Haven: 2.4, “Sparks and Recreation”

We open at a pee-wee baseball game between the Sea Dogs and the Cutters. This is serious business in Haven. Audrey looks about as enthused as I am. The Rev comes up, and he and Nathan exchange hearty “Hi ho, Sea Dogs!” Audrey is appropriately bemused. The mayor, Richard Brodie, throws out the first pitch. These people are damn excited about some little league baseball. Audrey pretends to be excited too. The lights on the field flicker as the game gets underway, but no one notices. One of the coaches, who happens to be Jason Priestley, who also happens to be the mayor’s son, Chris Brodie, stops the game to argue with the umpire. (That’s the umpire, right? That guy, at ball games?) Everybody’s on the umpire’s side until Mayor Brodie backs his son; then the crowd starts chanting, “Out, out, out,” and the umpire changes his mind. It’s weird how into the mayor everybody (except Audrey, of course) is.

The field lights continue to flicker noisily, and this time everyone notices. The hair on Audrey’s arms ““ and presumably, everyone else’s ““ stands on end. A chain of lightning starts shooting from the lights, striking all over the baseball field, and Audrey and Nathan evacuate the area. Audrey notices the requisite dumbass kid staring at the lightning, and pushes him out of the way of a falling lighting fixture just in time. Meanwhile, the umpire is struck by flying debris and then hit by several bolts of lightning.

Hey, it’s WWE star Edge (not the Edge apparently, just Edge). He diagnoses a massive power surge. Nathan suggests someone hacked the grid. Edge, who introduces himself as Dwight the “cleaner,” doesn’t think that’s possible. Audrey suspects the umpire but Nathan reminds her he’s in the hospital.

At the hospital, Audrey asks the umpire if he did it. Why is she beating this dead horse? The mayor stops by and everyone except Audrey is once again googly-eyed. Nathan cheerfully agrees with the umpire’s assertion, “That is a great man!” Let me just say that Nathan doing anything cheerfully is a sight to behold.

Mayor Brodie pulls Nathan aside and asks him to put the reporters at ease. Audrey’s all, “Hello? Investigation?” but Nathan agrees with the mayor. Of course he does. Outside, Audrey asks the Teagues about everyone’s “unnatural” reaction to Richard Brodie, but they’re no help. They run over with the rest of the fans to hear the mayor make a statement. He doesn’t get far before an electrical current from the microphone strikes him dead. Everyone immediately transfers their adoration onto Chris, who has just arrived and looks as confused as Audrey.

Meanwhile, Duke’s out in the woods, using the map from his file to locate buried treasure. Of course Evvie’s followed him out there. He tells her he’s trying to find a way to thwart the tattooed person who’s supposed to kill him. Evvie tells him she’s not leaving. Evvie is a right pain in the ass.

Nathan catches Audrey up on Brodie family history ““ Senior traded in Junior’s mom for a newer model when he was a kid and they’ve never gotten past it. Audrey and Nathan go to question Chris, who’s trying to do some marine biology something or other despite the fact that he’s drawn an audience. Chris informs them that he has zero interest in gaining his father’s ability, and had no reason to kill him. Nathan, as caught up in the rapture as everyone else, apologizes to Chris for Audrey’s behavior. When he touches Chris’s equipment ““ some kind of subaquatic inductor ““ his watch shorts out.

Chris is brought in for questioning, where he tries to explain that his equipment is not supposed to conduct electricity. Audrey asks him about the argument he had with his father, and Chris wonders why Audrey’s the only one not fawning over him. He agrees that his father loved the attention, but he hates it.

Back out in the woods, Duke’s digging yields a wooden box holding a piece of wood engraved with the words “Town of Hayven Rasmussen House.” I just love old-timey, non-standardized spelling.

At the station, they’ve uncovered evidence that eight cell phones were registered to the mayor. Eight? Damn, that’s a lot of mistresses. Audrey and Nathan still disagree about Chris’s culpability, not that it matters because several of Haven PD’s finest have let the man go, and even given him a ride to his father’s wake. I don’t know if this is the same day or week or what, but apparently they do not play around with their dead in Haven.

Duke and Evvie are also at the wake, planning to question the Teagues separately about Rasmussen House, though it doesn’t look like they have much luck. Nathan talks to Mrs. Brodie but they’re interrupted by the Rev, who tells Nathan he’s in over his head. Audrey pokes around the Brodie residence and finds fresh scorch marks near an electrical outlet in the study. She tells Nathan about her discovery while the Rev is giving Mayor Brodie’s eulogy. Nathan is insistent that one of Brodie’s mistresses ““ or his wife ““ is responsible, while Audrey still suspects Chris.

Speak of the devil. He arrives and Audrey notices the hair on her arms standing up again. Chris touches a wine bottle and sparks fly, hitting him, his mother, and Evvie. At the hospital, Audrey still suspects Chris. Mostly it’s because she just doesn’t like the dude, but she’s being particularly obtuse on this case. Anyway, she goes to question Chris (because Nathan can’t) while Nathan takes Felicia Brodie.

Evvie, still not dead, wakes to find Duke at her bedside. They compare notes on the Teagues and learn they both struck out. Or did they? Evvie wonders if she’s getting too old for this shit. She fakes a headache to get Duke out of the room and makes her escape.

Felicia tells Nathan she knows nothing about the scorch marks in her husband’s study. They were both well aware of his Trouble, but viewed it as a gift. I guess mindlessly fawning masses would come in handy in politics. Also, Mrs. Brodie believes her husband only broke his marriage vows once ““ when he stepped out on his first wife 27 years ago with her.

In Chris’s room, a broken watch tips Audrey off that Nurse Lori is the electrically-Troubled person they’ve been seeking. Audrey gets Lori to take Chris’s blood pressure again. When the machine shorts out, Lori freaks out and runs off. Audrey goes after her, only to find her way blocked by some kind of electromagnetic force field. Lori escapes, causing a power outage in the process.

Later, Dwight has set up temporary power, and arranged a downed phone pole to keep Gas & Power busy. The man knows his job. He tells Nathan the Chief didn’t ask a lot of questions.

Meanwhile, Audrey’s done some digging on Lori and learned that she’s unmarried with no close family. Also, her desk was full of broken stuff, including thermometers, watches, and ““ dun dun DUN ““ eight cell phones. Oh, and they totally match the mayor’s records, in case that evidence wasn’t tied up tightly enough for you. But here’s a twist: surveillance footage of Lori leaving the hospital in a van ““ with Felicia Brodie at the wheel.

Elsewhere in town, Evvie breaks into The Foggy Grog, a shop housed in what was once Rasmussen House. She finds Duke waiting for her in the basement. Apparently both Teagues talked, and Evvie and Duke both lied about it. Oh, you guys. Anyway, they pry up a loose floorboard, which leads them to a hidey-hole in the wall containing a dusty antique box. Evvie sees dollar signs. The box is empty, and the underside of the lid is engraved with the words Omnia vincit amor. Duke is pretty disappointed.

Back to the case: Audrey and Nathan learn that Lori’s escape vehicle is registered to none other than the Rev. They arrive at the church to find the doors locked. Then they receive a timely report that the mayor’s microphone had been tampered with. Audrey receives a phone call filled with static, Nathan’s phone crashes, and the hair on Audrey’s arm stands up: Lori must be nearby.

Chris arrives with his equipment, at Audrey’s request. Nathan’s solution to being flustered by Chris is to keep his back to him. Hee, fanboy Nathan is adorable. Sparks in the church’s basement windows reveal Lori’s location. Felicia’s in there trying to convince Lori she’s an awful person, or something. When Lori sees Audrey, Nathan and Chris, her power starts going wild. Chris’s equipment is ruined ““ “this is why I hate people,” he grumbles ““ so Nathan goes to get some cables from his truck.

Audrey asks Chris to use his power to calm Lori down so Nathan has time to put his plan into action. Once Nathan has the cables in place, Audrey gets Lori to talk about how her Trouble started. Apparently, when Felicia found her with the mayor in his study, her ability flared up and damaged the wall. Lori tearfully apologizes. Felicia’s all bitchkilledmyhusbandcaseclosed, but Audrey and Nathan realize Felicia is the real murderer. Seems she set Lori up, either to confess or kill herself. When Lori hears this, she gets so upset her power builds until it escapes through the cables and a lightning rod on the roof of the church.

Later, the Rev tries to stop Dwight from cleaning things up. Nathan threatens the Rev with jail time for aiding Felicia if he doesn’t let Dwight do his job. It’s pretty awesome. Audrey apologizes to Chris for using him like that. He says she owes him a drink. “I look forward to it,” she replies.

At the next baseball game (or maybe it’s a rematch?), Audrey goes way overboard trying to be into it. Poor Chris is having a hard time coaching; his players are so fascinated by him they forget to play ball. Nathan compliments Dwight’s work restoring the baseball field. Dwight says the way Nathan handled the Rev reminded him of the Chief. Aw.

At the Gull, Duke pours Evvie a drink. She says she’s sorry he didn’t find any answers, then she goads him into kissing her. They knock over a lantern, which when it rolls near the antique box from Rasmussen House, reveals “Crocker” on the lid. Too bad they totally missed it.