HAVEN |
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Audrey Parker - Emily Rose Duke Crocker - Eric Balfour Nathan Wournos - Lucas Bryant Dave Teagues - John Dunsworth Vince Teagues - Richard Donat 
OTHER SEASONS Season 1 Season 2 Season 4 Season 5 OTHER ODD PLACES Eureka Roswell Point Pleasant Eastwick
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301Audrey has been kidnapped by someone who is asking very knowledgeable questions about her relationship with the Colorado Kid whilst Nathan and Duke deal with the appearance of aliens over the town. HAVEN is back wiht one of the most outlandish stories yet. The kidnapped Audrey scenario is straightforward enough, if a little underwhelming, but the visiting aliens provide an initially interesting, but ultimately derivative story. The antipathy between Nathan and Duke feels too contrived and the mounting of mystery upon mystery without the provision of any answers is getting a bit wearing. TopSTAYDevolved humans are showing up all over town, acting like lost cavemen. The truth, though, is much more complicated than that. By providing a twist on the usual 'troubled person causes trouble' storyline, this episode livens up the show a little. The main twist is a fun one, though it does lead to a denoument that is less than thrilling. A solid story, but not one that raises the show's quality threshold much. TopTHE FARMERPeople are showing up dead with their organs lying by their side, extracted without wounds and now diseased. The nature of the culprit's trouble and the lengths that they are willing to go over it make this a better than usual episode, but it does follow the usual HAVEN template and so is a little past its sell-by date. The news that Audrey is destined to just vanish in a few weeks provides some character dynamics to keep her and Nathan apart, but doesn't ring true at all. TopOVER MY HEADA nervous swimmer is attacked by a shark in the local swimming pool. A man nearly drowns in his car. Someone is attacking people with sea-related death, but who and why? There are a number of side stories going on here that are linked to the plot arc and therefore squeeze out the main story of the maritime murders, which is a shame because at least these sequences are fun. Nathan's infiltration of the tattooed people, the new cop's chequered past, Audrey's emerging memories... It would have been fine to concentrate on these rather than shoehorn in the 'troubled of the week' main plot and jam them around it. TopDOUBLE JEOPARDYPeople who escape conviction for crimes are being murdered by a supernaturally strong female vigilante and Duke has been targeted. For once the 'troubled of the week' story is fun with the vigilante's strange nature making her all the more interesting. It also allows for some fun banter between Audrey and Duke. Nathan finds out more about the Guard, as the tattooed folk like to call themselves, when the transfer of a prisoner that he arranges on their behalf turns into a jailbreak. The matching of Nathan's trouble to his contact Jordan's is quite a moving one. TopREAL ESTATEIt's Hallowe'en and everyone find themselves trapped in a house that acts as though it was alive and is in the habit of killing people. HAVEN does a straightforward haunted house story and the focus on just one tale with the plot arcs set aside for a week is a breath of fresh air. The situation is simple, but allows the characters and relationships to twist and turn and you're never quite sure which way it's going to go. Yes, it's a standalone story, but it's about as much fun as the show has managed in this latest season. TopMAGIC HOUR - Part 1Someone is killing people and then bringing them back to life, for a price. Audrey and Duke, however, are in Colorado making some surprising discoveries about the Colorado Kid. This is the first of a two-part story and it shows. The two strands meander around all over the place and only start to get interesting just before the end when things perk up a lot with a revelation and a cliffhanger. The cliffhanger is pretty pointless since we know there's someone who can bring the dead back to life and resolve the situation, but the revelation of the identity of the Colorado Kid and just who the bolt gun killer is crank things up a bit. TopMAGIC HOUR - Part 2Nathan's dead and there's less than two hours to find the one person who can bring him back before sunset. Complicating matters is the identity of the Bolt Gun Killer. It's pretty obvious how this concluding part of the story is going to work out, but things are played so well that it doesn't matter that there are no surprises. Sometimes it really isn't the destination that matters, only the scenery along the route. There's tension, action, a tearful farewell that defines characters and relationships, not to mention the odd surprise and a new mystery revealed during the show's extended coda set up for future events. Why they can't do a 'next week on' section is beyond us. HAVEN's best for a while and makes up for having to sit through the set up last time around. TopSARAHDuke and Nathan are transported back in time by one of the Troubled. Their interference alters Audrey's present and puts her life in danger. Nathan, meanwhile, gets up close and personal with one of her former lives, Sarah. Time travel, altering the past which alters the future, can't change true destiny, interacting with ancestors... There's nothing at all new in this time travel tale from HAVEN that hasn't been done on a dozen shows before and often much better. What does actually make this episode work is the lovely relationship between Nathan and Sarah, the latter allowing Emily Rose to play a new version of her character. It's a sweet moment for the story and makes up for the total lack of originality in everything else about it. TopBURNEDA girl who can make anyone do what she wants them to becomes the target for just about everyone in Haven and causes a good few secrets to be spoken. There is a pivotal scene in this episode in which the girl at the heart of the plot of the week forces Nathan's new girlfriend to explain the season long plot arc to everyone else. This puts the Nathan/Audrey romance back on track and explains the whole barn/disappearing Audrey scenario. Unfortunately, the whole rest of the plot is written purely to create that one scene and it really isn't interesting enough. TopLAST GOODBYESThe whole town has been put into a coma and everyone will die unless Audrey can help the only other person left awake remember who he was and what caused his Trouble. For the second week running, the show uses established iconography (in this case a town full of sleeping people) and then fails to do anything with it. It's obvious who is responsible and the rest is just a dull amnesiac remembering tale. The side story of trying to work out who the bad guy is now impersonating (a la THE THING) is there purely to allow for the big reveal at the end of the episode, which certainly doesn't come as anything of a shock. TopREUNIONIt's Duke and Nathan's reunion and people are being transformed into their teenage selves and then killed. Forget the high school reunion plot (which is dull and predictable and boring anyway) because this episode is all about setting up the season finale. The skinwalker's purpose is revealed. What happened to Audrey's son is revealed. A potential way out for Audrey is revealed. Penultimate episodes are rarely fulfilling in their own right and that is definitely the case here, but the finale is set up and we have to be there. TopTHANKS FOR THE MEMORIESThe day of Audrey's prophesied departure arrives and everyone has a different view of whether she should enter the barn or not. Some are even willing to get violent. This, then, is the season finale to explain what the heck is going on in Haven and with Audrey, right. Erm no, not really. Audrey's part in all of this is somewhat explained (the what, not the why) and everyone finally gets to know who the Colorado Kid is relation to them and why the skinwalker has been stealing body parts. It's a good finale, verging on great, with lots of emotional stuff, some action, various twists and turns and a cliffhanger to finish on, but it just misses out crossing that line for a couple of reasons. For one, the inside of the barn is really dull. We've been leading up to this all season and when we get there it really needed to do something more than it actually does. Secondly, some of the emotional stuff doesn't quite come off, mainly because we're already party to what the characters are learning. That said, it is still one of the show's finest moments. Top |
