What. the hell. just. happened. Was this the most intense episode of Wynonna Earp since we got rid of the goo? I think it might have been. At any rate, it was so much fun, and so intense, and I felt all the feelings, so let’s hop on the roller coaster and go through them again, shall we?
Here are the things you have to remember before diving into this week’s episode: two evil witchy sister wives are looking for the third seal that, if broken, will release their demon husband from his grave; the last seal is Doc’s ring that keeps him from aging which he has now given to Wynonna; Waverly kissed Rosita and found out she was a Revenant all in one episode; and Rosita ships WayHaught and sent Waverly over to Nicole’s so they could iron things out.
But it wasn’t Waverly at the door when Nicole opened it, it was Widow Mercedes, and it’s not a social call. We open at the close, with Nicole surprised it’s Mercedes and her bum roll, who comes in the Haught House fists first. Widow Mercedes beats up on Nicole, pinning her to the floor and demanding she give up the seal. But Nicole doesn’t have the seal, so she dishes out sass instead.
Before the Widow can switch her rotting face for Nicole’s, Waverly swoops in, breaks a broom handle in half, and uses her badass stick swinging skills to protect her girl.
This might be my new favorite cold open.
Waverly lands some Buffy-esque quips before going all out on Widow Mercedes while Nicole tries to drag herself toward her gun. Before she reaches it though, she sees Widow Mercedes throw Waverly to the ground and try to freeze breath her, so Nicole bounds over the couch and puts Mercedes in a choke hold, which gets her bit.
It’s a good thing I don’t have a couch or my arm would already be broken from trying this.
The bite told her all she needed to know, though, which is that Nicole was telling the truth and that she doesn’t have the ring.
But she’s sure the ring willl be there soon, so she poofs away for now just as Waverly gets the gun to point at her. Seeing the immediate threat is gone, Waverly runs to her girlfriend and holds her, begging Nicole not to die as she calls 911.
“Baby, we’re still not at a place yet where there’s enough LGBTQ+ representation on TV, you can’t die!”
Wynonna, meanwhile, is already at the hospital, visiting the real Mercedes, her non-face wrapped up and her doctors’ questions being expertly avoided. (Oh and on the way into the room, Wynonna asked Nedley for his help and he made it very clear he’s on her side, and it was very sweet.)
Wynonna tells Mercedes about the baby, tries to imagine what her reaction would be, tries not to blame herself for one of her only friend’s horrible fate. Dolls comes in and tells her the real Beth is dead, and Wynonna wonders if that might be a blessing, considering how long the Widows kept these faceless women alone in the basement to waste away.
Then, Wynonna hears her baby sister’s voice crying out for help and immediately books it for the hallway.
Waverly is running alongside Nicole’s gourney, begging the doctors to save her, insisting she’s not breathing. Waverly hears a familiar voice and looks up to see the Blacksmith — no, her sister. Her twin.
The doctors won’t let her go with Nicole any farther, but as soon as Waverly’s broken little heart turns around, Wynonna is there to hold her. While she waits for the doctors to tell her what’s going on, she gives Wynonna and Dolls the rundown, starting with the fact that she was going over there because they were fighting. Then her eyes get big and she realizes Nicole could die while they’re fighting and she hasn’t even gotten to apologize for kissing Rostia yet and and and—but Wynonna interrupts her.
First she’s going to say one kiss isn’t cheating, but her surprise at the receiver of the kiss takes over. Waverly is like I KNOW! Rosita is Doc’s girlfriend and also a Revenant and everything is chaos.
“I was going to ask if Rosita was even queer but this is far more important, you’re right.”
Wynonna looks at Dolls, who makes it clear he knew about Rosita, and Wynonna is mad she’s the last to know but now isn’t the time. This part hurt me because it was the first sign that Waverly isn’t thinking clearly. Waverly promised Rosita she wouldn’t tell Wynonna that she was a Revenant, and then she turned around and did exactly that maybe an hour later. Regular Tuesday Waverly wouldn’t have. But Waverly who was just up all night fighting a physical manifestation of the entitled white male ego, Waverly who just had to fight a witch whose husband cursed her family, Waverly whose girlfriend had stopped breathing last time she saw her? Well let’s just say our Waverly isn’t in top decision-making form right now.
PLUS ORPHAN BLACK IS ENDING, DOES THE CHAOS NEVER END
Anyway, Wynonna tells Waverly not to worry about Widow Mercedes’ rampage for the seal, because she has it and it’s safe. Waverly is mad no one told her they knew where the third seal was, but Wynonna insists this was safer. Waverly is breaking down because Nicole sure isn’t safe and the only reason she got bitten is because she was trying to save Waverly. She needs some air.
After Waverly is gone, Wynonna asks Dolls to give it to her straight: Nicole got bitten by a venomous witch, how bad is it? Dolls says based on what he saw with Juan Carlos, Nicole has a few hours at most. But Wynonna is determined to keep those bitches from stealing another one of her redheaded friends and says she’ll do whatever it takes to stop this from killing Nicole.
Waverly’s air-getting mission is interrupted by Widow Beth, who Waverly now knows is wearing a stolen face.
And maybe a few stolen Waverly hair tricks.
Widow Beth tells Waverly she smells “rare” (WHAT DOES IT MEEAAN) and threatens her, forcing Waverly to listen to her proposal: Beth can cure Nicole, but only if Waverly gives Beth the seal. Waverly tries to get out of it by using the gun she took from Nicole’s house (and apparently wandered around the hospital with) but regular old bullets can’t hurt this witch.
Brave Little Toaster: Now in animal prints!
Waverly insists she would never betray Wynonna, but Beth just smirks and haughtily walks away. That is to say, she reminds Waverly that Haught is going to die as she walks away.
Waverly goes back inside and Dolls says that the doctors are going to put Nicole in a coma to slow the spread of the toxins, but she won’t go under until she sees Waverly, so Waverly runs.
Before she gets there though, Wynonna comes in to see the patient. The first thing Nicole does is tell Wynonna what Widow Mercedes had said to her, because she’s the best. The second thing she does is ask Wynonna to pull the plug if it comes to that, because she doesn’t want to be a burden on anyone and she knows Waverly would never. She says Wynonna is also the only one Waverly would ever learn to forgive for doing it.
“Fandom may never forgive you, but Waverly might.”
Wynonna reluctantly agrees, though surely she’d rather schedule a night of peppermint schnapps shots once Nicole is better and this baby is born instead.
Waverly rushes in and Wynonna decides now is not a great time for Wynonnus Interruptus so she peaces out. Waverly sits on Nicole’s bed and starts to apologize, but Nicole wants to apologize first. She thought she was doing the right thing, protecting Waverly from the DNA results, but she sees now that lying to her girlfriend hurt them both more than the tests did.
Nothing like almost getting killed by an ancient evil gothic witch to put things in perspective.
Waverly says they both have plenty to be sorry about, and when Nicole is all better they’ll have an apology party and drown their sorrows in wine and ice cream and then binge The L Word and be glad their fights were never as dramatic as Tina and Bette’s.
Nicole is seriously afraid she’s going to die so she wanted to make it clear that she loves Waverly more than anyone she’s ever loved. Waverly nopes her way out of Feelings Corner and says that they’re going to save Nicole so there’s no need for goodbyes. The doctor comes in and puts Nicole to sleep and Waverly kisses her as she drifts off, just in case.
Just in case True Love’s Kiss is a real thing.
Waverly goes out to debrief with the team, and is trying to hold it together, but is fraying at the edges. Jeremy says he needs more venom and a test subject, and Waverly is the first to offer herself up.
“I’m wearing mom jeans and a club top, I’m literally ready for anything.”
He says they need someone who isn’t human, and Waverly decides now is not the time to admit she thinks she might not be, so instead she tries to pick up all of Jeremy’s papers instead, flustered, overwhelmed, scared. In doing so, she knocks over Jeremy’s mug (adorkably called Optimug Prime) and Jeremy says it’s fine, he can fix it, but Waverly starts to cry, “Wynonna, what if he can’t?”
It hurts, y’all.
(I do want to note that during this scene, Waverly is still doing The Most to make sure Jeremy doesn’t feel bad; not about being excited about komodo dragons, not about being accidentally insensitive when talking science. She might be miserable but she doesn’t want her misery to spread any more than it has to.)
Wynonna tells her little sister that they all love Nicole, that they’re all going to do everything they can to save her. Waverly asks if maybe they should use the third seal to lure the Widows out, testing the waters to see if she’d be down for Beth’s plan, but Wynonna says it won’t come to that.
THE EARP SISTERS ARE VERY…
She forces Waverly to meet her eyes and asks if she trusts her, if she trust them. Waverly says she does.
…IMPORTANT TO ME DOT TUMBLR DOT COM
So the team has their tasks: Dolls is going to try to learn something from The Order and Juan Carlos’s body, Jeremy is going to do some science, Wynonna and Doc are going to Haught’s House for clues, and Waverly is going to stay by her girlfriend’s side.
Aaand break.
While her team goes off to do their thing, Waverly runs into Beth again.
“It’s not my fault you’re like in love with me or something.”
Waverly knows she can’t trust Beth, but Beth shows her a tempting vial of anti-venom. Beth leaves her with one last threat, and Waverly is all ready to chase after her, but Nedley interrupts. He gives her an awkward dad hug and says he’s going to take care of Nicole’s cat, Calamity Jane. Oh and also, just to warn her, he had to call Nicole’s next of kin. Waverly is confused; Nicole doesn’t speak to her parents. (A tidbit I liked because it’s a detail about Nicole that we didn’t know but obviously Waverly and Nicole have talked about.) But Nedley isn’t talking about her parents…
So Waverly goes to meet this next of kin and finds a sexy doctor instead.
I think this town is big enough for two Docs.
Said doctor explains that she’s actually not NICOLE’S doctor, she’s just A doctor. And she’s Nicole’s wife.
“Please tell me this is just a case of someone taking ‘gal pal’ a step too far.”
?!?!
More on that later.
Dolls goes to talk to the Order and Ewan wants Wynonna’s baby to “protect” because “others” will come for it but Dolls is like I’m still not even entirely sure who or why you are but your robes are weird and you just burnt all the bodies we could have used to make an anti-venom so pardon me if I don’t hire you to be the Earp Nanny.
Also Ewan drops that it’s possible Black Badge kidnapped Dolls as a little baby dragon? (Or I guess as a baby who they turned into a dragon?) But we don’t have time for that right now, there’s a lesbian on her deathbed. Ewan decides Team Earp is their only hope of killing the witches, so they give back the plate that caused all that hullabaloo a few episodes back, calling it a weapon.
Back at the hospital, Waverly is at Nicole’s bedside, reassuring her that they’re looking for a cure, wondering aloud why Nicole never told her about Shae.
“Don’t let me be the last to know…”
Speaking of Shae, she comes back and Waverly asks how they met. Sweet Waverly might be in bad decision mode right now, but she can’t be cruel to this woman she just met who introduced herself as her girlfriend’s wife. But Shae explains: She and Nicole were rock climbing in Nevada and after a night of Britney Live in Vegas, they got married on a whim.
“Ah, I see. No need to gimme more.”
But things cooled off and they realized they rushed into things. Just then Nicole starts to wake up, and Shae, being a doctor, jumps to check on Nicole, nudging Waverly out of the way. When Nicole’s doctor comes in and asks about allergies, Waverly starts to say she has none, but Shae knows otherwise from a rock climbing accident. Waverly tears up, says she’s making things worse and leaves.
Wynonna goes to Shorty’s and interrupts a Revenant named Stevie trying to get Doc to let him into his basement, and at first Doc is salty about having to give up his ring and giving Wynonna attitude, but as soon as she mentions Nicole is dying and needs their help, he’s on his feet and ready for anything. When he goes to get changed, Wynonna confronts Rosita by putting Peacemaker on the bar.
See also: Me to pole-leaners on the subway.
What’s really heartbreaking is, when Rosita runs through the list of people who know, she decides she doesn’t think it’s Doc, and picks Dolls as the culprit; Waverly never crossed her mind. Waverly promised. Wynonna explains that Waverly is a bit distracted by now, and Rosita seems understanding; she even offers up help if there’s anything she can do.
Wynonna tells her that she can help by going to Black Badge and being their test subject; in exchange, she’ll shoot Rosita last after she gets the rest of the Revenants. Wynonna says she likes her, and would rather not give her this ultimatum, but Nicole needs their help. Rosita is upset; Wynonna came here with her claws out and gun waving around when all she had to do was ask Rosita nicely and she would have said yes anyway. She cares about this band of weirdos, and it hurts to hear that just because she’s a Revenant, Wynonna can’t see that.
“I’m still the same person I was yesterday.”
Rosita goes to Black Badge and offers up her body for science and Jeremy actively hates this plan. He never intended for his friends to get hurt during this experiment and he doesn’t care that she’s a Revenant. But she grabs the needle and sticks her own self, immediately feeling the pain of it but gritting her teeth and taking it like a bamf.
Waverly and Dolls rush in and are upset Rosita is being tested on and Jeremy says he’s upset too but this was Rosita’s decision. Waverly pulls the IV out of Rosita’s arm and says there has to be another way. She tells them about Beth’s deal, and Jeremy hates that plan even more than he hated the first one, and Waverly doesn’t love it either because she super doesn’t want to betray Wynonna, but Dolls more or less orders her to do just that. He SAYS it’s because if Waverly gets the anti-venom from Widow Beth, Nicole will be better, and then they’ll have their whole team to fight the Demon Clootie, but it seemed very suspicious to me. Because even if he knew Wynonna was kind of thinking about raising the Demon Clootie herself, he’d know she had intended to wait until after the baby was born.
Anyway, Rosita makes a “that’s what she said” joke despite being nearly delirious with venom and pain, proving once again her and Waverly are perfect as best friends, then Dolls offers himself up instead to finish the testing.
Waverly goes see Nicole before she decides anything re: the seal (not that she knows where it is anyway) and kisses Dolls on the cheek to thank him before she goes. Dolls wails a lot more than Rosita and at first I was going to make a joke about how it reminded me of those gifsets of men’s soccer injuries vs women’s soccer injuries but then I remembered that it’s likely Rosita has been to literal hell and back at least once so I’ll give Dolls a pass on this one.
At Haught’s House, Doc and Wynonna find fresh blood on the floor. They hear something in the closet and go to attack it but it’s just good old Calamity Jane.
I HAVE SO MANY PUSSY JOKES TO MAKE I CAN’T CHOOSE JUST ONE
They put the clues together and realize Nedley must have been attacked when he came to pick up the cat and sure enough, Widow Mercedes has him in a barn, sticking her rotting face into his and threatening him, demanding he give up the seal. He just sasses her like a champ (not to be confused with a Champ), even through literal torture.
Back at the hospital. Shae is telling Waverly that things aren’t looking good for their girl.
“This seemed more soothing when Rachel Duncan was doing it…”
She’s starting to get suspicious about their line of work, and Waverly insists she tried to keep Nicole out of danger. Shae scoffs and says that if she thought that was a thing she was capable of doing, she didn’t know Nicole Haught at all. She meant it as a lighthearted comment on Nicole’s character, but she sees it hits a sore spot for Waverly, so she talks to her straight (well, not exactly strai—you know what I mean): Nicole and Shae were a fun fling; they thought it was love but it wasn’t the kind of love that lasts. But Shae knows that what Nicole and Waverly have is special; which implies perhaps Nicole has been talking to her lately which makes it weirder she hadn’t mentioned Shae to Waverly yet, or maybe she just knows it from these conversations with Nicole as she drifts in and out of consciousness, who knows. The point is, like Rosita, like Nedley, like all of us, Shae ships WayHaught.
Three! Not-Evil! Queer! Women! In! One! Shot! Yes!
Shae says her professional opinion is that there’s nothing they can do for Nicole right now unless Waverly has a miracle up her sleeve, but Waverly just might.
Waverly storms out and confronts Greta, the Blacksmith’s sister, the Iron Witch. She calls Nicole “my love” just to hurt me, then says that the iron in Nicole’s blood is shutting down her organs and she needs Greta’s help.
Greta has heard of the Widows, the spider sisters, and of an anti-venom. She says her price will be steep but Waverly is willing to do whatever it takes to save her girl. So they shake on it; another terrible decision even Waverly wouldn’t have condoned if she wasn’t desperate. You never agree to pay a price before you know the cost.
“Did I mention my middle name was Anyanka?”
So Greta writes something on a piece of paper and Waverly follows the note to Nedley’s office where she finds Doc’s ring in Nedley’s Dad mug. She realizes now what happened; she was technically being lead to the anti-venom, but by way of the deal with Beth. It’s a rude be-careful-what-you-wish-for trick that Clear Headed Waverly would have seen from a mile away
“Did…did Greta just propose to me?”
Doc and Wynonna track the Widow to a giant barn and Doc tries to ask Wynonna to sit this one out but with that voice that knows she won’t say yes, he just has to ask to be a gentleman. Like how I offer to help pay every time I go out to dinner with my parents even though I know they won’t let me. Wynonna does say she’ll stay in the driver’s seat of the truck, but that’s only because her plan is to drive through the barn and plow down Widow Mercedes, which she does with great skill, just as Widow Mercedes wrongly accuses Wynonna of being selfish.
Doc shoots Widow Mercedes a few times, saying it’s for Officer Haught, and then he pistolwhips her for Waverly. Even typing this my heart is swelling up; this former loner cowboy loves his galaxy of women.
And Wynonna gives her a few punches for Nedley, because she’s the only one who gets to torture the only guy she has left that’s something of a father figure (or at least supportive uncle figure) to her THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
Wynonna shoots Widow Mercedes in the leg with Peacemaker and has Doc tie her up so they can wheel her into the Purgatory Sheriff’s Office looking like something out of Hannibal. Jeremy tells them they need to extract the venom directly from her veins, and Wynonna goes at her with the big needle without hesitation.
“You’ve been needling me for weeks, it’s my turn.”
Once they’ve got the anti-venom, Wynonna practically skips down the hallway of the hospital, so proud of what they did, so ready to save Nicole. Btu when she gets to Haught’s hospital room, she sees Nicole sitting up, looking fine, Waverly beside her.
No good deed goes unpunished…
Nicole says it’s a miracle and Wynonna’s eyes dart to Waverly’s face and the guilt plastered over it tells her it’s anything but. I don’t know that I ever truly understood the phrase “her face crumpled” until I saw Wynonna’s do just that. The gift and the curse of Scrofano Face is that you get to see every single moment of Wynonna’s experience here, from the delight that her friend is okay, to the realization that Waverly did something she shouldn’t have, to the understanding that Waverly didn’t trust that she would come through. It’s hard to watch.
It’s one of those feelings where I know I didn’t do anything wrong but I still feel like I did because THAT FACE
Waverly just had to wait, to trust her sister. And she didn’t.
Waverly runs out of the room, upset, and probably scared.
As she should be, because Widow Beth has the ring now and she’s on her way to the burnt remains of the old church and it’s only a matter of time before the Demon Clootie rises.
Waverly goes to Shorty’s, putting herself in a time-out to think about what she’s done.
And no dessert for a week, young lady!
The Iron Witch flounces is, not caring that Waverly is feeling like her sister will never forgive her.
Which is a fair concern, considering how Wynonna storms into the Black Badge office and tells Dolls that Nicole is fine but Waverly is decidedly not. Dolls seems almost pleased the Widows have the third seal now, and Wynonna adds him to the list of people she’s pissed at when she realizes he knew/supported this plan.
Greta tells Waverly she’s here to claim her prize, and skips over to the demon trophy, which apparently they just keep on the bar at Shorty’s…in plain sight I guess? She grabs it and starts chanting in German. Doc runs in because she got a text from Wynonna that Waverly ran off (because she might be rull mad at her little sister, but she still wants her to be safe) and is concerned to see a woman who looks like the Blacksmith he left to die chanting in German.
Doc steps forward to try to stop her, putting his hand on the trophy as if to pull it away, when he vanishes. Proud of herself, Greta turns to Waverly and explains that this is punishment for the Earp girls being directly responsible, in her mind, for her sister’s death. Her methods are a bit more vindictive (Wynonna would have just put a Peacemaker bullet in her brain) but her motivation — justice for her sister — is more understandable than, say, wanting to raise one’s demon husband from the dead to wreak havoc.
Anyway Greta’s plan is, one sister will disappear, the other will have to live with it.
“I win! So I’m gonna take this. Maybe get it inscribed.”
Wynonna is still mad, but Dolls says he might know the solution and hands Wynonna the plate. She asks what kind of metal the plate is and realizes she might know what they have to do, when the Iron Witch’s spell kicks in and POOF. Wynonna is gone.
I don’t think this is what they usually mean when they say a pregnant woman is glowing.
Dolls starts to exclaim in confusion but then just puts the plate back in its briefcase and sits down on his laptop.
Similarly, Waverly screams her sister’s name…
Maybe Waverly is part banshee because THIS HURT ME
…but then forgets who Wynonna is entirely by the time Jeremy comes in to ask her why she’s shouting. Oh and also? Waverly is now dressed like she was in the pilot, Shorty’s crop top, bump-it and all.
Shorty’s outfit, baby…one more time.
She tells Jeremy that they have a wedding to plan, and since she was looking like season one Waverly my first guess was that she was planning her wedding to Champ and man, I know he was relatively harmless, but we JUST got rid of Tucker, and I’m not ready for the return of another punchable face.
Oh and by the way, not everyone forgot Wynonna; Doc still remembers. But he’s back in his well.
Holy stressballs. It looks like we’re about to see a world where the same amount of time has passed since the pilot, but without Wynonna. So I have questions; did Black Badge still come to Purgatory? Is Ward Earp still alive, or is it not a reality-bending spell and just a mind-erasing/memory-changing spell, meaning all the physical things that happened (deaths, for example) still happened? Where is Wynonna? Will she be wandering around town without anyone being able to see her? Or did she….cease to exist? Is all this magical dimension-hopping good for the baby?
If you need me, I’ll be scouring theories on Twitter until the next episode. Feel free to share yours in the comments and I’ll add them to my murder board.
What would Waverly and Wynonna do about the widow’s wrecking their wittle twue woves?
There are only two episodes left :( I want mooore! I did have more thoughts on this episode yesterday, but right now all I can think about are my Orphan Black feelings. I’ll be back if I can remember what they were!
Damn, so much has happened that I don’t even know where to start, so I’d like to take a moment to appreciate Nedley. I underestimated him a lot and the guy deserves all the praise!
My heart hurt during the majority of this episode! Maybe a slightly unpopular opinion but I actually like the secret wife storyline, we get to see it on shows like Grey’s anatomy for straight folks it’s kinda refreshing to see it on a more queer centered show. That said it does bring up some possible “cheating” issues but given Shay’s support for WayHaught I think it’s just a technicality at this point.
Anywho here’s my theory about what the plate may mean for the crew… Before Wynonna *poofed* (?) she asked what type of metal the plate was and then said she knew what to do. I think that the plate is made of a metal capable of killing demon Cludy* (sp?). Thoughts?!
It think he’s the Demon Clootie.
I’m wondering if the metal should be cast into a bullet for Peacemaker, since we know there’s a metal layer under there.
And I don’t hate the secret wife story line, since it’s clear it’s over and she seems super into WayHaught and supportive. I think Shae is there to stop Nicole’s next of kin reverting to her parents, since she doesn’t talk to them. Shae and Nicole clearly parted on good terms and given Nicole’s jumpiness about being interrupted and not talking to her parents I’m guessing there’s a homophobic parents backstory in there too.
Ahhh yes Clootie, thanks!
That’s exactly what I’m thinking too! I think the memory lapse/no Wynonna is going to be solved next episode and it’s going to come down to either a battle with Clootie or a cliffhanger for next season. But since they didn’t know they’d have a season 3 I’m interested in how they decided to wrap the season….
Thoughts?
If they kill Clootie does that break the curse? That’s actually Wynonna’s endgame, to save her baby from being the next heir without having to kill all the revenants, and, incidentally, to not have to kill Rosita, yay!
What does that do to a) the triangle? b) the existing revenants? And although Bobo’s just come back from hell, how much does he hate Wynonna? She sent him back to hell, yes, but she saved him from the decaying torture of being outside the triangle. And he sacrificed himself when Wyatt shot through him to try and kill Clootie the first time.
I agree Wynonna being gone is a 1 episode kind of thing. Doc gets out and fixes it somehow is my guess. Although the-widow-wearing-Mercedes’-face is dropping heaving hints in the teaser they’ve released too, so maybe someone, Jeremy perhaps gets the hint and practises his wizarding again!
For episode 13, revenants and scoobies vs Clootie and demon brides is my guess. If Clootie going down breaks the curse, the 60-ish revenants that are left, particularly with Bobo to lead them, are unlikely but strong allies.
[Just for the record, although I enjoy making predictions, I really suck at predicting what Emily Andras will do with a script.]
I’m like you. I love that we see Nicoles backstory that she is not that “perfect”. She was young and wild and got married. And every one on twitter is like why didn’t she tell Waverly.. My thoughts is ok so when is she going to tell her? They haven’t been dating that long and if a girl that I’m dating is saying to me BTW i’m married I wouldn’t take that so good. And Waverly is known to jump to conclusions. And what is it Waverly says in episode 109. It’s all to fast everything is changing around me. Gus selling the bar, she discovers her feelings for Nicole, She loses her big sister yet again, Wynonna is pregnant, she touches the goo.
So yeah when was Nicole to say I got a wife to add to all the other things?
“It’s a good thing I don’t have a couch or my arm would already be broken from trying this.” It’s a good thing I don’t have a car or my everything would already be broken from trying the Doc maneuver he does when he’s shooting not-Mercedes.
Ohh this was intense! I’m not even super nervous about the next episode because I know somehow they’re going to fix this, so I’m actually kind of looking forward to it. Seeing how things would’ve been without Wynonna. Now, we know Bobo is back, but we haven’t seen him yet, so I’m thinking he’s going to help now or, for sure, with defeating Clootie, and then maybe Wynonna will shoot him next to last (or last. I hope she never shoots sweet, brilliant Rosita).
There were a bunch of little things in this episode that show how much they all love and care about one another that I really appreciated. Like Wynonna reassuring Waverly that they love Nicole. Like drunk Doc giving Wynonna sass, but when she says “Nicole is dying” he’s like “lead the way”. Nedley hugging Waverly and secretly revealing he loves Calamity Jane (“Randy Nedley is a man of his word… and I got her a new scratching post”) Or Jeremy being worried about Rosita! (“nobody cares about your body” lol). Dolls supporting Waverly, whatever his reasons may be, and then she gives him a kiss on the cheek. And, finally, “GIVE ME MY NEDLEY!” Nedley, the unsung hero of Purgatory, implicitly trusted by Wynonna to keep the seal safe, and by Nicole to keep Calamity Jane safe (something some would argue is even more important than the seal).
The 2nd week in a row had me shouting at the TV to where a family member in the next room asked if I was okay. No nothing is okay. Wife? witch bite, deals with witches, Wynonna and Dolls disappearing.
Everything you wrote Valerie is everything I was thinking so now all I can do is speculate on the next 2 episodes.
The can of worms is now open on Nicole’s backstory (why doesn’t she talk to her parents and other stuff about her) and Dolls was taken by BBD as a baby?! and how does Ewan know that?
Trusting Greta was the worst decision Waverly ever made and she touched the goo. I mean the 1st thing that crossed my mind was that Greta’s secret request (which Waverly should have gotten terms before the handshake) was that she wanted the baby.
If Dolls “forced” Waverly to take the Beth deal then why didn’t he tell her what the seal was instead of Waverly having to include Greta into the mix.
Even though Beth has the 3rd seal do both Beth and Mercedes have to be present to break it? So maybe since Mercedes is being held captive at BBD they won’t be able to break the seal just yet. I wonder if they will be the cliffhanger that goes into season 3. Like they break the seal and Demon Clootie rises and boom end of season 2.
I agree with Valerie that Dolls’ behavior was off. This may play into him not telling Waverly about the seal and her having to take the deal. Maybe someone like Greta got to him first?
Auuugh, that was my thought, too. Can still get the baby because she has the trophy demon? I’m hazy on the trophy demon rules, but she definitely walked off with the thing.
I thought the Order meant that BBD was guilty of “stealing” and experimenting on folks–Dolls being a prime example of such–more than that Dolls was stolen as a baby/child by BBD. That could be an interesting twist, though, having Dolls and other children raised by BBD’s forces as some sort of super-soldiers or Fantastic 4 or X-men or something. I’d expect Dolls to be closer-knit with BBD, though, were that actually the case…though there are believable ways to retcon stuff like that.
Wait who’s the fourth queer woman? Rosita? I didn’t think that was for certain, since Waverly initiated the kiss and they didn’t really talk about it afterwards. Unless I’ve forgotten something/someone?
I’m not sure either, but Rosita kissed her back and I got the feeling she was not going to “I’m with Doc” it if Waverly hadn’t done it (which is to say, Waverly felt like it was a mistake, I don’t know about Rosita).
that’s what I thought and then I said oh maybe she meant 4 queer people which would include Jeremy.
Oh yeah! My mind just went to queer women, naturally. But yeah, Jeremy, love that kid.
With the exception of a couple of lesbian/gay characters for the sake of representation, Emily seems to prefer not to label anyone, especially as totally heterosexual. It’s something that was brought up during Lost Girl, they call Lauren a lesbian, but almost never define anyone else’s sexuality.
My take is that she’s trying to portray a world where it’s just assumed everyone somewhere on the spectrum, and loves who they love. I never assume any of her characters are 100% straight, I certainly don’t think she would portray a woman who’s been alive for over 100 years as limited to having sex with men.
Valerie, thank you so much for recapping these episodes because until this crazy (but ultimately wonderful) show calms down a bit I’m not going to be able to watch it without knowing some of what’s in store for my poor heart.
Hi. Hello. I am FREAKING OUT. So excited to see next week’s episode. I really hope Greta will come around and get on the right side of herstory because even SHE has to realize that without Wynonna everything would be shit????? But I guess this means we get a hero episode for the Team, so that’s cool.
Also, Calamity Jane is an amazing name for any cat but ESPECIALLY Nicole’s. Like I needed one more reason to have a giant crush on Nicole. It’s torture at this point.
Y’all for some reason I thought this was the finale so you can IMAGINE my joy at finding out there’s more episodes. This show keeps getting better.
“Waverly nopes her way out of Feelings Corner” i want a t-shirt that says this, I wanna a shirt that says, “I’m gonna nope my way out of Feelings Corner” I’m saying this to everyone I see from now on.
You have the best recaps aND CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT “ORPHAN BLACK IS ENDING WHAT IS THIS CHAOS” cause im days after watching this and im still like iT ENDED YESTERDAY WHAT IS HAPPENING youre great
“Did I mention my middle name was Anyanka?” I laughed SO HARD at that caption, because Buffy’s “The Wish” is immediately what I thought of at the end of this episode- which makes what I think will happen in next week’s episode SO intriguing. Nice job, as always, Valerie.
My guess is that Waverly is engaged to Champ, and Nicole is pining away for a “straight” Waverly (girl, we have ALL been there.) I also assume they will somehow get together (the power of WayHaught is strong,) and it will both be painful and glorious to watch. I. Can’t. Wait.
I AM FREAKING OUT.
I might have something more eloquent to say afterwards, but screaming into a pillow is all I can manage right now. I. NEED. THE. NEXT. EPISODE. NOW.
Thank you, Valerie Anne! I’m always looking forward to your live tweets and to your recaps.
Random thoughts:
– Shay the Wayhaught shipper cracks me up. Does anybody not ship Wayhaught? I bet even Champ has come around to shipping them at this point. The deus-ex-machina nature of Shay’s appearance and disappearance was a little fanfic-like to me – really? she lives within an hour or so of Purgatory somewhere, too? – especially when we didn’t see her get the news that Nicole is OK. But perhaps there was an intentional element in that authorial choice…
– Same-sex marriage became legal in Nevada in late 2014. Britney has been in residence in Vegas since late 2013. If the show’s universe is roughly parallel to our own, then Shay and Nicole got married no longer than a couple of years ago. (In the show’s timeline, it’s still roughly March of 2016, right?)
– If Shay and Nicole saw Britney live together, then I think Waverly and Nicole need to see Carly Rae Jepsen live together sometime when stuff on the domestic front calms the eff down.
– I’m tickled at how the show keeps using modern High German as its go-to mystical language this season. And Doc understands (heavily accented) German! What’s the back story there?
– The design of Nicole’s hospital gown top is rather different from any I’ve seen or worn. (It’s also what Wynonna wore in the hospital when she was held by Jack the Ripper’s human lackey.) For me, it evokes the folds of a kimono/yukata/jinbei more than anything else. Fun fact: The way that Nicole wears the garment, with the right side covering the left, is inauspicious for a living person if this were a kimono. Only corpses being prepared for burial are wrapped that way. Of course, she’s not wearing a kimono, and I’d bet a hundred grand that the writers/wardrobe people have no idea of this tradition, nor did they mean to evoke it. But it came to mind all the same.
There was a huge influx of Germans into “Upper Midwest” – Wisconsin, Minnesota and the like after some political upheaval back home in 1848. They opened the first kindergarten in the US, with that very German name in 1856.
The real Doc Holliday (1851-1887) stands a decent chance of having run across first generation German-Americans, even though he spent his life further South. Wynonna’s Doc seems to have spent his life a lot further North than the real one and would almost certainly have met them. It’s certainly not beyond the bounds of possibility he’d have talked to them too and learned some interesting German dialects.
True this! I love the idea of more Doc backstory in this way.
I am still waiting for the moment the demon teeth come and he gets to swoop in all like ‘Aha! Dentistry to the rescue!’ because his work as a dentist is surely the richest unexplored part of his backstory.
I did my research on when Britney started her residency too to figure out how long they might have been married.
Britney residency started Dec. 2013
As you said same sex marriage wasn’t legal until October 2014.
And I think it’s safe to assume that Nicole was recruited to work in Purgatory right out of the academy so she’s been in Purgatory for a year and the academy is another 4-6 months.
So to go along with your theory though I think they are in 2017 now. take a year and a half away from Nicole being in the academy and Purgatory, which takes us to fall 2015 and fast forward from the legal date of marriage in Vegas I would assume they were only married 6 months.
I don’t mind the wife story line. It told us a lot about Nicole and hey – these things happen. I don’t know who I’d marry if I got the chance to see Brittany live.
It makes sense for a lot of reasons. She doesn’t speak to her parents, which is too real for a lot of us. They’re on good terms AND she’s a doctor. I like it MUCH better than her potentially homophobic parents swooping in and making medical decisions/stopping Waverly from seeing her, which is something you see happen a lot in media.
My headcanon is they don’t really talk too often but Nicole got in contact with her recently to tell her about Waverly and start the divorce process, which is why Shae knows so much about Waverly.
Anyway I love it.
I like this theory, I’m gonna run with this
– What. the hell. just. happened. – literally what I said at the end of that episode haha
– I’m glad I watch alone because I can react however I want to, case in point: that very loud GASP at Nicole’s HER-WHAT-NOW? I love it though, as mentioned by a few people here, it happens but now it’s more queer-centered, true, we’ve seen this a few times with straight couples, so why not make it the same with queer couples? But how is it that they have not divorced yet though? LOL
– “We open at the close” – 100 points for Gryffindor! LOL
– “Give me back my Nedley” – this weeks Wynonna-ism
– “Waverly nopes her way out of Feelings Corner” – I WANT THIS IN A SHIRT TOO!
– My brain is hurting from speculating and thinking about all the possible things that might happen! Plus the Orphan Black series finale feels! But I love all the Straddlers’ thoughts and theories!
– Thanks VA for the recap as always – you know I’m a fan of yours / your work :)
I’ve completely come around on the Waverly kissing Rosita thing and now I’m fine with it. This was a great episode and now I can see how the kiss fits in to the story and how it gives Waverly the guilt trip that when confronted with the depth of Nicole’s love for her combined with her own love for Nicole could push her to the point where she would betray Wynonna like this. Without the kiss it wouldn’t have worked right. I’m also fine with Nicole’s secret wife. LOL It’s soapy good fun and it was handled well with none of the drama I would expect from this kind of thing if it was done in a lesser show.
Also Nicole’s house was lovely and I wish she and Waves woulds spend more time there! And YAY we got to meet Nicole’s gay kitty! I’m amazed you were able to resist making a joke about Nicole’s ginger pussy Valerie. You’re much stronger than me obviously. ;)
So my theory is that in the SDCC trailer we see Nicole at her desk in the sheriff office smiling at Waverly in her Shorty’s shirt. So I think that Nicole will break through and make Waverly fall in love with her again and when that happens, Waverly will start to remember Wynonna and they go off to find her and save her.
I had a small period of time because of that scene thoughts that it is Nicole she is going to marry. But then we se the fighting scene with guns on the homestead where Nicole comes like a knight in shining armor and saves the girl.
I also think now that Bobo is back and he is one of the few who know where Doc is. So he is going to save him. And I do believe that he is going to be on the Earps side against demon Clootie. Because the demon sheriff is the reason he is a revenant.
And last I think that Ward and Willa could be back. Because Doc is in the well because Wynonna never climb down to get the gun. And Ward and Willa was both shoot by Wynonna. Or maybe just Willa and the seven got to Ward.
But it’s Emily Andreas we talk about so every theory you got it so wrong. But that’s a little what I love about the show. You can speculate and it feels kind of right but you are so wrong.
Lately, Wynonna has been talking about her love for Twizzlers.
You know who else on Syfy used to talk about loving Twizzlers a lot?
This is the first time I read your review and is very good…congratulations,I used to read the reviews in spoiler tv but I lost interest in read there.
I wish Nicole had fought more with fake Mercedes before Waverly came in, I understand that Nicole is just human, but it would be nice to see her police training being shown a little, it was also funny that she was having trouble picking up the gun but she jump the couch that way.
I really enjoyed the moment between Mercedes and Wynonna and it was very sad to know that the real Beth is dead, Wyonna comforting Waverly was very good the relation of them is my favorite currently on tv shows, I saw some people angry with Waverly for saying Rosita’s secret,Honestly that did not bother me.
Conversation between Wyonna and Nicole was excellent, this was the first time I realized that they have a deep relationship, after Nicole and Waverly started dating they almost always seemed to be uncomfortable when they were together, in fact this was the first time I realized how much Nicole is loved by all and this was very good to see.
I don´t know what to think about the wife, they wanted to show that Nicole was not perfect and show more about her past, but I think it could have been done otherwise.
I did not believe that Waverly would deliver the seal to fake Beth and I was surprised, but on second thought she should not since, in the first season she begged Wynonna to deliver the peacemaker to Willa to save Nicole, Wyonna’s face was heart breaking but when she arrived at the hospital Nicole had obviously been checked out by other doctors and nobody knows how long it took, Maybe if Waverly had not done what she did Nicole would be dead, Waverly made the wrong choices but I understand why she did it and maybe if I was In her place would do the same thing.
Doc’s ring only works with him? Because if not, I wonder why they did not think of putting the ring on Nicole’s finger to keep her from dying or at least delaying the poison.
If they continue th Buffy nods, Nicole and Waverly will fall in love again. Like Willow and Tara in the memory loss episode following the musical. And I puddle be totally happy with seeing that sweet spell all over again.
I like the possibilities this opens up, a second chance for Bobo, a reset on the fight against the widows, reserection for Optimug Prime… Clootie could come back. Maybe even Lucado. The gangs all here. So many fun options….
One wing nut prediction: that Gus is the one to restore the world as it should be. I’d love that
I’m gonna need a bigger murder board.
I was super into the convo Dolls had with Ewan. Did the work of demon Clootie set the rules of the Triangle (and all that entails: the Earp curse, the demon-magnetism of the seal, the Order and BBD), or was the Triangle already set, and that drew demon Clootie to Purgatory? Also– Dolls was kidnapped by BBD? Plus Jeremy mentioned before that Dolls knows what happened to his parents. So much questions. Ugh, and what happens when demon Clootie rises…?!
Not even to mention all the WayHaught and the awesome WynHaught this episode. More than the pregnancy-reveal, more than the convo with Doc, I think Melanie’s face killed me the most in this scene. The total joy she shows when she sees Nicole awake (Haught damn!) going to suspicion, disbelief, betrayal, hurt, fury, and total sadness and disappointment as she realizes what Waverly did. The Earp Sisters ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO ME DOT TUMBLR DOT COM. Waverly’s actions were understandable, and fighting Clootie was long game anyhow, but oh baby girl! Watching Wynonna realize that even after all she’s done, all the time’s she’s saved Waverly and saved herself and no matter how hard she’s tried, at the end, Waverly ultimately couldn’t trust her. Rough.
My only hope with disappeared Wynonna is that wherever she is, she realizes whats happened and has to make the choice to come back to Purgatory and fight the fight. Maybe a little backstory on Greece and that key…?
Thanks for the great time, as always, Valerie Anne. Any recap that opens at the close, and also quotes Brittany is my goddamn shit show. I cannot wait for the next two episodes (let alone S3!)
Valerie!
Thank you, once again for recap that is full of feelings, yet still completely rational (something I really need after some of the reactions to the last couple of episodes), with the perfect amount of wit.
A few notes:
“I was going to make a joke about how it reminded me of those gifsets of men’s soccer injuries vs women’s soccer injuries” … I was actively wondering how you were going to address Dolls reaction vs Rosita’s (because I knew you were) and as a someone who loves women’s soccer, you far surpassed my expectations.
Regarding Shae knowing how important Waverly is to Nicole, I’m sure Nicole and Shae still have some communication since they’re obviously not officially divorced yet and are clearing on good terms. My kind of headcanon is that maybe they were dragging they’re feet getting everything finalized until Nicole met Waverly.
“Waverly just had to wait, to trust her sister. And she didn’t.”
I said this on Twitter too, but what I don’t think anyone realized in the moment is that we know Wynonna got the antidote, but we don’t KNOW it would have been soon enough to save Nicole. Given what Dolls said, I think we passed the point were Nicole was going to die any moment. Even if she had only been awake a few moments (at least long enough to have the IV removed…for some reason, and be sitting up) it’s feasible she could have died in those moments. Waverly trusted her to get the cure, she just couldn’t gamble with Nicole’s life that she would get there in time.
H.D. aka Earper Marine.
I’ve only seen maybe 4 episodes of Wynonna Earp, but when I watched this one I thought it was obvious that woman was not Nicole’s wife. From the little bit I’ve seen online that is NOT anyone else’s reaction though, so I think I’m just a suspicious person :) Maybe it was just rushed but there were a lot of little things that struck me as odd. Like Catherine pointed out above, Shay came to the hospital when she heard Nicole was dying but wasn’t anywhere around when she got better? I didn’t think she really seemed to care about her and I thought she seemed too interested in what was going on in Purgatory, plus she was being nice and trying to gain Waverly’s trust. Also I don’t think Nicole is a Britney fan ;) Seriously though, did anyone else not buy her story?
Funny you should say that, because my dad was also suspicious of her. “What if she’s not really her wife?” And then I was like, well, it IS interesting that we never saw her actually interact with Nicole……….
Yeah! I mean maybe they ran out of time, a lot did happen in the episode. But it seems Nicole is unaware she was ever there and I’m just waiting for when Waverly mentions the wife for Nicole to have no idea what she’s talking about. Thank your dad for making me feel like I’m not completely horrible at watching TV :)