I never thought Haven was a great show, but it was good enough to hold my attention for awhile. I had a strong feeling at the end of last season that the series should end there, with the disappearing barn. My instincts have been confirmed this season. It’s just a mess. The tension between the sheriff and Duke has turned into a buddy relationship. The “troubles” just seem silly. There doesn’t seem to be an overarching plot like in the previous episodes regarding who is this lady who returns every 14 years, or so. I stopped watching a couple of weeks ago.
The ‘Troubles’ have have always been silly but I do like that they are delving deeper into the underlying mystery. For a lot of people though that is going to ruin the mystique and that’s a valid point. Doing that can be dangerous for a writing staff if you don’t give the viewers something in return - something tantalizing that connects a lot of disparate elements from the show. Either that or something that reveals an even deeper mystery.
I think that with this season they’ve managed to do both so far. One of the haunting questions about Haven has always been ‘how did the curse begin.’ I think they’ve always intimated that it originated with the native American tribe that originally lived in the area and I’m not sure but I think that was reinforced this season.
[spoiler]Except now we know that William and Audrey are the source of the curse, which seems like a blatant contradiction. We also now know that the two are intimately connected, to the point of probably being opposite sides of a single entity.
So this season could be really fantastic, at least for me, or really disappointing. One thing I don’t really like so far is the huge disparity in apparent abilities between Wm. and Audrey. But my guess here is that Audrey will be revealed to have hidden talents akin to Wm’s or that they’ll be somehow unified. Since the show has been renewed for another season, we know that the troubles probably have to continue in some form.[/spoiler]
Huh. And here I am absolutely loving this season. I’ve gone back and rewatched all previous episodes, and I continue to be impressed with the consistency of the story. Re-watching old episodes is fascinating, because I can now see how the layering, much like peeling an onion, has been done, and it’s impressive.
I give the writers props for actually planning things out long in advance and remaining consistent. I am excited to see how it all unfolds.
Sorry, I just meant silly from a conceptual point of view. I don’t see that as a problem with the story per se. It’s not like Heroes or stories like that where they try to use science as the explanation for abilities that simply aren’t likely to have a scientific basis. Rather it’s accepted that these are supernatural abilities/curses.
By this point, I think it would be a lot more annoying if the relationship between Duke and Nathan HADN’T evolved by now. How much totally insane supernatural drama did they need to have fended off together before they decided to move past their old animosity and recognize that they were basically on the same side? I like where the two characters are now. Nathan continues to play the traditional, morally incorruptible hero, and Duke is the more flawed antihero.
They took way too long getting Audrey back, but casting Eureka’s Sheriff Carter as the villain was pretty damn brilliant, never saw that coming.
I like Duke’s new girl, and Edge being upgraded to near regular status. Funny how with him and the big guy working for William they now have two former WWF/E wrestlers in the recurring cast.
I don’t know why, but I’ve always assumed it had something to do with that flash in the opening mentioning “wytches” or something like that, and somehow Audrey/Sarah/Lucy, Agent Howard (and now William) were witches somehow involved with the troubles, etc.