Haven Review: Blindsided

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It's been a while since there has been a really evil Troubled person on Haven, so this week the show slung a sibling at us instead. 

"Magic Hour" reminded us again how vulnerable the Troubled are even to their own family members. That seems to be a running theme this year, and could be why we've been introduced to The Guard. 

Duke and Audrey During the Magic Hour

While The Guard is still ambiguous in an are-they-good or are-they-bad kind of way, they really are needed. As much as Audrey has done, and Lucy and Sarah before her, she could never do it alone. Jordan was genuinely freaked when she saw what the Bolt Gun Killer was doing, and even more so when she saw the connections between the killer and her friend Grady. Enough so that she turned to Dwight to look him up. Hey, Dwight makes great backup, what with his attraction for bullets and all. 

Things only ended up getting more confusing as Grady's mark revealed he was in hiding after being tracked by the police, and he never saw Grady. Dwight and Jordan later found Grady in a burned out car. Was there a rogue in the Haven P.D.? We didn't know anyone other than Audrey, Dwight and Tommy, right? I recalled a few faces from earlier seasons, but I hadn't seen them in a while. With Haven, the best reveals are always the most shocking, so I didn't expect the rogue, if there was one, to be an unknown.

But, eh, that can wait. Let's talk about Nederland, Colorado! It really is a tiny little town without much libation, but I'm guessing if Duke and Audrey found a senior home, they could have driven just a little farther to a bar. Nederland is just outside of Boulder, one of the party capitals of the world for goodness sakes. But I digress.

Audrey discovered James Cogan's mother knew not Lucy, but Sarah! Her lifetimes are merging together with every piece of information she gets and it's fascinating. Although Mrs. Cogan had Alzheimers, she recalled Sarah had red hair, giving Audrey the idea to show up wearing a red wig. That's when Audrey discovered that while she may have been in love with James as Lucy (or not?), she loved him as Sarah; because he was her son! That's right. Sarah took her son to the Cogan family to raise him safely (away from the Troubles? I couldn't tell). 

This is undoubtedly only the tip of the iceberg of Audrey's past lives, as we have six episode (is that all??) left to go in Haven Season 3, but the suspense is astounding. There is so much at stake, and every scene seems to have a connection to what's happening next. 

It was no surprise that in the middle of all this Audrey just wanted to live in the moment and she almost took advantage of Duke to do it. Thankfully she stopped herself, but not before removing her sweater and planting a deep kiss on his willing soul.

The thing with Duke is he understands where Audrey is coming from and didn't, even for an instant, hold her transgression against her. I'm sure he wanted to hold a lot more against her, but he's willing to be her friend and confident above all else. Duke's growth is indicative of the natural progression of all of the Haven universe and is incredibly refreshing.

Let's meander back to the town of Haven and that pesky rogue police officer. Rarely is it spelled out as easily as it was for Nathan when he saw on Tommy's GPS that he had recently traveled to Rt. 17. Then Tommy made a fuss about his trunk. Really? Why on earth would he hide his handy-dandy slickly modified bolt-gun in there? 

While we've all known that Tommy's acceptance of Nathan's offer to stay in Haven was due to ulterior motives, this smells a little fishy to me. I could be completely off base, but it's just too easy. Tommy wasn't stupid. THIS Tommy was bordering on idiocy. Could he be possessed or hidden somewhere while someone else wears his skin? It's Haven, it could happen. 

As it happened, he was discovered in a matter of minutes and shot Nathan. That's right. Shot him. In the chest. We have two things working in our favor. The Troubled girl who can heal people is lurking off in the woods somewhere, and Duke and Audrey just pulled up. I forgot about the third thing working in our favor. Lucas Bryant is one of the three stars of the show. That counts!

So ended the heart-pounding first hour of a two-hour story. I cannot wait for next Friday. Haven is, quite frankly, knocking my socks off. Where ARE my socks?

Magic Hour Review

Editor Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
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Rating: 4.8 / 5.0 (68 Votes)

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.

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Haven Season 3 Episode 7 Quotes

Audrey: I've been, what, at least three other people in my life and one of them was in love with The Colorado Kid and he could be on the other side of that door and all I can think of is I should have worn better pants.
Duke: Audrey, you are officially a girl. But look, let's just pray that he doesn't have a unibrow.

Ya know, I am all for Audrey staying on vantage. But you don't want to scare the guy. So I'm just suggesting, start soft. You know, small talk. Colorado Avalanche. I don't, personally, but some people do.

Duke