Haven Season 5, episode 17 review: Enter Sandman

Enter Sandman could be considered a lesson in why Audrey shouldn’t be nice to people all the time. Remember back in episode 15, Power, where Audrey was considerate to the Sandman’s feelings? Well dude went and developed a crush on her. In this episode he has her trapped in one of his dreamless sleeps where he’s trying to get her to marry him.

I have to say this plot was one of my least favourites of all 5 seasons of Haven. I actually caught myself contemplating the state of my cuticles during the dream scenes and only gave my full attention during Duke’s walkabout subplot. This never happens to me when I’m watching Haven, so the Sandman’s effects must be at play here.

His story was a bit of a snooze fest: Troubled guy has a crush on a girl because she showed him a tiny bit of care in a world where nobody knows his name. He would have been better off taking a trip to the Cheers Bar if he wanted that kind of recognition as, not even Dwight, the leader of the Guard knows Sandman’s real name.

Dwight ineffectively threatens Sandman if he doesn’t release Audrey and the other hostages but of course Sandman has the upper hand, no one can enter his dream world without an invitation. If he dies his victims die too. He can control them in his world and kill them if he wants. This gives Charlotte a crazy idea to get an invite. It would have worked if she hadn’t lost all her memories as soon as she entered the dreamscape.

Luckily the power of Nathan’s words as he talks to a comatose Audrey in the real world helps dreamscape Audrey to get her act together and talk Sandman down. All’s well that ends well except for the death of a few people who were trapped in the dreamscape.

Duke’s walkabout

Meanwhile outside of Haven, Duke is still on walkabout. In the previous episode, he was trapped in a storage container by Hailie. This week he’s rescued by Ghost Hunter, Seth who is investigating the story of a woman who passed through a shipping container.

Duke is happy to see Seth but Seth doesn’t know him. He’s never heard of Audrey, Nathan or the Troubles. The memories are in Seth’s head and Duke eventually gets him to remember to the point where they decide to take a road trip to find the person who claims to be able to cure people of the curse of the black oil. Sounds like aether but will the trip pay off? I hope we find out next week.

I’m beginning to wonder if Haven being wiped off the map isn’t another one of Duke’s Troubles. He wanted so badly to leave Haven behind that maybe he’s managed to make the town disappear to the outside world. That could explain why he managed to help Seth get his memories of Haven back and why Seth can only remember if he’s around Duke. I dunno, I’m just guessing.

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