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SyFy's Haven tells the tale of Audrey Parker (Emily Rose), a mysterious young woman with a knack for helping the "troubled" citizens of a very special seaside town.
The small town of Haven, Maine has more than a few secrets lurking amidst its lovely landscape. One of those secrets is that some of its residents have certain afflictions -- dubbed "troubles" -- that give them unique supernatural abilities. Unfortunately, most of these abilities are dangerous and the "troubled" person has very little control over their powers.
Enter Audrey, a snarky and shrewd FBI agent with a very interesting past (or should we say, pasts.) For some reason, the troubles do not have any effect on Audrey and that immunity allows her to connect with troubled people and stop them before they do any more damage.
One troubled person Audrey has a personal connection with is her partner, Nathan Wuornos (Lucas Bryant). Nathan and Audrey are opposites in a lot of ways but their energies and personalities really complement one another and it makes them a pretty formidable pair. The two have been dancing around one another since the pilot episode and the sexual tension between them just keeps growing.
Yet Nathan and Audrey's relationship is complicated by Audrey's chemistry with local criminal, Duke Crocker (Eric Balfour). Duke gets into trouble on a regular basis and often relies on Nathan and Audrey to get him out of sticky situations, but he also lends them his help whenever possible, even if he complains about it the entire time.
Rounding out the cast are secretive newspapermen Vince and Dave Teagues (played by Richard Donat and John Dunsworth, respectively.) The brothers are long-time town residents and clearly in-the-know about the town's most deadly secrets. Unfortunately, they have kept quiet about said secrets for the most part for reasons unknown. Yet with Audrey getting closer to the truth, the knowledge Vince and Dave have could prove vital in helping her find the answers she is looking for, if only they would come clean and share what they know.
One of the great things about Haven is that the episodes are mostly stand-alone (the gang deals with a new troubles-related case every week) but the mythology is well-developed and sprinkled throughout the series. Some of the more interesting bits of that mythology are Audrey's continued search for her identity, Duke's paranoia over his would-be killer and the on-going mystery of how to end the troubles. Whether you are drawn to procedural or genre elements of the show, each episode has something.
Unfortunately, Haven had several marks against it right off the bat. The series airs on a network now known more for terrible movies with terrible CGI than original sci-fi programming, where it landed in the dreaded Friday night time slot. And thanks to its association with Stephen King (the show is loosely based on one of the author's novellas) the show is thought of by non-viewers as a horror series. Now while the show may have some horror elements, it is much more of a supernatural mystery. If you have any interest in science-fiction, supernatural dramas or you enjoy shows like Fringe and The X-Files, you should give this show a try.
Haven airs Friday nights at 10/9c on SyFy.
