S03.E02: Stay

[Tabbyclaw]

 

Raving barbarians run loose in Haven's streets, forcing Audrey and Nathan to find a way to stop these brutish madmen -- if only they can figure out who, or what, they are.

 

[Elsinore]

This is the dog episode, yes?

 

Liked the Duke and Dwight bait and switch.

 

"Let me guess, another Audrey Parker?" cracked me up. Because obviously she has that few female friends that it makes sense.

 

I guess it makes sense that she would give up the dog, because I'm sure it wouldn't end well in the long run. Shame about her shutting Nathan out, though.

[Carrie Ann]

The actor who plays the father/dog owner is one of the worst they ever use, in my opinion. The whole time he's dealing with the dog-man, he looks like he's trying not to laugh. Which I understand, but not from a professional actor. It's not my favorite Trouble story anyway, but he doesn't do anything to help.

 

And then, yeah, Audrey decides to start pushing Nathan away, which is just not fun for anyone.

[BlueJay81]

Liked the end of the episode, and the interaction between Dwight, Duke and the Teagues in the Haven Herald offices and that's pretty much it about this episode which seemed to be largely filler.

[Frisson]

Nathan's face falling when Audrey explains she has to give the dog away because "It wouldn't work out" breaks my heart every time!

[Tabbyclaw]

It took me a stupidly long time to realize that this episode was a nod to Cujo.

 

This is one of the few episode that's good the first time through but doesn't hold up on rewatch. The setup is great at raising questions and making you curious about exactly what's happening, and the concept of dog-men in general is an interesting one that's played well. But the mechanics of the Trouble itself are weak, and they're not helped by the bad writing and subpar acting for Tor, and after knowing what the reveal is I just end up finding everything else about it kinda silly.

 

That said, I do like the way they introduced Claire. It makes all kinds of sense for her to be here and now, and it's nice to have a new character who's not obstructive and dangerous right off the bat. And I have a huge soft spot for Audrey naming the dog 'Cookie,' just because that feels like such an Audrey thing to do.

Edited August 16, 2014 by Tabbyclaw

[Shanna Marie]

This is one of the few episode that's good the first time through but doesn't hold up on rewatch.

Funny, for me it's the opposite. I wasn't entirely crazy about it the first time and don't remember liking it much, but I ended up really enjoying it on the rewatch. It's another case of them taking a situation that's really silly on paper and treating it with just the right mix of gravitas and humor. The characters seem to be aware of how crazy it it and have just the right attitude, and then they get serious when they realize what's really going on.

 

There are all those great scenes, like Duke and Dwight with the naked man in the truck, all of Claire's scenes with Audrey and Nathan's reactions, the gang in the newspaper office as they watch in stunned silence as a naked man wearing a Cone of Shame runs down the street (possibly one of the funniest moments of the entire series), and seeing that Nathan's just as bad about dogs as he is about babies (now we need a kitten to complete the set).

 

I'm a bit surprised that the newspaper wrote a story on Lucy's disappearance, considering how secretive they are about everything else about her. You'd think they'd have covered that up or treated it like a non-event -- and outsider to town who hasn't been there long ended up leaving town. That's hardly front-page news.