S05.E23: Blind Spot

[MarkHB]

Plans for building a new barn are complicated when an old trouble brings the Haven Police Station to life. It's up to Audrey and Nathan to find a way to regain control, but their efforts are hampered when a mysterious killer leaves a wake of bodies right under their noses.

[Snarkette]

It's not going to get any better before it ends, is it?

[Wheels08]

I haven't watched the episode yet am I going to be sad/depressed after watching it? Basically I'm asking if Duke is okay at the end of the episode.

[M42]

Asking for a friend...

[MarkHB]

I'll just say that none of the regulars dies in the episode.

[Cardie]

Duke fans will not be happy though.

[Mulva]

That was a total POS. What happened to the intriguing show I originally enjoyed?

[33kaitykaity]

That surprise appearance at the end was just the definition of cool.  YMMV.  

 

I only watch this show because of the extremely good-looking men -- Dwight, Nathan, then Duke, each very different, but all just so easy on the eyes.  It's almost outweighed by how much I detest Audrey.  I hope they can find a way to bring Charlotte back and then just kill Audrey off.  Pretty please?  

[Clanstarling]

It's not going to get any better before it ends, is it?

No, sadly, it doesn't look like it. Even Shatner's stunt casting can't rescue it. Everything I liked about the show seems to be gone now.

 

You know what might have been interesting - watching people with troubles fortify the station using their troubles. Or strategizing using their troubles as offensive/defensive weapons. The Halloway trouble wasn't too bad. Minor quibble, hey writing staff - laptops don't need to be plugged in to work - so therefore won't be disrupted by the power going out. Kinda one of their features.

 

What wasn't interesting? Audrey pulling her weapon to shoot out a window - a bullet proof window (which they didn't state until after the fact, but Audrey would have known). Or being chased into a room by a stool. Or not standing up for Duke when the one guy blamed all the troubles on him. Or jumping immediately to believing the worst about Duke, even as they see him in obvious pain and then disappear in smoke.

 

This one was such a slog - with glimmers of interesting and good ideas that just never landed for me.

Edited December 4, 2015 by clanstarling

[Wheels08]

I watched the episode last night I just couldn't reply because I had to go to bed. But here's what I thought.

I had a big problem when Audrey said about the whole Chorlotte choosing Audrey over Mara "Because I'm the daughter she never had." it's like Mara wasn't always like the way she was. I also didn't like that it seemed like everyone was thinking it was Duke doing all the things he was doing when it was really Croatoan controlling him.

Poor Vince I felt so bad for him this episode.

I did like the beginning Nathan and Duke scene. It was cute. It go to show that Duke had Nathan's back even back then.

And has much as I hated seeing Duke being controlled by Croatoan I thought Eric did a great job. I like how he changed things up and was able to change his body language.

[pcta]

TPTB for this show are willing to throw every character under the bus to save Nathan/Audrey the most tedious, self righteous couple ever to grace a TV screen. Course I don't know how the episode ended cause I turned it off when "Duke did it" was uttered. If anyone watches the last episodes, I hope you post a synopsis 'cause I JUST CAN'T

[BlackberryJam]

You want a summary?

The Nathan and Audrey bus appeared, ran over Duke, backed up over him, then ran over him one more time. Then a giant yak climbed out of the bus, wearing a Nathan and Audrey 4EVA sandwich board and peed on Duke. It licked the pee off of him, then vomited the pee back out, along with stomach bile and acids, before taking a dump on Duke's chest.

Then William Shatner appeared.

Edited December 4, 2015 by BlackberryJam

[Maelstrom]

Thanks for the warning, BlackberryJam. Sounds like a real doozy this week.

 

Only three more to go, and I'm really starting to question if I can make it to the end. Yeesh.

[Clanstarling]

And has much as I hated seeing Duke being controlled by Croatoan I thought Eric did a great job. I like how he changed things up and was able to change his body language.

Eric's the best actor on the show in his age group, IMO. He's in the same ball park, ability wise, as the actors who play Vince and Gloria.

 

Eric changed his voice too, which was wonderful.

Edited December 4, 2015 by clanstarling

[M42]

So I have been too nervous to watch this episode. I need a recap. I can't take the awful way Haven has closed out. When you rewatch the first 3 seasons its like "wat".

[zxy556575]

Just to reduce my feelings to their lowest common denominator of pettiness, every time a character says the word "thinny" I want to throat punch them. If there was any good left in the show I'd probably laugh it off, but as things are the inane stupidity of that word scalds me every time I hear it.

[AudienceofOne]

Fuck this show... That's all I got.

Edited December 5, 2015 by AudienceofOne

[M42]

So now they see the consequences of pushing Duke to use his dark side. I'm assuming he'll fight this off but I hate Naudrey so much I have no problem watching Haven burn.

[Maelstrom]

Lordonia, I'm with you - every time someone says "thinny" I don't know whether to laugh or groan. In the whole realm of made up sci-if/fantasy names, that's the best they could do? Really?!

I fully intended to watch this ep yesterday, but real life got in the way. Probably an act of kindness on behalf of the TV gods.

[AudienceofOne]

So now I've had a few hours to really seethe and have therefore regained coherence, I'll say my problem is that these writers insist constantly on throwing Duke's character under the bus. And for no reason. He's NOT the bad guy. He's never really done anything wrong and in many instances he's been the most heroic character on the show.

 

If somebody is used and manipulated the way he's been then they're a victim. I'd like to have seen some acknowledgement from the writers (through the character's mouths) that Duke didn't deserve any of this. Even the silly out-of-character Mara plotline wasn't his fault.

 

And now this show will finish with Audrey + Nathan 4EVA in Twu Wuv and they'll be feted as the heroes for saving the town when they've been assholes for at least two seasons. I can't believe this show I used to LOVE ended up here.

[BlackberryJam]

You know, there have been shows before where I found the main pairing less interesting than the side characters, but never before have I so wanted the main pairing to just die fiery horrible deaths the way I do with this show. How can the show possibly come back from this to leave us with an ending that is even remotely satisfying? 

 

I'm trying to work it out. Will we get Duke fighting The Shat's control, sacrificing himself? God I hope not.

Will Nathan sacrifice himself to save Duke and Audrey let's him? Well, I'd kind of like that. But if they did, it would be a total departure from the current characterizations.

Audrey sacrificing herself to re-Barn leaving Nathan and Duke alone? I could live with that. I could.

 

Anything, ANYTHING that ends up with Nathan and Audrey in some HEA is going to suck.

[MarkHB]

I mentioned this somewhere here, once upon a time, but these writers didn't invent the term "thinny"; it's actually from Wizard and Glass, the fourth book of The Dark Tower by Stephen King himself.  In that particular case, the name is given to a thin spot in the fabric of space (such as we've seen here) by the residents of a particularly backwater region.  In fact, King has hinted that travel through a thinny (or "going todash" as the Dark Tower books call it) may well have been the answer to the mystery in the original Colorado Kid novel.

[zxy556575]

I mentioned this somewhere here, once upon a time, but these writers didn't invent the term "thinny"; it's actually from Wizard and Glass, the fourth book of The Dark Tower by Stephen King himself.  In that particular case, the name is given to a thin spot in the fabric of space (such as we've seen here) by the residents of a particularly backwater region.  In fact, King has hinted that travel through a thinny (or "going todash" as the Dark Tower books call it) may well have been the answer to the mystery in the original Colorado Kid novel.

 

Thanks for the explanation. My odium is such, however, that I refuse to let a reasonable explanation interfere with my disgust.

[BlackberryJam]

Just adding that there is a huge difference between seeing a word on a page and hearing an actor say it. While "thinny" may work when you read it, it does not work in the show. The actors just sound silly.

[Hanahope]

I'm sorry, but I just bust out laughing when Shatner showed up.  Of all the possible actors, Shatner??!!  He's such a caricature these days that I just can't take him seriously or be frightened by him.  Ok, maybe because I had just been to a legal cle ethics course that was chock full of Boston Legal clips of 'what not to do' as a lawyer, but still,  Shatner???!!!

[Julie23]

I have never seen more obsticles to building a barn. First, the person who knows how to build it, Charlotte, dies. But not before telling Audrey that they need Aether. Audrey finds Aether, but now they need some crystal control thingy. Nathan goes into a thinny, almost gets himslef killed (Hi William, miss you!), and gets the control. But now, the Aether is ruined by Croatoan posing as Duke. Please, just build the F-ing barn already, since this is just dragging out the end in the worst possible way. Or call the Amish. They do a great barn-raising.

[MarkHB]

I did think it was cool that Howard was the avatar of the Controller.

[Shanna Marie]

I did think it was cool that Howard was the avatar of the Controller.

That was my theory way back at the end of season 3, that he essentially was an avatar of the Barn -- basically that Microsoft paper clip. "Hi! You seem to be trying to end the Troubles. Would you like some help with that?"

 

Going against popular opinion here, I liked this episode a lot. It was an interesting way to center an episode around an offscreen character without actually bringing that character onscreen. Of course Laverne would end up becoming the police station so she could protect her people. And I liked the way they did most of the footage as though it was coming through security cameras.

 

I don't see how what happened with Duke had anything to do with Nathan, Audrey, or Nathan and Audrey. It was what Croatoan apparently created the Crockers to do from the start. Duke's been able to fight it better than most of his family, and I have little doubt that he'll eventually be able to fight it and get back to his real self now.

[MarkHB]

"Hi! You seem to be trying to end the Troubles. Would you like some help with that?"

Ok, I literally laughed out loud at that one.

[Roselle]

Going against popular opinion here, I liked this episode a lot.

&

 Duke's been able to fight it better than most of his family, and I have little doubt that he'll eventually be able to fight it and get back to his real self now.

 

Phew! I'm so glad you said that - I thought I was the only one & was a bit nervous to say so, considering the level of dislike here.

 

The Laverne-as-the-building device worked really well - it felt very Steven King-esq (a la Christine) and the director deserves full kudos for the building's POV. I know they'd played with this trouble before, but it worked better in this episode IMO. Also, on a rather more shallow note, everyone looked great in black and white and it was nice to get a little insight, albeit an odd one, into a character who's been such a constant in the show but who has never been seen (?) or explored before.

 

And Duke? Well, I have truly hated him being sidelined in so many of these 5b episodes but he was at the heart of this and, if I was Eric Balfour, I'd be positively thrilled to be given the chance to revel in this opportunity. As with last week's episode, when he really shone through in the way he played his conflict and compassion and, towards the end, his wry sense of fun, in this he totally killed it. Shania Marie, I agree with you -  there's no doubt he'll fight Croatoan and get back to himself and be all the more heroic because of it. I can enjoy a DarkDuke for a bit.

 

Guilt is central to all the main characters, Duke more so than most others - the laying on of yet more by having so many others (including some of those, his friends, who should know better) blame him for, well, so much, just adds to it and will make his redemption (not that he needs it but for want of a better word and I think that's what he's looking for) all the more dramatic when it comes.

Loved Gloria's defence of the man she knows he really is. Also, the Nathan/Duke backstory fun - so good to see these two actually smiling and enjoying their friendship.

 

So...yeah, I liked it.

Edited December 8, 2015 by Roselle

[Shanna Marie]

Also, the Nathan/Duke backstory fun - so good to see these two actually smiling and enjoying their friendship.

That's why I'm pretty sure Duke will pull through and probably save the day against Croatoan. There had to be a reason for that little trip down memory lane, and they told us that even when things were probably at their worst with Nathan, during the time after Duke was back in town and Nathan was blaming him for bringing back his Trouble, Duke had Nathan's back and helped him out in his own way. In that story, Duke betrayed someone who was an associate and ally but who was becoming a liability in order to give Nathan a boost and help him keep going as a cop. Surely that's a set up to Duke betraying Croatoan to help Nathan, and possibly Audrey, but maybe just Nathan via Audrey.

[kat165]

I didn't think this ep was so bad either. Not that it lived up to the first 2 seasons but it was one of the better eps of the season for me.

 

What I really liked was FINALLY Audrey getting up off her ass & doing something - all her communicating with Laverne and being the trouble whisperer again. And there was very little whining on her part this ep. Which hasn't been the case up until now. This seemed almost like our old Audrey. Which was also kind of jarring because she's been NOT the original Audrey for so long that this seemed sort of a character glitch. I was starting to get used to her letting everyone else do all the work.

 

It was nice to get more on Laverne and to also see more of Stan. And to see Howard again. There have been a few little touches like this that I can appreciate and seem to be included just for the fans. (hey, we deserve something for sticking it out through the last few seasons' mess).

 

I generally like the actor who plays Vince (one of my favorite characters) but his freak out in the police station was not believable and incredibly hammy.

 

I laughed when Shatner walked in.

Edited December 9, 2015 by kat165

[Roselle]

I generally like the actor who plays Vince (one of my favorite characters) but his freak out in the police station was not believable and incredibly hammy.

 

I laughed when Shatner walked in.

 

Totally agree - though, personally, I haven't really enjoyed Richard Donat's acting style in Haven much at all. And I really, really, really wish they hadn't gone for Shatner - he's a joke. At this point in the show, I want serious threats/tension not stunt casting.

[Maelstrom]

That was my theory way back at the end of season 3, that he essentially was an avatar of the Barn -- basically that Microsoft paper clip. "Hi! You seem to be trying to end the Troubles. Would you like some help with that?"

Congratulations, Shanna Marie, you've won the internet for today. Your prize of virtual cookies are on their way to you. ;) Do we need a thread title anywhere? This is too awesome not to use.

 

Judging by general opinions on this thread, I was expecting this to be a real shitfest. Did it suck? Sure, but all of 5b has. But, to my surprise, I didn't even find it to be the worst ep of this (half)season. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I'm not sure. Guess it speaks to just how low my standards are for this show anymore.

 

First off, to give credit where credit's due, I really, really liked the hallway scene between Nathan and Duke. Their shared history is one of the strong points (perhaps the only one anymore) of the show, and it was very welcome to see the show does actually still remember it. Love that Duke never quite admitted to any of it, and brushed it all off as no big deal. And I had to laugh at the "You couldn't have spent less time in school" line. I've been waiting five seasons for Nathan to chill out and look past their childhood differences and realize that Duke, overall, is actually a decent guy.

 

You know, when I think on it, Nathan has actually shown a slight (slight!) amount of character growth in here 5b. At least, he's had moments of it - it's all out of the window as soon as anyone comes within five feet of Audrey, but still. Then again, Duke has been sidelined and Audrey has been reduced to set dressing, so their chances for character growth have been limited, but whatever. There's so little to be positive about anymore that I'll find it where I can.

 

As for Duke's turn to evil, well, at least the (main) characters seemed to acknowledge that Duke seems to be under some sort of outside influence, whether it be Croatoan or a Trouble or whatever, so that's something. But I reserve judgement (on whether this is sacrificing his character to prop N&A or setting him up for a heroic redemption) until we've seen the final few eps. I can't quite figure out how I feel about it until I've seen where they go with it. But, as usual, kudos to EB for his performance - creepy and sinister without ever raising his voice. Whoever said he's the best actor of the younger set was right on.

 

Duke's been able to fight it better than most of his family, and I have little doubt that he'll eventually be able to fight it and get back to his real self now.

This could be intriguing to watch. We'll see if the writers are able (or inclined) to pull it off.

 

I'm sorry, but I just bust out laughing when Shatner showed up.  Of all the possible actors, Shatner??!!  He's such a caricature these days that I just can't take him seriously or be frightened by him.

 

Yup, same here. Isn't there a meme that says you can basically replace anything Shatner says upon entering a scene with the line, "Did somebody order a large ham?" That's what was going through my mind when I saw him. And since we were spoiled as to his appearance over a friggin' year ago, it wasn't exactly a shocker.

 

Random:

 

- Nice of Building!Laverne to give everyone dramatic closeups at key moments. She has a real cinematic flair - maybe she would've been better off going to film school rather than the HPD.

 

- The "Reasons Why Audrey is Teh Awesome" speech to Howard was barf-inducing. Guess I shouldn't have watched this at lunchtime.

 

- Gloria, as always, is awesome, and I enjoyed her moment with Vince at the end. Nice they remembered her son died (what's it been, probably two months or something Haven time since it happened?).

 

- Was anyone else waiting for EvilDuke to throw his hands in the air and make everyone start exploding a la Charmed? Just me? OK then.

[dargosmydaddy]

Laverne! Gloria! Stan! A Nathan/ Duke moment! This episode wasn't all bad. (Actually, I thought it was good by season 5 standards, which I suppose isn't saying much, but still...)

 

And I loved Howard's cold (and much deserved) disdain of Nathan.