Safe Haven

[swan_tower]

Over the past few months I worked my way through the five seasons of the TV show Haven. In its core structure, it’s basically Yet Another Procedural: each week there’s a mystery, the heroes investigate, the mystery is solved by the end of the episode. But the premise of this one is speculative — an FBI agent discovers weird things going on in a small Maine town — and spec-fic shows usually pair their procedural-ness with at least some degree of metaplot, which I find myself really craving these days. So I figured I would give it a shot.

And for the most part, the structure is indeed conventional. Weird Thing Happens. Audrey Parker (the FBI agent) and Nathan Wuornos (the local cop) investigate. The problem is inevitably being caused by the Troubles, a set of supernatural afflictions that plague many residents of Haven. Our heroes find the Troubled person responsible —

— and then they help that person.

I mean, every so often they do have to arrest somebody or it even ends in death. But overwhelmingly, the focus is on solving the Troubles, not punishing them. In many cases, the person responsible doesn’t realize they’re the source of that week’s weird thing; when they do know, they’re often terrified and unable to stop their Trouble from hurting people. These supernatural abilities trigger because of emotional stimuli, so week after week, you watch Audrey untangle the threads of someone’s psychology until she figures out that they need to accept the fact that a loved one is gone or reconcile with an estranged friend or admit the secret that’s eating away at them, and when they do, their Trouble lets go.

It is amazingly refreshing, after all the procedural shows I’ve seen that involve people with guns using those guns to solve their problems. (There’s a key moment late in the series when the entire Haven PD gets sent out to manage a big outburst of Troubles, and they literally get a speech from the police chief about how the people causing problems aren’t the enemy and need to be helped, not beaten down.) In fact, it’s so refreshing that I was willing to forgive the show’s other flaws. The scripts are often no better than okay, and for the first four seasons the characters are remarkably incurious about the metaplot: they accept that the Troubles show up every twenty-seven years, Audrey is somehow connected to them, etc, but it takes them forever to get around to asking why, much less making a serious effort to find the answers. (In the fifth season the show dives headfirst into the metaplot, and the results are less than satisfying.) Furthermore, if you’re looking for characters of color, you basically won’t find them here. Haven does a pretty poor job in general with secondary characters, often getting rid of them after one season; I can only think of two people who get added to the cast after the first episode that stick around instead of getting booted out of the plot.

But the character dynamics are pretty engaging, some of the episodes have a pretty clever premise . . . and it’s a show about helping people. About resolving problems through addressing their underlying causes. About how, if somebody has a Trouble but they’ve figured out ways to manage it without hurting anybody, you clap them on the back and move on to someone who’s having more difficulty. There’s a good-hearted quality to the show’s basic concept that kept me interested even when I could have been watching something with better dialogue but less compassion.

More compassion, please. We need it.

Originally published at Swan Tower. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[sovay]

These supernatural abilities trigger because of emotional stimuli, so week after week, you watch Audrey untangle the threads of someone’s psychology until she figures out that they need to accept the fact that a loved one is gone or reconcile with an estranged friend or admit the secret that’s eating away at them, and when they do, their Trouble lets go.

That is so on the nose it's barely a metaphor, but I like it.

[swan_tower]

Oh, subtlety is not one of this show's strong points. And they do eventually get around to providing a reason for why the Troubles are so on-point about people's psychological issues, though -- see my comments about the metaplot -- it takes them four seasons to get there.

[sovay]

And they do eventually get around to providing a reason for why the Troubles are so on-point about people's psychological issues, though -- see my comments about the metaplot -- it takes them four seasons to get there.

Did you end up liking the explanation at all, or does it work better when everything is a free-floating psychological metaphor?

(The other thing this is making me think of is Mushishi.)

[swan_tower]

I'm fine with the first-order explanation, which has to do with how the Troubles started. It's the second-order explanation that falls down for me, which has to do with why the Troubles started. If that makes sense. (I can go into more detail if you want, presuming you don't mind spoilers.)

(The other thing this is making me think of is Mushishi.)

I'm not familiar with that one, but having just looked it up on Wikipedia -- yeah, the core premise and attitude seem to be very similar.

[sovay]

(I can go into more detail if you want, presuming you don't mind spoilers.)

I almost never mind spoilers. Hit me.

I'm not familiar with that one, but having just looked it up on Wikipedia -- yeah, the core premise and attitude seem to be very similar.

I've only seen the first series of the anime (the second did not exist at the time), but I really recommend it. It has a slightly incomplete feeling to go with its dreamlike problem-solving, but not in a way that I mind.

[swan_tower]

Gur Gebhoyrf jbex gur jnl gurl qb orpnhfr gur crbcyr jub perngrq gurz naq vasyvpgrq gurz ba gur erfvqragf bs Unira gubhtug vg jnf gur urvtug bs ragregnvazrag gb guvax hc jrveq-nff guvatf gb qb gb crbcyr naq gvr gurz va jvgu pregnva cflpubybtvpny gevttref. Juvpu, bxnl: fnqvfgvp nffubyrf n yvggyr gbb sbaq bs vebal, purpx. (Naq vs lbh'er gur fbeg bs crefba vapyvarq gb frr n zrgncube sbe jevgvat va gung, lbh qba'g unir gb fdhvag irel uneq.) Ohg jub jrer gurfr crbcyr naq jul jrer gurl noyr gb qb fhpu n guvat? Jryy, gurl unq guvf oynpx tbbrl fhofgnapr pnyyrq nrgure, juvpu pbzrf sebz gur Ibvq, juvpu vf gur fcnpr gung rkvfgf orgjrra jbeyqf, orpnhfr bu lrnu gubfr crbcyr jrer sebz nabgure jbeyq . . . naq abj lbh'er vagb gur cneg bs gur zrgncybg gung srryf yvxr vg tbg chyyrq sebz orgjrra fbzrbar'f purrxf nobhg guerr frnfbaf vagb gur fubj.

[sovay]

Jryy, gurl unq guvf oynpx tbbrl fhofgnapr pnyyrq nrgure, juvpu pbzrf sebz gur Ibvq, juvpu vf gur fcnpr gung rkvfgf orgjrra jbeyqf, orpnhfr bu lrnu gubfr crbcyr jrer sebz nabgure jbeyq . . .

Lrnu, nf ybat nf V jnf fhqqrayl vairagvat rkcynangvbaf, V'z abg fher V jbhyq unir tbar jvgu "znyribyrag nyvraf" bire "jrveq vagrenpgvba bs gur ybpny ynaqfpncr jvgu gur uhzna zvaq."

[swan_tower]

Znyribyrag nyvraf ng yrnfg unir gur aneengvir orarsvg bs cbffrffvat uhzna-fglyr zbgvingvbaf, juvpu gur punenpgref pna vagrenpg jvgu va rnfvyl-pbzcerurafvoyr jnlf. Sbe GI, gung'f hfhnyyl pbafvqrerq n srngher, orpnhfr tbvat sbe gur yrff-pbzcerurafvoyr "vagrenpgvba jvgu fbzr xvaq bs vzcrefbany sbepr" vf uneqre gb chyy bss va gung zrqvhz. Ohg gura gurer'f guvf jubyr snzvyl-qenzn ynlre bs gur Gebhoyr-pnhfvat cnve univat orra rkvyrq gb bhe jbeyq orpnhfr bs fghss naq guvatf naq fbzrubj guvf eryngrf gb gur sngure bs bar bs gurz qbvat rkcrevzragf jvgu nrgure naq gur fubj znxrf n fhcerzryl hapbaivapvat rssbeg gb gvr gung vagb gur sngr bs gur Ebnabxr Pbybal, juvpu vf n cybg fgenaq gung jvaqf hc tbvat abjurer . . . lrnu. Vg snyyf ncneg n ovg. Ohg juvyr vg'f snyyvat ncneg lbh trg gur crbcyr bs Unira onaqvat gbtrgure naq gelvat gb yrirentr gur yrff qnatrebhf Gebhoyrf va hfrshy jnlf, fb gung cneg'f pbby.

[sovay]

Znyribyrag nyvraf ng yrnfg unir gur aneengvir orarsvg bs cbffrffvat uhzna-fglyr zbgvingvbaf, juvpu gur punenpgref pna vagrenpg jvgu va rnfvyl-pbzcerurafvoyr jnlf.

Frr, sbe zr gung graqf gb or n oht jvgu nyvra punenpgrevmngvbaf, abg n srngher. V haqrefgnaq vg znxrf n ybg bs crbcyr srry orggre nobhg nyvraf, ohg vg znxrf zr srry jbefr nobhg gur aneengvir.

(Every now and then rot13 spits out something that looks like a real word and "aneengvir" is one of these. I like it.)

naq gur fubj znxrf n fhcerzryl hapbaivapvat rssbeg gb gvr gung vagb gur sngr bs gur Ebnabxr Pbybal

BXNL GURA.

[swan_tower]

Frr, sbe zr gung graqf gb or n oht jvgu nyvra punenpgrevmngvbaf, abg n srngher. V haqrefgnaq vg znxrf n ybg bs crbcyr srry orggre nobhg nyvraf, ohg vg znxrf zr srry jbefr nobhg gur aneengvir.

Gurl'er nyvraf bayl va gur frafr bs orvat sebz n cnenyyry jbeyq. Gurl'er fgvyy uhzna-funcrq naq uhzna-zbgvingrq, pna vagreoerrq jvgu uhznaf sebz guvf jbeyq, rgp. Fb gur fubj arire nvzf sbe fbzrguvat orlbaq uhzna xra.

. . . naq gung'f cebonoyl whfg nf jryy, fvapr V qba'g guvax gurl jbhyq unir qbar n irel tbbq wbo jvgu vg unq gurl gevrq.

[sovay]

Gurl'er nyvraf bayl va gur frafr bs orvat sebz n cnenyyry jbeyq.

BXNL GURA ERQHK.

[mindstalk]

Have you played RPGs like that? You could in almost any, of course, but Blue Rose lends itself to it, and Golden Sky Stories is basically that as core premise. Well, "helping people", not so much the specific Troubled Individuals thing.

I think Buffy occasionally had "solve the problem" episodes along with "kill the monster" ones.

[ladybird97]

Oh, yes, Golden Sky Stories! I love that game - it's so hopeful and comforting.

If you're looking for other media like that, the Squirrel Girl comics often follow that pattern, too: Squirrel Girl resolves the situation not by beating up the villain, but by talking to them, figuring out what's bothering them, and helping them through the problem.

[swan_tower]

Buffy did have that occasionally, yeah.

RPG-wise, I think we own Blue Rose, but I've never heard of Golden Sky Stories.

[yhlee]

One of the things I liked about Angel S1 was that it was about helping people--and Angel & friends helping themselves by helping others. Then the rest of the seasons happened (for good or ill). :p

[swan_tower]

It's been so long since I watched that show -- was it generally about helping the people who were causing the problems? Or were they mostly helping people by fighting the monsters causing the problems?

[yhlee]

I suspect the latter, but it's been so long, I don't remember either...

[carbonel]

I gave up on Haven in the fourth season. I was dubious about the Evil Audrey, but it was the pencil through the eye that was the last straw. I have a major squick about impalement, but even without that, it was the utter casualness of that particular murder. I was pretty sure that wasn't anything I could come back from.

Given that, do you recommend that I go back to it and try again?

[swan_tower]

I actually don't remember the pencil through the eye. Remind me of the context?

And do you want spoilers or not with my thoughts on what happens after?

[carbonel]

I don't remember the exact plot that led to the pencil through the eye, but it was basically a non-essential character (don't even remember if it was a named character) who was blocking Evil Audrey's path to whatever she wanted. And she just said something like "I've had enough of this," and wham!pencil. This, IIRC, was after she got all her memories back and informed the people who'd done it that the evil version was the real version.

And yes, spoilers are fine for this show.

[swan_tower]

rot13'd:

Znen (Rivy Nhqerl) qbrf riraghnyyl tb njnl. V qba'g erpnyy jurgure gur cneg jurer lbh fgbccrq vf orsber be nsgre Nhqerl trgf fcyvg bhg sebz ure, ohg gura gurer ner zrgnculfvpny ernfbaf jul gurl pna'g obgu rkvfg ng bapr, naq Znen jvaqf hc yrggvat gur cnegf bs ure gung ner jbegu fnyintvat or ernofbeorq vagb Nhqerl.

Ohg orsber fur tbrf, fur syvcf gurz gur oveq bar ynfg gvzr ol gheavat Qhxr vagb n xvaq bs gvzr obzo sbe fcernqvat arj Gebhoyrf, juvpu (sebz gur crefcrpgvir bs "jbhyq lbh rawbl guvf be abg") unf obgu tbbq naq onq fvqrf. Gur tbbq: gurer'f n ybg bs fghss nobhg Uniravgrf onaqvat gbtrgure va gur snpr bs pevfvf. Gur onq: gur hygvzngr ivyynva bs gur fubj zvaq-pbagebyf Qhxr vagb "uneirfgvat" Gebhoyrf ol xvyyvat crbcyr, juvpu zvtug obgure lbh. Guvf nyfb yrnqf gb Qhxr'f bja qrngu, va n fprar gung V sbhaq gb or irel cbjreshy, ohg vg jnf qrsvavgryl n qvfgheovat xvaq bs cbjreshy.