Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Haven: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie Review

This is one vacation spot where you probably won't be wishing you were there.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 11, 2012

When last we left intrepid FBI Agent Audrey Parker (Emily Rose) in Haven, she had begun to uncover parts of her mysterious past even as she repeatedly dealt with the “special” inhabitants of the titular town of this Syfy series, an uncovering which came to a rather abrupt and surprising cliffhanging conclusion when a curt professional woman showed up brandishing a pretty lethal looking gun and announced that she was FBI Agent Audrey Parker. Such are the vagaries of Haven, an often quite compelling series culled from Stephen King’s novel The Colorado Kid, but which will probably remind more viewers of (as I mentioned in my review of the series’ first season) a cross between Twin Peaks and The X-Files. The Twin Peaks angle comes in courtesy of Haven itself, a town full of bizarre characters who may not in fact rise to David Lynchian extremes of perversity but who all have certain secrets, many of which involve paranormal phenomena, which brings in The X-Files angle. The first season of the series did a mostly exceptional job of developing Audrey’s personal story even as it exploited a kind of “freak of the week” approach as it introduced various inhabitants of the seemingly picturesque little northeastern village of Haven. Haven’s second season literally takes up where the first season left off, and if the routine elements of showcasing various Haven inhabitants starts to wear a little thin now and then, the series still does a very good job of establishing a continuing arc for Audrey and a couple of the other main supporting characters in the show. This season also tends to emphasize a wryly comic side of things a bit more than the first season did, something which may appeal to those who love a little irony with their daily helping of rivers running red and people who turn to stone and then crumble like dust in the wind.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle facing Haven is something that also proved to be a detriment to both The X- Files and Twin Peaks as they continued to ply their weird, often supernatural, wares. On the one hand, Haven is attempting to further its rather complicated mythology, one which deals with Audrey’s shaded past (as became quite clear over the first season, she may not even be “Audrey”) as well as the curse which seems to lay on the town like an evil fog. That mythology requires an overarching story arc which must be maintained throughout the season’s episodes. On the other hand, the series again (much like in the first season) wants to have its cake and eat it, too, in terms of standalone episodes that typically feature some inexplicable phenomenon afflicting the town, a phenomenon which Audrey and her cohorts Nathan (Lucas Bryant) and Duke (Eric Balfour), manage to figure out (more or less, anyway), tidying everything up so that things can return to, well, abnormal. These two aspects are diametrically opposed to each other in ways that create an internal tension that the series can’t quite account for, at least some of the time.

Haven also is trying to branch out by introducing some new characters this season, including a duplicitous ex- wife for Duke with the rather incredible name of Evidence (Vinessa Antoine). Evi (as she is thankfully nicknamed) does help to elucidate some of Duke’s “colorful” past exploits, but one has to wonder why the writers are giving us new recurring characters when the central triangle of Audrey, Nathan and Duke has only begun to be explored itself. There are some tantalizing hints, though, that some new arcs are going to be introduced in the third season that may make some of these decisions more understandable.

The best thing about Haven continues in fact to be the developing relationships between Audrey, Nathan and Duke. Not the stuff of a traditional romantic triangle, there are still little tantalizing glimpses into nascent future couplings here, even as Audrey ventures off into “new territory” at times (Jason Priestley has a guest shot as a putative new boyfriend). The relationship between Audrey and Nathan is especially well handled this season. Both of these characters are reeling from personal traumas: Audrey is discovering she isn’t who she thinks she is, and Nathan has seen his father die under troubling circumstances, and finds himself at odds with some elements of the town as he attempts to fill his dad’s professional shoes. Haven would do well to continue exploiting this kind of drama rather than worrying about the “freak of the week” approach that more often than not stops the series’ intriguing mythology dead (or maybe undead) in its tracks.

Haven: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Haven: The Complete Second Season is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Entertainment One with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This second season follows largely in line with the video quality of the first season. The show has a generally good, sharp appearance a great deal of the time, with pleasing fine object detail readily apparent in close-ups. The locations (the show is filmed in Nova Scotia) help to establish a sense of veracity for Haven, and some of the aerial establishing shots feature some breathtaking scenery and impressive depth of field. As with the first season, the CGI is kind of a hit or miss affair. Some of the effects are quite winning, while others are lackluster. A perfect example is the season's opening episode, which features the 10 plagues of Exodus descending upon Haven. The onslaught of frogs raining down from the heavens is extremely well done, but the brief shot of dead cattle looks like something a 9 year old did in Photoshop for an art project.

Haven: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Haven: The Complete Second Season features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that really comes alive in some of the show's supernatural elements. The opening episode has some great panning effects when swarms of insects buzz about merrily wreaking havoc. In another episode when Haven's docks seem to have developed a life of their own, there are some great sound effects attached, including some fulsome LFE. Surround activity tends to be exploited mostly in the special effects sequences, but the good news is every episode has at least one major sequence utilizing these effects. Fidelity is excellent, with dialogue, effects and underscore all well prioritized, cleanly presented and reproduced with appealing dynamic range.

Haven: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentaries featuring cast and crew grace several of the season's episodes, with some featuring two commentaries, for a grand total of 10 overall. These tend to be on the chatty side, but also include a smattering of information about filming, special effects and character backgrounds. As might be expected, the commentaries featuring writers and/or directors tend to be more on the technical/informative side. The authoring of the discs is very poorly done, however: commentaries must be accessed by first choosing individual episodes, then Select a Scene (what's up with that?), and then finally choosing the commentary. You can not toggle between audio options to access any of the commentaries. The participants for each commentary are:
  
  A Tale of Two Audreys: Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn
  
  Audrey Parker's Day Off: 1) Emily Rose and Lloyd Segan; 2) Lilla and Nora Zuckerman
  
  Lockdown: Lilla and Nora Zuckerman
  
  Who, What, Where, Wendigo: Jonathan Abrahams and Brian Millikin
  
  Business as Usual: 1) Shawn Piller and Brian Millikin; 2) Lloyd Segan and Adam Copeland
  
  Sins of the Fathers: 1) Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn; 2) Emily Rose, Lucas Bryant and Eric Balfour
  
  Silent Night: Shawn Piller and Brian Millikin


• Making of Featurettes (HD; 37:22) are split into six segments, including Script Writing, Production Design, Costumes, Locations, Production Meeting and the catch-all Directing, Cinematography and Acting. These are generally quite good, with some of the background on developing the show's mythology especially interesting.


• Behind the Scenes Featurettes (HD; 24:58) is another grab bag of segments, including What's New in Season 2, Who is Audrey Parker?, Little Town of Haven, The Townspeople and The Troubles. This set of featurettes is especially good for those just joining the series who want to get up to speed quickly and relatively effortlessly.


• Interview with Adam Copeland (HD; 7:35). If the name Adam Copeland doesn't ring any immediate bells, you might know him under his alias of Edge, one of the WWE's so-called "superstars". Copeland plays Dwight Hendrickson in the series.


• Haven Panel from NY Comic-Con (HD; 50:50) is an October 14, 2011 Q&A session with actors Emily Rose, Lucas Bryant and Eric Balfour, writers Jim Dunn, Sam Ernst and Charles Ardive.

Haven: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Haven: The Complete Second Season continues the series' kind of schizophrenic approach of simultaneously developing its labyrinthine mythology while at the same time featuring a "freak of the week". It's a fitfully interesting combination that doesn't always work, but still manages to rise above a lot of supernatural laden series television. The third season is probably going to be the make or break year for this still fledgling series, as we should finally either get some definitive answers about what exactly is going on vis a vis Audrey and the town of Haven, or know that the writers are simply padding the show unnecessarily with unneeded new characters and tangential plot lines that are there for the sole purpose of filling out that week's episode. This Blu-ray offers great video and audio and comes replete with some excellent supplements. Recommended.