Battle lines are drawn between the troubled and the ordinary folk of Haven…

The disappearance of a young boy potentially being pursued by a serial killer is the catalyst for everything to come to a head in Haven, as the simmering mistrust and hatred spills out into the open. “Who, What, Where, Wendigo?” is a game changer in many ways, particularly when Audrey kills the Rev – something that the audience really doesn’t see coming, at least at this stage in proceedings.

The repercussions from that – legitimate – killing reverberate through the final two episodes of the season. Duke has been playing up to the Rev to try to find out the secrets his father kept from him and that Evi was killed to protect; the untroubled townsfolk believe the Rev was murdered. “Business as Usual” is the ironic title for the penultimate episode, as Audrey meets the real Lucy Ripley and Duke discovers that his father was playing mind games with him.

All of which leads into “Sins of the Fathers”, which sees the speedy return of Stephen McHattie as the Rev, stirring up homicidal trouble from beyond the grave. Nicholas Campbell as Chief Wuornos and Duke’s father, incarnated as Battlestar Galactica and Dollhouse alumnus Tahmoh Penikett, both have words of wisdom for their offspring regarding Audrey – who faces down newspapermen Vince and Dave over the lies they have told her.

Right up to the cliffhanger, this plays out as if it’s the final episode of the series – even if we don’t get all the answers, we know enough by the end for what we’ve seen so far to make sense – but it’s spoiled by the cliché of Nathan and Duke fighting over a gun, then a cutaway so we just hear a shot…

Of course, the Christmas special – aired in the UK the following week, but coming over two months later for US audiences – inevitably ignores all of the character development during the second year, particularly the growing attraction between Nathan and Audrey, and gives us a Twilight Zone episode where everyone disappears from the town. As with most episodes, there are nods to other Stephen King stories (look at the cinema frontage in the first act particularly), but it’s spoiled by an overly sentimental ending, which it really didn’t need.

“Who, What, Where, Wendigo?”  8/10

“Business as Usual” 7/10

“Sins of the Father” 8/10

Christmas Special: “Silent Night”: 7/10

Paul Simpson

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