I'm still not buying the premise of Haven and the whole small town with big troubles thing; however, the atmosphere created at the beginning of each episode, as the sci-fi stuff happens, has improved each week. The visuals of food turning to black goo in "Consumed" was a sight to see, both disturbing and engaging. For that and the more fluid incorporation of the resolution, I'd say "Consumed" was one of the better episodes so far, not much but a start.
Currently, we know next to nothing about the troubles even though the name is dropped many times in each episode. And yet, everyone, including Nathan, refuses to give Audrey--or the viewer--any hint about what it may be other than that they're troubling and supernatural.
I just don't understand why Nathan can't be frank about what he does or does not know. Here's what I would do if I were a dutiful police officer. First, I would actually explain more about the troubles outside out the obvious. Then, I'd go through police reports, newspaper stories, and that sort of thing to find events possibly relating to the troubles. After that, I'd go through reports of recent troubles activity, and try to find out what's connecting everything.
From the first four episodes, wild, freaky occurrences have happened, all relating to certain people and their feelings on something. Why? I'm fine with writers dangling stuff out there, but we know NOTHING. It's incredibly irritating to have people going on about the troubles when we have no clue about it. And Audrey, the person who should care the most, doesn't seem to care either. Why won't she push Nathan, who keeps on saying "the troubles are back?"
Haven will continue to be a forgettable show until it injects intelligence into the main characters and gets them to tackle the central mystery head on. We're stuck in the rut of mystery of the week episodes when, clearly, there is an obvious solution: find out what the troubles are and stop it.
Score: 7.5/10
