Wynonna Earp – Blood Red and Going Down

By starrymag | July 27, 2018

By: Maggie Stankiewicz

 

 

Revenants may be quick to accuse Wynonna Earp (Melanie Scrofano) of riding around the town of Purgatory on a high horse, but tonight she’s dizzily and drunkenly riding the mechanical bull at Pussy Willows. Armed only with a sloshing beer, our heroine is quick to remind us all that she’s still the woman we know and love by vomiting everywhere and getting into some demon-laden fisticuffs outside the fine establishment. Thankfully, where Wynonna goes, her merry band of misfits are sure to follow. Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) and Nicole (Katherine Barrell) are stationed on a rooftop exchanging words of concern and encouragement over Wynonna’s ambiguous focus and extracurricular activities. Waverly’s perspective on Wynonna’s behavior in the aftermath of giving up Alice is a slight opposition to Nicole’s – though despite any misalignments in perception one thing remains steadfast; they’ll always be there when Wynonna needs them.

 

The two halves of “WayHaught” dutifully watch as Wynonna is thrown to the ground and encircled by a gaggle of revenants who have caught wind of Alice’s alleged fate. The hellacious criminals don’t have to work too hard to find the right buttons to push – new mothers tend to be a bit prickly, especially when they’re an Earp. The rage manifests into sobriety and Wynonna catapults into action. Even so, she’s outnumbered. Dolls (Shamier Anderson) breaks his cover as one of the revenants and assists Wynonna with the immediate danger, allowing her to chase after the runners. Waverly raises the barrel of her new toy, a Russian-sniper rifle, and works to slow the baddies down. Wynonna, distracted by WayHaught PDA (like the rest of us), allows an opponent to sneak up on her but Dolls disposes of him before he makes contact with the heir. It’s Jeremy (Varun Saranga) and Doc’s (Tim Rozon) turn to come out and play with the final demonic straggler. The tiny genius makes minimal contact first and soon requires rescuing from his beloved Doc Holliday.

 

Wynonna forces the revenant to make his peace, the final to-do of the evening. They exit the premise of Pussy Willows, with each of her men flanking her. The laser-like focus Waverly had been commenting on has become slightly more apparent as she assures her crew. “Boys, I’ve got the Ghost River Triangle under control,” she says…but as for her budding alcoholism? Not so much. The eldest Earp sister will wake up with more than just a hangover the following day when Nedley (Greg Lawson) becomes infatuated by a bus full of mysterious newcomers who kill his newest deputy and promise him the gift of immortality and the sexiest trail of smog possible. Nedley extends an invitation to these new fiends, identifying them as vampires in a gentle homage to the supernatural Chosen Ones who came before Wynonna.

 

The rest of Purgatory is still ignorant to the dangers of fangs and purple fog. Waverly and Nicole wake up to the warm, homey sounds of Wynonna grunting. Waverly’s time in the Hot Tub of Acrimony and Nicole’s former marriage are all smoothed over…which is good considering the storm that lies ahead. Waverly soon pulls herself out of bed to tend to her sister while Nicole answers a call from Nedley. In the barn, which much like the Tardis, is bigger on the inside. Wynonna and Doc work out their grief and aggression under the guide of training. Within the confines of this ramshackle structure, Doc and Wynonna can truly connect in the only way they know how: fighting. Sadness hangs over them like a less-sexy version of the fog they’ll soon encounter; when in a refreshing episode of role reversal – Waverly interrupts.

 

It’s been nineteen weeks since Alice was sent away, for her own protection, and Bulshar is yet to make his presence known. The gang is smart enough to know that the war isn’t over so they agree to keep fighting and to remain hopeful until he does. Love will keep them together. All of them. No matter how difficult things have been or will be. In yet another turn of events, Nicole doubles down on the karmic interruptions and enters the barn. There’s a new case and it’s bad enough for the Sherriff’s Department and Black Badge’s castaways. There’s been a brutal massacre at Pussy Willows and Nedley’s dignity wasn’t the only victim. Nedley, who is still mysteriously under the spell of the vampiric visitors, bumps into the Earp sisters and he’s making some new fashion choices. They don’t go over well. In a fleeting moment of clarity, he warns them that they shouldn’t be there, but the veil is reapplied and he walks away with one cryptic reassurance: They didn’t do this.

 

Countless questions come to mind. Who are they? What was he wearing? But there are bigger demons to fry. Pussy Willows has been redecorated with entrails and blood spatter, bodies displayed on the floor in a deliberate pattern. Nicole reveals that cases similar to these have been happening since 1927 at the hands of The Cult of Bulshar. The three women carefully observe the bodies, each from a different spot within the bar – until Waverly spots an anomaly. She calls Nicole over to examine a body with a cultic symbol etched into the abdomen. Nicole sees it with the eyes of someone who fears a monster they already know – the kind of empirical fear that builds with experiences you’ve felt though you may not recall. The kind of fear that you bury. The fear rolls over Nicole is a primal shudder and Waverly extricates them from the scene of the crime while Wynonna chases after a mysterious stranger.

 

The nicest person in Purgatory may be superficially sweet, but sometimes she’s a bit self-absorbed. Now just so happens to be one of those instances, as she criticizes the ill-timing of Nicole’s panic attack from outside the bathroom stall. We understand – Waverly’s had a lot to deal with, but tact is a virtue. Nicole is taking an inordinate amount of time to compose herself. Waverly moves to check on her and is startled by the very vampire that glamoured Nedley; Petra (Clare McConnell). The two lovers seemingly fall under her spell at the same time, leaving Wynonna alone to deal with the bereted shadow man and his bloody handprints. Wynonna beckons for her sister as she realizes what the shadow man had been baiting her towards and that is an old rodeo poster with her mother’s name featured in the top billing. Blood ties really are tough to escape.

 

Shorty’s is certainly the place to be. Doc finds Jeremy in the basement working on Dolls’ mystical tonic, filling in a gap left behind by Rosita. Jeremy has grown more comfortable with his role in the group and suggests that Doc is suffering from male post-partum depression. Before this possibility can be explored more thoroughly, purple fog creeps down the staircase. Two vampires (one man and one woman) enter the bar. Doc is abducted by the woman while Jeremy is seduced and glamoured by the man. Having escaped the clutches of Petra and the mysterious man from Pussy Willows, Wynonna pays a visit to her mother who is recently incarcerated and slightly unhinged. Mama Earp (Megan Follows) is hearing voices (a new development) and provides Wynonna with nothing of use. Dolls and the Warden are the ones dispensing the information today and it’s revealed that Mama Earp was locked up years ago. News of her incarceration turned into telling Waverly that her mother left on her own freewill.

 

Doc’s captor, another lady vamp who is choosing to keep her identity behind a sparkly veil, claims to know who Doc Holliday is – although she’s unsure of whether or not Doc is the Doc Holliday. As he is chained to an apparatus resembling a stripper pole she informs him that she only way to prove himself is to endure the torment she unleashes upon him. He has no choice but to oblige. The vampires, she reveals, came to town to watch Bulshar’s ascension into power. As their conversation lengthens, Doc realizes who is captor is – Countessa a/k/a Kate (Chantel Riley) …And judging by her appraisal of him they used to be lovers. Maybe friends.  While she works on him, Petra decides to approach Dolls. Her ability to glamour falls flat with the dragon man, a fact that seems to startle her. The barn of the Earp homestead has also been seized by purple fog. A vampire jumps out at Wynonna, but she puts him down, unaffected by the glamour.

 

Wynonna runs into her home to warn her friends about the vampiric presence, but unbeknownst to her they already know. They’re in on it. They tell her about the upcoming party hosted by the vampires, but she resists. Nicole knocks her out; however, they can’t hurt her. They need her dressed and wrapped in a pretty little coffin for the party. When they’ve accomplished their task, the Glamoured Gays get themselves ready for the purple-haze party. It’s refreshing to see Waverly and Nicole still enamored with one another, even when their judgment is askew from mystical forces. Their love seems to transcend the glamour and even more walls seem to open for Nicole. As their conversation unravels, Nicole arrives to a simple, yet confusing conclusion. She’s never been a victim. She’s a survivor. THE Survivor to be exact…but of what, exactly? Before we’re given the gift of enlightenment, one of the party hosts calls a toast.

 

Dolls once again comes to Wynonna’s rescue, freeing her from her coffin chamber. Since Dolls and Wynonna are immune to the vampire’s charms, literally, and they’re going to use the clarity to their advantage. They whittle some stakes from chairs in the basement and make their way upstairs. Wynonna begins by killing Petra, Waverly’s favorite, and chaos ensues. The gang becomes un-glamoured and does their best to fight back. Nicole returns Peacemaker to Wynonna and it doesn’t take long before the threat is nothing more than dust in the wind…except for one vampire. Saving Doc is the next mission, but he does the deed himself by escaping the vampire holding cell…but not without first asking his captor what happened to her. As you can imagine, she provides no answers and flees. He lets her run and meets back up with the group to send the final vampire off to meet his destiny.

 

His destiny, as it turns out, is not to die. Instead, they use him as a demonic carrier pigeon to send Bulshar a message. They’re waiting for him and they’re ready. Wynonna sets him free and he dutifully runs to meet Bulshar – who is looking significantly less moist and swollen than we last saw him. He stands beside the mysterious man who was taunting Wynonna at Pussy Willows. They appear to be the top two on the food chain…And speaking of food, they shove a giant pod of rustic evil down the vampire’s throat.

 

With the evil defeated, the gang lives to see another day. Wynonna and Doc share a drink, their first real conversation in nineteen weeks, and a kiss. The rest of the crew shows up, sans Nicole, and shares a cozy meal of Chinese food straight from the takeout container. Dolls allows them to enjoy their time together, for a few minutes, before prompting Wynonna to come clean about the whole Mama Earp situation. Dolls has his own conversations to be had with Officer Haught, who is still surveying the crime scene left at Pussy Willows. Everyone has a few secrets, some they may even keep from themselves…like Nicole. She approaches Dolls carefully before telling him that she believes she escaped and survived The Cult of Bulshar. The sole survivor.

 

Wynonna drives through the winding roads with her sister in tow, preparing to discuss the reappearance of their mother, when they are violently jolted out of their powder blue truck. Wynonna is gone, out of sight but not out of mind. Waverly’s fate is something much worse as she’s being dragged through the asphalt and snow by faceless entity all the whle screaming Wynonna’s name, begging and pleading for her to be okay.

 

But that’s not all…the trees – they’re whispering.