Haven Season 5 Episode 3 Review: Spotlight
Carissa Pavlica
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Boring.
That's how you sum up Haven Season 5 Episode 3. B. O. R. I. N. G. The title of tonight's sloggish installment was named after the Trouble of the week, which served no purpose and had no beginning or end, really.
I'm not sure how much more I can take. These actors are worth so much more than what they're being given to do.
Nathan continued to go against the wishes of everyone else in Haven as he struggled to appeal to Audrey inside of Mara. She kept poking her head out and she even shed a tear as she begged Nathan to talk only to her, Audrey, because I guess it pisses Mara off and makes Audrey stronger as a result.
Mara kept having visions of Audrey's life with Nathan and even recalled kissing Duke. Ahhh. Those were the days, when there was a point to the story and we were always excited for the next Haven installment.
This shell of the series that once was is almost painful to watch. When you love actors and then the characters they portray only to have them ripped away from you due to budgetary reasons or something else you're not privy to, it hurts.
Over on Parenthood tonight, they'll talk about watching paint dry. It wasn't a metaphor. Watching Haven is akin to watching paint dry, and that is a metaphor.
From what I could tell, if Duke wants to remain alive, he needs Mara. Not Audrey, but Mara. Unless Audrey has the memories of Mara like Mara has of her, I don't see a way around it. As their creator, Mara can manipulate the Troubles and even force them out of Duke by blood that he then has to run from so as not to absorb the Trouble again. Otherwise, his head will explode.
That's going to put quite a kink into the plan that Nathan has for Audrey's return, isn't it? It will be a matter of either letting the love of his life smother inside of Mara or allowing Duke to explode from absorbing too many Troubles.
It would make sense to let Mara help Duke and just hope for the best as far as Audrey is concerned. As long as we have Mara around, we may even find out about other incarnations of herself. Did we know about Veronica before? Let her out to play. She swung both ways, apparently.
I'm ready to find out what happened when the lighthouse collapsed and that wave washed over the town. What was that? Will we ever learn, or is that just an anomaly and we'll never hear about it again?
From the scenes focusing on about a max of three people in any one scene at any given time, I don't have a lot of hope for the future of Haven. When the lighthouse imploded, it may have taken with it the best of the series and washed away forever.
I'll leave you with two moments that I enjoyed: Duke cutting his hair (I love long hair, but who knew he had grey at the temples?) and the look of longing on Nathan's face as Mara taunted him with her body. Two memorable moments. That's it.
Do you think there is hope? How long can you watch them struggle to free Audrey? What could possibly happen when they do? Let me know if you're still in or if you're losing interest.
Remember, you can watch Haven online and relive the good ole days. I want to pop in Haven Season 3 right now, when it still seemed that everything good was yet to come.
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.
