Four Moments of Goodness From Haven “Speak No Evil” 

Well, that was tumultuous. Like “See No Evil,” “Speak No Evil” was sort of all over the place but there were a handful of scenes that resonated for me.

Duke Finds Nathan

The episode opens with Duke sauntering up annoyed that Nathan hasn’t been answering his phone and all “me, me, me” about his search for Jennifer and being a Trouble monger while Nathan is pretty listless (even for Nathan–I kid) until Nathan finally says very softly that Mara shot him and Duke switches gears to attend to his wound.

They have a funny bit of banter about how the bullet isn’t going to harm him because of where it went in, and Duke sums it up that Nathan knows way too much about being shot. They also talk about what to actually do with Mara because she’s wearing Audrey. Nathan is determined to bring her in while keeping Audrey safe. It’s a nice bit of bonding that will come in handy later.

Nathan Tells Duke the Truth

Throughout the episode, Duke keeps inadvertently sewing people up. The Barrows tell Dwight the whole truth about how their Trouble activated way back when, and he and Nathan put it together that Duke is doing it as a defense mechanism against anybody being able to tell him that Jennifer is dead. Sadly, Dwight confirms that she is when one of the nurses takes him to a Jane Doe who washed up.

Dwight tells Nathan, and Nathan says he’ll be the one to tell Duke. He finds Duke on the dock, railing about all the ways he’s looked and looked for Jennifer. Nathan starts in slow, chatting with him about the dock being his rendezvous spot with her, and how he often saw them there. Duke says they could have a good time anywhere when they were together, and that she’ll be due some fancy hotel time in Boston when he finds her.

Nathan gently tells him she’s not coming back. He continues that Duke’s Trouble is preventing him from hearing what he already knows. Nathan reminds him that she was already dead in the cave–that she’d stopped breathing. Immediately, Nathan’s eyes sew shut but he keeps talking, and Duke doesn’t want to hear it.

He grabs Nathan, whose his lips sew shut and Duke realizes it’s all true. Then he drops with Nathan to the dock, trying to help, telling him to relax and breathe, and we begin flashbacks of Duke’s history with Jennifer. Knowing he has to let her go, he takes her scarf out of his pocket and drops it in the water. Nathan’s stitches disappear and he begins breathing freely. Duke blames himself for bringing Jennifer to Haven and Nathan says she was coming anyway, and that she died saving them. He tells Duke it won’t be in vain because he’s giving Mara to the Guard, hopefully to end the Troubles.

Eric Balfour and Lucas Bryant are super good in this scene. Unfortunately they do not hug it out. Dammit. When we chatted with Emily and Lucas a couple of weeks ago, they mentioned that two-person character scenes will be more frequent in season five, and if it means more of these emotional connections, then I’m all in.

Nathan Sees Audrey

I’m skimming right over Mara’s arc because she and it are Too. Much., but there was a flicker in there that’s worth mentioning. Nathan negotiates a meet with Mara, offering to give her one of the Aether balls, which Gloria helpfully hung onto. He’s also stashed Vickie in the car to help with a drawing. The point of the rendezvous is to hand Mara over the Guard, essentially acquiescing to the idea that maybe Mara is a greater evil than saving Audrey.

After some initial Mwa Ha Ha that she will shoot him again, and turn him into a battering ram with the Aether goo, Nathan flicks a tree branch into her (via Vickie’s drawing), knocking her out cold. Later (we’re assuming Vickie’s been attended to because Mara broke her hand), Nathan bends down to cuff Mara and scans her while she’s so silent and still for any sign that Audrey is still in there somewhere. He grips her arm, and clasps her hand, just for a moment, and the impending loss of her washes across his face.

After he’s loaded her in the truck, he calls in to tell Dwight he has her, and turns back around to take another look. “Goodbye, Parker,” he says softly. Then, because he has some sort of death wish, he leans in and kisses her. I completely expected that she’d rouse awake and take a swing at him, but instead she lurches awake and says she’s Audrey, and she’s still here, and Mara is crushing her. He’s anguished about how to help her, and then she flips to Mara, who promptly calls him a perv and starts yelling at him to let her go. He throws a blanket over her, shuts the door, and gets in and drives her to the Guard.

While Emily Rose completely nailed it, my dilemma here is that I don’t know whether the Audrey moment was a fakeout or genuine. I don’t think Nathan does either. We’ll see. Regardless, Lucas Bryant sold the HELL out of it–the loss, the moment of hope, the anger. So, so so good. I may have rewound it a few times. I admit nothing. (Okay, I did.)

Gloria Comforts Duke

Gloria reveals her softer side when she goes to see Duke, who hasn’t moved from the dock. She tells him Jennifer had no family, and he says he knew that. She goes on that the default burial is a potter’s field but he says he’ll take her and give her a burial at the sea she’d recently come to love with him. Gloria says that sounds perfect, and she leaves him to his sorrow.

I loved that we got a glimpse of her own grief, which she’s had to skate right past, taking on the role of the new mom. She also has a good moment with Nathan where he clears the air about Mara. She brings up Audrey 2.0 from season two and asks if she was the real Audrey (and my brain bent a bit because we haven’t really broached the whole stolen identities idea yet), and he responds that his Audrey was real to him.

Honorable mention in there also goes to Adam Copeland for his scenes as Dwight essentially has to take the Guard from Vince to make a move on Mara. It’s nice to see him asserting himself, and becoming the Sheriff the town needs.

Lots of goodies all over. I do so love this show.

One note: Our Canadian pals got both episodes back to back last night, and I wonder whether the plan was for this to be a two-hour premiere for Syfy as well, given the titles and the episodes sharing the same writing team and director. They work as a two-parter.

Haven reruns throughout the week on Syfy. Check listings here.

And here’s a clip of the cast discussing the episode: