Contributor: John Keegan
Written by Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn
Directed by T. W. Peacocke
With Audrey now on a deadline, or so it seems, the character dynamics have definitely shifted. Audrey feels a greater sense of urgency, and that means that she’s less willing to worry over little things like maintaining good relationships. What starts with Duke trying to get Audrey to live a little turns into something very ugly by the end.
Meanwhile, the severity of the Troubles seems to be escalating, as we’re treated to a guy who extracts organs from other people, and not in a very clinical manner. Apparently Harry, the Troubled in question, knew that this would be coming, and that he’d require a steady supply of new compatible organs once his began to fail when the Troubles returned. And so he naturally made sure he had a large family with plenty of children with the organs he would need. (If the anti-Troubled gang needed a poster child for the “enemy”, this would be it.) Of course, since the Troubles are passed down generation to generation, those children also began having the same issue. And they were less discriminating, to say the least.
Complicating matters is the arrival of another new face to Haven, this time in the form of Detective Tom Bowen. Bowen is almost universally annoying, thanks to a truly terrible accent and a personality that seems designed to grate on the nerves. His only saving grace is a good nose for detective work and his hatred of the Feds, which takes you a long way in Haven.
How to deal with one of the Troubled, especially someone with lethal “abilities”, has always been a point of contention between the characters. There is a valid criticism to be made in terms of a double standard; Troubled folks often get more sympathy out of Audrey and Nathan than a mundane in the same circumstance. But this is the flipside: Audrey is ready to do what it takes to remove a dangerous Troubled from the community, and if that means using Duke and his own ability to get it done, so be it.
Duke’s decision to kill Harry feels like a turning point. Duke has been openly protesting against the notion that he is bound to his father’s anti-Troubled crusade, and that he can make his own choices and follow his own path. Audrey’s request may have forced him to rethink that notion, and that could be catastrophic. Then again, it may not be that straightforward, since the season is already shaping up to be a conflict between destiny and free will for the main characters.
Unfortunately, Bowen’s introduction is less than stellar, and that takes something away from the episode. I appreciate that the writers are trying to widen the context of events, since that was one of the early criticisms of the series, but Bowen is on the edge of taking more from the series than he adds.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4
Final Score: 7/10
