Better The Devil You Know: Haven Profiles (Claire Callahan)

Note: As of 12/8/12, this file is considered closed. All future sightings matching the physical description of Claire Callahan are considered those of subject SR-BD-#### and should be treated with due caution. Believed at this time to have been murdered and skinned in the aftermath of BGK-Bowen's 'death.' May have been questioned prior to her death; regardless, subject SR-BD-#### has possession of Callahan's notes and case files. Updates to file SR-BD-#### are on hold until further data presents itself.


Date: 10/03/2012
Subject Name: Claire Callahan
DOB: 12/28/83
DOD: 10/??/10
Gender: Female
Age: 28
Place of Examination: Data compiled at Chandler/Hammett Investigations offices
Occupation: Psychiatrist.
Marital Status: Presumed single.
Race: Unknown, presumed human
Classification: CB-####

Presents with: Obfuscating torrents of babble, some of which seems intended to overwhelm and mask information and some of which seems intended to create an impression counter to her actual emotional state. A preference for group work over solo work, indicative of a tendency to groupthink and, at extremes, prize conformity over independent thought. Subject's strong desire to prove herself, particularly to an older, more experienced woman she admires, overrides her schooling, indicating a lack of and desire for strong female figures in early childhood. Assumes authority easily and largely in the sense of presenting herself as having authority which she may or may not in fact possess, for reasons unknown, perhaps contrived or perhaps psychological and unintended. Places high value on appearances, not because she disbelieves in substance beyond that but because she views it as a necessity to her self-image and self-esteem. Insufficient data as yet to determine if she places as high a value on others' appearance as she does on her own, though it seems safe to speculate that some of those beliefs will seep into her behavior regardless of what she believes she "should" feel.

Observations: This is to be regarded as a preliminary profile only, as all indications are that subject intends to remain closer to the action in Haven for the foreseeable future. However, we have extrapolated the following based on available data. Easily manipulable, the subject is inexperienced in the finer details of hiding her emotions. Were Audrey Parker, Nathan Wuornos, and Duke Crocker (see files IN-####, PT-TD-####, and ST-BD-#### respectively) not absorbed with other issues at this time, they would be more immediately suspicious of subject's actions and motives. (Additionally, none of the three have knowledge of the Guard, to the best of our knowledge here at Chandler/Hammett.) Subject's use of torrents of words (not dissimilar to Crocker in that regard) to distract from her motives and true feelings are an amateur distraction tactic, indicative of an inability to strategize long-term and therefore unable to anticipate others doing so as well. Under other circumstances, this would not be so effective. Unfortunately for those she works with, this is an effective delaying tactic due to the rapid acceleration of the Troubles and Parker's limited timeframe. It is highly likely that even if subject is not working for the Guard, she is still working for someone; this insertion into daily police and Troubles business reeks of larger-scale contrivance.

Subject's preference for groupthink and conformity may indicate a need for outside validation and/or a fear of being wrong and any subsequent rejection by a collective, somewhat out of the realm of human norms. If subject were provided with a strong, healthy authority figure to follow, she would probably excel both personally and professionally; unfortunately she seems to have fallen into an abusive situation and probably places most of her self-worth on whether or not the authority approves of her progress toward his/their goals. It is likely that subject believes any and all errors or setbacks to be her fault in some way, and works to mitigate the damage to said goals on her own rather than admit to requiring assistance. Subject hasn't the fairest idea who she is.

History (Clinical): Subject agreed to an interview, which she then attempted to turn back on the interviewer, to little success. Subject has declined follow-up appointments, citing her busy professional schedule.
History (Family): Unknown at present, though it seems likely subject will be possessed of another attempt to connect by talking about her (and others') private life at length. Current speculation runs to upper or upper-middle class parents, only child, and knowing little to no physical poverty in her early life. Emotional neglect or abuse possible to likely, either in early life or in recent past, or both. Given the assumed connections to the Guard, recent activities would make it highly likely that this is her stand-in for any family group, and that she has no current ties to her childhood family unless they are also members of the Guard.
History (Medical): Unknown. Subject presents as in relatively good physical condition for her sedentary profession. Given subject's focus on physical appearance, she probably works out regularly, though preferring appearance over capability. May be prone to fad exercise programs and diets.
Recommended Action: Shift to Miranda. Not to be trusted.

Dog Days Are Over Haven S3E02 Stay

I'll start you all off with a theory that arose while we were waiting for the ep: maybe Vince and Dave are the town, in some way. They're certainly the only recurring characters who don't have a Trouble we know about at this point. Though that may be about to change with the addition of a new character or two. First two seasons, all the non-Troubled are: a) extras b) biologically related to a Troubled person or c) married to a Troubled person.

And now you know what Kitty and I do when we're muttering at the clock. One of these days we'll toss up a quoteboard as a behind-the-scenes post, because we get so very punchy on Friday nights.

On to the episode! We were spoiled for this, but I'd like to think that between the feral, the broken rope, and the overall canine body language, we would've figured it out sooner rather than later. Fairly standard introduction to the Trouble of the week, as standard as such things ever are in Haven, and then we cut to Duke and Audrey, having the kind of quiet early morning coffee that's going to make Nathan jealous in a few seconds. He makes bad jokes, because Duke's coping mechanisms are incredibly predictable and also terribly adorable. Audrey, seated and still, as she tends to be when not in times of crisis and also to some extent when stressed out; Duke standing and fidgeting and sitting and pacing and he's gonna make me seasick if he keeps this up. Discussion of the metaplot, and this is actually shot like two close friends, not like lovers. Not that that matters to Nathan, but I mention it here because the body language isn't at all that of lovers. Maybe a little bit of Duke's crush showing, but nothing they can't both ignore. Unlike Nathan, who will now freak everyone out by seeming to be a manwere or a prowler, depending on if you're the audience or Audrey and Duke. Duke, you're showing how much you care again. And I love his smuggler "okay, anything can be used as a weapon" attitude. (Quick. Name everything in the room that can be used as a weapon.) They are, of course, tenser than usual in the immediate sense because they're talking about the Colorado Kid and this vague looming deadline that they haven't figured out yet, but after last week it's entirely valid to assume the worst until proven otherwise.

Dessine-moi un mouton? Grimm S2E05 The Good Shepherd

Ominous quote is, as usual, ominous. I like the placement of the quote against a field of little white lights with one red light in the middle of them. We have some metaplot to start us off with, Nick and the Eisbieber covering Bud's unfortunate conversation with Juliette. Nick, of course, doesn't hold it against Bud, who is about prostrating himself on the floor with apology. We also get a nice demonstration of Nick's Grimmstincts! But between the crowded bar and the lack of a good look at whatever's following him there's not much more that he can do but to get the hell out of the middle of all the civilians and be on his guard.

Our episode-specific opening is fairly standard horror, victim closing out at work, everything dark except for one or two lamps, working late. Killer comes up, there's a lot of screaming and please-no's, and some red eyes that we knew to expect because Blutbad. There's also a few moments of false reassurance that we're not going to see an incredibly gross murder scene because it cuts away right before the poor Seelengut is dropped into the grinder.

Buffy style opening credits! Sans narration, thank you whoever that was.

Are You My Mummy? Grimm S1E22 Woman in Black

Because I didn't already have enough stuff to do with home renovations and moving, I'm doing the whole damn episode. There is very little of this episode that isn't connected to metaplot in some way, so rather than trust my judgment to cherrypick, you're getting the whole damn thing. And if you've looked at some of our other Renard/metaplot heavy stuff, you'll know that means this thing is going to be approximately the size of a novella. One of our fellow fans and in-person friends's direct comment upon hearing my intentions was "oy gevalt", which, roughly translated, is a verbal eyeroll. Me, I consider it a mitzvah. Ignore the horns propping up the halo.

So! You have been warned. (And if you're certain people, you have been deeply confused.)

Our opening shot is a time-lapse sequence of clouds moving over the mountains, covered by a quote from Sleeping Beauty, the sleep of a hundred years into which the princess shall fall. And since we've all seen either the episode or the previews or the commercials or some form of publicity ever, we know that the princess in this case is Juliette. The time-lapse photography neatly underscores the rapid passage of time while she sleeps. I will note here, although we didn't do it during the The Kiss analysis even though we probably should have, that Juliette is in a coma for three days. We all remember the Law of Three, don't we? I thought we did.

The Truth Is Out There: Haven S3E01 301

Previously, on Haven, your friendly neighborhood recapper did not cover all the previouslies establishing the ins and outs of Haven because she is exhausted from starting to renovate her new house. And because she and her partner will be analyzing them individually for you as time goes! Which is better than recapping previouslies. (And then A took over partway through. And then K took over again. And then A powered through the rest of it. Feel free to play spot the changeovers!) Suffice to say that Haven is afflicted by supernaturally powered people called the Troubled, AudSarLu (currently known as Audrey) is functionally non-aging and attempts to help the Troubled with compassion and doggone stubbornness. Duke is going to be killed by a tattooed man who appears to be Nathan, currently, and Nathan is pissed off because his breakfast date with Audrey was interrupted by her violent kidnapping. Everyone on board? Good, because this shit's about to get weirder than Willy Wonka's boat ride.

We pick up almost exactly where we left off, interrupted by two establishing shots, the first of Haven and the second of Duke's boat. In case we didn't know where we were. Hey, it's Haven, these things happen. Nathan is holding a gun on Duke still, Duke isn't so much attempting to talk Nathan out of shooting him as stalling for time while considering his options. He picks the one that involves reasonable self defense, and we hear that the gunshot that freaked us all out last season did not, in fact, go into a person. Yay! I strongly suspect, given a lot of the themes they seem to be building up, that they shot and lit this scene (and clothed, probably) to make Duke and Nathan look as alike as reasonably possible. There's a barrage of fisticuffs, a pause for them and us to recover and reorient, and then more fisticuffs ending in Nathan on top of Duke. And not in the way the fangirls would like.

Unfortunately for Nathan, while he's snarking off at Duke and trying to choke the daylights out of him, he also manages to bleed on him. I have no idea where that blood is coming from, you guys, although given the amount of flying fists it's entirely possible it came from the nose or mouth in sufficient quantity to drip, insufficient quantity to make a significant face-stain. Duke knocks him across the room and unlike last time when he forcibly disembarked Dwight, he seems to be in control this time. One has to wonder if he's been practicing, and if so, where the fuck did he find the blood of a Troubled person not himself to wipe on his skin. That's just creepy, Duke.

Not that we have much time to think about this, Nathan and Duke have to fight for the gun some more. Why there is suddenly only one gun in play is a bit of a question, but it does give us a good opportunity to see them both crawling on the floor after the one gun they and we can see, which seems to include Nathan crawling overtop of Duke. Again, they're very close in appearance, with the main difference that Duke's jeans are black and Nathan's are blue. Of course, the Trouble of the week beats them both to the gun, as everything metal goes flying up to the ceiling. At which point even their pose is similar-but-mirrored, one hand outstretched while they lie on the floor waiting for a clue as to what just happened.

Nathan continues to see Duke as a threat, while Duke is trying his best to calm Nathan down by being non-threatening and speaking clearly and evenly. Hands out, body posture ready but without the implicit threat of violence, fingers spread. While Nathan looks quite a bit like he did back in the first season, do we remember the episode with the mental institution? He's giving us a very Kubrickian stare, his eyes are sunken, and his mouth is pressed in that thin line of imminent explosion. Duke meanwhile explains how his power works, which we so amply saw demonstrated, points at the ceiling and says "But, this? Not. Me." Just in case Nathan didn't get it the first time around, which in his emotional state he might well not have. Because he asks yet again where Audrey is, and Duke is getting sick of this shit, and probably worried, himself. He doesn't know. 

War Games Grimm S1E18 Cat and Mouse

I'm going to skip Nick writing up his previous adventures and just note that it's a nice bit of writing to begin the ep in a way that ties Nick to his ancestors, as much history and metaplot as we get in this. It's also useful in that it hints at how much off-screen time Nick spends in the trailer, writing or researching or looking for clues about the key, so that the later scene at Rosalee's is a little less jarring.

Metaplot, though, begins in DC. This is a smart choice as the first US city we see outside of the West Coast/Portland area for a lot of reasons. First, it's the national seat of government, and the view down the Mall is one of the more iconic ones. (Kitty, after much glowering at the landmarks and declaring their monuments to be pastede on yay, believes this is either the Teddy Roosevelt or the Arlington Memorial Bridge.) This foreshadows the (inter)national scope that's about to be blown open for our protagonist this episode. Second, it's one of a couple logical choices for someone coming in from Europe who proceeds to hop across the country. Second and a half, the bridge scene is about five minutes' drive in good traffic from a major national airport. And since we've been primed all season to read cuddlier, cuter Wesen as good and uglier ones as bad, we know right off that this fugitive is probably a good guy and the hunter chasing him is definitely a bad guy. Very, very nice use of visuals.

Though this is then brought into question, because nothing in Grimmworld is black and white, by the very next scene in which Ian Harmon shoots his Hundjager tracker rather than try and outrun him again. In St. Louis, which is one of the places referred to as the heartland of the US. He confirms it's a Verrat agent, more for our benefit than for his, so we know that there's a Significant Tattoo later on. And now Harmon really is the fugitive he was pretending to be before, but instead of the cops finding the body it's Waltz. It's implied though not outright stated that he was the other Hundjager's partner, which would make sense. Hunting dogs usually don't work solo. Certainly it's implied that no more than twelve hours, give or take, passes between Harmon shooting the unnamed Hundjager and Waltz finding the body, though if they were partners I want to know why Waltz didn't twig to something being wrong sooner.

At any rate, we're finally in Portland, and Harmon has a bad feeling about this. Smart. Also, silencers don't keep guns nearly that quiet, but it's TV so I'll give it to them. Also part two, we have Sebastian Roche, who hasn't played a non-creepy non-bastard type as a guest spot in years, so even more clues pointing toward This Is A Very Bad Man. Leaving that bag behind is, as it turns out, going to be the MacGuffin for this episode which allows all our players to connect in various ways.

Better The Devil You Know: Haven Profiles (Dwight, Vince, Dave)

Note: File numbers redacted for security purposes.

Date: 9/21/2012
Subject Name: Dwight Hendrickson
DOB: 10/30/73
Gender: Male
Age: 38
Place of Examination: Data compiled at Chandler/Hammett Investigations offices
Occupation: Cleaner. Renditions. Updated 10/20/13: Police Chief, Haven PD, for approximately six months.
Marital Status: Single
Race: Troubled
Classification: WR-####

Presents with: Flattened affect and heightened startle reflex consistent with time spent in combat, with a degree of control consistent with the amount of time since last deployment. Wary of others, but not unfriendly. Potential for PTSD is moderate, though due to the subject's known military training it is likely that he has substantial coping mechanisms for same. Highly competent in his chosen field(s). Updated 1/28/13: Subject is known to have been a Ranger, though for what of the several military definitions is at this time unknown. Regardless of the specifics, we may generalize this to assume a greater than usual level of survival skills, along with a near-infinite capacity to learn and assimilate new data rapidly. This appears to come at the cost of subject's social skills; subject has few to no friends and has difficulty relating to those he deems civilians, which category includes almost everyone in Haven. Notable and probable exceptions are subjects TD-BD-#### and IN-####, though not subject TL-BD-####, who he treats more in keeping with a family member of a soldier. Subject has been seen to have significant interaction with both Teagues brothers, however, and we may safely assume that he views himself as alternately working for or working alongside them to contain the Troubles. When subject does attempt to relate to others, our sole data point thus far indicates that he reveals a source of trauma when given the opportunity to do so; this suggests that he wants people to commiserate with and quite probably misses the camaraderie of the military, but has no clear path to acquiring such connections. Subject does not engage in small talk and conversational pleasantries, thus forming connections is more difficult and awkward for him. He was unaware of subject TD-BD-####'s relationship to the Guard but also unsurprised by it, indicating an ability to comprehend patterns of data though preferring to wait for confirmation before taking direct action. Updated 10/20/13: Subject's affect continues flattened, though notably less so now that he has been placed in a position of trusted authority and allowed greater latitude to assist all parties, civilian and otherwise, in resolving the aftermath of Troubled outbreaks. As with many individuals who have engaged in combat zones and at best incompletely reintegrated into civilian society, subject appears to be at his most functional when in a position most similar to the originating trauma.