BlueJay81

I binged all seasons over a few weeks and overall it was an enjoyable series, probably not as great as advertised but pretty good nonetheless. In terms of pacing and the mystery I enjoyed season 1 the most. Season 2 was also okay although I agree with others up thread that I probably wouldn't have been patient enough to watch it weekly. Season 3 was ok, disturbing but the Sarsgaard stuff and Skinner as the killer didn't really ring true for me. Seward was the son of a career convict, married to a prostitute a thug in essence but he seemed to be acting in a Shakespearean play or channeling Hannibal Lector at times. Skinner as the killer just seemed contrived for dramatic purposes. Although not given any real background it is hard to believe that this career cop just lost it and began a serial killing spree of young girls probably in his forties. I know some serial killers lead double lives but there were just no indications in the story. Season 4 wasn't that great but the short season may have also contributed to that. I never saw Linden and Holder as a romantic pairing at all so felt the end was just to add some sunshine to the otherwise very bleak season. On the characters I agree that Linden and Holder were not very good cops. Linden was too emotional, increasingly hysterical and she often just bulldozed her way through investigations which fits with her background (she probably never learned to process her emotions etc) but in reality she probably would never have passed the police department psychiatric evaluation. By the fourth season I'd lost most of my empathy for her character and just wanted her to grow up. Holder in season 1 looked like a drug addict and behaved liked one. I found his whole 'wigger' persona cringe worthy, at first and throughout the series really, but fortunately the actor seemed to tone it down as the series progressed or maybe I just got used to it. I really liked the Darren Richmond character even though he seemed to have lost some of his idealism at the end which was expected. A question, perhaps I missed it with the binge watching but was the whole email Orpheus thing ever explained. Was it Richmond who took that girl to the lake talking about drowning?

Very flat final. They didn't even bother to try to tie up a lot of the first 3 seasons loose ends. Guess they decided to just pretend those seasons never happened. A lot of people suggested the ending scene early on in the series so not that much of a surprise really.

There have been way too many dragging episodes like this in the past 2 seasons. Too much talking from all characters. Haven now seems to be about Mara's family (Characters we didn't invest 4 seasons in) and they still will not tell us what exactly they are and where they come from? It is extremely hard to believe why the characters just accept vague descriptions of 'other worlds' etc instead of simply asking where exactly do you come from? It's very bad writing. It seems loving Mara/Audrey has very destructive consequences (Croatoan, William and Nathan all did questionable things to 'save' her). Speaking of William, will we ever find out what the connection between him and Mara was? It's odd that Dad has the same healing powers William had. That's my biggest issue with the show now. It's so different now, I really don't expect answers for some of the S1-S3 mysteries now, the focus seems to have completely shifted. Glad they revealed that Howard used to 'a person' or whatever they are before he became the Barn Guard. The child that Mara gave the horrible Trouble from the comic book, was he ever named? So I guess the aether in the blood thing will pose problems with the new Barn for Audrey. Will she have to leave or will she fall sick again and die?

This episode was actually watcheable because at least something happened unlike last week. Haven has never been very good at nuance, so I guess we're supposed to be rooting for Audrey and Nathan, but I can't. Audrey couldn't have cared less for Hayley, so far this season alone she has proposed using two Troubled people to free Nathan. Is she still even a Havensaver? Can't see the difference between her and Mara at the moment. I really hope there will be some explanation or consequences for this selfish destructive behaviour, though I doubt it. Don't know if it was budget stuff, but the Void was a big dissapointment. It went from bad CGI clouds to a forest. Where was the terror William was so afraid of? Croatoan must have some minions right? Didn't think they'd actually kill off Dave like that, at least he went down fighting. I wonder if Vince's power/trouble will ever be revealed.

http://www.tvgoodness.com/2015/11/11/colin-ferguson-previews-haven-s-just-passing-through-exclusive-interview/

This episode certainly had that early Haven feel, but it still feels like they messed around too long and the impact of the revelations isn't there for me anymore. I think it was obvious by now that Dave killed James Cogan. What exactly was James Trouble? Croatoan feeds off Troubled people right?. I guess there were no real big answers, the whole Duke plot is irritating now, so all that just so that girl can come back and open a Thinny. They purposefully avoided showing us why and how Duke got to be in that picture with Lucy and why she gave him the necklace. I guess Lucy couldn't let go of James and took him into the Barn after Nathan and Vince had left. Must not have been paying attention, but thought the kid with the camera was Nathan for most of the episode until the end. Since Mara had all of Audrey, Lucy and Sarah and others memories, she must have known about the thinny opening family, why didn't she use that information to get into the void when she was so desperate to do so. Young Dave and young Garland were good.

Things seem to be unravelling with this show and not in a good way. The answers seem to have been left a little too late and are not as interesting as they could have been. If Dave remembers Roanoke and they seem to be implying he was actually there, then how old is he, Howard brought him to Haven as a baby in 1936. Never really liked Charlotte but felt sorry for Dwight. The guy Duke was talking to reminds me of Garland Wuornos, the actor who played Garland. A recurrent theme in this show is that everyone else should just let go, and let their loved ones die except for Audrey and Nathan who can and have used extreme measures to stay together.

This episode was actually watcheable, finally they seem to be answering some of the big questions although some it was rather obvious. And Charlotte is conveniently gone to make getting answers more difficult. So they're telling us that they hadn't asked or told Charlotte about Croatoan even though she is the only person who could have known more until now? They need to really strain credulity to retain the mystery I guess at this stage. I really want to know what Duke is and the whole mystery about the Crocker curse. I hope this signals a return to form for the series.

I think they packed in a lot of stuff at the end of Season 3 and to be honest I don't think they had much more to tell after that hence the disaster that's been season 4 and 5. Dunn & Ernst did always claim to know the exact last scene, but I read an interview with one of the showrunners when asked whether the end would be the one originally envisioned by the creators and the answer was sort of, but they claimed to have 'gone deeper' than the original premise. They are scheduled to write an episode in 5b so I expect it to be better than anything we've seen lately and then maybe the last 5 or 6 episodes will be good and make us forget how bad its become.

Totally agree with this. All the big reveals since S4, have been handled so badly. Vince and Dave used to be so mysterious, then Dave was adopted, came from the other side etc. I also found Audrey Parker in the Sandman's world quite annoying and she did give off Mara vibes. And Audrey being in peril yet again is so annoying, the character has completely changed. I still don't trust or like Charlotte although the show is telling us that she is 'one of the good guys', don't buy it. Found her calling Audrey 'dove' like she did Mara creepy. This episode could have worked earlier in the series, the Sandman character was good, but at this stage it was total boring meaningless filler.

Rather weak episode, overall. Found Nathan's speech trite and uninspiring. The school setting is really getting old and I was hoping I was wrong about my prediction of the cause of the Darkness Trouble because it was rather obvious from last week but alas. So Charlotte's husband was lost to the evil entitiy of the void. Does that mean he is the entity now or part of it. And it feeds off the Troubles. I'm just waiting for them to wrap everything up, but it doesn't seem like it will happen until much later in the season. Didn't like Audrey wanting to use that Troubled guy to save Nathan from the trial. So now Duke feels the urge to kill the Troubled person he gets in blood contact with? It's better that he isn't in Haven but since he is the only one immune to the new Troubles, he will be needed to help and will probably end up dead by the end of it this time. Is that premonition of his death still in play?

I think it became quite obvious once Kira talked about dreading to go to Venice with her fiance, maybe he is abusive or controlling and she just decided to leave him and is hiding out somewhere else in Haven. Wouldn't even be surprised if the boyfriend turns out to be the one with the darkness trouble.

According to his birth certificate Dave's mother's name was Sarah Smith (5.5), his father is unknown. According to his adoption papers (5.4) his middle name is James after his adoptive father, which brings up all sorts of questions.

Also that Dave is a 'halfling' half human, half whatever Charlotte and Audrey are. So was the Colorado Kid. So was Jennifer we can assume.

Liked the first episode much more than the second, but the big reveals still fell flat. What exactly was the point of Charlotte's punishment? If she had just killed all the people Mara troubled back when she did it, surely it would have been more humane than to wait for them to reproduce and then kill them. The question of why Audrey had to kill the one she loved is still not fully answered, and surely if Audrey's power in the barn could keep the troubles at bay for 27 years there must be a way to extend that time period or make it permanent. Mara did allude to the aether thing in season 5a and I think ultimately Audrey has to manipulate the aether for good since Mara said it can be used to build or destroy. The patchy way the second episode started, I almost expected them to show that Haven as a different one with all identical characters. I am still getting strong parallels with the storm of the century, especially when they started with the croatoan thing. I'm expecting William Shatner to show up as the guy who says he can cure Haven of the Troubles but will require a sacrifice or something and since people are already panicking , they will be willing to do anything. I do hope the whole season won't be this post apocalyptic thing, could get very old very quickly. I prefer to see Audrey out and about rather than confined for no real reason and taking orders from Dwight?