caught up on haven (spoilers for the season finale) and I have things to say about it apparently
Huh.
That's all I can say that's not spoilery.
To start off: I applaud the show for all the questions it makes you ask about identity and agency and morals, and all its mysteries and the supernatural mixed in with the realism (as much as both genres can be intermixed together) but I...didn't really like this finale (the s3 finale was the bestest, IMHO). It felt like only the last five minutes or so were the most exciting, but it was pretty hard to get to the last five minutes.
This is all to say that I'm pretty close to giving up on this show because all it does is change things drastically--which I don't have a problem with exactly--but there's no point in sticking around anymore if the producers build up big stakes for the characters in thirteen episodes but then change course so abruptly that all those stakes they spent thirteen episodes building up don't matter by the next season and/or are ignored completely. Examples of what I'm talking about: it's completely ignored that Nathan--A FREAKING POLICE OFFICER--shot an unarmed man and killed him just to keep Audrey from entering a barn (and, oh god, that is its own post I don't want to make because all it makes me do is scream WHAT THE HELL NATHAN), and they ignored James and his death for a whole season as well. What was the point of introducing both Agent Howard and James if they weren't going to survive the finale?? I mean, in s1 (granted my recollection of previous seasons is a bit fuzzy, so please feel free to correct me if I've got anything wrong), Agent Howard was not as an important character as he became in s2 and s3, and we didn't really find out about James and his connection to Audrey until the s3 finale, but again, they were BOTH COMPLETELY IGNORED in s4. They even employed a freaking time jump, so that the consequences of everything is swept off-screen.
I don't think they'll employ a time jump in s5. I *hope* they won't because this is not like Nathan shooting Agent Howard, and Jordan shooting Nathan, *and* Duke shooting Jordan for shooting Nathan, which they ALL came back from somehow, miraculously--uh, I mean everyone except for the POC, of course. Side-eyeing the show. And I know Nathan went off on his own and became bearded mountain man but that was more of a result of losing Audrey than it was for shooting and killing Howard--or at least that's what I got from the narrative; it could've been both things--the shooting and losing Audrey--but it's never explicitly dealt with and that's why I want to give up on the show. THERE SHOULD BE MORE FAR REACHING CONSEQUENCES. I know Nathan also lost his badge, and wasn't the chief of police anymore, but that doesn't last long either. Although...I write that and then ask myself, what, I'm expecting realism from a supernatural show?? I thought I was more tv-savvy than that.
I find it interesting that the big mystery surrounding who Audrey/Mara really is is the fact that "they" (whoever "they" are and that's still not something they told us) thought, oh here we have two evil people going around, breaking all the rules (i.e. William and Mara), let's erase Mara's complete personality and all her memories and have her sacrifice essentially her whole identity to fix things every 27 years (and why 27 years...I'm thinking that's how old Mara was when "they" captured her and punished her).
Which begs the question--where are "they", whoever they may be, now that all hell has broken loose? What? Do they just not check up on William and Audrey? Do they even know that the barn and Agent Howard are both gone? Because they really should have some sort of emergency plan in place for exactly these kinds of situations.
Or is it that "they" have died? And there's really no one left from when original Mara was sentenced to this eternal punishment? It doesn't seem likely knowing that Mara and William can't seem to die either, but I. Don't. Know. *shakes tiny fists of frustration*
And what did William mean when he said Agent Howard was nothing like them? I'd like to believe he meant it in an ideological way because we did see that Agent Howard was immortal like William and Mara, and he knew that Dave and Jennifer came from the same world Audrey and William did, which suggests that Agent Howard knew all sorts of things and was probably around the time this all started (which appears to be...the 1600's? At least??)
I'm just thinking that this other world is probably just like a mirror!verse (borrowing from Star Trek because why not...) because William was afraid to go back to it (which must suggest that it's a horrible place if even the big baddie doesn't want to be trapped there again) and Dave was as well. Which might be why Agent Howard made sure Dave and Jennifer were adopted in Haven because if they weren't, odds are that they'd end up like William and Mara, and not care about saving people from the Troubles. Or, my other theory is that Mara and Jennifer could be sisters, which is why Jennifer is one of them (IDK if Dave is related to both of them, I'd like to think not because he seemed smitten with Lucy but at this point, who the hell knows). I reject the fanon theory that Jennifer could be her daughter solely on the fact that I don' think anybody should have allowed Mara to have a baby, but YMMV. Oh! And William tried to kill her--would he have tried to harm her if she was someone important to Mara? Unless there's something he doesn't know which would be novel at this point?
(I typed that out and was like, but James! He probably doesn't know about James either. Still, due to their connection, he'd probably know if Jennifer was important to Mara. And: what we saw of Mara suggests she only cares about William.)
Also, Duke and Jennifer better not be dead. And Audrey better not be completely gone, with evil!Mara taking complete control. (I'm not too worried about anyone else getting shoved under the bus, but to not jinx myself: EVERYONE SHOULD BE ALIVE NEXT SEASON.)
and more answers than questions next season, please show. I'm really getting tired of your shit, baiting us with mysteries and then not solving those mysteries, on top of the other aforementioned shit you pull.
~*~
This entry was originally posted at http://dahlia-moon.dreamwidth.org/282813.html.
comments @ DW
That's all I can say that's not spoilery.
To start off: I applaud the show for all the questions it makes you ask about identity and agency and morals, and all its mysteries and the supernatural mixed in with the realism (as much as both genres can be intermixed together) but I...didn't really like this finale (the s3 finale was the bestest, IMHO). It felt like only the last five minutes or so were the most exciting, but it was pretty hard to get to the last five minutes.
This is all to say that I'm pretty close to giving up on this show because all it does is change things drastically--which I don't have a problem with exactly--but there's no point in sticking around anymore if the producers build up big stakes for the characters in thirteen episodes but then change course so abruptly that all those stakes they spent thirteen episodes building up don't matter by the next season and/or are ignored completely. Examples of what I'm talking about: it's completely ignored that Nathan--A FREAKING POLICE OFFICER--shot an unarmed man and killed him just to keep Audrey from entering a barn (and, oh god, that is its own post I don't want to make because all it makes me do is scream WHAT THE HELL NATHAN), and they ignored James and his death for a whole season as well. What was the point of introducing both Agent Howard and James if they weren't going to survive the finale?? I mean, in s1 (granted my recollection of previous seasons is a bit fuzzy, so please feel free to correct me if I've got anything wrong), Agent Howard was not as an important character as he became in s2 and s3, and we didn't really find out about James and his connection to Audrey until the s3 finale, but again, they were BOTH COMPLETELY IGNORED in s4. They even employed a freaking time jump, so that the consequences of everything is swept off-screen.
I don't think they'll employ a time jump in s5. I *hope* they won't because this is not like Nathan shooting Agent Howard, and Jordan shooting Nathan, *and* Duke shooting Jordan for shooting Nathan, which they ALL came back from somehow, miraculously--uh, I mean everyone except for the POC, of course. Side-eyeing the show. And I know Nathan went off on his own and became bearded mountain man but that was more of a result of losing Audrey than it was for shooting and killing Howard--or at least that's what I got from the narrative; it could've been both things--the shooting and losing Audrey--but it's never explicitly dealt with and that's why I want to give up on the show. THERE SHOULD BE MORE FAR REACHING CONSEQUENCES. I know Nathan also lost his badge, and wasn't the chief of police anymore, but that doesn't last long either. Although...I write that and then ask myself, what, I'm expecting realism from a supernatural show?? I thought I was more tv-savvy than that.
I find it interesting that the big mystery surrounding who Audrey/Mara really is is the fact that "they" (whoever "they" are and that's still not something they told us) thought, oh here we have two evil people going around, breaking all the rules (i.e. William and Mara), let's erase Mara's complete personality and all her memories and have her sacrifice essentially her whole identity to fix things every 27 years (and why 27 years...I'm thinking that's how old Mara was when "they" captured her and punished her).
Which begs the question--where are "they", whoever they may be, now that all hell has broken loose? What? Do they just not check up on William and Audrey? Do they even know that the barn and Agent Howard are both gone? Because they really should have some sort of emergency plan in place for exactly these kinds of situations.
Or is it that "they" have died? And there's really no one left from when original Mara was sentenced to this eternal punishment? It doesn't seem likely knowing that Mara and William can't seem to die either, but I. Don't. Know. *shakes tiny fists of frustration*
And what did William mean when he said Agent Howard was nothing like them? I'd like to believe he meant it in an ideological way because we did see that Agent Howard was immortal like William and Mara, and he knew that Dave and Jennifer came from the same world Audrey and William did, which suggests that Agent Howard knew all sorts of things and was probably around the time this all started (which appears to be...the 1600's? At least??)
I'm just thinking that this other world is probably just like a mirror!verse (borrowing from Star Trek because why not...) because William was afraid to go back to it (which must suggest that it's a horrible place if even the big baddie doesn't want to be trapped there again) and Dave was as well. Which might be why Agent Howard made sure Dave and Jennifer were adopted in Haven because if they weren't, odds are that they'd end up like William and Mara, and not care about saving people from the Troubles. Or, my other theory is that Mara and Jennifer could be sisters, which is why Jennifer is one of them (IDK if Dave is related to both of them, I'd like to think not because he seemed smitten with Lucy but at this point, who the hell knows). I reject the fanon theory that Jennifer could be her daughter solely on the fact that I don' think anybody should have allowed Mara to have a baby, but YMMV. Oh! And William tried to kill her--would he have tried to harm her if she was someone important to Mara? Unless there's something he doesn't know which would be novel at this point?
(I typed that out and was like, but James! He probably doesn't know about James either. Still, due to their connection, he'd probably know if Jennifer was important to Mara. And: what we saw of Mara suggests she only cares about William.)
Also, Duke and Jennifer better not be dead. And Audrey better not be completely gone, with evil!Mara taking complete control. (I'm not too worried about anyone else getting shoved under the bus, but to not jinx myself: EVERYONE SHOULD BE ALIVE NEXT SEASON.)
and more answers than questions next season, please show. I'm really getting tired of your shit, baiting us with mysteries and then not solving those mysteries, on top of the other aforementioned shit you pull.
~*~
This entry was originally posted at http://dahlia-moon.dreamwidth.org/282813.html.
comments @ DW