I was going to say that this episode of Haven is a locked room mystery, but despite being called “Lockdown”, it’s actually not that at all. What I meant was that it’s a classic bottle episode: the characters are stuck together in a confined space and have to confront issues and tensions that they may otherwise try to avoid. But first, let’s see how they got there …
The “fixer” Dwight gets caught fixing something, and Nathan manages to get him out of trouble even though he’s not actually the chief anymore. But the cop who arrested Dwight turns weirdly black and collapses and dies. The new chief, Merrill, insists that someone is using a chemical weapon against them and puts the station in lockdown. Audrey and Nathan suspect Dwight, but Nathan manages to call Dwight before Merrill confiscates everyone’s phones, and Dwight swears he’s not the culprit and promises to keep an eye on the station from the outside.
Meanwhile, Chris is back! Before they get pulled into the Mysterious Dying People thing, Audrey is busy being nervous about seeing him again and Nathan is busy trying to be a supportive friend about it all instead of just bashing his head against a wall or drinking heavily. Chris appears and kisses her, but she’s not thrilled about being kissed at work. And then Chris is annoyed when Nathan calls her away to, you know, do her job. Clearly this is a match made in heaven.
MEANWHILE, Duke tells Nathan that Evie’s working with the Rev and they bring her in to confront her, but notice that her hands are all black, like those of the cop who died. (The blackness starts with the extremities and spreads.) So, got the setup? Audrey, Nathan, Duke, Evie, and Chris are all quarantined in the police station, along with the crazy new police chief and various other people.
Merrill quickly confiscates all cell phones and weapons and cuts off all contact to outside, but Audrey cleverly books her gun and phone into evidence, and Nathan manages walkie talkie contact with Dwight, who tells him that the state police and CDC have received instructions to treat any call from Haven as a prank. Merrill tells the people in the building that anyone who tries to leave will be shot on sight, and Dwight confirms that there are guys with guns outside. Nathan confronts Merrill and finds out that he knows about the Troubles and is there to treat the Troubled “like the criminals they are” – and then he turns black and dies.
A doctor who happens to be in the building inspects the body and says it’s not a chemical weapon or virus – and “like nothing on the known medical record.” As the condition spreads, Audrey, who assumes she’s immune, starts interviewing people trying to figure out what’s going on. (Chris, of course, is obnoxious about being questioned.)
Nathan insists on interviewing Evie himself, though, and Evie fakes a collapse and steals the electronic passkey that Nathan has taken from Merrill’s body. She tells them “they” made her help and convinced her it would be good for Duke, but at this point Duke suspects their entire relationship has been fake all along. “How naive are you? Or did they just pay you a lot of money?” Ouch. Evie runs outside, with Duke following, and gets shot, but someone says, “Hold you fire. Not him” – so Duke does not get shot. Hmm. Evie dies, and Duke is so upset that Nathan has to knock him out to keep him from running outside and getting himself killed.
Audrey traces the Trouble to a woman named Nikki who has just been found by the abusive husband she’d escaped: the doctor from the beginning. It seems like all the bad feelings from the years of abuse are causing the Trouble, and she gives it to people she talks to. The doctor sees her talking and convinces Chris to use his affliction to get Audrey’s gun out of evidence – and soon he has everyone at gunpoint. Chris realizes what he’s done and tries to talk the doctor down from killing Audrey while Audrey tries to talk Nikki into standing up for herself. Nikki finally tells her ex to rot in hell, he dies, and everyone else is okay.
Well, okay except for the guys with guns now coming into the building. Dwight runs in to warn Nathan and gets shot – but, weirdly, there are many shots in Dwight and none in Nathan, the wall, or anywhere else. Dwight: “Bullets, they tend to find me. It’s a long story.” Nathan: “Bullets tend to find you. That’s your trouble?” Heh. Well, thank you for saving Nathan, Dwight.
The Rev finds Duke and claims to be truly sorry about Evie, as he makes her into an innocent victim of the Troubled, like his wife. I’m not sure I’m convinced, but Duke is either convinced or putting on a good show, as he thanks the Rev for his words. Audrey gets Nathan to agree to have Dwight cover up Evie’s death, and then they discover that Merrill talked to the Rev several times during the lockdown. Audrey: “He’s in the middle of all this.” Indeed.
The end of this episode also brings us to the end of the Audrey and Chris story, at least for now. Chris admits that he messed up and gave into his affliction, thinking himself even more powerful than he is, which almost got various people killed. He says he needs Audrey to keep him from going power-mad, but Audrey is (completely reasonably) unwilling to accept that role and responsibility. And with that, Chris is gone, at least until the Troubles have receded. Evie is presumably gone for good, which resets us back to our original triangle. Nicely done, show.
Next episode: a Wendigo! And, uh, Edge. NOT The Edge, as I’d first thought. Alas.
Photo Courtesy of Syfy