Haven “The Trial of Audrey Parker” 

Okay, so y’all know I’m a champion of Haven on Syfy and I’d love for the network to get off its butt and announce a second season already, but I just was not feeling last Friday’s episode at all. “The Trial of Audrey Parker” takes part almost completely onboard Duke’s boat after he, Audrey, and Julia are kidnapped by a couple of thieves who are ostensibly on the boat to play poker.

It turns out Duke is the mark for a package he has onboard. Before things go south, Audrey’s FBI boss, Agent Howard shows up (and there’s a fleeting, random reference to Fox Mulder) because Audrey hasn’t been filing field reports. Once they’re locked in below deck, he asks for a verbal report on what she’s been doing, and I almost came unhinged because I thought this was going to detour into a clip show. Thankfully, the oration is diverted when Audrey escapes the hold of the ship to get word to Nathan (after she’s launched a cell phone in a bottle out a window onto the water; her text message will go out when it floats into cell tower range—clever!).

Back in town, Nathan and the Chief are falling all over each other trying to be civil and the Chief never tips why he has a sudden interest in making nice, but there’s definitely an agenda there for why he’s determined, right now, to make peace with his son. Back on the boat, there’s the obligatory Duke beat down while the guys try to find their package, and a threatened beat down on Julia that’s a fakeout. Audrey finally frees Duke and together they take down the bad guys. Ezra, the Trouble-afflicted character this week, has the ability to read people’s thoughts before they’re formed, and he’s apparently the unwitting accomplice (in a Rain Man sort of way) to Tobias, the actual thief. Audrey and Duke overpower them in a strange, funny scene where Duke strips to his skivvies and puts on a full on crazy while Audrey feeds dialogue to him via an ear piece, in order to distract Ezra from getting a bead on Duke’s thoughts.

Once they’re rescued, Duke goes back to business as normal, just upping his fees. After Julia and Duke started the episode sort of cozy, at the end, Julia dismisses him as a thief and takes her leave. The denouement has the Chief in cahoots with Agent Howard, whose final exchange with Audrey makes her hand him her badge and gun and declare her intent to stay in Haven, which is apparently what they wanted all along. The Chief says Haven needs Audrey and Agent Howard essentially tells him to wrap up the business of the Troubles. The continuing thread of Nathan and Audrey was dropped this week because they were only onscreen together at the very end of the episode.

This was a head scratcher late in the season. I guess they’re going to get ramped up in a rush to the end. I felt like a reel was missing from a 35 mm and we didn’t get the whole movie. I wouldn’t have minded this episode earlier on. It seemed like we gained little ground on the overall story (especially when you consider we have about 90 minutes left this season), except for Audrey to declare her allegiance to Haven over the Feebs. We already knew where her loyalties were, and we haven’t seen the Feebs try to recall her to Boston before this episode, so to have her resign was a little unnecessary.

Two episodes left!