Haven — “Chosen” Review. Mother Knows Best?

Season 5, Episode 13 (mid-season finale)

Air Date: Friday, December 5, 2014 at 7/6c on Syfy

Rating: ★★★★★

“It seems like you would do anything to save this town, Audrey…then we might have one solution.” – Charlotte

This season of Haven has been nothing short of a roller coaster of emotions and shocking twists. When we began season five, we all thought Audrey (Emily Rose) was lost and only her evil doppelgänger Mara (Emily Rose) remained. Turns out, Mara is the original of all the various incarnations of Audrey—from Veronica to Sarah, to Lucy and finally back to Audrey, these personalities are somehow connected. Inside all of us, we have varying degrees of our true selves. We have a sweet side, dark side, shy side, and so on, but some are more prevalent. In Mara’s case, her Audrey persona couldn’t be pushed down and eventually split off into a separate entity. There are complications with this split – Audrey is a shell of a person and isn’t able to sustain her own existence. So when Charlotte (guest star Laura Mennell), who we learned in “Chemistry” is actually Mara’s mother, tells Audrey she needs to be rejoined with Mara, it makes sense. You aren’t the same when you lose a piece of yourself and in this instance, Mara hasn’t merely lost a body part. Charlotte says it best, “Mara’s personality has been overlaid so many times, I think the goodness that is in Audrey has been leeched out of Mara.” Charlotte is convinced her daughter Mara wasn’t always evil like she is now.

Rose gives such a stellar performance as both Mara and Audrey come face to face for the first time since the split. The way Rose completely transforms herself into a seemingly heartless and cruel Mara is compelling. But her transition from Audrey to Mara in the same scene is outstanding. These two women are like night and day. It can be difficult for any actress to pull off such a wide range of emotions, but Rose’s performance is seamless.

Nathan (Lucas Bryant), of course, is opposed to the very idea of losing Audrey but what choice does he have? As the saying goes, ‘if you love someone, set them free.’ The mere notion of Audrey’s personality fighting its way out of Mara once before induces hope, so who’s to say when Audrey is merged with Mara that Audrey won’t shine through again?

Learning why Mara is doing what she’s doing with all the “troubles,” and why she created them in the first place, is as simple as any child rebelling against their parent. What upsets me is how un-extraordinary the reasons are. The conversation between mother and daughter is revealing but doesn’t fully answer the questions at hand. And while Charlotte seems to be on the side of the town of Haven, I believe, deep down, something is still amiss.

Vince (Richard Donat) and Dave (John Dunsworth) go on a little nature hike after Dave has another vision. The vision isn’t of some far off place but closer to home – Haven. The mystery behind Dave and his strange visions is still unclear but as they approach the area shown in his flashback, I am beginning to see a pattern emerge. As with all the visions we’ve been shown – the woods, dark clouds rolling in, and the word “Croatoan” carved into trees and now rocks – what happens at the end of “Chosen” begins to feel like déjà vu.

Dwight (Adam Copeland) struggles with the realization about who Charlotte is. After their romantic encounter in “Chemistry,” I’m not surprised he’s hurt. He feels betrayed, and in a way, he has been. Charlotte never meant to stay in Haven after she finished dealing with Mara. But I do believe her when she says she used the “aether” and conducted all the tests on the troubled people to figure out a way to help them.

Duke (Eric Balfour) is still a ticking time bomb. He’s walking, talking aether, and that’s scary. I fear for Duke. His ease at wanting to go into a “thinnie” with Mara frightens me. He’s just as diligent about saving Haven as Audrey. He’s willing to go into a void of who knows what so he doesn’t “explode” a mass of troubles on the town.

Overall

“Chosen” wraps up the first half of season five but still leaves many questions left unanswered. I have a feeling the next 13 episodes will be Haven’s final ones. Writing this makes me sad. Season five of Haven truly upped the ante and the writers took us on an epic adventure into a world of mystery, suspense, and doubt. They also gave us laughter – come on, that “gibberish” trouble was brilliant, and acted so eloquently by Balfour. The writers put us in the mood by giving us ample amounts of steamy action and all that “pancake” making. But “Chosen” ends in a way that seems very difficult to continue for more than one more season. Many loose ends are being looped together to eventually be tied up. All I’ll say is they better not kill Duke. His connection with Audrey, as mentioned in past seasons, is strong. They both have similar convictions about saving the town of Haven – that can’t be a coincidence.

What did you think of “Chosen?” What did you think of the tsunami of aether raining down on Haven? Leave me a comment below or tweet me @judybopp. I’d love to hear from you!

Haven returns with all new episodes in 2015. Stay tuned for updates.

For more on Haven, go to http://www.syfy.com/haven.

Follow the show on Twitter @Syfy, as well as cast members @EmilyroseLA, @EricBalfour, @TheLucasBryant, @davehaven, and @vincehaven. For Eric Balfour fans – follow @EricBalfourfans.

LIKE Haven on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/haven.

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Judy Manning

Dream chaser extraordinaire! Judy tends to be a tad sarcastic and kind of goofy! She is an avid admirer of all things supernatural, paranormal, celestial and mystical. She loves to read, write, and watches way too much TV. She enjoys many genres of film and music (and let's be honest, most music from the 80s). She also has a wicked sweet tooth. Cupcakes beware.