Welcome back Haven fans,
Recently we have seen events in the real world and in Haven continue towards the bizarre!
Recently it was revealed that Reverend Driscoll (Stephen McHattie) is apparently in league teaming up with Evidence “Evi’ Ryan (Vinessa Antoine) against her husband Duke Crocker (Eric Balfour) regarding the details and true nature of the death of Duke’s father!
This little gem of information will play a crucial role later in the episode to setup a future mystery that is Haven. During “Friend or Faux” the character of Duke plays an expanded role in an excellent episode directed by Stephen Reynolds written by Sam Ernst.
We observe, after the opening credits at the beginning, what appears to be two twin brothers named Cornell Stamoran (Cristián de la Fuente). We learn that Cornell is a senior financial officer at a state banking institution. Unfortunately, these two characters do not get along very well.
Pancakes and breakfast are among the topics discussed as we feel the tension between the two grow to explosive dimensions in the opening moments. The pancakes are the least of strangest activities in Haven, being about as normal as things will be in the town today.
As we see a sink full of breakfast refuse, we can clearly see the frustration and friction between the two. At first glance this does not seem out of the ordinary for anyone who has actually met twins.
Ooops, there will be no pancakes or syrup this morning after one of the “Cornell” twins tricks the other during breakfast, shooting the other at point black range in the back of the head! Problem solved? Hardly!
However the so called twin does not die as we find out a few seconds later in the car when the “dead” one holds the other at gun point stating “You know I do not like that” turning the tables on the other forcing Cornell “prime” out of the car.
As a few figured out from the bone crunching sounds after the demise of a ‘Cornell”, the other “Cornell’s” are not real, but are copies or faux persons being recreated for some sinister purpose! Here the word in the title becomes manifest and is where we begin another adventure in Haven, definitely the wackiest and most dangerous town this side of hell!
As the plot thickens, and let me tell you, this episode is a really “out there” in terms of wildness. Critically there is insight into Audrey Parker (Emily Rose) herself with regard to the copied Cornell’s who have the same memories just like Audrey, but not the same experiences!
As we are left to ponder the Cornell’s, the visage moves to the Grey Gull where Duke is in the bar talking with a young fellow named Henry (Connor Price) who has “seen something” at the abandoned “Everwood” resort. Henry, quite visibly nervous as he smashes a tray of glassware, asks Duke to not tell the cops. Duke voluntarily tell the cops anything? Ha! Do not worry Henry, that is not very likely at all!
It is in the morning with Duke as Henry is attending to chores, when suddenly the “other” Cornell shows up and wants a Single Malt Scotch “neat”. This Cornell, whom is on a mission enjoys fondling a particular coin and spins it on the bar obsessively while enjoying his “four fingers” of Single Malt Scotch!
Seemingly an early morning imbiber, the Single Malt Scotch is for Cornell number two’s after breakfast beverage to start off the day (a bit strange all by itself)!
After guzzling the double Single Malt Scotch, Cornell “two” then demands another drink. Cornell wants something a bit lighter, a perennial favorite of many early morning drinkers, a Pina Colada (a blended drink). As Cornell begins to ask where “Henry” is we see him spinning a silver dollar on the bar obsessively.
This will play a role in a few moments as we see young Henry is now hiding behind the bar! Earlier we had seen that the lad is a barkeep for Duke helping to keep the place clean from Duke’s slovenly habits.
In Haven, Duke certainly has come to understand problem drinkers (being a bartender), but this early morning alcoholic consumption situation is about to become rather extreme in nature.
After stating his Pina Colada blender is broken, while looking for another below the bar for another blender, we hear Duke telling Henry to get ready to run. “Cornell Two” is about to go non linear if he is refused his early morning adult beverage service. Cornell calls Duke a liar and then all hell breaks loose!
Note: Let this be a lesson to bartenders everywhere during last call at 2 AM or during first call first thing in the morning when refusing service to a heavy drinker!
In the meantime, Duke pulls his trusty ‘45’ equalizer out and holds Cornell at gunpoint telling him to get the hell out of the “Gull”, his drinking establishment. When Duke mistakenly believes that Cornell will leave peacefully, a gunfight breaks out, Henry runs for his life, and both Duke and Cornell are winged in the process, with Cornell escaping. All this in only the first few minutes!
Now is the time Duke decides to “tell the cops” and here is when and where Audrey Parker and Nathan Wuornos (Lucas Bryant) enter the picture. Duke relates the gist of what is happening conveniently omitting the part about his young charge Henry. Of course Audrey knows Duke is hiding something chares her concerns with Nathan. Armed with only the license number the two have no choice but to visit the home of Cornell!
As “Friend or Faux” progresses we later learn that there are not simply two Cornell’s but a bevy of the evil copies being created each claiming to be a better version of the original person of Cornell.
Cornell “prime” is afraid of something that is holding him back, whereas the copies are not. Once “Cornell” kills a copy, we soon hear the bone cracking sound once again and low and behold; BINGO, a Cornell clone is back once again to fulfill his part of the Faustian bargain.
During the ‘Friend of Faux” fun in the episode, we hear Audrey sharing with Nathan about her past memories. One of the fun moments is a discussion of “Vegemite” a favorite among Australians that she is trying even though Alt Audrey (Kathleen Munroe) never liked it. The alternate memories including those of the mysteriously cloned Cornell’s and Audrey’s are really what this episode’s single effect are all about.
In life (as in Haven), we are all who we are because of what we remember. This is Audrey’s conundrum as well as Cornell Stamoran’s and our own. Much life real life itself, we must all strive to accurately recall what has happened, where we have been. in order to determine where we are going in life.
Some in life have what is referred to as “selective memory”, or the tendency to remember only what they want to or make to justify their unruly or illegal behavior. As we have related and will continue to relate, entertainment whether television, movie, play, book, and or even music typically serves a purpose to send a message to the recipients. This is the message intended by the creators in the opinion of the reviewer.
In Haven “Friend or Faux” we find that the cloned Cornell copies are stacking up like cord wood in a room at the abandoned resort as Cornell “prime” “dispatches” copy after copy. We also witness a conversation when yet another re-animated clone Cornell is being held by Audrey in the basement of the Everwood Resort. Cornell eventually gives himself away with the obsessive spinning of the silver dollar.
This too is part of the Single Effect being imparted to the audience by the creators. People who have harmed others become obsessed with an object of their hatred as they seek revenge trying to blame someone else for their own shortcomings. During this part of the story arc, Audrey and cloned Cornell develop a rapport or understanding that will become critical at episodes end.
This is what has happened to young Henry, he is the object of the “prime” Cornell’s warped sense of reality, figuring if they can simply eliminate the boy, they will eliminate what has really happened. But the answer is not really in “the real world”, it is an imagined warped or altered construct, a sense of reality not real as we will discover to be the fact of the matter to complete the reflection of life here on Earth.
Once again a cloned Cornell appears with an automatic weapon. Henry and Duke are separated from Cornell, Audrey and Duke in the process. During these sequences we learn the importance of the Henry character as he relates to Duke.
Audrey scuffles with the clone and is held for a brief period by her own weapon. She asks cloned Cornell if he ever wonders if he is “real” to distract him until she makes a reference to her own memories she does not remember experiencing at Quantico Virginia (home of the Central Intelligence Agency) and takes the evil clone down and handcuffs him to a pipe in the process.
Henry wants to know why Duke never asked about his background. Duke, himself a walking wounded person shares that “fathers are tough” and that his leaving home was the seemingly best thing he could ever have done. Young Henry is not quite convinced and bolts away from Duke right when he has discovered a way out of the nightmarish environment!
We learn that young Henry has been living at the Everwood Resort. When Audrey, Nathan and Duke team up after they believe they have cloned Cornell imprisoned in the basement, Henry reveals that he witnessed Cornell killing another man. Screaming in the process, Henry is seen by a cloned Cornell and the origins of the mayhem are identified.
As the episode winds down, another character enters the picture; Selectman Gerst (Mark Graham) who is looking for something at police headquarters. While Colin the Cop (Colin Hluchaniuk) is distracted, Gerst sneaks into Nathan’s office. It is a tell tale moment. He finds the files he is looking for. More on this later.
Back to Henry, we discover why he bolted from Duke when freedom was available. He had gone back to get a Gulf War medal his father had earned in Iraq and given him. It is Henry’s most prized possession.
Our cloned Cornell is no dummy despite the mistakes he has made. He skewers himself in the heart to kill that body so as to create yet another. He then seeks out his real self in the abandoned resort to accomplish the warped mission he “remembers” he “must” perform to kill anyone and everyone who has become aware of the crime he has committed.
What crime? Just when we think the original Cornell “prime” is innocent we find out that he had been embezzling from the bank and actually is “a thief, a murderer, and a coward” as Nathan discovers a body hidden behind a partially re-constructed wall.
The cloned and freshly re-animated Cornel shares with us. You see, Cornell “prime” has been lying all along knowing that his sub-conscience mind created the other Cornell’s to do his dirty work, killing Nathan in an attempt to cover their tracks.
This is not to be. Nathan cell phone rings and we learn than Audrey and Duke have teamed up to lay an ambush. The cell phone going off was their way to locate Nathan who has been knocked out before the evil twin and “prime” suspect Cornell perpetrate yet another act of murder.
Audrey convinces Duke to get Henry out of the area while she decides to leverage the bond created with cloned Cornell earlier. She puts down her weapon and moves to talk with the pair. Cloned Cornell agrees while Cornell “prime” instructs him to kill Audrey.
Oblivious to the consequences, Audrey succeeds in convincing the clone Cornell to kill the original to put an end to the madness and live with the memory that he will be saving the young boy Henry to live out his life and not “pay” for what he witnessed. Prime Cornell falls to his death and we watch as cloned Cornell flips the silver dollar to Audrey and fades into oblivion.
We end the episode with three shocking revelations. First we discover what the ransacking of the file cabinets by Selectman Gerst was all about; The good Reverend Driscoll has been working with the Selectman and will be seeking to get enough evidence to remove Nathan from his position as Chief of Police in Haven.
Our ever solitary “lone wolf” Duke displays a soft spot and has called Henry’s father (Andrew MacVicar). Duke shares with Henry “that it is tricky knowing who the good guy is”.
And so it is not always so in real life. In this story, Henry and father get another chance. The same cannot be said for innocent people harmed by the evil plans of others in our world. We know this from professional experience here at WHR and will be publishing “all about it”, to coin a news phrase, with evidence, facts, the naming of names, and healthy alternatives at our fifth news site opening soon.
And speaking of Evidence, good ole’ ‘Evi’ Ryan comes into play as we alluded to earlier. We end this outstanding episode with Nathan at the “Gull” drinking like we have never seen him do before. He has been fired as Chief of Police in Haven and is stewed to the gills dancing with a drunk woman (Lauren Messervey). Audrey and Duke are sitting at the bar shocked as they watch “The Chief” getting more blasted by the second “letting his hair down“ for the first time in his life.
Both are looking for a digital camera to capture the “Kodak Moment” and find they do not have one handy. Evi, who has left her purse on the counter has a suitable phone unit handy and they snap a picture. As Audrey walks away, she asks that a “copy” of the “keeper” be sent to her. At that very second, a text message comes through from Reverend Driscoll “Thanks for the files info. I took care of the rest” regarding the plot against Nathan. Yikes!
And there end the lessons in Haven for now. Season two of this fantastic series continues Friday September 09, 2011 with “Lockdown” on Syfy in the United States. Make sure to tune in as the secrets of Haven continue to be revealed when Adam Copeland (WWE’s Edge) makes a special guest appearance as Dwight Hendrickson!
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