Late one night, Seth Byrne, the host of Internet ghost-hunting show Darkside Seekers, and Anderson Harris, the cameraman, arrive in Haven. They start filming, and Seth accidentally trips over a trash can. Seth starts over and talks about rumors that supernatural activity occurs in Haven and they are there to find out the truth. He comments that the authorities and newspapers always cover it up by claiming it was a gas leak or something, but he can tell they are hiding something. They hear a woman scream from a nearby house and investigate. A gadget Seth carries, which looks like something out of Ghostbusters, starts beeping, and Anderson gets scared and asks if this is for real. They nervously enter the house and find the place torn up, with massive claw marks on the walls. Seth tries to look around, and a massive, furry creature that resembles a werewolf attacks them. They run out of the house, screaming.
The next day, Dwight and Gloria investigate the crime scene. The woman who screamed was Abby Banks, and her heart has been ripped out of her chest. Dwight notices Seth and Anderson on the other side of the street, filming them and listening to their conversation with a parabolic mike. Dwight tells them to get lost, but they say they are protected by the First Amendment. Dwight walks away, and Seth comments that the creature looked like a rougarou, a legendary monster that has similarities to the werewolf.
Meanwhile, Audrey and William have been taken to the hospital. William is kept under guard and sedated. A doctor who doesn't know about The Troubles wonders how Audrey and William have identical injuries when only he had a bullet within him, but Nathan gets him to drop the matter. Duke asks Jennifer to go to the Haven Herald and research everything she can find for a clue on Audrey and William's link. Duke and Nathan discuss how if they can't find a way to break the link between Audrey and William, they may have to keep William sedated for the rest of his life to stop him from hurting people, since they can't kill him without killing her.
Vince shows up to check on Audrey and she assures that she is recovering. Vince warns them about how the Darkside Seekers are snooping around. They've hacked the Haven Herald's computers and know about a few recent deaths where the victims have had their hearts ripped out. Vince warns that the Seekers may be misguided idiots, but their activities may reveal The Troubles to the outside world, and that would be bad. Audrey asks Nathan and Duke to search for the killer, as there is nothing they can do for her at the moment. She asks Vince if he knows anything about William and the connection they share. He swears that he and Dave have never seen him before and know nothing about him. She talks about how William claimed that the two of them created The Troubles together, and it seems like he was telling the truth.
Nathan and Duke go to see Jemma Green, Abby's best friend and the last person she talked to before her death. They go to her store only to find Seth and Anderson already interviewing her. Nathan and Duke say this is a police investigation and try to get the Seekers to leave, but the Seekers insult them and the four nearly come to blows. Suddenly, Seth's gadget starts beeping and the lights all go out, leaving the store in near total darkness. Nathan tells everyone to calmly move toward the exit, but the monster bursts in and attacks. Nathan and Duke retaliate with their guns, but the place is too dark and the monster too fast. After the monster leaves, Duke finds the fuse box and restores the lights, only to find Jemma has had her heart ripped out. The Seekers are horrified and sickened. Anderson claims that he panicked and didn't film anything. However, after Duke and Nathan leave, he tells Seth that he indeed managed to get the monster on film.
At the morgue, Gloria tells Nathan and Duke that all the victims have a strange, thick fluid in their wounds that may be the monster's saliva. She's putting it through a DNA test in an effort to find the Troubled person causing this. They hear an argument outside and Nathan checks it out. Seth is demanding Dwight allow him to see the dead bodies in the morgue. He warns that he and Anderson have footage of the monster and recordings of Dwight talking about and covering up the murders. Dwight loses his temper and threatens to destroy their camera and set their van on fire, but Seth warns that he and Anderson have already uploaded the data onto a secure server on the cloud, and they will release it to the public if he tries anything. After Seth leaves, Dwight reveals he faked his temper to get Seth to reveal information. Now that they know where the data is, they can ask Jennifer to hack and destroy it. Dwight sheepishly admits that he is not very tech-savvy, but he knows Jennifer is.
Later, Nathan confides to Duke that he's worried that he can't protect Audrey anymore, especially with her connection to William. Duke reminds him that Audrey chose him, not William, and he is the one who knows her, not William. They decide to focus on the case at hand. Dwight comes in and says he found what all the victims have in common: they were all born on June 12, 1981, the day The Troubles started the last cycle. They start checking birth records, but Duke suddenly realizes with horror that Jennifer's birthday is on that day.
They try to call her, but she doesn't answer. The three men rush to the Haven Herald to find it all torn up with claw marks and the strange saliva everywhere. Duke falls into despair, but Nathan points out there is no blood and no body, so she must have escaped. They find Jennifer's cellphone on the floor. With no way to contact her, Dwight suggests they may have to work with the Seekers to see if their footage can provide any clues. Duke swears he will kill the Troubled person responsible if Jennifer has been harmed.
The three find the Seekers staying in their van at the edge of town, and offer to let them work with them if they will provide their footage. Anderson complains that their footage looks fake, because the monster looks pixelated, so nobody would believe them if they released it. They watch the footage anyway, and Duke realizes that the monster isn't pixelated, it's made of a swarm of William's black beads (see "William"). In private, the three men figure they should wake William up and interrogate him.
Audrey wakes up to find her wound is healed, with no scars. She checks the next room to find Officer Stan unconscious and William gone. Nathan and Duke arrive and she assures them that she is perfectly okay, which means William is too. Stan wakes up and says William's two thugs broke in, beat him up, and left with William. They check with the other security and confirm that William walked out under his own power.
As they talk, Jennifer calls them. She explains that she was somehow able to sense the monster's approach and escaped with Vince. He told her to hide in an old building while he does research on the monster. She gives them the building's address and Duke asks her to write down everything she can remember. She empties her purse to find her pen and a notepad, and sets aside the copy of "Unstake My Heart".
As Dwight waits with Seth and Anderson, he gets a call from Gloria saying that the saliva doesn't have any human DNA in it. Dwight takes a leap of faith and asks Seth if he can analyze a small sample of the substance he brought with him in a plastic bag. As he sets up his equipment, Dwight asks him why he's so obsessed with the supernatural. Seth explains that in 1983, he took a summer vacation in Haven. One day, he was playing at the beach with a friend when a man emerged from the water and dragged his friend under while he watched helplessly. He never saw his friend or the man again and everybody covered it up. Since then, he has vowed to prove that the supernatural exists.
Seth tries various devices, like a Geiger counter and infrared camera, but gets no results. Finally, he tries the device from the beginning of the episode, something that detects electromagnetic fields, and gets a strong reading. Dwight says they can use the device to detect the monster, and tells Seth to bring it along. Duke calls and tells them where Jennifer is.
Nathan, Audrey, and Duke arrive at the building and fill Jennifer in. Dwight, Seth, and Anderson arrive. Seth turns on his device and it starts beeping, but he realizes the signal is coming from Jennifer and it has an opposite charge from the monster. Audrey notices she is holding "Unstake My Heart" and asks her to put it down. When she does, the readings stop, and they start again when she holds it again. Audrey checks the book and confirms it is the same copy Agent Howard took from her, and figures there must be something special about it. Jennifer jokes that it is unlikely because she has read it and it is even worse than Twilight.
The device indicates the monster is near, so they all get ready, but the heroes realize with horror that because of Dwight's presence, they can't use their guns. The lights go out and the monster bursts in, tackling Dwight to the ground and then hiding in the shadows. Nathan checks on him and confirms he's unconscious. While Audrey and Jennifer try the escape the maze-like building in the dark, Duke and the Seekers try to distract the monster. Jennifer notices she dropped the book and goes back for it despite Audrey's protests. She finds and grabs it, but the monster appears before her. As everybody screams, the monster swipes at her, but on contact, shatters back into its component beads, leaving her unharmed. The lights come on and the beads disappear. She stares at the book, which now has a glowing circular maze, like the symbol of The Guard, on the cover.
Later, an ambulance arrives for Dwight and the medics assure that he will be fine. Vince checks on everyone while Seth and Anderson try to make sense out of what they saw. The Seekers promise that they won't reveal anything about Haven to the outside world. They've realized that they cover everything up for a good reason, and Seth is at peace knowing personally that the supernatural is real. The Darkside Seekers drive off for their next adventure, and the two teams wish each other luck.
Duke checks on Jennifer and assures her that he is fine dating someone with mysterious powers. She shows them the book, but none of them can see the maze symbol, not even Audrey. Audrey figures that Howard specifically left the book for Jennifer. Nathan asks if Audrey is okay given her recent injury, and she says she's 100% fine, which means William is too. Jennifer says glowing words have appeared on the first page. They read:
- In times of great evil,
the Child of Ruin
must find the
Heart of Haven
and summon The Door
They figure that Jennifer is the child and that she can get rid of William by summoning the door that brought him to Haven so they can send him back to wherever he came from. This must be why he wanted her and anybody else like her dead.
- 30-Second Blackout: The energy surge from the "rougarou" causes the light bulbs in the grocery store to shatter, plunging the store into darkness and forcing Nathan and Duke to fight the creature in the dark. They lose track of the witness they were protecting, and when the back-up lights are switched on, she is dead.
- Accidental Misnaming: Gloria, once again, doesn't care; she refers to the "rougarou" is an "arugula." As in, the lettuce.
- Assurance Backfire: Downplayed. Jennifer asks Duke how he feels about "dating Hermione" in the wake of finding out she's connected to the book, and Duke tries to reassure her that everyone has their own hangups. He offers the fact that he snores when he drinks red wine. Jennifer immediately agrees he does, and "very loudly" at that.
- Blatant Lies: Anderson tells Duke he didn't record the "rougarou" at all during the attack at the store, because he was scared. It's clear Duke doesn't believe it, but he doesn't press.
- Brick Joke: When the "rougarou" attacks the grocery store for a second time, Nathan offers Duke his back-up weapon, a small handgun. Duke snarks his appreciation before pulling out a bigger gun, which he told Audrey he'd get at the end of the previous episode after finding out William killed his mirror self at point-blank range.
- Call-Back:
- Seth tells his viewers that Haven is home to all sorts of paranormal activity, including haunted houses and shape-shifters.
- Seth used to summer in Haven as a child, and relays a story of playing with a local kid who sounds like he might have been a Glendower.
- Duke starts freaking out after it's revealed the creature might be after Jennifer, and Nathan tells him he can remain part of the investigation if he can "keep it together." This is basically the conversation Duke and Nathan had when Audrey was kidnapped but with the roles reversed, though Nathan, per usual, does not recognize his own hypocrisy.
- Jennifer pulls out a copy of Unstake My Heart, which has been seen before.
- Copycat Mockery: Anderson, on at least one occasion. It's sufficiently annoying.
- Documentary Episode / Found Footage Films: Of sorts. It doesn't commit as thoroughly as other series, but the Darkside Seekers doing a web episode on Haven is the framing device of the episode.
- Electromagnetic Ghosts: William's creature short-circuits the electricity in whatever building it's in, and also sets off Seth's monster detecting equipment. As does Jennifer, though for a seemingly different reason.
- Exasperated Perp: Dwight needles Seth, banking that his overconfidence in his Wrong Genre Savvy would lead him to tell where the footage of the "rougarou" is. It works.
- Friendship Moment: Duke tags along with Nathan to provide support, because Nathan is preoccupied with worry over Audrey. When Nathan gets a call from the hospital, Duke asks how Audrey is, and then asks how Nathan is.
- Funny Background Event: While Nathan and Gloria are standing over the body of the latest victim, discussing the murder and who the Troubled person might be, there's Duke squirming in the background, clearly uncomfortable with being in the morgue. Becomes a foreground event when Gloria decides to troll him.Gloria: (pulls out a saw) You want to see something cool?!
- Gas Leak Cover Up: Lampshaded by Seth.Seth: How many gas leaks does a small fishing village need to have before they get new pipes?!
- Healing Factor: William has it, and uses it to heal his gunshot wound and escape the hospital. Since he and Audrey are physically connected, this means Audrey's gunshot wound heals itself, as well.
- Hopeless with Tech: Dwight.Dwight: I was just trying to get under [Seth's] skin so he'd slip up and let us know where they're uploading their footage. I can have Jennifer digging through those files by the time we get to the station.Nathan: Jennifer can do that?Dwight: As far as I can tell, everyone younger than me can do that.
- Implied Death Threat:
- Dwight gets creative to trick Seth into admitting where he and Anderson have the footage of the "rougarou" stored. Nathan has no idea he's doing this, so he looks like he thinks Dwight's lost his marbles for the entire scene.
Seth: The people have a right to know the truth as well!Dwight: The truth is, there's a deep, dark pond off Route 9, nobody goes there, and your buddy's not here, why don't we see if you can swim, huh?- A few minutes later, in response to Seth attempting to blackmail the Haven PD, Dwight threatens to set their van on fire...with Seth and Anderson in it.
- Subverted with Duke, who does away with the implications and goes full I'll Kill You! threat if Jennifer is hurt by the "rougarou."
- Insecure Love Interest: Nathan is feeling a little insecure about the fact Audrey and William are linked, and is unsure he can protect her due to the synchronization between them. Duke basically tells him he's being ridiculous and they have a case to focus on.
- Jitter Cam: Anything shot by Anderson.
- The Klutz: Seth's first scene involve him tripping over trash cans he didn't notice while trying to introduce the episode of his web series.
- Lights Off, Somebody Dies: The second victim is killed in the blackout at the grocery store. Her body is discovered mangled when Duke trips the back-up lights.
- MacGuffin-Person Reveal: The book Howard has been planting needs to be paired with Jennifer to be of any use; when she holds it and William's monster is defeated, the Guard symbol appears on the cover and a prophecy on the title page.
- Myth Arc:
- The Troubles returned last time on June 12, 1981, which is when Jennifer was born.
- Jennifer is the Child of Ruin mentioned in the prophecy inside the book. She is destined to open the door that William will be banished through.
- Ominous Visual Glitch: When Seth and Anderson review their footage of the "rougarou," they think it's corrupted, because when they zoom in even slightly they can see it's "pixelated." Made up of tiny black dots. This is the Oh, Crap! moment for Nathan, Duke, and Dwight, who realize this is a creation of William's, and not a Troubled person's.
- Only the Chosen May Wield: Only Jennifer can destroy William's creature using the book, and only she can see the Guard symbol and prophecy inside. The gang concludes that means she is the Child of Ruin mentioned in the prophecy.
- Our Cryptids Are More Mysterious: Seth and Anderson have come seeking a werewolf-like creature, but this creature is instead made by William.
- Paranormal Investigation: Seth and Anderson are wannabe ghost hunters; this is clearly the first time something they've been chasing has ever been real.
- Picky People Eater: The werewolf-like creature only eats people's hearts.
- The Real Spoofbusters: Played With. Seth and Anderson are clearly modeled on something like Ghost Hunters, which makes sense for the time period in which this episode aired, but their equipment and the seriousness at which they take their job come straight from Ghostbusters.
- Sadly Mythtaken: Seth insists that the rougarou is a creature from "ancient folklore" that used to be men, but are now wolves, and who "feed on the hearts" of humans. Which, according
to The Other Wiki, is only vaguely in the realm of correct. They're part of Cajun mythology, so definitely not "ancient," and they are similar to werewolves, but they don't eat hearts, they suck blood. This could be explained by Seth just being bad at his job, but there isn't any other explanation given in the episode to contradict it. - Series Continuity Error: The show takes some liberties with the mythos it just established about William and Audrey. Despite them both having the same gunshot wound and both healing from it due to William's Healing Factor, William's able to be put under sedation while Audrey remains awake, which is never explained.
- Shout-Out:
- Anderson mentions WikiLeaks when confronted by Dwight while filming the crime scene.
- Duke compares Seth and Anderson's web show with the The Real Housewives series, saying no one takes them seriously.
- Duke corrects Gloria that he is a consultant for the Haven PD, not a deputy detective as she teased, and she clocks him as a Sherlock fan.
- Seth refers to Vince as Walter Cronkite.
- In the wake of finding out she might be supernaturally important to Haven, Jennifer tentatively asks Duke how he feels about "dating Hermione."
- Duke thinks the Child of Ruin prophecy sounds like a creepy Led Zeppelin lyric.
- Show Within a Show: The episode opens with Anderson behind the camera and Seth hosting, filming the opening to an episode of their ghost hunter web show.
- Significant Birth Date: William's creature is targeting everyone born on June 12, 1981 in Haven. This is Jennifer's birthdate and as revealed in a recent episode, she was born in Haven.
- Take That!: Jennifer thinks Unstake My Heart makes Twilight look like William Faulkner.
- Technobabble: How Seth describes his monster-detecting equipment to Dwight. When Dwight tries to explain it to everyone else, he devolves into Buffy Speak.
- The Worm That Walks: The "rougarou" and William's mooks are made of the black floating beads William carries.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Seth clearly thinks he's in an episode of The X-Files, as he accuses Dwight and Nathan of a "conspiracy" to hide the existence of a supernatural creature from the rest of the world, and threatens to expose said conspiracy. At the end of the episode, Nathan attempts to express his gratitude for Seth and Anderson helping them get rid of the "rougarou", and Seth expresses his discomfort, saying he isn't comfortable "being praised by the men in black."
- X Called; They Want Their Y Back: Played With. When Duke tries to intimidate Anderson and Seth into leaving the scene of an attack, where they were questioning a witness, Anderson asks him "don't you feel grunge died in the 90's?"
