Sleepy Hollow Season 4 Might Not Happen with Nicole Beharie's departure

Sleepy Hollow Season 3 just concluded with a massive season finale. One that left a tremendous effect on the audience and the series itself; unlike the highly criticized The Walking Dead Season Finale which took place this past week as well. However, the Season Three Finale of Sleepy Hollow concluded, leaving the series in a difficult place. By the end of the finale, Abigail Mills had officially been killed on the series, a new Witness would be named in place of "Abbie Mills" soon thereafter, and Crane was abducted by FBI agents. In it's entirety, the season finale lived up to expectations set in the season long adventure to put Pandora away, as well as The Hidden One, more recently. The most unexpected piece of the season finale was that of Abigail Mills' death. And the lasting implications her character's death will have on the series.

Nicole Beharie leaves Sleepy Hollow.

Actress Nicole Beharie, a veteran on the series, Sleepy Hollow, has been looking for ways out of her contract to the network behind Sleepy Hollow; though Beharie hasn't been fortunate enough to be given an out to Sleepy Hollow, until now. According to The Hollywood Reporter via statements made by Showrunner, Clifton Campbell of Sleepy Hollow, Nicole Beharie has finally been given her opportunity to end her contract on the television series, Sleepy Hollow. Beharie's character of Abigail Mills met an untimely demise on the Season 3 Finale and will not be brought back in any capacity. Her character is officially dead and will not rise from the dead. Throughout the entirety of Sleepy Hollow's duration on television, the concept of resurrection has always been on the table when a series regular has died for whatever reason; Abigail Mills will not be brought back in any like manner. Along with the confirmation of Nicole Beharie's departure from Sleepy Hollow, Showrunner Clifton Campbell says that Season 4 of Sleepy Hollow has been planned but it has yet to be picked up by the network.

What will Sleepy Hollow do without Beharie's character of Abigail Mills?

As for the Sleepy Hollow series in general, the idea of allowing a series staple(Beharie) to exit from the series wouldn't be a good idea at first but if the series content will allow for it, and the actress behind the character eagerly wants out of the role, then it is a good time for the production staff on Sleepy Hollow to start making changes to the main lineup of actors/actresses in their lead roles. As long as plans for the series are to continue for an extended length of time, then someone is going to need to step in Beharie's place in the titular role opposite of Tom Mison's Ichabod Crane. Unless that is, Sleepy Hollow could be in danger of even making it to film Season 4.

Sleepy Hollow's future is in jeopardy.

Sleepy Hollow is well known and has some credit in it's run length but in all well knowledge, ratings could be better, and demographic range could stand to widen at it's current state. The continuity from the basic premise of the series has expanded in several directions since it's beginning. At the end of Season 3, which just aired, the main characters of Sleepy Hollow finished their battle with an ancient god, as well as the deity Pandora. The series has come a long way from the original concept of Ichabod Crane being resurrected from the dead as the Headless Horseman runs rampant across the town of Sleepy Hollow. When in fact the Headless Horseman arc came full circle with his resurgence in the Season 3 Finale. The horseman was revived by Ichabod Crane to defeat the last remnants of power fighting back inside of The Hidden One. They were successful in defeating The Hidden One, but the utilization of the Headless Horseman may have been a nod to the close of the series.

Could Sleepy Hollow really be over?

Whether it's been confirmed or not, it looks as though Sleepy Hollow may have just finished it's run on network television. Along with Nicole Beharie's departure from the show, leaving the series lacking a lead, there's also the matter of the direction the show will follow. At the end of the Season 3 Finale, Ichabod Crane was abducted by FBI agents, probably in need of Crane's expertise which would mean the series could then follow Ichabod Crane as he'd assist the FBI with their supernatural dilemmas(i.e. X-Files style) if the direction of the series goes that way. However, no speculation on Season 4 may be necessary as the its fate could have already been sealed. With the Season 3 Finale concluding, and Showrunner Clifton Campbell confirming the departure of a lead, Beharie from the series, plans for the series could be halted. Aside from the lead's departure, Campbell has confirmed that Season 4 has yet to be picked up by the network. Having the Season 3 Finale already concluding and Season 4 not even greenlit for production, it's more than plausible to believe that Sleepy Hollow Season 4 won't happen. There's still plenty of time for the series to shoot an entire season before the premiere date comes around, but the fact that Sleepy Hollow hasn't been picked up for Season 4 when Season 3 has just concluded its finale says something about the network's intent for the series. The unknown state of Sleepy Hollow could be due to the necessary review of the series' overall performance and whether or not it would be in the best interest of the network to continue to fund the project. In that circumstance, it would make sense why Season 4 hasn't been greenlit yet but if Season 3 didn't live up to expectations already set, then Sleepy Hollow may have ended its series run with the Season 3 Finale. Although there is still hope even if Fox doesn't pick up the series for Season 4.

Sleepy Hollow Season 4 could happen, on Netflix or Hulu if it doesn't become greenlit by the network.

There's a possibility that a streaming service like Hulu or Amazon or Netflix could pick up Sleepy Hollow on their services if Fox does decide to drop Sleepy Hollow from their main lineup of shows. It wouldn't be unlike the network executives at Fox, the network has a long list of failed series which were pushed forward greatly in marketing and promotional footage. Even comedians have made jokes about Fox's over-saturated marketing of failing television series. If we do see Sleepy Hollow fail to a greenlight for production on Season 4, then fans' only hope to see more adventures of Tom Mison's Ichabod Crane will be sorely disappointed.