Ichabod peers into a closet in an apartment that he, Jake, and Jenny are looking at, and the landlord explains that the last tenant disappeared two months ago under mysterious circumstances, owing two months' rent. The apartment is not as advertised, but Jake insists that it's an edge neighborhood and the rent is 1/4th of the other places Ichabod saw. Ichabod takes it and thanks Jake for his assistance, and Jake points out that his name and Jenny's are similar. Once he goes to his nearby apartment, Jenny asks Ichabod when he's going to tell Diana about Molly. She warns that the road isn't going to get any smoother, and figures that it's better to tell her sooner than later.
At home, Molly is drawing a sketch of Diana and shows mother her sketches of herself, Diana, and Ichabod. There is one sketch of a forest with four white trees, and Molly doesn't remember where she saw it. She asks if she can stay home but Diana says that she isn't ready for that.
Malcolm is receiving an explanation about a new app from a hotshot seller, and tells the designer Xxx that he can get him funding but won't. He explains that he's investing in the future of the human race and the hotshot doesn't have a vision of the future. Jobe come in and tells Malcolm that "he" has arrived, and Malcolm dismisses the hotshot. Once the man leaves, Jobe says that the Horseman will be active once the sun sets, and Malcolm figures that death will follow.
The President's entourage is heading through DC and a police officer on a horse fires a shotgun and shoots one of the escorts. He gallops after the President and fires on her limo. When one motorcycle cop stops to provide cover, he fires and shoots off the attacker's head. The head falls off and the Horseman and his Horse transform to their normal appearance. They reach a barrier and are unable to pass, and after a moment ride off.
The next day, the officer reports what he saw, and Diana and Ichabod watch the video. Diana says that the whole city is on lockdown, and everyone figures the officer is concussed and crazy. She's the only one who believes him, and Ichabod is the only expert that she has. Ichabod confirms that the assailant carried an axe, and says that it's an abomination. He warns that if the Horseman is after the President than nothing will stop him.
At the vault, Ichabod describes his encounters with the Horseman and warns that he's a single-minded engine of destruction. Alex asks for details, and Ichabod says that the Horseman's intent in the past has been to reacquire his head. Jake points out that the heads of powerful people have been considered relics of power, and Ichabod figures that the Horseman wants the President's head. They go to investigate the street where the Horseman hit the barrier, and Diana warns that she can't get all of them into the crime scene. Jake asks Alex to boost a signal and then says that he knows how they can be there.
On the crime scene, Diana and Ichabod examine the crime scene, and Jake, Alex, and Jenny go through the tunnels and keep in contact with Ichabod via radio. Jenny points out that Jake is standing on a glyph and Alex finds another one. They're centuries old, and Jenny realizes that they're Druidic. Jenny warns Jake that if he keeps eyeballing her then he'll lose an eye.
Ichabod and Diana find a manhole and the trio in the tunnels finds a disk bolted to the underside of the cover, surrounded by magical glyphs carved into the tunnel walls from different ancient cultures. Diana warns that they have six hours until the sun sets, and Ichabod realizes that the ward was intended to repel the Horseman. The trio remove the disk and take it back to the vault, and Alex determines that it contains an Egyptian ward. Ichabod says that he's seen the combination of glyphs before in the work of a highly skilled city planner, Benjamin Banneker. Jake recognizes Benjamin's name and Ichabod relates a visit by a Colonial officer in 1777.
Ichabod goes to Benjamin's workshop on Washington's orders and ends up strung up from a snare. Benjamin finally lets him down but tells Ichabod to get off his land: an invitation from George to join the battle. The engineer isn't interested and points out that the people Ichabod serves are no better than the British. Benjamin chooses not to ally with either side and walks away.
Jake says that all of Benjamin's papers burned up in a fire in 1826. He tells Ichabod to admit that he's a time traveler, and Alex says that she carbon-dated a piece of hair off of Ichabod's jacket and the results suggest that he's from a time before them. Jenny admits that Ichabod is technically 226 years old, and Diana tries to take it in. Ichabod explains that he was born in 1751 and he met the Horseman in 1781 on the battlefield. They both slumbered until a demon raised the Horseman as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and Ichabod and Abbie faced him as the Witnesses.
Diana orders Ichabod outside and complains that he's been keeping secrets from them. Ichabod points out that she's had a lot to accept, and Diana tells him to finish his story and be straight with them. They go back into the vault and Ichabod explains that he followed Benjamin into his workshop.
Benjamin's workshop is filled with plans for cities, and Ichabod admits that he's a Freemason. The engineer says that the city he's designing doesn't exist but it will, and it will guarantee equality and justice for all men and women. However, Benjamin points out that the Founders allow slavery to continue. Ichabod agrees that all men deserve to be free, but finally the revolution must play out on the streets rather than the papers. He tells Benjamin to speak and the Founders will hear him. Benjamin warns that if the issue isn't resolved then it will tear the new nation apart, and wishes Ichabod well.
Ichabod wonders what else was in Benjamin's arsenal, and Jenny remembers seeing Benjamin's folio at a black-market auction months ago. She finds an online reference to it and discovers that Malcolm bought it at auction.
Later, Jobe tells Malcolm that Diana and Ichabod want to see him. Malcolm agrees to see them and tells Jobe that he may need him to improvise. Diana and Ichabod come in and Malcolm jokingly surrenders himself while Jobe stands in the background, his eyes glowing red. He talks about the DHS "losing their heads" over the attack on the President, and Diana says that they're looking for folio. Malcolm tells Jobe to get it from the vault in the basement, and says that he's been intrigued by the occult. He talks about how DC has a reputation as a hotspot for supernatural activity. Ichabod suggests that Malcolm's success relies on the preternatural, and Malcolm says that he sold his soul to the Devil at age 25... and then claims that he's kidding.
Jobe brings in the folio and takes out the plans. Malcolm points out that J Street, which was supposedly eliminated from the building of DC, actually exists and was meant to be a trap for supernatural threats to the seat of government. Jobe reminds Malcolm of an important board meeting, and Malcolm says that they're free to borrow the plans. Once they leave, Malcolm points out that he doesn't have a board meeting. Jobe wonders what he's playing at, and Malcolm figures that if Ichabod can trap the Horseman using J Street then they can bargain. His aide advises against the plan, and Malcolm says that his objection is noted and appreciated.
At the vault, the team goes over the plans and realize that J Street exists. Ichabod figures that if they can lure the Horseman in, they can use the disk to block his way out. They check the secret histories while Jenny brings in her heavy weaponry. Diana wonders how Jenny got pulled in, and Jenny explains about how she and Abbie encountered a demon raising a warlock in front of four white trees. The agent remembers the four white trees in Molly's drawing. Ichabod and Jake find a reference to J Street's route, and Ichabod says that they'll lure the Horseman there with the chance to get Ichabod's head.
Diana gets home and confirms that the nanny Clara is picking up Molly. She then opens her daughter's sketch book and looks at the sketch of the four white trees. There's also a sketch of the Horseman.
That night, the Horseman puts on the severed head of a motorcycle policeman and takes on his form. He then rides off to find the President.
Diana meets Ichabod near J Street and tells him that the DHS has sent out decoy motorcades and Air Force One, and the President is locked up in the White House. The Horseman's only unwarded route is down Pennsylvania Avenue, and Ichabod explains that the others are in the tunnel beneath the bricked-over entrance to J Street.
Jake directs Alex and Jenny through the tunnels and they find more glyphs.
Diana shows Ichabod Molly's sketches, and points out that they're dated. The sketch of Ichabod was made weeks before she met him. Diana demands the truth, and Ichabod explains that the sketches were drawn from Abbie's perspective. He says that he and Jenny believe that the Witness mantleship has been passed on to Molly.
Before Ichabod can explain further, the Horseman drives up on a motorcycle. He sees Ichabod and pulls over, drawing his axe. Ichabod tells Diana to have the others open the way. Jenny recites the glyphs while Ichabod invites the Horseman to come at him. The doorway doesn't open, and Jake realizes that he has to translate the glyphs. He starts doing so and the first glyph glows.
The Horseman advances on Ichabod, who runs.
Jenny and Jake translate the remaining glyphs, and the entrance opens. Ichabod runs in with Diana, and they hear something moving. The Horseman follows them and Diana circles around him and goes back the way they came. Ichabod attacks the Horseman and steps in a puddle that adheres to his booth. The Horseman grabs his neck and hoists him into the air.
Alex rigs the entrance with the disk.
Diana fires at the Horseman, forcing him to release Ichabod. Ichabod yells at Diana to run and goes after her.
Alex finishes attaching the disk, and Ichabod and Diana get through the entrance just in time... trapping the Horseman in J Street. Diana is angry that Ichabod kept crucial information from her about Molly, and says that she's not going to let him take her anywhere near the supernatural. The agent says that she's done with all of them and starts to go. Ichabod warns that she can't escape Molly's destiny, but Diana isn't impressed.
The next day, Diana asks Molly where she saw the things that she drew. Molly explains that they came to her in dreams, and she hasn't had the dreams since she started talking again. Diana promises that they're going to go back to the way things once were.
Malcolm and Jobe visit the Horseman and Malcolm offers him the President's head. He offers to release the Horseman and give him Ichabod, and Jobe says that he removed the disk and the way is clear.
Ichabod is eating takeout at his new apartment and then prepares to assemble some Ikea furniture. He hears something in his closet and looks inside, but finds nothing. However, the puddle from his boots slowly grows and then jumps onto his face.
Written by Gadfly on Jan 21, 2017