Review: Haven pulls off a “Switcheroo”

After a week away from new episodes of Haven, I was antsy to get to the latest in the Audrey-Mara-Nathan saga … and to see what the heck was hiding under Duke’s ball cap.

The first part of Thursday’s “The Old Switcheroo” delivered on both counts. Duke’s new ‘do is a tidy little swept back mane that really frames his face well. Yes, I am having a little bit of fun at Duke’s expense, but geez, I was wondering what was going on under there.

Meanwhile, the mystery with Vince and Dave continued, with the former investigating “Croatoan,” the word the latter had scratched onto a piece of paper. That led Vince to The Old Croatoan Cafe in Manteo, North Carolina, and I groaned. Would a real-life mystery I hoped would be explored within Haven’s mythology be relegated to a place you could grab a lobster roll and soup of the day?

The answer remains unanswered, though there are hints to a tie between members of the Doohan family and what they have to do with Dave. Things were waylaid a bit by the Trouble of the week, which saw Vince and Dave swap bodies and Gloria and Dwight do the same as both pairs shared secrets that made the Trouble manifest. Jayne Eastwood is hilarious as Haven’s coroner anyway, but it was great to see she and Adam “Edge” Copeland swapping bodies so he could mug for the camera for awhile. That darned Dwight has so many responsibilities that Copeland never gets to show the comic side WWE fans know him for (crotch grab, anyone?). Their back and forth about muscle size, going to the gym and taking on each other’s mannerisms–especially Copeland’s take on Gloria–was a welcome respite from the oh-so-serious stuff regarding Mara.

Speaking of Mara, the battle between she and Audrey is going into extra innings. Audrey bled through during the switcheroo investigation and pleaded with Nathan to keep addressing her as Audrey, something he’s more than willing to do. But it was Duke who had the special connection with Audrey (or was it Mara faking?) this episode, as the two recounted their kiss in Colorado and discussed who pulled away from who first. Unfortunately, that little secret between the two of them caused Nathan and Duke to swap places so Nate learned of the smooch. Not good.

Was Mara faking? Will the thinny claim Dave? Hopefully we’ll find out next week.

Haven airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Showcase.

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2 thoughts on “Review: Haven pulls off a “Switcheroo””

  1. The body swap gag is an oldie-but-goodie, and it was fun here too, like Dave continually banging his head while in Vince’s body and wondering how his brother manages to survive at that altitude.

    As to whether Mara was pretending to be Audrey, I’m not so sure. It didn’t SEEM like she was Mara. Even when Nathan-as-Duke got up to leave the cabin and the shot lingered on Audrey for a moment, she didn’t flash a conniving smirk to let us know it was really Mara. But who knows? Maybe Mara is a better actress than I give her credit for. With Duke/Nathan so desperately wanting Audrey back, maybe it wouldn’t require much effort for Mara to pull off Audrey.

    1. I loved the physical comedy in the episode; it was a welcome break. Dave and Vince were really good too and everyone was really good at acting like the other. Eric Balfour was great murmuring in Nathan’s voice.
      It’s true, I noticed that Mara didn’t pull off her usual smirk either, so it may very well be that it’s Audrey.

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