Contributor: J.M.
Written by Charles Ardai
Directed by T. W. Peacocke
After a series of disappointing episodes, “Haven” gets back into it with a big episode that lays out a great many cards, answering a lot of questions and giving the viewer a far more complete picture. The MacGuffin in this case was a girl, Ginger, who has the ability to hypnotize people she speaks to. While the episode began slowly as a promising case-of-the-week, complete with a rather humorous scene where Duke becomes a pirate to play with Ginger, but quickly it becomes clear that the girl is going to become a weapon in the war centered around the Troubled.
Credit to Kiara Glasco for giving a lot of heft to Ginger; while the episode already had a lot going for it, her performance and chemistry with Eric Balfour raised the episode to some impressive heights. Younger actors can always be a crap shoot, and getting one that really clicked with the cast lent a lot of weight to the episode. She sold the dark side of a child being able to control adults, and as she realized what she could do, the dichotomy of being terrified of her Trouble but still thrilled when she could control people was handled well.
While it might seem odd to compliment it, her performance was the thing that made this episode work. The writers had locked themselves into a corner, with no plausible way to get their heroes information with most of Nathan’s work into the Guard happening off screen. They had to introduce a Trouble like Ginger’s in order to move the plot forward. The credit goes to being able to do so believably and with competence in the wider arc of “Haven” and without making it seem like an imposition on the audience. They could very easily have given the same information in a much more awkward way, but thanks to Ginger and some excellent writing they managed to craft an excellent Trouble-of-the-week and arc show. Kate Kelton also hit it out of the park for her extended scene with Nate as he relentlessly drilled her with questions about the Guard and their plans for him and Ginger. The facial expressions she had as he coldly dismantled the house of cards she had been trying to work to build was heartbreaking and an amazing piece of acting.
The revelations about the Guard, Audrey, and Ginger were pretty staggering for the series. It certainly fits with why the organization that supports the Troubled would feel wary and hostile towards Audrey: she coincides with the beginnings of the Troubles, even though she is immune to them and in this incarnation is quite supportive of the Troubled and trying to help solve their problems. When she goes away to the Barn, so do the Troubles, and given that as Lucy she refused to go to the Barn willingly, that history has led to a lot of concerns about what could happen if she wouldn’t go in. The most obvious theory is that whatever caused the Troubles, the Barn and Audrey are an attempt to keep the problem under control, but that process can only do so as a valve or temporary solution, similar to the Donkey Wheel from Lost’s Island.
This makes it very much in the Guard’s immediate interest to get Audrey in the Barn every 27 years. It is likely only a short term solution, and raises the possibility that a solution that solves the Troubles permanently is available and involves Audrey (and likely a lot of conflict between the various factions in Haven). It’s unfortunate that the anti-Troubled group was essentially dropped after the Rev was killed at the end of last season. It would have been quite something to see all of these groups interacting, with the Guard, the Rev’s people, Audrey, Nate, Dwight, and the Teagues in the middle, with the Bolt Gun Killer as a wild card.
All of this doesn’t do much to explain why the Bolt Gun Killer, now with a much better nickname of Skinwalker, would be interested in the Barn or Audrey.
It’s pretty clear that the Skinwalker is an unaffiliated Troubled who has experienced at least one round of the Troubles and has an interest is using them to gain power or some other influence, but his motivations are still unclear. It goes a long way to explaining Tommy’s behavior and redeeming some of that storyline, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions surrounding him. Still, the writers took a big step towards answering them with this episode. On a side note, I’m morbidly curious to know how he was able to discover his Trouble, something that I’m not necessarily sure I’d want to know.
Looking at the personal arcs for the characters, it was natural that Nate would eventually end his relationship with Jordan to focus on his feelings for Audrey, but the writers found a way that would make it natural without needlessly demonizing Jordan. In many ways, Jordan was always Audrey’s opposite, from wardrobe to their Trouble to attitudes and behavior. The writers get credit for making Jordan sympathetic alternative for Nate, making her represent a very natural option for him. Now that it’s clear that Audrey is ‘meant’ to go into the Barn, with Audrey’s desire to stay and the Guard’s desire to get her in there, it’s pretty clear that the final episodes are set up to deal with this conflict.
Score: 10/10
