So, um, yep. Turns out Mara's evil. Last Friday's episode "revealed" that with her startling bathtub confession: "Hey Duke, remember how I was introduced as a manipulative, evil sea hag who only sees human beings as guinea pigs? Well guess what, baby? I AM STILL THAT."
Cue the audience slow-clapping as Duke clutches his chest in horror at his completely expected betrayal. A bit disappointing for me, mostly because it totally derails my "Duke and Mara hunt for aether" story arc that could have fleshed Mara out as a complex character with conflicting emotions. Don't get me wrong; it's SUPER fun to watch Emily Rose use her Bambi eyes for evil, but I see a ton of potential for this character, given that she's the source of all Haven's woes. Someone who has invested centuries of life into creating the Troubles should have a bit more to her than "Wouldn't it be cool if lasers came out this chick? AH NEEDS MAH GOO BALLS!" I think the creative team is banking on the layer-by-layer reveal of Mara's Actual Plan making up for her one-dimensional villainy. That, and the intriguing details of Haven's history and what Mara, William and Dave are. [Author takes a few moments to reminisce on his "Audrey is an angel" theory from seasons past.]
The expected betrayal, expected though it may be, does not come without earth-shattering plot relevance. Apparently, gaining Duke's trust, sleeping with him, staging her own kidnapping--including going the full LeBeouf and cutting off her own toe for realism--getting Duke to kill Kirk, absorb Kirk's trouble and then give it to someone else before finding out over the phone (how rude) that his new girlfriend was just using him is the exact recipe to turn Duke's Chernobyl-esque Barrel o' Troubles into an aether vending machine. Duke cries aether now, which is another thing he can stick on his OkCupid profile and add to his fixer-upper charm.
Last but not least, we get a very cool and extremely not-obvious reveal in this episode: Charlotte is Mara's mommy! In the words of Hermes Conrad, "Dot just raises further questions!" Where has she been all this time? Is she an Evil Experimenter like her daughter? Where has she been all this time? Can she use Duke's aether secretions to end the Troubles? Where has she been all this time? I feel like I'm repeating myself here. I'm guessing she's either been scouring the globe in search of Mara or she has just recently entered this world through a thinny. Part of me wants to see a Star Trek-style ending where Charlotte grabs Mara by the ear and drags her back to the Other Side. "Now you clean up these Troubles right now, young lady!" While it might not play out like that, it seems like Charlotte's character might go in that direction--an Othersider who has the knowledge and ability to undo Mara and William's mess and possibly put Mara in the Phantom Zone for breaking the No Meddling with Humans Rule or something like that. Aether way (sorry), watching how this new development plays out should be interesting. It should also make for some hilariously awkward dinner table discussions between Charlotte, Dwight, Nathan and Audrey.
