S05.E21: Close to Home

[MarkHB]

Nathan encounters an old adversary after entering the terrible Void; Audrey and Duke deal with the threat of a newly troubled person who wants revenge; at the same time, Dwight tries to help Vince free Dave from Croatoan's grip.

[Shanna Marie]

And we finally get a look at Nathan's house (probably because they don't have the Grey Gull location to shoot at anymore). Kudos to the production designer for all the little touches showing Nathan's coping strategies, like the reminder notes all over the stove about checking to see if the burners were on and the big thermometer at the front door. I'd always wondered how Nathan knew if he needed to put on a coat.

 

I saw Thinnie Girl not wanting to give up her power from a mile away. Also saw Croatoan knowing what they were up to and making Dave stop it. If I hadn't had laryngitis, I'd have been shouting at the TV that they should have knocked him out first. Alas, I can only croak a bit, so they couldn't hear me in time to take precautions.

 

Another hug between Nathan and Duke! Was the line about expecting the town to be surrounded by tanks a bit of a dig at Under the Dome? I liked the touch of the kid playing catch with himself by throwing his ball into the fog. That's a kid who grew up in Haven.

[Roselle]

Yay! Nathan's house at last! And it was a typically cute little Haven house (although, in its bright yellow colour it was very similar to the Carlton family home - had me momentarily confused anyway).

 

Loved the Wournos home and his post-it reminders; loved his bare chest and bare feet too :) ; loved that the impact of being cut-off (no orange juice - oh, the horror!) was addressed (twice); loved the bro-hug (although I cannot understand Duke's repeated reticence - Nathan is always more enthusiastic it seems); loved the allusion to most people's original feelings about the naming of the "thinny" - "Really?"...yeah, it always felt lame to me too Haley; loved seeing William again (odd though that his jacket was in such a state when his trousers remained apparently immaculately clean), even if the void was rather disappointingly underwhelming; lovedlovedloved that Duke finally came back and that Nathan was so certain he would and,  particularly, that Eric Balfour finally has something to do.

 

I can't remember, is Audrey still supposed to be ill? I mean, she's just so pathetic now. And also totally unlike the Audrey who was Duke's friend and staunch supporter in the past - why did it take his overheard explanation to Lisa for her to understand why he left Haven? Not credible for someone who is supposed to have good insight into people.  She was always the one to know his nature before, to know he was so much more than the shallow, apparently selfish front he presented.

Also really annoying was how the writers had Duke leave the crucial will-we-get-Nathan-back? scene... seriously? he left? while the girl he apparently felt so responsible for was struggling with her trouble and while his best friend was still trapped in the void? *sigh* Another example of how this character has been badly mis-used.

 

The 'Parker Template' was laugh out loud hilarious to me - someone in the team has been watching Game of Thrones I think. 

And poor red-shirt Boyd... nobody seemed to feel particularly bad about him - barely introduced before being snuffed out by DaveCroatoan - it really was entirely their fault and they just leave lying him in the corner with barely a glance. :(

[pcta]

I cannot tell you how much I hated this episode -

Too much Nathan. Too much Audrey.

Oh, please. Sanctimonious Audrey. You hate Duke because he left? He never did anything for the town? He never cared about the town? While you are the saint of Haven and have only done things because you cared so much about Haven? Oh, gag me with a spoon.

Duke was way too forgiving of Audrey.

OK - the Vince, Dave and Dwight story was quite good. These folks at least seem to have retained the essence of their characters. And was good to see William again.

[Cardie]

Maybe the spunky Audrey we knew before benefited from the underlay of Mara and the Parker template, solo, is the whiny drag we're seeing now.

 

Poor Dave. How can he live with himself after piling up so many victims as Croatoan's vessel? Can the town ever look at him with anything but horror? Perhaps a noble sacrifice would be the best thing for him now.

Edited November 20, 2015 by Cardie

[Shanna Marie]

although I cannot understand Duke's repeated reticence - Nathan is always more enthusiastic it seems

I would imagine that if you're full of self-loathing and kind of wallowing in how much a leper you are, being enthusiastically hugged kind of ruins the mood. There's also probably an element of "who are you and what have you done with Nathan?" shock to it, since Nathan isn't really a touchy person (for obvious reasons) and isn't typically affectionate at all toward Duke. He can never be all that sure whether Nathan's going to point a gun at him, hit him, or hug him, so there's always a moment of, "oh, it's the hug this time." They also didn't part on great terms, considering that it was only a day or so before he left (the same day?) when he whacked Nathan on the head with a wrench so he could go behind his back to work with Mara, which backfired horribly, and then he left over Nathan's objections, so he has no idea what reception to expect.

 

I can't remember, is Audrey still supposed to be ill? I mean, she's just so pathetic now.

Well, think about what she's been through lately -- learning that she (at least her Mara self) was the one who caused all the Troubles, finally meeting her mother, only to lose her (twice), learning that her father turned into some kind of serial killer who murdered her son. All the people she cares about are in a terrible mess that's her fault, even if she doesn't remember that. She's got some things to be happy about but she can't entirely let herself enjoy them because she's living in a hellhole. She feels Duke let her down by leaving when his immunity to the new Troubles might have come in handy, and all this happened because Duke trusted Mara, so Duke becomes an easy target for all the stuff she's got bottled up. I'd say she has good reason to be in a bit of a funk. After a while, all this has to wear on a person. It would be weird if she managed to still be perky and spunky so soon after the death of her long-lost mother.

[dargosmydaddy]

Aw, I liked this episode. Despite some of the questionable writing in recent years, I'm still a Nathan fan, and it was nice to see him get something to do for a change. And William's utterly delightful hamminess kept the Nathan/ Mara-template scene from sinking into the usual dreck.

[BlackberryJam]

Nathan wasn't a total douche this episode, which was nice.

 

He left all of his douche with Audrey. I'm not sure where it was discussed, but Audrey has always been the one to see the good in Duke. She's always been the one to know he can be relied on. She's always been the one who understood his struggle, even when she used him so ruthlessly. (I'm thinking of asking him to kill the organ eating guy who had like 40 kids who would turn into organ eaters.) So she's all pissed that he took off when he was clearly the one who was making things worse? Come the fuck on, bitch. You know whatever the hell happened to Duke resulted in everything going to shit, so you're going to be all hateful to him for absenting himself from the situation in an effort to stop making things so much worse. Fuck you, Audrey, fuck you.

 

And can we talk about how shit the robot Mara with the flammable wig was? I mean...come on. That was horrible. Just freaking horrible. Trite. Stupid. Poorly acted. Lame. Weak. Dumb. There are not enough insults for that shitterrific plot device.

 

Loved seeing William again and his interaction with Nathan was probably the only thing that didn't make me want to puke all over this episode.

[Wheels08]

Oh Audrey, Audrey, Audrey so Duke doesn't care about people. How about that one time you almost drowned in the ocean but didn't because Duke saved you. Or the time he was going to take Mara into the void with him and then blow himself up so he didn't hurt people. I was yelling at that scene this past episode.

And shocker Nathan didn't annoy me this episode. I really liked his interactions with William.

Poor Dave, he going to probably need therapy if he makes it through this.

[Tabbyclaw]

Well, think about what she's been through lately [...] After a while, all this has to wear on a person.

 

Honestly, I think the amount of stuff all the characters have been through lately is one of the major problems of this season. It's throwing crisis after crisis at the audience and not allowing ample time or space for the impacts to land. There's no breathing room between the explosions in which the audience can recognize and appreciate the impact and feel what the characters are feeling.

[Maelstrom]

Finally made it through this, though I confess I had to FF all of the non-Duke and William scenes to do so.

 

Wow, everyone who said that Audrey got Nathan's asshattedness in this one was right on the mark. I wanted ExplodeyLady to pat Audrey's head and save us from her self-righteous drivel. Why is everyone acting like Duke is the Ultimate Evil here? It's not he Troubled everyone of his own will, for funsies. And it's not like he hasn't saved the town how many times over. And I realize I'm preaching to the choir here, but still. Watching everyone piss on Duke for most of the episode was not entertaining.

 

What I did enjoy: Colin Ferguson. He's adorable, even when playing a villain. He even made Nathan (or should I call him Nate, hee) life-like. And it was good to see Nathan and Duke interacting again, since theirs is my favorite relationship on the show. Count me as pleasantly surprised Nathan was so, well, decent to Duke. Someone should be! Like everyone else here, I also enjoyed all of Nathan's little reminder notes around his house - a nice touch of character development. Seems like the props dept and set dressers are doing more for the characters than the writers.

 

One last bitch: the Void scenes were so dark that I physically couldn't see anything (apart from GaladrielAudrey and her glowing white wig, that is). Geez, Show, you give me Colin Ferguson but make it so dark I can't see him. Not cool.

 

This show is clearly spiraling the drain at this point, and it's become painful to watch.

[AudienceofOne]

Hey remember when this show was about Audrey? The real Audrey. Not this pod person? I yelled so much at this episode because... Why would AUDREY not go into the thinnie? Anybody? Bueller?

You know, the interdimensiomal being rather than the mortal? They didn't even suggest it. And then Duke shows up and they still act like it's a fait accompli that it's Nathan going? This show is so shit.

[dargosmydaddy]

 

Hey remember when this show was about Audrey? The real Audrey. Not this pod person? I yelled so much at this episode because... Why would AUDREY not go into the thinnie? Anybody? Bueller?

In the next episode she says something when Duke is opening the thinny that makes it sound like she literally can't. Was that some kind of stipulation after her separation from Mara? Or was she so traumatized by her time there (but was Audrey ever actually in the void as Audrey? I know Lexie was there...) that she just refuses (even for her beloved Nathan), which yeah, is totally out of character.