Haven

Haven is cut off by a mysterious fog – and what link does Croatoan have to the Troubles and Audrey?

The final (half of the final) season of Haven tries to answer some of the many outstanding questions of the series but really is only for those who have enjoyed/slogged through the preceding sixty-five or so episodes. Still very very loosely based on Stephen King’s story The Colorado Kid, Haven manages to throw in a few surprises (not least William Shatner sometimes providing a restrained performance with material that positively encourages him to go over the top), but you can’t help but feel they maybe went to the well once too often – although unlike the last extended King-based show, The Dead Zone, we did get a proper ending.

The relationships between the characters remain at the heart of the series, and at least we do get a sense of closure for many of them, with a full-circle meeting for Nathan at the end of the season. Some of the standalones, as so often happened with the show, don’t hold up as well as the more “arc” based tales, but one of Haven’s strengths has been its cast, and throughout Emily Rose, Lucas Bryant and Eric Balfour hold the series together.

The DVD set usefully provides a “mythology refresher” alongside the standard featurettes and interviews.

Verdict: A suitably “all hail Audrey” ending for the show enlivened, as so many things are, by the presence of the Shat. 7/10

Paul Simpson