Haven 4.04 Review: Making a Leap of Faith

I’m going to keep this quick, all those that have yet to watch this past Friday’s episode of Haven, titled ‘Lost and Found’, or are simply not caught up at all and are hoping to do so without spoilers, then now would be the time to leave. As with all my reviews, there is always the chance that sensitive information is included below. To reiterate, THIS BLOG MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

This week’s episode of Haven was quite well done. While it began with the usual case-of-the-week pertaining to the Troubles that Nathan, and this season Dwight, has to solve, the tension of finding Audrey finally came to it’s conclusion. The only problem is, she’s not Audrey anymore.

The way this episode was written, I really felt the tension of desperately trying to find Audrey this episode. Nathan had grown as impatient as the rest of the Troubled people, especially those in the Guard, so it definitely was time for Audrey to come out. And just the way she came out, and who she’s come out as, helps to heighten all the questions that still need to be answered regarding this series

But let’s get back to the beginning of this episode. The Trouble-of-the-week turned out to be this man having to come to terms with the fact being unable to have kids was his fault, and in the process his Trouble started and Douen (yes, that’s how you spell it, I looked it up) began luring children out to the woods. While this Trouble-of-the-week thing is tad bit old at this point, I did find the picture of one of those Douen being frighteningly creepy. It got my heart racing a bit, and I’m a horror movie buff.

The one other thing this weekly Trouble helped shine the light on was children, and the idea of where Audrey and Nathan’s son went. He basically says he caused his death, in a way, giving us a more concrete answer to what happened to him, the Colorado kid. But I’m curious, is he actually dead, or does Nathan just think he’s dead. He did, after all, go back into the barn, thus saving his life in the process, as Audrey did, so did he somehow manage to get out. Because honestly, couldn’t his wound be healed by modern medicine? Also, could William possibly be the son? He has to be someone.

One other thing I liked about this episode was the interactions between Duke and Jennifer. While they keep seeming to go back and forth between whether they’re going to pair them up or not, they were pleasantly just being friendly this episode. Duke having to calm Jennifer down and distract her so she could hear Audrey in the barn was rather comical. The yoga fail, the hilarious comfortable way she sat for meditating, and being hung upside down from the higher level of Duke’s boat were hilarious, in a quieter kind of way.

The best thing, though, about this episode was the complete lack of Duke’s brother, whose name I forget at the moment because I can’t stand the guy (I could look it up, but – again – I can’t stand the guy). He is such a pointless addition to this season, where Duke already has Jennifer to interact with, and now a new alter ego of Audrey’s. The character was written in to stay and terribly, and I was just fantastically happy to not to have to deal with him this episode, where we finally find Audrey again.

A few notes concerning the episode. Nathan looked amazing in that leather jacket, he should always wear it. Also, Duke should really cut his hair. Like Sam in Supernatural, it’s far too long, and not necessary for the story, so stop being so damn lazy and just do it already. It’s fine up in a bun, but he shouldn’t need to do that. And can I also just comment on the final scene in the episode? The whole build up to Audrey, and the anticipation of her being able to end the Troubles for good, and she doesn’t even remember who she is. That was amazing.

I have a few questions stemming from this episode that I haven’t already addressed. What was up with the in-between? I’m guessing from Dave’s reaction to the door, it contains a fair amount of supernatural mojo, but I’m curious to know more about it. Also, similarly, what was up with that ripple? Did the door just let out a whole lot of paranormal they won’t be able to handle, or at least used to? I’m sure as the season progresses, these will be answered somewhat, but the questions can still be asked. Also, why was Audrey the stopper for the Troubles? Who was she originally? One last question, while I completely expected it, William explained to Audrey/Lexie that she’d come out as the person she most wanted to be, being that she was Lexie at the time, that would be the person she’d most want to be. So my question is, how had she forgotten being Audrey so quickly? She’s in the barn for twenty-seven years every time before this, so how was this persona crafter so readily? Was it a rainy-day persona?

My rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Best Lines:

“The time travelling barn that turned ten seconds into six months for me, that barn?” – Duke asks Nathan ludicrously.

“Seventeen … Lives, Jordan, not just messes.” – Nathan says, having counted up all the lives he is at fault for, by killing Agent Howard.

“Yes, that’s why they call it a leap of faith.” – William dryly tells Lexie (Audrey).

I’m off to watch Once Upon A Time now… Then it’s Revenge and nothing more until tomorrow night. 

Haven 4.03 Review: Right When Your About to Give Up

Let’s get this out of the way. Anyone that has yet to watch last night’s episode of Haven, titled ‘Bad Blood’, and wishes to do so spoiler free, now would be the time to exit this blog. THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! You’ve been warned.

How to begin… This week’s episode of Haven was about a Trouble where blood was going after people and sucking them dry of their own. Unsurprisingly, there was the comparison to vampires, but at least this wasn’t an actual theory the characters were focusing on.

‘Bad Blood’ was okay, but it wasn’t the best that could’ve been written. My favourite parts were still the scenes surrounding Audrey/Lexie and William, and also the scenes at the morgue. I thought Richard Donat did very well in playing Vince not wanting to go in to guarantee whether or not Audrey was the body on ice. As long as he stayed outside the morgue, there would still be a chance that the body wasn’t Audrey. Then when we learned it wasn’t, it fit perfectly back into the moment where William tells Audrey/Lexie that she isn’t dead.

Without Audrey, I don’t think I’m much of a fan of Nathan. This brooding crap he’s emitting isn’t all that interestingly done, and not something I haven’t seen before. He’s kind of boring and one-dimensional at the moment, and I’d really like to see that change. His best moments were actually the ones with Jordan near the end, where she expresses just how much she doesn’t want to be stuck like this, and even then he didn’t really say much, it was more about his physical acting.

I’m really getting sick of this Wade character. He’s not convincing in this series, especially not as Duke’s brother. The writing for him is just not believable to me, and it’s just so cliché that he sticks around because his wife is cheating on him. And can I just say, how much he’s not acting like he’s hurt by that fact? The guy seems more wooden then anything. I’m completely surprised too, because I know he did well on Dexter, but on this show he’s just terrible.

While I’m going back and forth with this Jennifer character, particularly the way they keep writing her constantly changing, she wasn’t the worst part of this episode. I like it every time she’s kind of displaying nervousness, she’s definitely the most convincing in that. Whenever she started hearing the noises from the bar where Audrey/Lexie is in her head was certainly obvious, but interesting all the same.

The Sasquatch is still as wooden as ever. I really can’t stand him in the forefront of this series. It was interesting the first time he brought up being a cleaner coming in handy, but it was necessary to fit that in more than once. Those lines almost made it seem like he was bragging about, or really just reading off a script without actually acting. He was a much better character in the background, popping in and out, and keeping him up front and center is not improving his character. I get the logic behind him becoming Chief, now, but he’s just not a very good actor.

I’m still having trouble believing there isn’t some other way to make the Troubles go away for good. It can’t be simply for Audrey to sacrifice/kill her one love. There has to be some other way to keep them gone, and it better be something that makes sense when they finally do come out with it. It just doesn’t feel logical to me that the only way to give everyone a happy life in Haven, that she has to lose what makes her happy.

Also, where’s Audrey’s son? If the barn is dying, is he dead? That was such a big part of last season, and the previous seasons, being that he’s the Colorado Kid that Audrey was searching for for so long, and now that’s been basically forgotten. Will that be brought up again? I really think we deserve something more than just a disappearing act.

One other thing I was curious about in this episode, what was with all of the animal comparisons? I know they explained that Duke had been watching Animal Planet, or something, but what was the point to that? He doesn’t quite come across as someone that just watches documentary programs about animals. Plus, he didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic about it every time he brought it up. And also, has he already gotten over Audrey? He seems to have moved on pretty easily. Love triangle for three seasons, and then just instant progression for a character that hasn’t seen the woman in about a couple weeks.

Alas, I relent.

My rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Best Lines:

“Slowing down for a yellow is just a matter of taste.” – Dave, after having driven Vince’s car to the station.

“I don’t think it wants any of us, Sasquatch.” – Duke, referring to Dwight as the man-beast.

All right, that’s all for now. Don’t forget to check back in on Sunday for my reviews of Once Upon a Time and Revenge’s third season premieres. If you’re lucky, I might actually review Betrayal as well, if I get around to watching it.

Haven 4.02 Review: How to Deal with Survivors Guilt

If you’ve been following along with my blogs, you should have this routine down by now. If you’re a first timer, let me serve you up a warning. For all you that have yet to watch Friday nights episode of Haven, the second episode of season four titled ‘Survivors’, and wish to watch it spoiler free, please exit the premises at this time. As always, this is not a spoiler free blog. To reiterate, THIS BLOG MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

Now that that is out of the way, we’ll jump right into the review, seeing as I reviewed last weeks episode as well there really is no need for a recap of it.

Survivors opens up like any typical Haven episode, an almost procedural cliché with a twist of paranormal. We don’t immediately see the crime go down, but we do have the beautiful image of a victim almost first thing. This episode is all about this guy who has a Trouble that makes his guilt basically come to life and reenact what he feels so bad about every time he’s congratulated. Not unoriginal, but not terribly refreshing. There’s nothing much about the scenes that take place in the town of Haven that really jump out at me and grab my interest. It’s not an overly bad episode, it just isn’t great.

Nathan is usual gruff self, with an undercurrent of grief for not having Audrey with him. I definitely that progression with him, but there doesn’t seem to be much inflection when it comes to the way he speaks. Dwight’s as two-dimensional as always, a much better character way off in the distance that comes out in brief moments. I love Vince and Dave, but I miss their bumbling, bickering selves. There really wasn’t much of Dave in this one, and what we got to see of Vince wasn’t that flavourful. I do love Duke, and all his snarky glory, but all his interactions with this newly introduced brother character just don’t seem fully developed. I really don’t want this guy in this show. Not only does he not look like his brother, but he doesn’t even seem like they’ve known each other longer than a few months at most. We don’t need another male character in Haven. And then we get around to Jennifer. It almost seemed like they were trying to progress her character and integrate her into the background rather quickly. This depth they’re trying to create with her hasn’t been earned yet, so I don’t see why it has to happen so rapidly.

 Some of my favourite points in this episode were probably the ones surrounding Audrey/Lexie and William. Maybe it was because all the scenes that took place in Haven seemed to be coloured with a blue light, and the overall glow in the bar was warmer than that, or just that Audrey’s my favourite character. I really felt more with the characters in that bar. It could also be because there’s a mystery when it comes to this place, in this bar. Who is William? Why is he trying to get Audrey to remember who she is? Who are those men that were trying to stop him? Why is it so important to them to stop him from getting her to remember? There are so many questions surrounding this place that just makes it so much more to me as avid audience member. It could also be that I don’t hate this new male cast member. I mean, Christian Camargo was good in Dexter, but in Haven he looks sallow and misplaced.

Being that this is only a eleven, twelve episode a season show, I really these separate storylines don’t completely drag on, but I do think Audrey being away from Nathan can go on for at least another episode or two. Even when they do meet up, there’s still that whole problem of her believing her name is Lexie, and she’d have to remember Nathan, which I hope she eventually does do. But that progression needs to be able to find a healthy balance.

A couple of overall issues with this episode that I haven’t already addressed. One is rather small, but it was the timing of Jennifer’s yawn and then apologizing to Duke. Did anyone else even notice the yawning before she apologized? He hadn’t even given her a look, or mentioned it before she jumped into apologies. Then there’s the issue, along the lines of progressing Jennifer’s character too quickly, like they were already fitting her with Duke. I think I mentioned not wanting that in last week’s review, but thinking they were likely going there. It’s almost like that relationship is already melding together, all in one episode. They keep Audrey in this love triangle for three seasons, but almost immediately after, they’re throwing Duke into this new thing, when I kind of saw her as a sisterly character last week. I honestly can’t be the only one… Anyways.

My rating: 3 out of 5.

Best Lines:

“It’s like you actually enjoy upsetting me.” – Duke.

“Everybody needs a hobby.” – Vince, in an almost comedically hostile way.

“If it makes you feel any better, I never thought you had any authority.” – Duke, to Nathan, after the Fire Chief says he no longer has authority there.

“I would’ve preferred it was still a whole gun.” – Lexie/Audrey, after William takes apart the gun he had in his jeans, to make her more comfortable.

All right, that’s all for now, kiddos. Check back in in a few hours for my review of Dexter’s series finale. I’m off to make myself some dinner, and savour the very last episode of Dexter ever, at the same time trying to remember it critically. Bye for now.

Haven: Where a Barn isn't just a Barn

This is me, right here, telling anyone who hasn’t watched last nights episode of Haven, the season four opener titled ‘Fallout’, that plans on watching it or the series spoiler free to back away from this blog now until you’re caught up. Because believe me when I say this post will not be spoiler free. I repeat NOT SPOILER FREE!

Alright, now that that disclaimer is out of the way, let’s jump into the recap of where we left off at the end of last season. This will be a broad strokes summary because I haven’t watched the season three finale since it ended last year, and my memory isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, but here goes.

We finally learned that the Colorado Kid, the title of the short story written by Stephen King that Haven is based off and the main mystery surrounding the series, was both not dead, and just so happened to be Audrey’s son James from a past incarnation. What we didn’t know, or at least Audrey didn’t, until near the end of the season was that he was also the son of Nathan when Duke was sent back into the past and Nathan went back to set things right and save Duke, and in turn slept with Audrey’s previous incarnation Sarah.

The skin-walker turned out to be the James’ wife, who lost her skin when the Troubles came around last time and was collecting skin pieces to put herself back to the way she’d looked when he’d gone missing. She ends up dying when the barn shows her true face to her husband and she tries to kill Audrey because she blames her. Nathan ends up shot, meteors are destroying the town, both Audrey and her son end up back in the barn, and Duke jumps in after her when the Troubles don’t go away and the barn implodes after Nathan kills Agent Howard – who seems to be a lot like the handler to Audrey’s doll like in Joss Whedon’s short-lived series Dollhouse – because Nathan is unable to due to his wound.

I think that’s as broad and well remembered of a recap that I can do, now let’s jump into the review portion of the evening.

Throwing myself into the thick of things, I have to start off by saying that I like this whole idea of the barn being destroyed spits Audrey out with these new memories as Lexie, unless she’s still somehow trapped in the barn which I can’t help but keep in the back of my mind, and spitting Duke out in Boston. A few questions, though. Why Boston for Duke, and why wherever Audrey is for her? Why six months? And, if Boston being the distance it is from Haven, Maine shows how far the Troubles can reach, does that mean if the Troubles aren’t ended for some period of time, or for good, that they will spill out into the rest of the world?

Okay, onto our three new characters of the season. First up is Jennifer, I have to say I like her so far, she has these expressive mannerisms to her face and hands, and she reminds me of Katee Sackhoff. I have this feeling that the showrunners are going to push her into a romantic relationship with Duke, but I hope not because I’m not getting a romantic vibe between the two of them. She seems to me to be more of a kid sister relationship, but who knows how that’ll go? Anyways, then we’ve got the mysterious William (and I can’t bring him into this without asking the question, did anyone else get the feeling that wasn’t his real name?). I’m not sure about his character yet. The actor’s certainly good, but I’m feeling like this guy will turn out to be evil, and that his character now won’t fit into that switch. But I could be wrong, And lastly we have Duke’s brother, just briefly brought into things by the end of the episode. Did anyone know Duke had a brother? Also, is that the guy that played Rudy on Dexter? Am I missing something here? If he was never mentioned before in the series, I don’t like this idea of bringing him in now, it doesn’t quite fit together well. But if I’m just forgetting, then it’s not bad writing to at least mention, or imply that Duke has siblings.

And then we get around to the characters that have been around since the beginning, or close to it. As always Dave and Vince, who I swear had more friction between their two characters since the last season, were wonderful, the very embodiment of their characters. I’m still really curious as to what Vince’s Trouble is, and if Dave has one. Dwight I’m not so fond of, he doesn’t really feel like a fully formed character. And I know the reason they gave for him becoming the chief of police, but it just seems ludicrous to me, and not very well developed. Oh, just dah de dah de dah. Then we come to Jordan, whose hair looks as terribly unnatural for her complexion as always – I mean is she trying to be a thirty-year-old Goth wannabe? As always with her, I’m left wanting more for the character, the actor doesn’t completely seem to feel comfortable being this person.

Now we get around to our three core characters. Duke, who has ended up in a fish tank, progresses about as much as Duke ever does in an episode, which is to say not all that much. He’s funny, and has a sense of depth, but we so rarely get to see it with any meaning. And Nathan, looking like a homeless man with that beard, is as quiet and intense as ever. I mean the man has to be on a list of favourite brooding heroes. He seems almost defeated though, like he’s done finding away around not dying and will sacrifice himself knowing that will kill Audrey to even think about killing him. Then there’s Audrey, under the incarnation of Lexie, a barmaid in some town likely not too far away from Maine. I have to say, if that hair is a wig, it’s much better than the Sarah wig. I pose an interesting question about her, if Audrey’s memories of being Audrey come back, does Lexie cease to exist? Or does she just become a compilation of all these people? Why does she always have new memories? Because in the barn she forgets love? If she becomes a compilation of her lives, isn’t that just another connection this series has to Dollhouse?

 So Audrey ends up in this bar with the William character, and Duke and Nathan end up back in Haven, using Jennifer to try and find Audrey so the Troubles can be stopped, all the while trying to help the town with their affliction. I think I’m more interested in Audrey’s storyline, without her Nathan trying to help people – even though he’s just trying to find Audrey – isn’t quite so genuine and fulfilling as it was when she was around. It feels like we’re just going to never find Audrey, and just fix all the mistakes destroying the barn brought. Also, the storyline with Audrey as Lexie has her in a new environment, enveloping a new character, that’s fresh to us as an audience, instead of a rehashed, downgraded version of a story we’ve seen dozens of times already. Give me something more to satisfy my hunger.

Overall it wasn’t a terrible episode, but it wasn’t as exciting and memorable as it could have been. There are several questions I have that I’m not sure if they’ll be answered, but I hope at least some of them are. Not as great an opener as there have been before.

My rating: 6 out of 10.

I leave you with two of my favourite lines from the episode:

“Don’t make me say it.  (Pause) Two words: Oprah Winfrey.” – Duke, with masterful execution.

“Jordan McKee. Her and Nathan used to have a thing, but then he dumped her and I shot her, and the whole thing got weird.” – Duke, ever the elaborator.

Tune in Sunday night to catch my review of the third last episode of Dexter’s last season.