Haven

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Haven is an American supernatural drama television series loosely based on the Stephen King novel The Colorado Kid. The one-hour drama premiered on July 9, 2010, on Syfy. The series will be the first property to be produced for Syfy Pay channels around the globe, excluding Canada and Scandinavia.

Shrewd and confident FBI agent Audrey Parker (Emily Rose) has a lost past when she arrives in the small town of Haven, Maine on a routine case. Before long, her natural curiosity leads her to the center of activity in this curious enclave, which turns out to be a longtime refuge for people who are affected by a range of supernatural afflictions.


Tropes used in Haven include:
  • Acting for Two: Cristián de la Fuente in "Friend or Faux".
  • Action Girl/Plucky Girl: Agent Audrey Parker.
  • Agent Scully: Nathan makes some half-hearted efforts in this direction, as he'd really like to be living in a rational world.
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: Subverted in the "Trial of Audrey Parker" regarding Julia and Duke.
  • Anti-Magic: Audrey seems to have a minor version of this. Troubled abilities can't affect her.
    • Duke has a variation. By killing one Troubled person, anyone else afflicted by that ability (i.e., direct blood relations) is cured of it permanently.
  • Anyone Can Die: In "As You Were", a group of main and secondary characters go to an isolated resort, and we are introduced to a new character. Rather than the newcomer dying, Eleanor (who had been in six of the nine episodes) died instead.
    • Of course, the new character takes her place.
    • The show is rife with this trope, notably with the deaths of Chief Wuornos, Duke's wife Evi, and Rev. Driscoll.
  • Anywhere but Their Lips: Nathan and Audrey--a sweet cheek kiss.
  • Art Initiates Life: A girl in "Sketchy" is a good artist, but anything that happens to the drawing happens to the subject.
  • Artistic License: Nathan can't feel pain (or much of anything) which apparently in one episode means he can take a bullet to the shoulder and not worry much about things like blood loss or destroying his shoulder by using the arm. Then again, given the nature of the town and the fact that we almost never see his injuries directly, he may actually be invulnerable.
    • Audrey has been shown to worry about the fact that he tends to ignore damage because it doesn't hurt, when pain is the body's way of saying "We've got a problem here!" And in "Audrey's Day Off," he dies from an injury he is initially unaware of.
  • Back From the Dead: The Troubled in the season 2 finale has the ability to bring people back as ghosts, so long as he personally buried them.
  • Because Destiny Says So: This is basically the explanation for Audrey, Nathan, and Duke's roles in Haven.
  • Blessed with Suck: Nearly all Troubled people.
    • Special mention has to go to the mayor's son. Everyone likes him at eye contact. He is infinitely annoyed by this because they refuse to listen to him, instead just focusing on trying to be as friendly with him as possible.
      • The fact that Chris Brody is a cynical loner just makes this even more of a sucky blessing from his perspective.
    • One of the suckiest afflictions so far would have to be Dwight's, which allows him to attract bullets toward himself. He's not even resistant to them, either, so he wears a vest all the time. He can't even use a regular gun; when he goes hunting, he uses a bow.
      • Dwight was an Army Ranger serving in Afghanistan when the ability first manifested itself which in his case was suckiness turned Up to Eleven.
    • Ray had the ability when playing any instrument to "fix" the broken connections in Catatonic patients trapped in their own mind, including his own wife. Unfortunately anybody else hearing the music would gains superhuman strength and hair trigger tempers. Subverted and bordering on Cursed with Awesome when Audrey figures it should be safe if Ray did away from everyone else leading Ray and assorted patients hitting the seas.
  • Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Three Audrey/Lucy incarnations we have seen so far.
  • Blood From the Mouth: Happens in "The Hand You're Dealt".
  • Blow You Away: The Troubled in the first episode.
  • Book Ends: First season, Special Agent Audrey Parker arrives at Haven. Quite amusingly, the same dialogue plays out, from different characters, and they quite clearly recognize this and how weird it is even before the new Special Agent gives her name.
  • Broken Masquerade
  • Bullet Dodging: Inverted with Dwight. His Troubled power is to attract bullets.
  • California Doubling: The show takes place in Maine but is filmed in Nova Scotia, Canada.
  • Cannot Spit It Out: The entire freaking town has this problem. So many of the episodes' problems could be resolved if these people would just give Audrey and Nathan something to go on. But nooooooo... Everyone has to be tight-lipped until the worst possible moment, and will even risk the lives of the people they treat as friends rather than just fucking say something. To be fair, at least some of them do want to help, but they keep getting argued down by the people who don't.
    • Which is somewhat justified being set in a small town with, among other things, a very influential reverend and beset with all sorts of secrets, competing factions, and being a (loosely) Stephen King-inspired series.
    • Also, as Dwight puts it, many Troubled are too ashamed to admit that they have a problem. In Dwight's case, his father would rather let him go to Afghanistan than tell him about his ability to attract bullets and therefore admit he's Troubled.
  • Christmas Episode: "Silent Night", though the episode in set in July.
  • Cleanup Crew: Dwight's job is "clean things up," meaning to get rid of the evidence of the Troubles so the general populace doesn't find out. To a certain extent, when Nathan was Chief, this applied as well. And in general, the cover up is less so that Haven doesn't find out (pretty much everyone seems to know about the Troubles) and more so that people outside of Haven don't know.
  • Cliff Hanger: The first season finale: "I'm Special Agent Audrey Parker. Who the hell are you?". And the episode ends with that, leaving us to wait until summer.
    • And the second season finale, where Audrey is kidnapped, and either Nathan or Duke may or may not have killed the other.
  • Cool Loser: Audrey. This is changing quickly since her arrival in Haven though.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Vince Teague, the newspaper editor.
  • Cryptic Background Reference: The Miami Incident, Macau, and the time Max Hansen failed to kill Vince Teague.
  • Cuteness Proximity: Nathan changes completely when he is around babies.
  • Differently-Powered Individual: They're called "Troubled". In addition, it's suggested that for the most part, their powers don't actively manifest (or at least, don't get cranked up to eleven) unless it's a 'troubled time' (or The Troubles as called in-universe). During not-The Troubles, most of them live pretty normal lives (more or less) and usually don't have any of their 'powers'. The term 'affliction' has come up as a way of referring to their powers.
  • Drowning My Sorrows: Nathan's reaction to being temporarily fired as Chief of Police.
    • Reverend Driscoll in "Butterfly".
  • Drunk on the Dark Side: The pyrokinetic kid with low self-esteem is, to say the least, very pleased when he learns he can blow things up with his mind.
  • Enemy Without: The Dark Man in "Ain't No Sunshine" is disembodied rage.
  • Enfant Terrible: Although it's not the babies' fault, in "Ball and Chain", they age their fathers and kill them. Thus, Duke will never get to meet Jean, his daughter.
  • Enforced Method Acting: The actors are never told spoilers, so that their reactions to any new development or revelation is genuine. The actors have expressed in interviews that they're dying to learn the truth about The Troubles and Audrey's origins as much as the fans.
  • Evil Twin: Subverted in "Friend or Faux", where it turns out the original Cornell Stamoran is no more innocent than his homicidal duplicate.
  • Expendable Clone: Cornell Stamoran keeps killing his copies.
  • Fantastic Racism: This is the driving force behind the second season, based on the movement spearheaded by Reverend Driscoll.
  • Feel No Pain: Local cop Nathan Wournos can't feel anything except Audrey's touch.
    • Also Nathan's real dad Max Hansen.
  • Finishing Each Other's Sentences: Audrey and Fraudrey tend to do this when relating their memories.
  • Freak of the Week
  • Girl of the Week: Jess Minion to Nathan.
  • Grand Theft Me: The troubled person du jour in "As You Were" is a mix of both types, taking over people's bodies out of necessity, but also taking their personality and memories. The Body Snatcher successfully lived as someone else for over 27 years. During the previous outbreak of the Troubles in the eighties, another "chameleon" killed and took the bodies of six people until he or she was killed by Garland Wuornos.
  • Gray Eyes: Audrey is a Type #1.
  • Gretzky Has the Ball: The Red Sox and Yankees finished a game in which the Red Sox overcome a 10 run deficit before noon. Even the Patriots' Day game in April starts at 10-11 a.m. Not technically impossible, but highly improbable, since non-high-scoring games between the two teams run 3-4 hours. The point is that plot-wise, Audrey uses her foreknowledge of it to prevent people from dying and stop the Groundhog Day Loop, which alphabetically, is very close to this trope.
  • Groundhog Day Loop: In "Audrey Parker's Day Off", Audrey has to relive the same day over and over. Significantly, her injuries transfer between loops so by day 5 she is injured and extremely tired.

Nathan: You're stuck in my second favorite Bill Murray movie.

    • Fortunately, being Haven Nathan believes her when she says she's reliving the same day.

Nathan: You're stuck in-
Audrey: Your second favorite Bill Murrary movie, you told me.

  • Half the Woman She Used To Be: A victim in "Silent Night".
  • Handsome Devil/Magnificent Bastard: Duke Crocker.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: With his ability to nullify a curse by killing a Troubled afflicted by it, Duke and his ancestors are approached by Troubled willing to sacrifice themselves so that their descendants will not inherent their curse. It also explains why in the modern era, Troubled families are far less numerous yet everyone seems to know about them. And the source of many folk tales as Troubled were more numerous in the past.
  • Holding Hands: Happens in "Roots".
  • Horror Hunger: The Troubled of the week in "Who, What, Where, Wendigo?"
  • Hunter of His Own Kind: Simon Crocker, and he wants Duke to follow in his footsteps.
  • Identity Amnesia: Audrey's memories are fake and they actually belong to the real FBI agent Audrey Parker.
    • Each time The Troubles start she turns up with a new set of (someone else's) memories and a new hair style to help the troubled (and, possibly, kill a Crocker). Last time it was Lucy and the time before that Sally. It is possible that she doesn't age, although her memory switching seems to be the work of a third party (whom she was running from when she found the real Lucy 27 years ago and who may have stolen the original Agent Parker's memories)
  • I Did What I Had to Do: Audrey says this of killing the Reverend when she could have just wounded him. Considering he was about to murder a young girl in cold blood when she had not moments ago chosen to spare him (though admittedly had killed another man, a serial killer, before), he had it coming.
  • I Love You Because I Can't Control You: The reason Chris Brody is attracted to Audrey. She's the only person in town who doesn't immediately like him at first sight. In fact she thinks he's kind of a jerk... and he kinda likes that.
  • I Know What You Fear: The Freak of the Week in "Fear and Loathing" has uncontrolled type 2, although she isn't the antagonist.
  • In the Blood: Troubles are inherited, sometimes through the death of the person you inherited it from (though not in Nathan's case).
  • I Shall Taunt You: Audrey does this a lot to exploit the Power Incontinence of the Freak of the Week.
  • Inadequate Inheritor: Chief Wournos is trying various ways to prepare Nathan to take over for him and to ready him for dealing with the "Troubles" on his own... with questionable success.
  • Inspired By: Stephen King's "The Colorado Kid". Both pieces contain a mysterious murder of a person only identified as The Colorado Kid... and other than one or two details, that's pretty much it.
  • Ironic Nickname: Gun dealer Little Mike in the season 2 premiere.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Duke is a chronic liar, manipulator, and a criminal, but he has also repeatedly put his ass on the line to help others and is appalled at the idea of murdering Troubled people.
  • Just Friends: Nathan and Audrey.
  • Karmic Death: The Reverend.
  • Kill and Replace: A Chameleon, antagonist of "As You Were" has this a modus operandi. It gets close to the victim, acquires everything about them, and kills them in the process of turning into them. It doesn't like doing this, and even sought out Audrey for help (notably she was only knocked out instead of dying). The only reason wasn't caught the last time The Troubles were around was because it replaced someone who had just died. And the person's wife didn't want to lose him.
  • Kill'Em All: Reverend Driscoll gets in this mindset once he realizes more subtle tactics will just keep getting shot down by Audrey and Nathan. Then Audrey just plain shoots him.
  • The Lancer: Duke, whether he wants to be or not.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: The entire town has this to varying extents. None of them seem to remember most of the time when Lucy was around.
    • It's hinted this may be related to the Colorado Kid. Duke mentions that when they found him, no one remembered anything afterwards.
    • However, it is now fairly obvious that several of the townspeople, such as Chief Wournos, Vince, and Dave knew everything but purposely withheld the information from Audrey.
  • Little No: Duke's response to his father and the Reverend's attempts to get him to fight for them against the Troubled and Audrey in particular.
  • Living Shadow: The Freak of the Week in "Ain't No Sunshine".
  • Lockdown: In the episode "Lockdown", the police station is put under quarantine, enforced by armed guards with orders to kill anyone who gets out. Too bad for Evi.
  • Love Cannot Overcome: Nathan's love interest Jess Minion initially seemed to think all the Haven weirdness was cool...but being attacked by a living shadow was more than she could handle, and she exited in a hurry.
  • The Masquerade
  • Meet Cute: Nathan and Audrey's first meeting and a little later when Audrey and Duke meet. Well, if you considering pulling a gun on each other cute...
  • Mega Manning: The Freak of the Week in "Fear and Loathing" can steal a Trouble by touching the Troubled's blood. He can only hold one at a time.
  • Monochrome Casting: Played straight, justified (they are in Maine, after all), and heavily lampshaded--Audrey does a search for "dark man" in the newspaper archives, and comes up with an article twenty or thirty years old about the first black man to move to Haven.
  • Monster Clown: Prominently featured in "Fear and Loathing".
  • Mr. Fanservice: Duke. He has been showing off his well-trained shirtless body on several occasions.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Audrey. She has been variously undressed, dolled up in cute little dresses and had clothes bought or almost bought for her by her new friends in Haven.
  • No Ontological Inertia: Cornell Stamoran's copy fades away after the death of the original.
    • Likewise, the ghosts of the people Kyle Hopkins buried disappear right as he dies.
  • Nothing Is Scarier: In one episode, anyone who looks into the eyes of a girl see the thing they fear the most. We viewers see it as well, with one exception: Nathan. Whatever he saw, it rattled him REAL BAD.
  • Older Than They Look: Audrey is at least in her seventies, since she was Lucy twenty-seven ago, Sarah before that, and is implied to have even more forgotten identities. She might even be hundreds of years old.
  • The Password Is Always Swordfish: The password to Audrey's laptop is "lucy", her mother's name, or possibly her own. Lampshaded after she realizes Nathan broke into it.

Audrey: I knew that password was too easy...

  • Personality Powers: The pyrokinetic in "The Hand You're Dealt" has a hot temper.
  • Poisonous Person: A man in "Business As Usual" has sweat that dries out and mummifies anyone who touches it. He's not the villain, though.
    • Also a woman in "Lockdown" infects those she touches, or possibly just interacts with, with a lethal poison. Again not the villian.
  • Power Incontinence: Frequently, and Audrey uses it against them if possible.
  • Psychic Static: Used by Duke in "The Trial of Audrey Parker".
  • Psychoactive Powers: Getting upset is what triggers the abilities of several of the Troubled.
  • Put on a Bus: As of "Audrey Parker's Day Off"--Bye, Chris.
    • Not to mention the original Audrey Parker.
    • Julia Carr is away in Africa during Season 2.
  • Rapid Aging: In "Ball and Chain", the babies age over the course of a weekend by sapping life from the father.
  • Reality Warper: The Troubled in "Butterfly" brings dreams to life.
  • Reality-Changing Miniature: An 18th century puzzle of Haven destroys corresponding buildings (and the people inside) when assembled. Destroying it is too risky.
    • The snow globe in "Silent Night".
  • Red Herring: Each episode's antagonist is never the first suspect.
  • Refuge in Audacity: What Audrey and Duke use to, unarmed, take down two armed men, one of which can read minds. Audrey feeds Duke outrageous instructions via an earpiece, and neither telepath nor partner can figure out what the hell Duke is doing because he's acting completely insane and apparently hasn't a coherent thought in his head. When they are too confused to react, Audrey and Duke disarm them.
  • Relationship Upgrade: Audrey and Nathan at the end of Season 2.
  • Ret-Gone: In "Silent Night", this happens one-by-one to everyone in Haven, with only Audrey and the Troubled person causing it being able to remember them. Although no one else can remember them, they do notice something is wrong if they think about it, like Duke asking Nathan, "Why are there only two people in your class photo?"
  • Retired Badass: Vince is strongly insinuated to be one in the first season finale.
  • Screw Destiny: Duke's plan.
    • Nathan's father warns him that if he and Audrey fall in love, Audrey will die. Nathan declares that he won't let that happen.
  • Shapeshifting: The Monster of The Week of "As You Were", called a chameleon on the show, is this.
  • Shirtless Scene: Duke in "Harmony"... and how.
    • And not just his shirt, but damn near everything in "The Trial of Audrey Parker". Rowr.
  • Shout-Out: In the opening credits, there's a newspaper that references a "revered Flagg". There's also a mention of a town called Derry, and of Little Tall Island.
    • In "As You Were," one of Audrey's birthday presents is a book called Misery Unchained. Vince awesomely describes it as "signed by the author just before that lady chopped off his foot".
    • Haven, Maine was the name of the town in The Tommyknockers.
      • In "The Trial of Audrey Parker", we see The Tommyknockers in a shot of Duke's bookshelf.
    • The description Audrey gives of another FBI agent sounds a bit like Fox Mulder:

Audrey: At least I'm not like that one guy you trained that was chasing aliens, what was his name?
Agent Howard: Hey, he was a genius. What happened to him in the last few years was a tragedy, but that's besides the point.

    • Season two opens with a boy in a raincoat putting a paper boat in a puddle and watching it go down the sewer, like in IT.
    • The Monster Clown in "Fear and Loathing", in reference to Stephen King's "It".
    • Syfy lists all the Stephen King references on the show's website.
    • Season two also has this exchange:

Fraudrey: "So... you think I caused the frogs and the bugs. With what? My magic wand or tricorder?"
Audrey: "First, tricorders are for readings..."

      • When Fraudrey goes missing in "Love Machine", Duke calls her Audrey II when searching for her.
  • Stealth Pun: The word haven can also mean a harbor or port.
  • Super Strength: Duke's power, which activates when the blood of others is spilled on him. Also seems to give him super reflexes.
  • Superpower Meltdown: The fate of the pyrokinetic after Audrey pushes his Berserk Button.
  • Survivor Guilt: Bobby in "Butterfly".
  • Sweater Girl: What Audrey would have been if Nathan had had his way. He had picked out a blue cashmere sweater for Audrey's birthday only to have his girlfriend change it to a scarf without his knowledge.
  • Taken for Granite: The chief does a very weird version. He has the power to cause earthquakes, which he's unable to fully control. When he finally can hold back the power, he uses his last bit of effort to draw his power inward, turning himself to stone and exploding from the vibrations. The rocks are still shaking long after he's exploded.
  • Ten Little Murder Victims: The entire plot of "As You Were".
  • Those Two Guys: Vince and Dave, the brothers who run the newspaper.
  • Token Evil Teammate: Duke is a smuggler, among other things, and can be somewhat selfish. He lampshades the fact that Nathan and Audrey keep going to him for help with a glance to the ceiling and saying aloud, "Why do they keep thinking I want to help?"
  • Too Dumb to Live: The Reverend. Yes, try to stab somebody right in front of the cops. No, they won't shoot you at all.
  • Uncanny Family Resemblance: The mystery woman in the old photo who may be Audrey's mother looks exactly like her.
    • Turns out the woman actually is Audrey.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Duke seems to be dragged between the various factions, despite his best attempts for some straight answers.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Averted with Nathan. When his father does pay him a compliment he seems more angered by it than pleased. Of course, one must note that said compliment was his ability to shoot a shapeshifter impersonating his partner in cold blood.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: Duke's father. Since he possessed the ability to completely remove Troubled powers by killing one member of the family, he believed he could stop them entirely. Makes you wonder why he wanted Audrey dead. He expects Duke to do the same, though Duke is understandably reluctant.
  • What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: The sandwich. You know what I'm talking about.
  • What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Dwight's power is to attract bullets. This can be great during a firefight for those standing next to him but really sucks for him.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Nathan calls Audrey out on not telling the chief "everything's going to be all right" when his powers run away from him, as she's done with every other Troubled person. Audrey apparently didn't do it because the chief knew it wouldn't work.
    • Audrey often calls out people who omit the fact that they know something about Lucy or Sarah.
  • With a Friend and a Stranger: Duke, Nathan and Audrey.
  • Wham! Line: Said to Audrey in the first season finale. "I'm Special Agent Audrey Parker. Who the hell are you?"
    • The message from his father that Duke finds in "Business As Usual". "Duke- If you’re reading this, then I haven’t survived. You are my Son. My heir. It’s up to you to finish my work. You must kill her." Attached to the letter is a picture of Audrey.
    • Non-verbal one in the second season finale. The man with the tattoo that will evidently kill Duke? Nathan.
  • When Trees Attack
  • Wipe That Smile Off Your Face: A victim in "Sketchy" is subjected to this and turned into The Blank.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: The antagonist of "Fear and Loathing" is planning on destroying the whole town for mistreating him. The person who originally made the Artifact of Doom in the 18th century counts too. Your mileage may vary on how much of a woobie they were though since neither one of them had any real regard for the loss of life. The modern version of the antagonist destroys a school building while people are inside.
  • You Are What You Hate: The Troubled in the season 2 finale is one of Driscoll's followers out to wipe out the Troubled. Learning that he's one of them doesn't change this.
  • You Killed My Father: Lucy Ripley killed Simon Crocker. Unusually for this trope, Duke doesn't seem to want revenge on Audrey.