S02.E03: Love Machine

[Tabbyclaw]

The Haven docks seem to be attacking people. Could they be haunted? Audrey must find what's causing the chaos while pursuing a lead about the mystery of her own identity.

 

[Elsinore]

Love Love Machine. Probably one of my favourite episodes of the whole series.

 

Because I love the Audreys interaction and the goodbye at the end, the oversynced hockey puck machine and the evil Crockpot of Doom.

[Tabbyclaw]

This is one of my favorites, too. I really like the Trouble of the Week, and I love that the episode doesn't end happily for anyone. (I would hate it if they did that more often, but every once in a while a little flash of "It's not that the Troubles suck, it's that they really totally suck" is, I think, necessary.)

 

Audrey II. Oh, dear, sweet Audrey II, we hardly knew ye. Maybe you weren't as nice as the blonde one (one of my favorite lines), but you were nevertheless precious and full of sass. Of all the bad things that have happened to good characters on this show, her fate is the one that bothers me the most, and nt least because it took a friend away from Our Audrey (and I love that Duke called her that). I hope that Brad is willing to look after her, because Lord knows she's going to need it. 

 

Evi. What are we going to do with you. As I said before I don't like her, but I do like the way she's written. She is 100% believable as someone who has a long history with Duke, and as someone who would be the type to attract him both personally and professionally.

[Shanna Marie]

I love this episode, too. On paper, it shouldn't work and the Trouble sounds silly, but I think they approached it with just the right tone, with some amusement at the absurdity of it all while still taking it quite seriously. One thing I hadn't considered until this round of rewatch is that the Troubled man seemed like he'd led a pretty lonely existence before, where he spent most of his time with his machines, so having a girlfriend was a new and exciting thing for him, as he'd finally made a human connection. And then he had to give her up so the machines wouldn't kill her, which makes it even more sad.

 

One thing I find kind of amusing is the twist on the trope of the engineer/mechanic who seems to have a special relationship with his machines -- in this case, literally. That might explain why Scotty never got transferred off the Enterprise ...

 

I'm not a huge fan of the current TV trope of ending an episode with a montage set to a pop song that tells us what we should be feeling while we see the characters doing stuff, but this one worked, mostly because the song they used was actually part of the plot, as it was what Audrey started absently playing from memory without knowing she knew how to play the piano (so it must have been from Lucy, as she's the one who would have been around after that song was written), and it faded back into her playing at the very end, for a nice touch.

 

And we have our first sight of The Barn. I'm guessing

the memory erasure was meant for our Audrey, as it might have been dangerous for her to have too much self-awareness.

[BlueJay81]

I liked the emotional resonance of this episode. All the characters are dealing with their own issues related to their identity and the Troubles. The Trouble seems quite silly but highlighted a theme which is explored later in the series with the whole

Audrey and Nathan sacrificing their relationship because it is detrimental to Haven

 

With regards the Barn

I think it was meant for Audrey 2, because like Lucy said to real Lucy the two were never supposed to meet. It seems to be a rule that if the real person meets/has contact with Mara/Audrey etc they have their memories wiped.
I do wonder about Howard saying Audrey/etc is the one who summoned the Barn when she was ready but it did appear at other times when she wasn't even aware of it.