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Recap / Haven S 2 E 13 Silent Night

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Note: This episode happened in the middle of season two.


Vince and Dave Teagues give an opening narration, while hilariously arguing with each other over who is the better narrator. They give a brief summary about the town, the Troubles, Audrey, Nathan, and Duke.

A woman is surfing, and gets confused when she hears "Silent Night" playing. Suddenly, she gets sliced in half at the waist, along with her board.

Nathan and Audrey are having lunch at Joe's Bakery. Audrey questions why people are putting up Christmas decorations even though it is July, but Nathan and the others don't see anything unusual about it. Joe gives Audrey more food on the house as thanks for saving them from the Troubles so many times. The officers get a call and go to the theater, where a girl named Hadley Chambers is causing a disturbance by repeatedly asking where her mother is. The theater manager says that Hadley is making things up, her father has raised her as a single parent all her life. Audrey tries to connect with the girl by sharing that she doesn't have a mother either, but Hadley gets angry and insists that her mother was just with her and has gone missing. "Silent Night" starts to play, and nobody can tell where it is coming from. Suddenly, a man installing Christmas lights outside falls with the wires tangled around his throat. Nathan and Audrey save him before he chokes to death.

An ambulance takes the man away, and Nathan is sad about that man's Christmas being ruined. Audrey reiterates that it's July. Nathan still doesn't see anything strange about that, and guesses that Audrey hates Christmas because she doesn't have a family. Audrey calls Stan at the station and asks him to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

At the newspaper, the Teagues bemoan their lack of funds. Vince considers selling their business, and Dave gets angry that he would even consider it.

Hadley's father Gordon goes to the station to pick her up. He also claims that Hadley is making things up about her mother being missing. Calls come in about several car crashes and the upper half of the surfer has washed up on shore. As Nathan goes to investigate, Audrey tries to use a phone, but "Silent Night" plays and she gets creeped out. Stan says that he has arrested a suspicious man in a Santa Claus outfit. She goes to his cell to question him, but he lewdly asks if she would like to sit on his lap. Enraged, she attacks him while the other officers laugh. The man pulls off his beard to reveal he is Duke. He and the others have pulled a prank on her. When she asks if the whole "Christmas in July" thing was part of the prank, they are confused and continue saying it really is Christmas. The power goes out and the phone lines are down. Stan vanishes into thin air, causing the coffee mug he was holding to fall and shatter. Shocked, Audrey asks what happened to him, but the others don't know what she is talking about.

Audrey tries to explain who Stan is, but they think she is going crazy. Audrey figures that the man from before fell because his spotter disappeared. Audrey asks to investigate Joe's Bakery, where she first noticed something unusual, but Nathan says he's busy with the car crashes. Audrey takes Duke with her.

While heading there, Duke, still in his Santa outfit because Audrey wouldn't let him go home to change, hits on some girls. When they arrive, the place is now called Haven Bakery and nobody knows who Joe is. Audrey starts freaking out and Duke asks her to calm down and get into the Christmas spirit. They decide to check out the dead surfer. The cut is too straight to have been a shark or propeller. There is no sign of the officers Nathan had sent earlier. Duke calls 911 on his cellphone and no one answers. Audrey calls Nathan, who claims that they are the only two cops in Haven. "Silent Night" plays, and the line goes dead. Audrey worries that Nathan disappeared, but Duke still remembers him. However, Duke doesn't remember why they are at the beach, and the surfer's body has disappeared.

That night, Duke and Audrey ask the Teagues if they know anything about Christmas-related Troubles. They find an article from 1955 about Arthur Chambers, Gordon's grandfather, who claimed that people were disappearing. Nobody knew what he was talking about and dismissed him as a nut. At the same time, a train on a circular track surrounding a field of horses materialized in the middle of town. In despair, Arthur shot himself, thinking it would bring the missing people back, but it didn't. Dave comments that Haven's current population is 3,101. Audrey is scared, because it's supposed to be over 20,000.

The next day, Duke and Audrey go to the station. Duke tells Audrey he believes her even though he can't remember anything being different. Nathan still claims that he and Audrey are the only cops in Haven. Duke tries to point out that the station has so many empty desks, and that Nathan's class photo only has two people in it. Nathan still doesn't believe that anything unusual is going on, but Audrey asks him to trust her. They leave to track Gordon down.

While driving, they find the road full of wrecked cars. "Silent Night" plays. Audrey figures that the people inside them disappeared while the cars were still in motion. As they are forced to walk, Nathan and Duke talk about how they both wanted a Bolt Lightning snow sled for Christmas when they were kids, but never got it. Audrey looks at the Welcome to Haven sign and the population number, which is roughly 1,000, decreases before her eyes. Duke says he's sorry that Audrey has to bear the burden of being the only one who remembers the missing people. Duke vanishes, and Nathan doesn't remember him. A bird smacks into something in midair and falls to the ground. Investigating, they find that Haven is surrounded by a massive glass dome.

They try to break it, but it is impervious to even bullets. Audrey figures that the surfer was cut in half when the dome came down right on top of her. Nathan wonders if the outside world has forgotten about Haven. They decide to check out Gordon's toy store.

At the store, Audrey and Nathan find a toy train set running in circles around a field of horses. There's no sign of Gordon and Audrey figures that Arthur brought a real train to life. They figure Gordon is turning the town into a snow globe. Nathan picks up a snow globe that is a model of Haven, but it plays "Joy To The World". While he's out of her line of sight, the snow globe shatters on the floor. Audrey panics, thinking that Nathan disappeared, but Nathan explains that he stumbled and dropped it. Nathan says that he finally believes her, and that he's sorry that he ever doubted her. "Silent Night" plays, and their tender moment is crushed when Nathan vanishes.

Audrey travels through the now empty looking town and visits the newspaper. Dave has disappeared and Vince doesn't remember him. Audrey asks if he knows where Gordon Chambers is. He looks over his newspaper delivery list and gives his address, noting that Haven's population is 20. A few seconds later, it drops to 17.

Audrey enters Gordon's house, where he is sadly working on snow globes. He sadly says that he's going to forget her like everyone else, but she explains that she's immune to the Troubles. He says that even though he can't remember his wife, he realized that she must exist, because Hadley must have a mother. Likewise, he can't remember any townspeople, but realized that it doesn't make sense that the town is so empty. He knows about Arthur Chambers' story and now knows that Arthur wasn't crazy. Gordon has tried to reverse the changes but couldn't. Audrey remembers that Hadley remembered her mother, so Gordon isn't the one causing this, she is. Gordon vanishes, and his image vanishes from the family photos, leaving Hadley alone in them.

Audrey wanders the town, and "Silent Night" plays over and over again. The roads, buildings, everything is turning into plastic. The theater's sign says it wishes Hadley a Merry Christmas. Inside, Hadley is watching a blank movie screen while holding a snow globe. Audrey tries to explain what is going on, and that she is causing this, but Hadley doesn't know what she is talking about and thinks that everyone just left. She screams that her mother abandoned her at the theater, then her father, and now everyone else. She bangs the snow globe against the chair, and the entire town shakes.

As snow begins to fall both outside and inside, Hadley finally believes her and is terrified. She hands the snow globe to Audrey, but nothing happens. Audrey says it isn't enough. She deduces that Hadley retreated into the snow globe because she thought she was all alone. Audrey assures her that her parents love her and nobody abandoned her. Hadley believes her, and everything starts going back to normal. Audrey looks into the snow globe, and the returned people look up in amazement as they briefly see a giant Audrey looking down at them.

The movie begins playing and the theater fills with people. Hadley's mother walks up. Hadley runs up and hugs her in tears, asking where she has been. Confused, her mother says that she just went to the bathroom for a few minutes, and she asks what is going on because it seems that a lot of time has passed. Duke calls Audrey and asks why he's in the middle of the road in a Santa costume.

That night, Nathan visits Audrey and asks why he woke up in a toy store. Audrey is throwing a Christmas party, and everyone is confused because it is July. Dave and Vince confirm that nobody remembers anything. They talk about considering selling their business, but Audrey tells them to fight to stay open, if it wasn't for their articles, Audrey would have never been able to save the town. Nathan and Duke find themselves under the mistletoe, and back away embarrassed. Audrey gives them a Bolt Lightning snow sled, touching their hearts. Hadley starts to play "Silent Night" on the piano. Audrey asks her to play something else, so she plays "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" with people joining in singing. Duke and Nathan ask Audrey what happened, but all she will say is that her adventure taught her the importance of her friends and to appreciate how lucky they are to be there.

Dave and Vince give an ending narration:

Vince: Well, that's the end of our story.
Dave: Correction. that's the end of this story. There's an awful lot more to tell.
Vince: Not that we're telling. Another secret to keep in Haven.

  • Bad Santa: Duke spends the episode in a Santa suit, first as part of a prank to get Audrey to lock up Santa in a holding cell, and then because Audrey wouldn't let him change before dragging him along to investigate the Trouble. He plays it up just as you think he would.
  • Christmas in July: The Trouble of the week makes everyone think it's Christmas, in the middle of July.
  • Christmas Light Chaos: One townsperson nearly strangles himself with Christmas lights while trying to put them up.
  • Cozy Voice for Catastrophes: Dave and Vince provide an opening narration that explains the Troubles like a bedtime story.
  • The Grinch: Audrey. She admits she's this way usually about the holiday, but comes off as this even moreso because she's the only one who is immune to the Trouble making the town believe it's Christmas in July.
  • Half the Man He Used to Be: The woman boogie-boarding in the opening scene, the result of the dome of the snowglobe that is covering Haven.
  • Moment Killer: Nathan and Audrey have a moment affirming their trust in each other as partners, which Duke ruins. And lampshades that he's ruining it.
  • Mythology Gag: The episode is a Whole-Plot Reference to Stephen King's Under the Dome
  • Nostalgic Music Box /Ominous Music Box Tune: A music box rendition of "Silent Night," which comes from Hadley's snow globe. Nostalgic at first, but it becomes ominous, as it plays just before something bad happens.
    • Double Subverted in the toy store, when Audrey and Nathan figure out the town is turning into a snow globe. Audrey hears a snow globe break and a music box tune of "Joy to the World," and she panics, thinking Nathan has disappeared. He's fine, but shortly after, the ominous tune of "Silent Night" plays, and he vanishes in front of her.
  • Out of Holiday Episode: Inverted. The episode aired around Christmas, but is set in the summer.
  • Over-the-Top Christmas Decorations: As the Trouble worsens in Haven, every time Audrey turns around, there are more and more Christmas decorations all over town. Exaggerated when Audrey calls Nathan for back-up and he tells her they're the only two cops in Haven; the camera pans out to Nathan alone in the precinct surrounded by Santa and snowmen lawn ornaments and Christmas lights.
  • Reality-Changing Miniature: Hadley's snow globe.
  • Ret-Gone: This happens one-by-one to everyone in Haven, with only Audrey and Hadley remembering the missing people.
  • Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Audrey, as usual.
  • The Snack Is More Interesting: Audrey and Duke go to the Herald to ask Vince and Dave about any prior events of people disappearing. While Audrey, Dave, and Vince talk about the last time this happened, Duke sits in the back and eats a plate of Christmas cookies.
  • Under the Mistletoe: At Audrey's Christmas party, Nathan and Duke end up under the mistletoe. They both realize it and very quickly excuse themselves.

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