Haven: Season 5 Discussion (Spoilers)

[RJDiogenes]

They don't really use the Stephen King connection at all to sell the series. It's not called Stephen King's Haven. Do they even use his name in the advertising? I haven't noticed. It seems like it's been a long time since they even mentioned The Colorado Kid.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

^They still do. Especially in the promos leading into a fresh season.

"Based on Stephen King's 'The Colorado Kid'..."

 

[RJDiogenes]

Do they? I don't even notice. Well, at least it's not part of the logo. I'd probably notice that. Maybe.

 

[Aragorn]

So... what are the odds that the biggest guest starring name is behind this latest two-parter ghost trouble?

 

[1001001]

All they have to do is sweep the town with anyon particles!! It's so obvious...

 

[Admiral2]

To me, Haven is the cheapest hill ticket that the producers of the show could actually afford to the Stephen King universe. Just because their ticket only grants them access to The Colorado Kid, they haven't let that stop them from enjoying the larger King-verse from their little corner in the cheap seats.

I love all of the little Easter eggs to King's other stuff -- Shawshank, Misery, the Dark Tower mythology -- because that's what the author does himself, sprinkling in references to other places and people from his various works into his short stories and novels. Haven is definitely a loose adaptation of the original novel but it is also the most "Stephen King" entrenched of any adaptation I've ever seen of his work and I think that alone deserves a small bit of praise.

How do "easter eggs" of Shawshank and Misery entrench this series more in King's work than the actual movie adaptaions of those books? Or how does a loose tv adaption feel more entrenched than things King himself wrote specifically for tv, like Storm of the Century?

Because by referencing the other stories -- and in the case of the Dark Tower, its symbols and larger mythology -- Haven suggests a larger world than what we see on the show. Shawshank prison exists, the Misery novel series exists, thinnies exist. A majority of the time, King litters his novels and shorter works with allusions to the multiverse of the Dark Tower or call-backs to Castlerock or Derry and the events therein.

What King does in his prose, his quasi-continuity, is what Haven's producers are attempting to tap into with their Easter eggs and, to my knowledge, no other King adaptation -- be it TV series, mini-series, or theatrical release -- has ever really attempted to capture with such a far-reaching net. How Haven is more entrenched in the world(s) of Stephen King than the films you mentioned is the way Haven fully embraces the King mythos while other adaptations limited themselves to just the story at hand.

As for Storm of the Century, since King himself wrote this and not based on an earlier work, this mini-series cannot be applied to my earlier statement that "[Haven] is also the most "Stephen King" entrenched of any adaptation I've ever seen of his work" since it isn't an adaptation.

So Haven's writers steal one of King's gimmicks and that makes Haven more of a King story than something that's faithfully adapted from an actual story?

That's asinine. That's like saying Murder, She Wrote is a better Agatha Christie adaptation than the Poirot series because the old lady who plays Jessica Fletcher also played Miss Jane Marple once.

The best adaptations are ones where you recognize the original author's work throughout the production. If all that's recognizable of King in Haven is a penchant for literary name-dropping It does not qualify as a King adaptation at all, much less one as good as Shawshank or Misery.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

^Please read through my earlier posts. Never did I call Haven "high quality" or "best" of the King adaptations that have been filmed. I called it a "loose" adaptation, and that's being generous.

All I have been suggesting is that Haven has taken advantage of its licensing of a King novel in a way that few if any of the other series or movies based on his work have ever done. Namely, by incorporating the larger King mythos into the Haven series through a sprinkling of references to his other work and Dark Tower mythology into various episodes. I enjoy this aspect of the show, probably more so than the weak storylines or silly plots of their Troubles of the week.

You're arguing with me about the quality of the show itself and comparing it to superior adaptations, when I'm simply pointing out one slim feature of the show that I think is unique to Haven. Misery and the Shawshank Redemption are both miles better than Haven: No one is arguing otherwise.

 

[1001001]

So, does Dave have alternate-universe Ebola or something? We've got the CDC on the case now.

What is the deal with Duke and Mara? Did he really "save" her on purpose, to have his own version of Audrey?

Why does she want the book so badly?

 

[Velocity]

Are Dave and Mara from the same place or are there lots of alternate universes that converge at Haven? Haven's a hub! And maybe Manteo?

 

[RJDiogenes]

Dave and Vince's antics at the hospital were pretty funny, but then it all turned ominous with the arrival of the CDC. I guess they weren't so successful at getting rid of the pathology sample. He must have some pathogen from the other universe that's so alien that the CDC is freaking out; either that or that black goo that Mara uses is some kind of biotechnology and he has some in his system.

I don't know if there are multiple other dimensions or what. There doesn't seem to be any consistent description of what conditions are like on the other side. I hope we get a look at the other side of a Thinny before too long.

 

[1001001]

Dave and Vince's antics at the hospital were pretty funny, but then it all turned ominous with the arrival of the CDC. I guess they weren't so successful at getting rid of the pathology sample. He must have some pathogen from the other universe that's so alien that the CDC is freaking out; either that or that black goo that Mara uses is some kind of biotechnology and he has some in his system.

I don't know if there are multiple other dimensions or what. There doesn't seem to be any consistent description of what conditions are like on the other side. I hope we get a look at the other side of a Thinny before too long.

It seems like there is another world, somewhat "normal", that we saw in the memory of William and Mara swimming in a lake. There also seems to be some kind of "prison" (used loosely) that they sent William back to.

It seems that these two were punished by whatever laws govern their world, which indicates to me the other side might be a decent place (they don't tolerate this interference). But Dave is so terrified of going back...was he pulled into the "prison" environment?

I don't know if that makes sense or not...it is Haven after all...

 

[RJDiogenes]

Yeah, whatever Dave is being pulled into is not pleasant. But he was just a child when he came here, so it's not likely he would be in prison. Unless he was born there. Maybe he's Mara's kid.

 

[propita]

Based on you guys here, I stuck with the show. But I must've missed an episode, because I don't know why Dave was in the hospital (I saw the one with CDC-lady running around and teddy bears).

I did like them using "Chris Brody," and that he's a shark expert. Oh, Sheriff Brody, if you had known what moving to Amity Island meant, you'd never have moved there!

Best line: When the people are running away screaming from the sight of Eve's dad, and Dwight says, "That's just the locals. They get upset when places run out of lobster." Not an exact quote, but pretty good.

 

[Jono]

When Nathan said he'd set up a secret ward I thought it would be in a more secret and hard to find place than the morgue in the hospital the CDC lady is hanging around in. Actually a bit surprised that don't have an off-site clinic already set up so that they don't have to bring people with particularly dangerous troubles into the main hospital.

Hopefully Duke isn't going down the stupid route and just blindly trusting and believing Mara and that he has a plan.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Based on you guys here, I stuck with the show. But I must've missed an episode, because I don't know why Dave was in the hospital (I saw the one with CDC-lady running around and teddy bears).

He was almost sucked into a Thinny a couple of times, so he's got an abscess and an interdimensional infection-- but the reason he was actually in the hospital was because of a car accident they were in while visiting Roanoke.

 

[1001001]

Hopefully Duke isn't going down the stupid route and just blindly trusting and believing Mara and that he has a plan.

I hope so too. They've spent a lot of time redeeming his character. I'm still not clear as to why he thinks the others don't have his back. Dwight went off on him and Nathan, but his perspective is perfectly understandable from where he's sitting.

The bears were pretty freaky!

 

[RJDiogenes]

I think Mara is right that Duke has the hots for her. And, meanwhile, Dwight is being influenced by his crush on the CDC doc. Now they know how Nathan felt!

 

[Velocity]

why were the bears taking off their heads and showing either nothing or a half a zombie head?

 

[Aragorn]

If anyone's still watching, William Shatner has been cast in a recurring role.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Duke is playing her.

Mara has contempt and no respect, but women often mistake vaginal hubris for pussy pride.