Wynonna Earp – Daddy Lessons

By starrymag | October 4, 2018

By: Maggie Stankiewicz

 

 

There’s a blood moon rising over the town of Purgatory and none are safe from its effects. Nicole (Katherine Barrell) and Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) discuss Charlie’s (Sebastian Piggot) untimely death from the Sheriff Department’s morgue, Nedley (Greg Lawson) deals with some unsavory characters and Waverly cerebrally wrestles with the effects of knowing she must sacrifice herself to save the world. Nedley radios Nicole asking for some back up and she obliges, but not without first giving Waverly a farewell kiss on her Chosen little forehead. Alone with Charlie’s body, Waverly conjures a miracle bringing the firefighter and his well-muscled backside back to life with a single touch.

 

Wynonna Earp (Melanie Scrofano) sits on her front steps, cursing the malicious moon while staring at the photo Dolls left behind for her – his reminder to keep going and keep going she will. The town’s infamous Tornado Siren cuts through the eerie silence, a last-ditch effort to evacuate the town before the final battle. Of course, Purgatory’s citizens have been to this rodeo before and packed up before the banshee’s call. Wynonna takes the siren as a call-to-action and cuts through down in her decrepit truck – touching base with Nicole and Robin (Justin Kelly). Nicole sends Robin off to do a quick errand, allowing her a moment alone with Wynonna. In typical Earp fashion, Wynonna only gives Nicole half the story, sending the Sheriff into a panic about Waverly and, of course, the pickle thief known as Kevin.

 

Having left Nicole stranded in the street with a million and one questions, Wynonna finds Waverly in the forest just a few feet away from the mystical staircase. Waverly explains that she just wanted to see the stairs, but Wynonna is unable to spot them. They haven’t chosen her the way they’ve chosen Waverly. Waverly is torn between wanting to be with her sister and wanting to be the one who saves the world – a struggle that Wynonna can’t understand. Waverly resolves that she will be the one to save the world in an effort bigger than Wynonna and her curse inheritance. Wynonna doesn’t take kindly to a world without Waverly in it and promptly punches Waverly only to stuff her in the back of the truck. She can’t martyrize herself if she’s not conscious.

 

Wynonna circles back to meet up with Nicole. With Waverly safe she has enough time to fully bring the loyal redhead into the fold. Wynonna explains Waverly’s amnesia about arriving at the staircase and implores her to take her out of the Ghost River Triangle. Despite her love of Waverly and Wynonna, Nicole’s duty as Sheriff renders her unable to abandon the town or its people. That and Nicole is physically unable to defy Waverly’s wishes – a symptom of intense and irrevocable love. Wynonna understands Nicole’s plight, but that’ll have to wait. Nicole spots Charlie walking barefoot up the street. She’s unable to hide her shock at his sudden case of aliveness, but before she can tell Wynonna exactly why she gives him the responsibility of getting Waverly to safety.

 

Bobo (Michael Eklund) gets paid a visit by a gaggle of Revenants looking to steal some police-issued guns. The former Prince of Darkness tries to appeal to the Revenants in search of escape, but they’re tired of his betrayals and leave him imprisoned. Now armed and fully-loaded (in a sense), the Revenants find Wynonna. Insults are exchanged, but without Peacemaker or a loaded weapon they outnumber her and capture her. Wynonna Earp isn’t just the mortal enemy of the Revenants, she’s now their fealty to Bulshar (Jean Marchand).  The Revenants take Wynonna back to Bulshar’s home base and prime her for the offering. A particularly personable Revenant puts her into a dead woman’s dress and tells her that loyalty to Bulshar is their only ticket to survival. It’s an act of desperation so severe, it’s almost human.

 

Doc (Tim Rozon) is also dealing with his own supernatural problems back at Shorty’s when he manages to glamour a pair of looters into becoming his human blood bags. Doc texts Kate (Chantel Riley) and lures her back to town under the guise of an emergency and presents her with his new playthings. Kate hesitates at first, but a vampire’s bloodlust and desire to be worshipped always trumps those fleeting moments of human vulnerability. When they finish, Doc’s bloodlust is still running strong. Kate warns him against his apparent sickness, but Doc fails to heed her advice. Normal blood won’t satiate him, only Charlie’s blood will. Doc makes his way to the fire station to find Charlie. While there, he manages to shoot the fire chief and Kate before disappearing into the bright, bright night. Kate uses the dead fire captain’s radio to contact Nicole for help.

 

When the Revenants present Wynonna to Bulshar they are sharing a hearty meal. Among all the familiar faces at the table the most jarring is Mercedes’ (Dani Kind). It’s beautiful, of course, but full of treason. The two frenemies share a moment of conflict in harsh, hushed whispers. Mercedes married Bulshar again for the same reason of survival. Wynonna begs Mercedes to keep fighting, but trauma affects people in all different ways. Some keep fighting, some assimilate. Their discussion is cut short by a toast from Bulshar. Hell’s favorite serpent announces an open position by his side. Dolls killed Bulshar’s First Lieutenant, and he’s on the market for another. The Revenants plead their case, followed by Wynonna. The Heir begs for the position, anything to keep her family safe, but they laugh and lock her away. Wynonna attempts to touch Bulshar, and he recoils – afraid of just her fingertips.

 

Despite Mercedes’ cowardice, Wynonna just can’t keep from making people change for the better. Mercedes and the personable Revenant who had been tasked with dressing Wynonna inch nearer to her cell and begin to devise a plan. Wynonna is Bulshar’s fealty and he can’t touch her without harm. They take this as an opportunity. Mercedes makes moves to distract the others while the Revenant unlocks Wynonna’s cell. Fisticuffs ensue with other demons, but Wynonna is able to rally the Revenant troops. Bulshar is a hate-monger, perpetuating the hate between the Earp Heirs and the Revenants because he could not face them alone. The Earps and the demons they kill share the curse – if they can break it together, they’ll all be free. And so they march, the descendent of Wyatt Earp and her demon brethren, towards a life of freedom.

 

Charlie and Waverly find their way to a more secure location. The youngest Earp encourages the firefighter to tie her up, lest she do some self-sacrificing. He eventually caves and they enter the Gibson Greenhouse – a place he intuitively deemed as safe and familiar. As he explores the Greenhouse with Waverly he begins to make observations that confuse and startle him. The stone angel that Michelle had gazed at just weeks before is a monument to him. Charlie prepares to tie Waverly up and they discuss Waverly’s love of Nicole – and the cop’s inherent goodness. Charlie then tells Waverly about his ambiguous background, his memory loss, his return to Purgatory and his desire to just…help. Waverly holds his hand and looks into his mind. That’s when it clicks.

 

Charlie begins to suffer from an existential crisis of celestial proportions. Piece by piece, his dulled memories begin to sharpen, but there’s no time to process it. Doc has just arrived to feast upon Charlie…again. They hide, Charlie’s body protectively curled around Waverly’s. The contact initiates another flashback. Charlie is Julian – Waverly’s father, love of Michelle Gibson’s life and Wynonna Earp’s latest conquest. Doc enters just as the picture clears up and Waverly presents herself to Doc trying to distract him. Her efforts are futile and Doc throws Waverly across the Greenhouse in a fury. Doc has changed. His hunger and his anger have swallowed his soul. Both on the ground, Julian pulls his ring from Waverly’s finger and stands up to Doc.

 

Charlie/Julian hits Doc with a blow so powerful that it knocks the vampire out. Then, he spreads his wings. Waverly’s crossing of the Ghost River Triangle border catalyzed Julian’s awakening and his return to Purgatory. Another warrior for good. Julian implores Waverly to flee before Doc awakens. Waverly cries onto Doc’s unconscious form mourning the loss of the man she and Wynonna loved and apologizes for leaving him behind. When Doc awakens in the Greenhouse, he is still afflicted by the hunger, but distracted by the discovery of a sword. He picks the weapon up, mutters Charlie’s name and disappears into the haze. Concurrently, Nicole responded to Kate’s radio call for help and managed to escort her back to the Gardner House without interference. The endless day caused by the eclipse has weakened Kate and she requires medical attention similar to that of a human’s. Nicole patches her up while she reads the cards, a desperate attempt at seeing the future change. All signs point to death, but they don’t give up. As Julian’s awakening solidified – hope was found on the Horizon (and in Kate’s cards).

 

Wynonna’s band of merry misfits, monsters and angels is growing stronger. Hope begins to swell. They might just have a chance after all until…

 

All is fair in love and war, but some take the adage too far. Bulshar, having watched Wynonna leave with his platoon of Revenants, pays a visit to Bobo Del Rey and makes him an offer he can’t refuse: to be his next Lieutenant. Bobo accepts the title and the liberation at the hands of Bulshar, in turn picking a side on the scales he once so delicately balanced upon.