Abbie Mills (Sleepy Hollow)

"It was me or the world, and my world felt complete. I made peace with my sister, Daniel Reynolds. I found my dad, your old friend Ezra."

—Abbie Mills to August Corbin.

Agent Grace Abigail Mills, better known as Abbie, was a main character and an FBI Agent in the small modern-day town of Sleepy Hollow. At a very young age, she had a series of mysterious encounters with demons that upended her life and left her estranged from her family.

Upon meeting Ichabod Crane, she learned she is one of Two Witnesses foretold in the book of Revelation to fight against the coming apocalypse. Abbie and Ichabod, the show's two main protagonists and biblically ordained Witnesses, must team up in order to fight the seven tribulations.

History :

Early Life :

Abbie Mills had a troubled childhood, which included brief run-ins with the law. Both Abbie and her sister, Jenny Mills, dealt with instability at home as children. Their father was an alcoholic and their mother though loving struggled with what was believed to be mental illness. Abbie and Jenny were very close, often locking themselves in their room to play with their dollhouse and escape their parents. Their father eventually left the family and their mother was declared unfit, leaving Abbie and Jenny to be placed into the foster care system. After an attempted of Abbie and Jenny from their foster care home, their mother was institutionalized and later died while she was still in the care of Tarrytown Psychiatric.

Abbie and Jenny then cycled through a few homes before settling in a place that Abbie felt was a good fit. During that time Abbie taught Jenny to pick locks, and they acquired a taste for criminal activity. Around the age of 13, they were sneaking beers in the woods when four white trees and a demon appeared before them. They both blacked out and neither was able to recall much of what happened during the four days they went missing. This was later revealed to be due to Moloch sealing away their memories in Purgatory. After being found by a civilian from a local search party, the girls were taken into police custody and callously interrogated. Jenny insisted on telling the truth about what they had seen even though Abbie warned against it. Fearing that no one would believe her and that she would be removed from her foster home, Abbie lied and didn't back up Jenny's story. Jenny was later put in a mental institution and the sisters remained estranged for nearly 13 years.

Abbie continued to struggle with what she saw in the woods that day and her feelings of resentment and guilt towards her sister. By the time she was sixteen, she was using and pursuing a life of crime. After a botched attempt at robbing a pharmacy, she is taken into custody by Sheriff August Corbin but instead of arresting her he offered her a chance to change. She accepted, and under Corbin's tutelage; took a class in Latin, graduated high school, went to college, rose to the rank of Lieutenant as a police officer and was accepted into an elite FBI entrance program at Quantico to become a criminal profiler. Despite her success, Abbie was still marked by her tumultuous past. She never told Corbin about the demon she saw in the woods or that the experience still haunted her, making her doubt her own perceptions, feel out of place, and struggle in finding purpose. Some of Corbin's last words to her were to ask if her joining the FBI was really about her running away.

Personality :

Abbie is a tenacious and valiant woman, often putting other’s needs above her own. Abbie keeps a tight reign on her emotions which might be a product of her upbringing or perhaps her training. As a result, she is often reserved and slow to anger, but beneath the tough exterior is a woman who feels very deeply. She is incredibly empathetic, as displayed in her repeatedly choosing to attempt to talk down perps rather than make shows of . She also has a soft spot for children, while fighting against the Pied Piper she essentially offered herself up as bait in order to track down a missing girl.

Abbie is also incredibly patient and kind. She is an amazing teacher, introducing Crane to the modern world with efficiency and ease. She lets him come to his own conclusions and guides him without patronizing. Furthermore, she was the only person to suspect that Ichabod wasn’t crazy and in fact might have been telling the truth about his identity. His first night in his hotel room, she makes sure to place sticky notes all around his room explaining how to turn on the lights and make coffee.

Abbie is also knowledgeable, practical, intelligent and at times calculating. She has a knack for profiling and her skills have helped track down both Henry Parish and Abraham Van Brunt. She is also very curious. When she first meets the angel Orion, she jokes with him and asks about dinosaurs. In return, Orion calls her clever. Abbie ultimately has a skeptical mind. She initially pushed back against the idea of the supernatural and her being a witness. However, though she does eventually commit fully to the cause, she continues to question why she was chosen. She also is the first to offer up science as an alternative to magic, regularly finding ways to resourcefully replace spells with generators, chemistry, and UV light.

Abbie has dealt with a lot of hurt and pain in her life. As a teenager, she went down a really dark path though it should be noted that she did not once lash out others. Those experiences left her guarded but also very wise. For example, she understands that family must be earned and that sometimes love isn’t enough. Similarly, despite her empathy, Abbie can and does make tough decisions. She killed her friend, Andy Brooks, in order to give him some semblance of peace. She also frequently argued the necessity of killing Henry, was proven correct in the end, and by pulling the trigger herself saved Ichabod from carrying the burden of killing his son.

Abbie has shown to be protective, and loyal to those close to her, caring to an extent for their well-being. When her mentor, August Corbin, was killed she was devastated by his . She worked to save his son, Joe Corbin, even when everyone else thought the hope was lost. Jenny, Frank, and Ichabod particularly all have benefitted from her steadfast and heartfelt care.

Abilities :

1. As a FBI Agent, Abbie was trained at Quantico. Abbie is very skilled in marksmanship and is capable of utilizing a pistol as well as numerous firearms. Abbie is also shown to be well trained in Close Quarter Combat. Due to her past life as a criminal, Abbie picked up a talent for lock picking. She also displayed a rare moment of swordsmanship, after wielding a sword and flawlessly beheading a doppelgänger of Ichabod while trapped in Purgatory.
2. Abbie also has some supernatural powers. She has had prophetic dreams, assisted in casting spells, been visited by spirits only she can see, and had detailed visions of the past. However, it is currently unclear if these experiences are due to her status as a witness or a benefit of her bloodline. A possible drawback to these powers is that after surviving, then leaving, the Catacombs, Abbie began hallucinating a specific symbol she associates with a supernatural being that saved her life in the Catacombs. She paints the symbol on her shed wall--a V, a diamond, and a V shaped with a single line--and pledges fealty to the being it represents.

Trivia :

Etymology :

1. The name "Grace" is from the English word grace, which ultimately derives from Latin gratia. This was one of the virtue names created in the 17th century by the Puritans. The actress Grace Kelly (1929-1982) was a famous bearer.
2. The name "Abigail" is from the Hebrew name אֲבִיגָיִל ('Avigayil) meaning "my father is joy". In the Old Testament this is the name of Nabal's wife. After Nabal's she became the third wife of King David. As an English name, Abigail first became common after the Protestant Reformation, and it was popular among the Puritans. The biblical Abigil refers to herself as a servant, and beginning in the 17th century the name became a slang term for a servant, especially after the release of the play 'The Scornful Lady' (1616) which featured a character named Abigail. The name went out of fashion at that point, but it was revived in the 20th century.

Production Notes :

1. In the original script, Abbie's last name was Archer instead of Mills. In addition, she was a Detective instead of Lieutenant.
2. Abbie's birthday is shown on her ID in "Tempus Fugit" stating that she was born on December 23, 1973, it would mean that she was in her early 40s when she died. On her tombstone, her birth year is inscribed on the stone as 1986 which is more realistic as that would make her about 30.
3. Abbie's phone passcode is Ichabod's birthday: 0818.

Behind the Scenes :

1. According to sources, Nicole Beharie had been wanting to leave the series for some time before her character's . The character, sources say, originally was supposed to be killed off during the midseason finale, but insiders are said to have gotten cold feet and decided to keep her on until the end of the season.

Where is Abbie when she becomes naked & how does it happen?