Season 5 of the Syfy hit, Haven starts tonight and it picks u
p right after the events of the explosive season finale from last year. We have an early review of the season premiere from our resident Haven-pile, Becky White.
CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD
I just finished watching the season premiere episode of “Haven” and I am so excited for the story to unfold this fall. Wow. We start off with a little end of the last episode recap and launch right into this season. Baby Aaron has lost his parents and the ever fun and witty coroner plans to raise him. She and her assistant are sitting under the gazebo chatting and suddenly the lighthouse implodes with what seems to be an earthquake and sonic blast. Last season at the very end our group of trusty Haven “troubles” seekers had discovered a cave under the lighthouse with a door to another world. William, the bad guy or is he really? William (Colin Ferguson) wanted Audrey (Emily Rose) badly and he had this black goo that seemed to generate bad magic and cursed people with the “troubles”. Somehow Audrey was connected to William and the goo, they had a past that seemed to show us that Audrey wasn’t the good girl we thought she was. At the end of last season the group is in the cave when door to this other world closes as William is pushed through door by Audrey, who suddenly becomes Maura – a total bad ass woman hell bent on messing with everyone. It was one of those – where did this come from moments, that I just love about this show!
After the blast, Duke (Eric Balfour) and Dwight (Adam Copeland) find themselves on a section of rocky coastline. Totally unaware of how they got there or why, they try finding the rest of the group. Duke’s eyes had been bleeding in the cave but we don’t understand why. As a wounded Dave (John Dunsworth) and Vince (Richard Donat) are in the woods finding their way back,
Nathan (Lucas Bryant) wakes and tries to find Audrey. When he finds Audrey he discovers she really is Maura, who tricks him and knocks him out. Maura/Audrey tells Nathan she has the memories of all of her past lives; Sarah, Lucy and Audrey. Maura mentions the gifts she has given the people of Haven and she can’t wait to see the new ones – meaning the troubles. Maura has been coming back to Haven for 500 years as a new person each time and when she returns so do the troubles.
Later, Duke, Dwight and Nathan are at the rescue site for the lighthouse and watch as a councilman is struck with a trouble. The poor man has his eyes sewn shut. The three guys think Maura is behind this new trouble and go about trying to find Maura and a missing Jennifer. Jennifer was the woman who was able to open the portal in the cave. Nathan shares with Dwight and Duke that Maura mentioned “that” door was closed in the cave leading them to believe that there are more doors in Haven to come in and out of. Nathan thinks Vince and Dave may be able to help as they have Cabot’s Journal and Dave claims to have been through the doors before.
Meanwhile, Maura/Audrey is on the prowl for doors. She makes her 
way to a coffee shop and orders the owner around. She finds the shimmery portal in the store room and can’t get through. Mad, she demands the car keys of the owner and he begins to say she is acting strange and he is going to call Nathan, when Maura shoots him in the head. This chick means business.
Dwight is about to get in his car when a van crashes and rolls down the street. He rushes over and finds the driver dead but his eyes and mouth are sewn shut. Duke and Nathan meet up with Vince, who finds the journal that Dave hid behind a statue of King Tut. Vince goes on to tell Duke and Nathan that the “Migmaw” tribe spoke of special places where the veil between worlds was thin. The journal has a map with five such thin areas: the lighthouse, the spot where the coffee shop is now and three other locations. Duke, Dwight and Nathan go to the three spots to watch out for Maura and hopefully find Jennifer. We think that Jennifer is sealing the spots or is somehow involved.
Nathan goes to the beach and discovers the area he is looking for is a rock that is still under water so he has to wait for low tide. Dwight gets to the woods and finds Maura. Dwight tries to sneak up on her but since she has all of Audrey’s memories she knows his trouble is that he attracts bullets. Well, she fires three shots and naturally they nail a bullet proof vested Dwight. He is knocked down but not out. Maura then takes his Taser and gives him a nice jolt. She wants to know where Jennifer is and wants to know which one of them is sealing the “thinnies”. We discover Maura is not behind the sewn face troubles as she has no idea what Dwight is talking about when he asks her. She zaps him again and is frustrated she can’t access the portal. Maura tells Dwight his loyalty and good intentions make him the last to know anything, he needs to keep that in mind.
Our lovelorn hero, Nathan, is still waiting on the beach and thinking of Audrey. Maura appears and the two struggle, she pulls Nathan’s gun and takes him hostage. Nathan still insists that Audrey is inside Maura. Maura insists Audrey is not.
Dwight goes to the morgue and the coroner hands him a file from 1929 dealing with cases where the victims have their eyes and mouths sewn shut. This takes Dwight to the Barrow family and there are creepy “see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil” sock monkey like things sitting on their mantel. The monkeys have the same stitching as the latest victims. The 1929 victims were all connected with the Barrow family. Mrs. Barrow admits that the family trouble has been gone for years and that her great grandmother was the last to inflict her trouble on others. The great grandmother died by “falling” down the stairs. Mrs. Barrow said the monkeys have not sewn since then.
Duke is at the docks and realize
s that Jennifer has been ahead of Maura by sealing the portals and is not contacting them because Maura has access to the same communication devices. Dwight tells Duke he discovered that Maura is not the cause of the sewn eyes/mouth trouble and that Carl and the councilman are the only two victims. Duke is confused, as he spoke with Carl and recalls being there when the councilman got sewn up. Duke wonders if he is the one with the trouble. His eyes were bleeding in the cave and his family, the Crocker’s, trouble is to absorb the troubles of infected people, leaving them free of the troubles. The Crockers have been absorbing the troubles for generations and Duke recalls William telling him that he has taken on the troubles of all the people the Crocker family has taken troubles away from. He also tells Dwight that Maura started the troubles.
Back at the hospital, Dave is having another dream. We find ourselves in the cave, Duke, Dwight, Audrey, Nathan and Vince are all looking at us – the perspective is that they are gazing up at us and they are terrified of what they see. The dream is over quickly but you have the sense that maybe Dave has brought back something from the cave.
Nathan asks Maura again about Audrey being inside of her still and she tells him, nope. In fact, she is going to kill him, maybe now or maybe later. She insists that Jennifer (Emma Lahana) is not stronger than her; Jennifer is only a conduit to the other world. Someone else is sealing the “thinnies”. The black goo is ether and Maura says that it is the essence of everything. Maura needs William because he hid the black goo. Nathan tells Maura that the love he and Audrey share is stronger than her and that she will never get William back but he will get Audrey back. This kind of ticks Maura off and she shoots Nathan. As Nathan is lying on the beach he says, “I will always love you Parker”. Maura seems confused and takes pause, her finger is on the trigger to shoot again and she stops.
Great episode, loved it. Some questions were answered and yet, not. Fast paced, gritty and highly enjoyable start to the new season! I can’t wait!
Haven airs Thursday nights at 8 only on Syfy…I’d say imagine greater but it doesn’t get any greater than this…
-Becky White
