment or they are caving into the desires of immature viewers. It is racist behavior either way.
Such a shame. It is coming dangerously close to ruining an otherwise fantastic 5-Star show. (It gives a person a reason to wonder if this is the reason Orlando was sacked? Did he voice his opinion one too many times against this racist behavior?) Too bad the world cannot all grow up at once, realize we are all the same, and get over it.
Thank you for writing, Kim! We love comments. “Trollando” was the show’s biggest cheerleader and the only consistent Sleepy Hollow presence on social media, so they are losing a lot on that front. Sometimes these casting decisions are simply a budgetary issue, or it could be a creative matter. I wish I had some behind-the-scenes dish for you.