Haven 3.12 & 3.13

[krickets]

This is partially a re-cap for the benefit of stainofmylove so if it seems more "summary with random opinions inserted" than an actual reaction post, that's exactly what it is. Sorry!

Generally in both eps, there was a whole lot of "Duke is totally butt-crazy in love with Audrey." Which kind of makes me glad because it means they're definitely not dropping the whole thing. Which I was afraid of. My interest in this show is not solely shipping-based, but my shipping Duke and Audrey reached an all-time record high this season, so this review is gonna reflect that. Be prepared. It may also reflect my LOVE of Jordan and my disinterest in James Coban.

3x12 - Reunion
The plot-o-the-week was that of a high school reunion where someone's trouble was turning people back into teenagers. (But the REAL trouble was that they were a fucking murderer, even though they technically didn't know it.) What's great about this plot is that Duke is turned into a teenager for the vast majority of the episode and he is SUPER ADORBS.

Another, more important side-plot involves Arla (James Cogan's wife) and face-stealing and blah blah blah grossness. This one kind of bleeds into the next so let's jump there.

3x13 - Thanks for the Memories
This episode is basically all about Audrey and Arla (more like trouble-of-the-season instead of trouble-of-the-week, but it serves that function too) who wants Audrey to go back into the barn because that's where James has supposedly been "healing" for the last 27 years.

This turns out to be true, but weirdly anti-climactic in terms of a resolution for the whole Colorado Kid Mystery. (Where'd he go? THE BARN!) I wanted him to be evil, or really dead, or NOT fucking Audrey and Nathan's kid.

Which by the way, he is. (I know.)

They even flashed back to Nathan and Sarah doing it in the car, as if we needed it spelled out for us. And Audrey watched. (What?) And thank god she seemed kind of "What the ever loving fuck?" about it at first. But then Nathan explained that A) "I didn't know if I was ever coming back" and later B) "It was kind of a way with being with you." Which, A) Okay, that's legit the ONLY excuse I'll except from him on that matter. And B) What the ever loving fuck? First, that's creepy. Supremely creepy. Second, why couldn't he have been with her in their present timeline? It took him about 45 minutes to warm up enough to Sarah to fuck her, but 3 years with Audrey and the guy can't make a move? Come on.

I realize I never truly talked about it here, but I have so many icky feelings about Nathan hooking up with Sarah. The assumption on the show has decidedly not been that Sarah and Lucy are separate people. The assumption is that they both ARE Audrey.

Therefore, Nathan hooking up with Sarah is not only creepy in the way it would be creepy if some guy hooked up with Audrey's twin just because they look exactly alike (which is creepy enough on its own -- unless he legit had had enough time to fall in love with that person) but it's also creepy in that "Audrey can't actually consent to this" kind of way.

If Sarah is Audrey in the past, it's deceptive, and kind of "rapey" of Nathan not to go "oh hey, by the way, we kind of have a history together, let's talk about it" before getting into her pants. I'm not saying that Sarah, herself, didn't offer her consent -- clearly she did. But she wasn't fully informed. And Audrey didn't have any say in it at all. I mean, Audrey's literally got the same scars as Lucy. We're kinda led to believe she has the same body. And it's just... ick. You can't 100% compare it to a guy sleeping with a girl who's drunk -- but it felt very similar to me.

I have these same issues with Damon from The Vampire Diaries who would compel women to forget certain things (like for instance: he likes to drink their blood during sex) and to not be afraid of him... so they won't run! Obviously, I am not comparing Nathan to Damon in that regard even in the slightest, but the consent issues are still present for me. The fact that both shows don't even acknowledge it as an issue is the bigger problem, I think.

Flashforward to the important bits:

On top of the fact that Haven is basically being pummeled with meteors, another thing that's happening is that James is dying in his new environment. So he goes back in the barn where Nathan and Audrey spend a good chunk of time looking for him. Eventually Arla enters, and when the whole Ed Gein thing is revealed, she "accidentally" stabs him (while trying to kill Audrey). So he's dying again. But it's all good 'cause he's in the barn so he'll heal. (Which is just fan-fucking-tasting. Do we really need Nathan and Audrey's full-grown son running around for season 4? I'll answer that: NO. Think of the awkward family moments.)

Before he dies (again!) James tells Audrey that she has to kill someone she loves in order to stop the troubles in Haven permanently - which doesn't include him seeing as how they just met. Howard confirms this to be true, but Audrey doesn't take him up on it. Good, because the whole "For this arbitrary supernatural reason, you must DEFINITIVELY pick the person you love" thing was a bit much for me to swallow. Instead, she exits the barn for her final goodbyes. She's resigned to it.

Finally, Audrey and Duke share this fucking beautiful goodbye that I wish I had a GIF of, and it will warm the cockles of your heart. F'reals. She kisses him again and he is just basically trying to keep it together and man, I couldn't love Duke more than in this moment.

(So I made my own GIFs. Beware, for they are not tumblr-sized and may take forever to load.)




Then she jumps into Nathan's arms and kisses him too but 'passionately'. (Ok show, we get it). Nathan gets all red-faced and says he'll die before he lets Audrey go into the barn and she says she knows he will so she swipes his gun and tells Duke to stop Nathan from following her to the barn. She makes him promise. (Which, why? If Nathan wants to go with her, why should she stop him? Wouldn't she want him with her?) Duke does as he is told and holds Nathan back and eventually has to take the gun and point it right at him when Nathan tries to advance.

And really, this is my favorite part: Duke tells Nathan that Audrey has made a choice to save the people of Haven by going into the barn. He says it's not Nathan's choice and it's not his choice either, it's Audrey's choice alone and they can't stop her. And it's glorious because it totally vindicates my shipping choices, thank you very much. Nathan again points out how Duke's in love with Audrey too (and Duke agrees this time), so how can he let her go?

Anyway, randomly Jordan shows back up to shoot at Nathan? I'm not sure why they feel the need to vilify this girl further. Hasn't she had enough already? And I really wasn't sure why she was shooting anyway. Maybe I need to re-watch that scene. But whatever the reason, it's irritating, and not only because I like her. A fucking lot. Cut it out, show. Jordan is pretty much my 3rd favorite person on this show and she better be back next season. (Basically.)

So after that scuffle (or during it? idk, it was all so chaotic) Audrey goes into the barn for the final time and then Nathan and Duke are left crouched together. For some reason when the barn is starting to disappear, Nathan, who is injured, tells Duke to go with her to "save her", so Duke of course jumps into the barn seconds before it disappears.

Nathan is screaming out Audrey's name in the empty field, meteors continue to pummel Haven. END Finale.

Basically my thoughts on this are "SO MANY FIC POSSIBILITIES! DUKE AND AUDREY ARE GONNA BE STUCK IN A BARN TOGETHER FOR 27 YEARS!"

I also have to say... there were SO MANY OT3 VIBES THOUGH. Which would be cool with me, but... reasons. With her kissing them both pretty much in front of each other. (FNL, Mexico flashbacks anyone?) And she called them "My guys" in 3x12. It was... sigh. Sweet, actually.

In other, related, news: I despise the way that Emily says the word "Colorado."

One last thing I'll say is that I have felt kind of awkward about sharing my feelings on this show throughout this season just because I know that the fandom is so Nathan-centric and my opinions are decidedly not. And that would be true triangle or no triangle. I enjoy Lucas Bryant's face. (Who wouldn't.) But it felt uncomfortable to share even here at my LJ because it always feels like tensions are running high in this fandom (from the small bit of it that I've observed) and I didn't want to offend anyone. Not my intent. If you feel differently from me, I'm completely fine with it -- and I hope the feeling is mutual.

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