‘Haven’ Season 3 Finale Review

In the Haven Season 3 Finale two-parter, “Reunion” disappointed, while “Thanks For The Memories” delivered nicely.

The first part of Haven Season 3 finale, “Reunion”, wasn’t as great as I had hoped for. Honestly, it was quite cheesy and I felt as if the writers thought they could go somewhere with it, but couldn’t, and then– BAM! — try to get us to wonder what is going on when the Bolt Gun Killer turned up to be the one to save Audrey at the end. In fact, that last scene was the only time a gun was fired at the high school. It isn’t that I hoped to see a more violent episode, especially the type of violence that sparked the debate about the justifiable pulling the show in the first place in the wake of the school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. It’s just that this episode had about the least amount of gun violence than any other episode of Haven that I can remember. I didn’t know what to expect, but I know I didn’t feel much for it.

The arching story in Haven season 3 is trying to find out who the Bolt Gun Killer is, what role does that person play in Audrey’s enigmatic past, and the secret about this supernatural barn. It’s revealed that whoever the killer is, he/she’s murdering young women to collect different body parts. Turns out that this person also wears the skins of several characters in the season (especially those of two characters I hoped would become series regulars, Claire and Tommy). This Skinwalker is revealed in “Reunion” to be Arla Cogan (Laura Vandervoot). In a really creepy scene we find out that she collects the different body parts from the women she murders to recreate the face she had 27 years ago. This is her Trouble, and she used the excuse that she was doing this for James, since it was the face that he would remember.

One big thing I don’t understand about Haven is how the town could be filled with so many people who are ‘Trouble’, have all of these crazy events happening in town, and yet are either oblivious to them or recognize them as merely rumors. Nathan and Duke’s returning classmates, returning for a reunion, said as much when they were being interviewed by Audrey and Nathan. Robert’s ‘Trouble’ is that he becomes Robbie, his former geeky teenaged self, and can turn others back to their teenage selves so he can kill them (unbeknownst to the adult Robert). Jeanine literally (in perspective to Haven) can turn anything and everything she eats into cake. It’s what made the former Homecoming queen fat, and most likely the stupidest trouble I have seen on Haven.

I like the Teague brothers, Dave and Vincent. They’re mysterious, and very curious in the happenings in Haven, and as it turns out, very rich. Their back and forth bantering and the fact that they’re pretty much inseparable reminds me a bit of the relationship I have with my brothers. We all know there is more than meets the eye to these two, their characters being tied to the town of Haven since its founding, but when I saw Dave bash Vince on the head to get the secrets about the barn from Arla was shocking, and it bummed me out. I honestly thought for a second that he was the Skinwalker, then remembered that they had her tied up already. What they wanted when it came to Audrey and the barn were different, especially when it came to  how to stop the ‘Troubles’.

Arla, the Skinwalker, the Bolt Gun Killer… personally, I liked the unknown character better than the revealed one by far. 27 years ago when she lost James to the barn, she began to lose her skin, and learned how to deal with that. She had planned to recreate her younger self, and the means by which she did this made her a monster; which is probably why they made her all zombie-ish when she finally did get in the barn with James in the Haven season 3 finale “Thanks For The Memories”.

“Thanks For The Memories”, the second part in the Haven season 3 finale, was a much better episode.

Even though to me it seemed as if the writers were trying to have some sort of semblance to LOST (which isn’t a bad thing).

If Audrey doesn’t go into the barn, then the sky will fall, and all will be destroyed. That’s the explanation Agent Howard gives Audrey. She’s hoping to find out from James if he knows a way to stop it, but he turns out to be a brat. Audrey has a choice, and it seems that she will risk the fate of Haven to stay, but then that won’t make her the hero of the show. There still are plenty of holes to the meaning and identification of what the barn is, but then why should it all be revealed in just the third season?

Agent Howard’s character is also filled with holes (pun), but it was good to see him interact with Audrey, and try to explain to her what all of this means. We’re still just as much in the dark as Audrey. When she asks if she’s even human, he tells her that the unfortunate thing is that she is too human, but we are given nothing more than that.

It would be nice to know more about Arla and James, to be given more of a back story and flashbacks of their relationship 27 years ago. Maybe I would have more sympathy for them; but all I felt was that she was annoying and a monster, and that James was a brat. The only thing we really know about James is that he is Audrey and Nathan’s son, and that Arla loves him.

Bryant’s portrayal of Nathan is bland, though that could be because he can’t physically feel anything. Sometimes, however, he acts as a jealous kid who has puppy love for Audrey. For some reason he has a grudge with Duke. Maybe it is because Duke is cooler. He doesn’t have to live with the restrictions Nathan has had in life, the latter being the son of the former Haven police chief and inheriting the position after his father died. Duke’s character seems to the one that the writers have worked on the most throughout the series, especially this season. Duke is one of my favorite characters in Haven. At first he was just a sleaze ball smuggler who hits on Audrey, but as Haven progresses, his character grows.

My other favorite characters are Vince and Dave. Dave tries to find different ways to help Audrey, to keep her from reliving the same cycle over and over. Vince, it is shown when Audrey and Nathan are sent to the flashbacks, tries to destroy the barn. He seems to have decided that it was better to use Audrey to learn to stop the ‘Troubles’, and is found that he is the leader of The Guard. There still are questions about these guys, but I’m sure we will see plenty more of them next season. I for one think that at least one of them is troubled. Maybe they’re long-lived? We will see.

The scene at the end when Audrey is telling them all goodbye, now that is a good one. Those long farewell scenes may be cheesy to most, but I liked the way Haven did it. Maybe it was the music setting the tone. I noticed that when she was talking to Duke and then kissed him, Nathan was watching all jealous-like. Yeah i know he’s sad. It’s the woman he loves that is leaving, going who knows where to save Haven. Maybe I just don’t like his character.

In the end, Audrey goes into the barn, and as it disappears, Duke goes in to pull her out, but is gone as well. Where did they go? Why did Agent Howard’s body react the same way as the barn? What is Nathan to do?

We will see next season.

For the most part, Haven season 3 was pretty great. I don’t mind being left with questions at the end of the finale. It just gives me more hope that they will be answered in the next season. The scenery of Haven is beautiful. I want to live in that town, ‘Troubles’ and all. I just don’t like much of the dialogue written for many of the characters. Maybe it’s the way the actors deliver them.

Despite the fact that I didn’t care too much for “Reunion”, “Thanks for The Memories” delivered in the sense that I was tuned in. It didn’t give too much away, giving us more questions than many care to even have. Unlike most people though, I love that type of writing.