Relationship Recap: Nathan and Audrey, “Haven” 

I’m not sure where they’re going with Audrey and Nathan on Haven, but I’m kind of in love with the vibe we get from their characters when they’re together. The second season has thrown some new players into the mix, and given Audrey a love interest for the first time, so we haven’t had a whole lot of Emily Rose and Lucas Bryant together, and I’ve missed their chemistry. When we do get it, though, it doesn’t disappoint.Audrey’s tentative new relationship with Chris (Jason Priestley) has coincided with Nathan’s realization (after some not-so-subtle Dave and Vince bullying) that he may really feel something for Audrey inside as well as outside and opened up a sea of awkward where he doesn’t quite know what to do with himself, especially around Audrey. I said at the end of last season that I adored the bond that these characters have, and I’m glad that Chris has exited for now so we can sort of see where this goes, especially since we’re only halfway through the season.

I’d like Vince and Dave to stay out of it, though, and I’d have liked Nathan to sort of come to the conclusion about Audrey on his own, but Audrey had to prod him into the relationship he had last year, so I guess that is par for the course as to how his mind works. I really hope we don’t find out they are siblings or she’s his mother or somesuch because that’d be a raging case of Ewwwww.

Sidebar–I like that we found out that Duke was called back to Haven by his dad to help navigate/prevent/manage the Troubles so he’s also bonded to the town against his will. I may be overthinking it, too, but I really like that they went back to work in the winter so we’re getting some seasonal overtones like fog and rain that make it more noirish than the first season, which was bathed in a lot of sunlight.

I think Duke and Audrey (who’s now living in the loft above his restaurant) have settled into a friendship and flirtiness but they’re not drawn to each other–and don’t need each other–the way Nathan and Audrey are and do. I also think that however Audrey fits into the Haven mix, The Colorado Kid mystery, and Lucy is innately tied to Nathan. Even moreso since Audrey 2.0, with whom Audrey shared a similarly strong kinship, has been mindwiped, leaving Audrey adrift again.

In last week’s really well done day repeater episode, “Audrey Parker’s Day Off,”  Audrey lost and then regained Duke, Nathan, and Chris–fairly soon on the heels of the Audrey 2.0 loss–and Emily Rose played the hell out of it. It was a weird resolution that Nathan seemed to be more rattled by his death than Audrey was.

The shipper in me had a WTH moment when she immediately hugged both Duke and Chris after finding them alive and well when the day reset, but she didn’t physically embrace Nathan. Instead, she went to work, and when she saw he was OK, she stood off to the side for a minute and took him in. When she finally approached him, she picked up their normal familiarity with each other–testing that his coffee was cool enough to drink because he can’t feel it.

In the moment of his “death,” he told her it was OK. “The only thing I feel is you.” The episode closed with the quote that was my favorite. Audrey was flailing that she hadn’t done enough, and that she had failed, and Nathan quietly responded with a catch in his throat, “You can never fail me.”

That says it all about who she is to him.

A new episode of Haven airs tonight on Syfy at 10 pm ET.

P.S. WUW no episodes being on syfy.com or hulu.com this season (after the season premiere)?