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Info:
  • TV Series: Haven
  • Episode: Fur
  • Starring: Emily Rose, Lucas Bryant, and Eric Balfour
  • Written By: Jim Dunn
  • Directed By: Keith Samples
  • Network: Syfy
  • Series:

Haven: Fur Review

Coming To Life

By Rob Vaux     August 15, 2010


Haven Review
© Syfy/Bob Trate

 

Haven finally gets its game together this week, only to drop the ball in the final ten minutes. For the first time, its disparate elements come together with a competent mystery, an intriguing hook and--at last--a tie-in to the “Troubles” which everyone keeps yammering about. A pity they couldn’t quite stick the landing.
 
By now, diminished expectations have allowed the show’s modest charms to flourish, as Agent Parker (Emily Rose) continues to charm our socks off, and the dialogue provides some basic cleverness to enjoy amid the normally abysmal plotting. “Fur” adds a solid little story to those assets. Members of the local hunt club turn up with their throats ripped out, the victims of a vicious animal attack. Director Keith Samples flirts with a few clichéd explanations (the first attack takes place during a full moon) before settling on a moderately nifty explanation for it all.
 
He also adds plenty of intrigue by focusing on multiple suspects… something earlier episodes could never figure out. The hunt club itself sports a number of internal conflicts, while the local environmentalist has been causing problems (and may be a witch to boot). Samples establishes them with a fair amount of confidence, and doesn’t tip his hand as to the true culprit.
 
That, in turn, feeds into the eventual explanation for the murders. While it ultimately adheres to the old “town resident with powers he didn’t know he had” shtick, it carries a nifty, unexpected ringer and avoids the sense of arbitrariness which dogged previous episodes. Samples imbues it with proper dramatic structure as well: tension rises agreeably throughout the episode before reaching a climax and dissipating. It sounds simple, but Haven has proven so incapable of conjuring it that its presence here constitutes a pleasant surprise.
 
And along the way, “Fur” manages to shed a little more light on the Troubles as well. Not that any questions are answered, but minor characters make note of it and the figures at the heart of the episode become linked to it in tangible ways. It succeeds in heightening the intrigue around the issue, while affirming Haven’s status as a “different” community. The cool implications in the opening credits find fertile ground in the actual episode for the first time: something we’ve been waiting for, but haven’t seen until now. The show needed to drop such hints far earlier in its run. As it stands, “Fur” is forced to play catch-up, a burden it really doesn’t deserve.
 
The sole fly in the ointment comes with the finale, which is as arbitrary and tone-deaf as those of previous episodes. The culprit possesses as suitable backstory and Samples sets the stage well enough, but the necessary punch all but vanishes during the big reveal, creating a dreadful sense of let-down. (The episode demands a number of visual effects as well, which it clearly doesn’t have the budget to properly develop. But such a flaw would be much easier to forgive had the episode wrapped things up more elegantly.)
 
Luckily, the denouement restores “Fur’s” credentials a little bit, painting a larger picture of Haven within the context of this week’s story. It cuts the sting of the episode’s big failing, aided by another winning turn from Rose in the lead. The episode also conjures another bit of magic which the show had lacked until now: it actually resembles a Stephen King story. King’s name holds a prominent place in the credits, though it often smacked of cynical marketing more than a genuine acknowledgment. “Fur” feels of a kind with his efforts: maybe not the best of them, but interesting enough to at least justify the exercise. Haven hasn’t done too well thus far, making minor victories like this one all the more precious.
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karas1 8/15/2010 5:34:55 PM

I agree it was a better than average episode of Haven, making use of various reoccuring characters and townsfolk in an interesting and relevant manner.

The solution to the mystery is far out, even for Haven.

Do you notice that all 3 Syfy series take place in the north?  Haven is in Maine.  Eureka is in the Pacific North West somewhere.  The Warehouse is in either North or South Dakota.  Aren't there any quirky communities in the south?  I hear they can be pretty quirky in Louisiana.

LittleNell1824 8/16/2010 4:29:48 AM

I assum the northern placement for all three shows is because they're filming at the less expensive Vancouver studios.

Butchman 8/16/2010 3:38:41 PM

I actually thought this was the worst show of the season. This show has only been hanging by a thread for me but this episode I found very boring and is actually making me think about dropping the show altogether. too bad there is nothing else on on Fridays to take its place.

How about a review for True Blood? This has been the best season yet and this last episode was phenomenal!

 

InnerSanctum 8/20/2010 4:40:38 PM

 I just watched this show.  I think you are confusing intrigue for boredom.  What a waste of time.  If this is the "show at it's best", I'll just continue to avoid a majority of SyFy TV.  

InnerSanctum 8/20/2010 4:43:04 PM

 BTW, can SyFy not bring itself to rise above camp?  Saw the preview of Lake Placid 3.  They got the town sheriff from Eureka to be the, um, town sheriff in LP3.  He didn't even have to change his clothes when he walked off the set from his show into this SyFy rubbish.  Why not save your budget and make a couple of really GOOD movies and not attempt LP4.  I'd rather watch Twilight Zone reruns.  

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