Now that we’re back into the swing of “normal” (well . . . for Haven) episodes with “Stay,” Haven‘s second episode of the season, we’re going going to change up the format here a bit to more easily follow the various threads of the story. And remember, Canadian viewers, Showcase is behind Syfy in their schedule this season, so stop reading now if you haven’t seen the episode yet!
The Trouble of the Week: Tor Magnusson’s family stopped farming a few generations ago – and it turns out that it was because their Trouble is that animals they treat inhumanely turn into humans. When Tor takes his son Liam’s dog to be put down rather than treated for rabies, the dog and all the other dogs at the dogcatcher’s facility become basically feral men. So, two questions: Why did all the dogs turn? Is it contagious? And why are they all men, other than that it’s easier to film “naked” men than women? Anyway, the wild dog-men are overrunning Haven, and Liam’s dog, out of his mind because of the rabies, kidnaps Liam to “protect” him. Audrey theorizes that that Tor can turn his dog back into a dog by treating him humanely, and this works, but because of the rabies, the dog dies before leading them to Liam. Luckily, another dog – the only one who hadn’t attacked people while in man form – is able to track Liam and finds him safe and sound.
Audrey, the Hunter, & the Colorado Kid: Much to Nathan’s chagrin, Duke and Audrey are working together trying to figure out Audrey’s weird message to herself in the Colorado Kid’s empty grave. Nathan is convinced that Duke himself is the villain they’re all looking for: “You ever think maybe YOU’RE the hunter, Duke?” “No. Never.” “Well, I guess we won’t know until you kill somebody.” Duke enlists Dwight (“What do you know about the Hunter?” “Why?” “Book report.”) and the reluctant Teagues (who are doing their own secret investigation into who kidnapped Audrey) to help him with his research, and eventually realizes that the Hunter isn’t a person – it’s a meteor storm. Lucy and Sarah both vanished when this meteor storm occurred, and Duke reluctantly tells Audrey that it will be back in 49 days.
The Love Triangle: I was hoping Audrey and Nathan were just going to be together for a while now, but apparently not. Nathan and Duke are still jealous and suspicious of each other, and this news about Audrey’s potential upcoming disappearance is throwing a wrench into everything. Duke and Audrey both know, but they have not yet told Nathan. Instead, Audrey is using it as an excuse to pull away from Nathan, and I’ll admit I’m pretty frustrated about that. She briefly plans to adopt Cookie, the dog who found Liam, but when Nathan shows up to take him for a walk with her – and Nathan playing with a dog is JUST AS ADORABLE as you’d think – she’s changed her mind and gives Cookie to Liam. And Nathan’s reaction is clearly not just talking about the dog: “Surprised you gave him up. Kind of thought you wanted a dog.” Audrey: “I did. Just . . . it wouldn’t work out.” NO. STOP THAT RIGHT NOW, YOUNG LADY.
Enter Claire: New character Dr. Claire Callahan shows up in this episode, and she’s Haven’s resident psychiatrist. She needs to talk to Audrey both because it’s required after Audrey’s kidnapping experience but also because she thinks it would be helpful: “I know what you do for this town, and if you think you don’t need therapy, well, you really need therapy.” Audrey flat-out refuses at first, but starts to come around when she realizes that Claire treats all the people whose Troubles Audrey has helped with. And after shadowing Audrey for a day, Claire is definitely a fan: “You’re amazing. I’m so glad I got to see what you do. You absolutely need therapy.” Claire also hints that Audrey needs to address things with Nathan, and points out that Nathan really cares about her, so yes, I’m in favor of keeping Claire around. “It doesn’t hurt to have someone to lean on.” Hear, hear.
(Image courtesy of Syfy.)