How many times can I say that Haven is kind of breaking my heart this season? A LOT, apparently. But onward to “Double Jeopardy,” in which we learn that morality has shades of gray. (Reminder to Canada! You’re behind this season, so make sure you’ve seen this episode before you read on.)
The Trouble of the week is one of my favorites in recent memory. A mural in the Haven courthouse features Lady Justice – but she’s actually a golem who comes to life to punish people that courthouse worker Lynette thinks have gotten away with their crimes or not been punished sufficiently. A man making a living selling upskirt videos has his eyes gouged out, a mother accused of shaking her baby has her bones broken, etc. The kicker: Lynette doesn’t even know it’s happening. When Lady Justice starts going after Duke because of things like parking tickets and a bogus assault charge, he’s concerned that she’ll find out about his recent murder and kill him. Audrey and Duke confront Lynette and basically have to convince her that morality isn’t all black and white, which seems like a lesson a grown woman should have learned already. About Duke, Audrey tells Lynette: “Despite his actions, despite his fate, he is a good man.” Lynette realizes that she was wrong to judge people – and promptly calls the golem to herself. And the golem takes Lynette back with her into the mural. Wow. One interesting note: Audrey is generally immune to the Troubles, but it seems that the golem is capable of affecting her, for whatever reason. Hmm.
Meanwhile, Audrey and Nathan are still looking for the Bolt Gun Killer, but they’re not trusting the Teagues anymore. Nathan tries to be reassuring, telling Audrey the killer won’t come after her again and saying “I’m gonna do whatever it takes . . . you know that, right?” But when Audrey is worried about Nathan compromising himself to get information, and tells him that it won’t “change anything” as far as her future, he’s quick to point out that it’s not about her – he’s “just trying to catch a killer.” Sure, Nathan. You keep telling yourself that. At the end of the episode, Audrey finally gets a file from the feds on another potential Bolt Gun Killer victim. When it turns out that this woman’s chin was sliced off, Audrey realizes that the killer is building a woman. This was presented as a big, dramatic reveal, but since the audience already had the information, it didn’t quite work for me.
Nathan’s investigation, of course, takes him deeper into his relationship with The Guard and Jordan. Nathan clearly sees his and Jordan’s Troubles as making them similar, but it’s not clear at first whether she’s buying it. As proof of his trustworthiness, Jordan asks Nathan to arrange for a prisoner she says has cancer to be transferred closer to home. Nathan goes so far as bribing a corrupt judge to make it happen, but when he follows Jordan, he discovers that she and her friends are actually helping the prisoner escape. Later, he lies to Audrey, claiming that the transfer went smoothly, and throws out the official “Watch for this escaped prisoner” notice that comes in at the police station. Oh, Nathan. This is an understandable time for you to be going down this self-destructive road, but it is PROBABLY NOT A GOOD IDEA.
When Nathan confronts Jordan, she explains that the prisoner’s arson/murder was actually due to a Trouble – he dreamed something that resulted in his house catching fire and his son dying. The prison doctors were cutting his sleeping pills, and so there was concern that the would accidentally set the whole prison on fire. “My people help the Troubled and we do it any way we can,” Jordan explains, and this is an interesting parallel to the gray morality of Duke’s situation, as well. Nathan’s still not wild about the fact that she lied, but he’s more preoccupied with the realization that she hates using her power to hurt people. He starts touching her – “Why are you doing this?” “I want to.” – and they finally kiss before he turns and leaves. Honestly, everything in me is screaming in protest about the idea of Nathan kissing anyone buy Audrey, but at the same time, I completely get it. So. Well done, show.
For that and other reasons, the triangle is pretty tense and angsty in every direction at this point. Nathan and Duke are still frosty toward each other, and Audrey and Nathan are off, though when she asks, he insists “We’re okay, Parker.” Aw. You’re really not, but good try. Nathan is super-sarcastic about Audrey’s concern for Duke when Lady Justice is going after him, but Audrey and Duke wind up having a (completely innocent) slumber party so she can help protect him and investigate the Trouble, and they have some nice bonding. Duke is determined that they should rebel against their families and their fate: “We’re better than that . . . at least you are.” And then he confesses “One good thing about the Troubles – at least I got to meet Audrey Parker,” and he can be really adorable when he tries (or, really, when he stops trying), but Audrey is asleep and doesn’t hear him.
Audrey and Claire are still working on hypnosis to help Audrey have more flashbacks and recover more memories. When Audrey fees blocked, Claire suggests that she make a facial composite of the Colorado Kid, but she also thinks that some of Audrey’s memory issues are intentional, if subconsciously:
Claire: “You’re not gonna get it because you don’t want to get it.”
Audrey: “I want to get it. The Colorado Kid is the answer to everything.”
Claire: “And those answers might shatter your world.”
Tommy is still around, but doesn’t have a whole lot to do this week. He doesn’t like it when Duke acts like a cop (which, again, is perfectly reasonable of him, especially as he doesn’t know all the history), and Duke, in turn, is suspicious of Tommy. I’m curious to see where all that is headed.
Next episode: Halloween! Because things aren’t weird and spooky enough in Haven all the time, apparently.
(Photo courtesy of Syfy.)