The second half of Haven‘s fifth and final season picks up right where the first half left off. The evil Mara may be gone, but she managed to get the last laugh before she left—she turned Duke Crocker (Eric Balfour) into Trouble bomb to wreak havoc on Haven by releasing hundreds of new Troubles on the townsfolk. She also created a fog wall surrounding the town that prevents anyone from getting in or out. This adds to the panic in town, and as a result, the increased emotions activates even more Troubles.

The only person who is immune to these new Troubles (and the wall) is Duke, but he is so distraught over his part in what has happened, that he leaves town. However, Duke soon discovers that no one outside of Haven has even heard of the town or remembers that it exists, and can’t recall anything about any time they may have spent there. Meanwhile, back in Haven, Nathan (Lucas Bryant), Audrey (Emily Rose) and Dwight (Adam Copeland), try to keep the peace, and must finally let the whole town in on what they are really dealing with—this time it can’t be explained away as a “gas leak”.

As Audrey and her mother Charlotte (Laura Mennell) try to come up with a cure for the Troubles, a more imminent threat arises. There is a Trouble that kills anyone who is in total darkness…and the town’s power grid is starting to fail. Can the people of Haven come together and utilize their Troubles to help them survive long enough to find a cure…or at least until they can stop this latest killer?!

I had not seen the final season of Havenwhen it originally aired, so this Blu-ray set was my first experience with these final 13 episodes. I was hooked right away, and found myself immediately jumping to the next episode as each one finished. These final 13 episodes are highly-serialized, with most of the episodes being two-parters, so it makes for great binge-watching. As each episode ends with some big revelation or cliffhanger, you immediately want to see where the show goes next.

The writers have done a great job of not only introducing interesting new Troubles for the people of Haven to deal with, but also bringing back a lot of familiar characters and Troubles from past seasons to help tie everything together for the final season. And in addition to the returning characters, we also get some fun new guest stars, like William Shatner! As our main heroes try to come up with a solution to end the troubles once and for all, the series revisits the Croatoan storyline that was introduced in the first half of the season. Who is this person, what do they want, and how can they stop him?

While the series is always great at these Trouble-of-the-week storylines, the writers/directors also find creative new ways to tell these stories. Some of the unique episodes that really stick out this season are “Just Passing Through”, which sends some of the characters back in the past (this time to the 1980s); and “Blind Spot”, which utilizes closed circuit security cam footage to tell a suspenseful horror-like story.

I thought the series did a reasonably good job at wrapping things up in this final season. While I did enjoy the overall final tone/resolution to the series, I did have a few issues along the way. First of all, I wasn’t a fan of how the character of Duke was separated from the main action for a large portion of this final season. There was something missing in the overall dynamic without him around. And secondly, I found the final few episodes to be a bit convoluted and confusing at times. It felt like they were trying to wrap up too much in too short of a time and some characters seemed to make sudden 180 degree turns in their personalities and attitudes just so this resolution could be reached.

That said, the pros of this final season definitely outweighed the cons, and I did it enjoy it very much overall. The series does a great job at blending action, humor, mystery and drama to take the viewer on a roller coaster ride of emotions.

The Blu-ray presentation is excellent—the video quality is fantastic, providing clear, detailed picture that captures every detail, and makes the special effects look natural. The audio track is also well done, making use of all channels to add ambiance to what’s happening on screen. Like with previous seasons’ sets, this Blu-ray comes loaded with hours of great bonus features, including writer/producer/director commentaries on every episode, a mythology refresher featurette, 2 Haven Origins shorts, clips from a livestream cast/crew interview as well as other separate interviews, some Humphrey Crocker diary passages, and Inside Haven featurettes for every episode.

What’s Included:
Episodes: (9:18:35)

• All 13 Episodes of the final season:
  “New World Order”, “Power”, “The Trial of Nathan Wuornos”, “Enter Sandman”, “Wild Card”, “Perditus”, “Just Passing Through”, “Close to Home”, “A Matter of Time”, “Blind Spot”, “The Widening Gyre”, “Now”, “Forever”
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English DTS-MA 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

• Audio Commentaries
  As has become customary on these Blu-ray sets, we get audio commentary on every episode, primarily from the writers of each pair of episodes. The participants give some interesting and entertaining behind-the-scenes and production stories as well as take a deeper look into the story and character developments in each episode. The participants are as follows:
  • Ep 14 “New World Order” (43:17)
    Writers Brian Millikin & Nick Parker
  • Ep 15 “Power” (43:10)
    Writers Adam Higgs & Speed Weed
  • Ep 16 “The Trial of Nathan Wuornos” (42:52)
    Writers Speed Weed & Adam Higgs
  • Ep 17 “Enter Sandman” (43:14)
    Writer Shernold Edwards & director Lucas Bryant (“Nathan Wuornos”)
  • Ep 18 “Wild Card” (42:54)
    Writers Brian Millikin & Nick Parker
  • Ep 19 “Perditus” (42:30)
    Star Lucas Bryant and writer Adam Higgs
  • Ep 20 “Just Passing Through” (43:07)
    Director Colin Ferguson and writers Sam Ernst & Jim Dunn
  • Ep 21 “Close to Home” (43:14)
    Writer Joshua Brandon, guest star Colin Ferguson and producer Brian Millikin
  • Ep 22 “A Matter of Time” (43:00)
    Writers Brian Millikin and Joshua Brandon, and guest star Colin Ferguson
  • Ep 23 “Blind Spot” (42:15)
    Writers Nick Parker and Y. Shireen Razack, script coordinator Joshua Brandon, and writers’ PA Bromman Clark
  • Ep 24 “The Widening Gyre” (42:44)
    Writers Nick Parker and Y. Shireen Razack, script coordinator Joshua Brandon, and writers’ PA Bromman Clark
  • Ep 25 “Now” (43:04)
    Writers Gabrielle Stanton and Matt McGuiness
  • Ep 26 “Forever” (43:14)
    Writers Matt McGuiness and Gabrielle Stanton
• Mythology Refresher (4:08)
  A recap of the major events of the first four and a half seasons.
• Haven Origins: Lovers Conquered All (8:36)
  A young woman named Elsa falls in love with a Troubled young man who lives in the sea. Her uncle doesn’t approve of the man, who’s been stealing the fish from his traps, and tries to have him literally hung out to dry.
• Haven Origins: Trust Kills Fear (10:41)
  A young soldier/member of The Guard helps a Troubled mother and daughter with dangerous powers, who are being held in a Japanese relocation camp that was secretly converted into a research facility.
• Haven Revisited: Livestream Segments with the Cast & Crew (11:17)
  Clips from an internet livestreamed Q&A with the cast and crew of the show. Participants include Colin Ferguson (“William”), Lucas Bryant (“Nathan Wuornos”), Emily Rose (“Audrey Parker”), Eric Balfour (“Duke Crocker”), writer Shernold Edwards, and executive producers Shawn Piller and Matt McGuinness. Adam Copeland (“Dwight Hendrickson”) appears via a video screen, and actress Laura Vandervoort is also on the couch, but none of the clips include her responses. It’s fun to see all of these people together—it makes me wish I had seen the full livestream Q&A. Play All or select from “Favorite Episodes”, “Character Direction”, “In the Buff”, “Mythology”, “Versions of Audrey”, “Alternate Haven“, “Adam’s Favorites”, “Jason Priestley” and “Strange Things On Set”.
• Haven Archives: Entries from the Crocker Diaries (6:31)
  A narrator reads entries from Humphrey Crocker 1605 diary as drawings and sound effects bring the stories to life. Play All or select from “Buried”, “Devotion”, “Touch” and “Threads”.
• 13 “Inside Haven” Featurettes (40:36)
  An in-depth look at the series with the cast and executive producers as they discuss the major developments of each episode of season 5B. Participants include executive producers Shawn Piller, Gabrielle Stanton and Matt McGuinness, stars Adam Copeland, Eric Balfour, Lucas Bryant and Emily Rose, and guest star William Shatner (“Croatoan”). Play All or select between “Episode 14”-“Episode 26”.
• Interviews (44:08)
  A collection of fun interviews with the cast and an executive producer. Play All or select from:
  • Lucas Bryant (11:44)
    Segments include “Nathan’s Development”, “The Trial of Nathan Wuornos”, “Extras”, “Colin Ferguson, Director”, “That ’80s Episode” and “Directing”.
  • Eric Balfour (13:46)
    Segments include “Humor in Haven“, “Duke’s Death” and “Saying Goodbye”.
  • William Shatner (3:42)
    Segments include “Why is Haven appealing?”, “Working with the Haven cast”, “Intense Emotional Scenes”, and “What are your favorite moments?”.
  • Adam Copeland (6:52)
    Segments include “Is Haven in Trouble?”, “Apocalyptic Times”, “Changing of the Guard”, “Who is Dwight?”, and “Why is Haven Special?”.
  • Shawn Piller (8:03)
    Segments include “Villains”, “Duke’s Changes”, and “Who is Audrey Parker, really?”.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I really enjoyed this final season of Haven. Not only does it give some exciting episodic Trouble-of-the-week type of storylines, but it also explores the overall mystery of the Troubles, and how to stop them for good. The writers knew going in that this was going to be the end, and so they don’t pull any stops, and no one is truly safe. Each of the major character’s storylines are wrapped up in some way—for better or for worse. And these episodes provide closure to the series in a way that I found somewhat satisfying. The Blu-ray set itself looks and sounds great, and is packed with bonus material. This is an easy recommendation for fans of the series, however, those unfamiliar with the show may have a tough time just jumping in for the final season.