Ready to head back to a certain spooky town in Maine? Haven returns to Syfy and Showcase in the next few weeks, and we got the lowdown on season three from stars Emily Rose, Lucas Bryant, and Eric Balfour, as well as executive producer Lloyd Segan.
What Troubles might be coming up this year?
Lucas Bryant: “Well in this season we get into organ stealing trouble and mind control troubles and we get into all kinds of, like . . .”
Eric Balfour: “Time travel.”
Lucas Bryant: “Yes. Electrocution troubles this season. . . . I always wondered after a couple seasons how we would keep doing this and I was like, what else could you possibly do? And believe me, the writers figured out ways to do it because the Troubles this year are out there but in the best way possible.”
Given last year’s finale, Nathan/Audrey shippers probably want an update:
Eric Balfour: “Something that’s really special about Nathan and Audrey is their relationship as friends. So it’s a tricky situation to explore anything beyond that. I think the writers have done a great job of always sort of teasing with those possibilities but maintaining that mutual friend respect underneath it all. And this year, I think they found very interesting ways to maybe satisfy some fan urges without messing up the characters’ basic relationship.”
On the reasoning behind Haven‘s move to fall:
Lloyd Segan: “Well, I can give you what is the total honest answer without posturing whatsoever. I think it shows the strength of the show and the franchise to the network and that the network sees great growth potential in the fall. And they are very excited about the two hour block that now has been created with our marriage to WWE and obviously our connection to that is even deeper now with the role of Dwight played by Adam Copeland aka Edge. And so I believe, as they believe, that there is greater opportunity for us now to reach an even more diverse audience. And so that is the goal and aspiration and I think it’s a pretty wonderful vote of confidence for the show.”
What makes Haven strong is the central relationships . . .
Eric Balfour: “At the core of this show, it really is about this love story and this triangle between these three characters and about the different relationships that Emily’s character, Audrey, has to these two men. And they sort of represent different components of her own personality, if it’s okay for me to say that. And I think what the writers even told us at the beginning of the season and what was most exciting for me and I think is going to be incredibly exciting for the viewers who tune in this year is that this love triangle is really going to just be like a rubber band. And it’s going to expand and contract and move and grow and cause riffs and strifes and it really is dynamic this season. And I think that’s what’s going to be ultimately the most exciting part for the fans of this show because we really do get to take the audience on a ride this year with the love story that goes on between these characters. As friends, as lovers and it’s my favorite part of the show this season.”
And the unique mix of elements:
Emily Rose: “I think you want the mixed bag, because anytime I’ve been doing dramatic crying things for too long, I’m over it. And anytime I’m doing too many lighthearted things I’m aching for that. My favorite scripts are the ones that have a quirkiness to them and that allow for those moments of the romance or of the real, hearty emotion because you do feel like you’re really tapping into something very human. But then that you’re also able to laugh about things and be quirky. To me, being able to do all of it is what I like about our show.”
Eric Balfour: “Yes, I mean, I think my favorite part is that episode that really take you out of your everyday life. I think, you know, what we’ve created here in Haven is this sort of strange macabre, like Emily just said, quirky world and it exists in its own reality in a way. And those are my favorite episodes when we really dive into that world and that reality where Haven is a town that although it’s not completely different from the world we know, it is unequivocally not the world that we know. And that’s my favorite part when we live in that reality.”
Lucas Bryant: “Yes. Yes, I just mostly reiterate what Emily said. I think it’s such a pleasure to have all of the above elements in our show and I think that’s what makes our show so unique . . . that one minute it’s disturbing and weird and creepy and in those moments sometimes there’s some strange humor and light fun. And I guess some of that is that sort of Stephen King element. You know, the mundane just turned sideways and twisted out of whack. But it’s something I think makes our show totally unique and that I’m really proud of.”
On Haven‘s Twitter element:
Eric Balfour: “I think the coolest thing about what we’re trying to do with the Twitter stories and the online interactions and storylines is really to enhance the experience of the show for everybody. It’s not necessarily, you know, something that nobody else is doing at this point. But we’re really trying to, I think, do it in the unique way that makes it exciting for the viewers and makes it exciting for the fans to feel like they get a little bit extra and a little bit more than just from watching the episodes on television. And then hopefully, also enhance the experience of watching the episodes.”
Lloyd Segan: “I think what’s neat what this initiative is – and it is unique in that we were the first people to really take social media and take it to another level last year with Vince and Dave’s experience and interaction with our audience. This year we’re going way beyond that and integrating these opportunities for our audience to interact and sharing with them gems that are going to be happening over the season. And also helping people who have never seen the show before and getting them excited about possibly joining our community. So, it’s bringing people up to date with what has been happening in the past and getting our committed audience . . . excited about the season to come.”
And a few final teases about the upcoming season:
Lucas Bryant: “As the course of this season progresses, Nathan finds himself in all sorts of places he wouldn’t have expected and some of them are rather uncomfortable or seem out of character. Thankfully, all of that makes sense and it’s paid off as we get to the end of season three.”
Emily Rose: “I think Audrey, in the first season she just kind of is curious when she finds a connection with the place of Haven, that there’s something there about herself. And then by season three, she’s facing some really, really dark, dark, dark, questions regarding who she is . . . And there’s this one scene at the very, very end of the season where Audrey is able to kind of ask all of those questions that she sort of dealt with and it’s just neat. It’s neat to have posed a lot of questions to the audience for so long and then finally have a season where some of those things are addressed or directly asked and to see what kind of answers are given is really, really interesting.”
Eric Balfour: “For Duke this season, Duke is going to have really decide who he wants to be in this world and he’s going to get pushed to the limit and has to make some really tough choices about who he wants to be in this town and in this world and to these two people in life.”
Intrigued? Don’t miss the season premiere of Haven on Friday, September 21 at 10pm ET on Syfy (United States), and Friday, September 28 at 9pm ET on Showcase (Canada).
(Image courtesy of Syfy.)
