Wynonna Earp - S1E10 - She Wouldn’t Be Gone

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Previously on Wynonna Earp, “Bury Me With My Guns On”

Wynonna Earp - s1e10 - She Wouldn’t Be Gone | Melanie Scrofano, Tim Rozon, Shamier Anderson, Dominique Provost-Chalkley, Michael Eklund, Katherine Barrell, Joris Jarsky | Writer: Brendon Yorke | Director: Peter Stebbings

A smorgasbord of double crosses and professions of love have occurred in the last four episodes of Wynonna Earp, and the hits certainly appear to not be stopping. In the tenth episode, nearly everything is out in the open between the team. Bobo proves his despicable behavior has no bounds and due to a surrealistic, damn near Lynchian occurrence in the woods, a huge part of the void that’s in Wynonna’s heart has been restored. Once more, the cast provides equal amounts of laughs and heart in “She Wouldn’t Be Gone”, thanks to the sharp writing of Brendon Yorke.

“Those Earp girls may be bangable but they’re a boil on my scrotum.”

Malicious, vindictive, cunning, a penchant for the dramatic… Robert Del Rey (Michael Eklund) is all of the above. In the last three episodes however, the depths of his criminal expertise has been on full display. Don’t let his handsome, chiseled face fool you. The demon is a calculating fiend who doesn’t want to simply defeat his enemies and get the hell out of the Ghost Triangle… Del Rey wants them to suffer hell on earth before they’re buried six feet deep.

Short of a brief tantrum among his troops and putting Wynonna and John Henry’s liaison on blast, Bobo took a backseat to his chief rival Lou (Gord Rand), also known by his callow-eyed followers as “Ishka” (Apache for ‘Until we meet again’). The name was more than apt, as Lou - in his guise as a cult leader - appears to be readying his return to Purgatory to exact revenge on Bobo for currently unknown reasons. The real question is why did he need female followers for his cause? Was his commune in the Pine Barrens a sham or an undertaking that had serious implications on the status of the Ghost River Triangle? Surely, he wouldn’t have imprisoned and exploited his skinwalker wife for over a century (wtf) without a sinister purpose.

Then again, Lou was a revenant. If the show has taught us anything about these hellspawn, they take great pleasure in the misery of others.

What was particularly intriguing were the “encounters” Xavier and Wynonna experienced in the Barrens before being welcomed by Lou. While Earp was awash in the glow of a warm light, Dolls was surrounded by a murder of crows in decidedly contrasting woods. Whether their ordeals were portents for our favorite duo or representations of their current emotional states is open to interpretation. One thing that makes watching Wynonna Earp fun is the massive amounts of speculation that can be drawn out of a few lines or seconds of peculiarly shot scene. Dang these smart shows with their clues and whatnot!

“You two knock boots now she’s giving you gifts?”
“PLEASE. A gentleman always removes his boots.”

One of the more hilarious aspects of Earp is how the sisters apparently have a bead on every secret among their friends and rivals yet cannot for the life of them sort out one another’s dirty laundry. Practically everyone is aware of the Wynonna and Waverly’s dalliances with Doc and Nicole, but the former is out in the open now thanks to Bobo’s big mouth.

In a world full of monsters and creeps and other terrors, one of the strongest elements in this series is the heaps of humanity made bare by both Scrofano and Provost-Chalkley. Nothing makes a hero more relatable than playing to their vulnerabilities. Throughout the season, showrunner Emily Andras and her writing staff have whipped together a profound mythology for these charismatic yet deeply flawed characters. While watching versatile leads walk down the road to redemption/destruction is always an alluring prospect, Earp doubles down in the excitement with an assembly of weird-ass creatures and degenerates. Since it’s premiere, it’s been apparent no one is a cookie cutter representation of any stereotype; many of Purgatory’s residents thrive within the grey. None more so than Wynonna herself.

So many people have failed her over the years, either by betraying her trust or writing her off completely because of her family’s eccentric background. Turbulent though their friendship has been in the last couple episodes, the lightning rod for all of Wynonna’s fleeting moments of intimacy is the immortal Doc Holliday (Tim Rozon). Regrettably, Doc has suddenly developed an itch that Earp cannot scratch.

As Holliday stated back in “Diggin’ Up Bones”, he knows Wynonna like his own reflection. What initially began as a passionate tryst in the woods quietly gained more emotional value as motives and hidden agendas were altered accordingly. Doc and Earp do the best they can given their ample distrust of people; what little they exchange between one another is considerable for their part. Still, it’s not enough for Holliday to stick around. Now that Doc’s vengeance against Constance Clootie is satiated, he has literally all the time in the world to find his place in this unfamiliar country.

“You’re coming home with me.”

After all the twists and shocks Wynonna Earp has thrown at its stalwart fan base, “Gone” hearkened back to Xavier’s big secret but also revealed the hugest whammy of them all (so far).

While Doc supposedly drives towards the horizon, the Earps were in for the shock of their lives when the thorn in Lou’s side turns out to be their long lost sister Willa (Natalie Krill). There were a few hints thrown around during “Gone” that ‘Eve’ was far more than a cult member who blindly followed Lou/Ishka. For one, she definitely had her defiant streak in full display. Not to mention she had an uncanny knack for taking a beating and shrugging it off minutes later. You would think taking a (hopefully clean) piss pot to the face would make Willa awfully salty at Wynonna. But nope! Just like how Waverly nearly blew her head off in the premiere, it’s nothing that can’t be hugged out. Besides, there was that whole revelation about Peacemaker working in the hands of another during their escape from the Day Spa of Horrors. 

Thanks to some deft scripting by Yorke, Melanie Scrofano gave another stellar performance as the bewildering Wynonna. With each episode, Scrofano further hones the steadfast heir into a wholly authentic character that plays with our heartstrings while generously tapping us on our funny bone. It didn’t take long for Scrofano to find that perfect balance of whimsy and drama. From delivering the absolute best facial expressions, awkward moments and profane one-liners, to drawing out wells of emotion during Earp’s most poignant scenes, Scrofano as Wynonna is a hero you will always root for.

Family reunions aren’t without their hardships as the Earps know quite well. Now that Willa is back in the fold, she’ll have to learn about the big bad world she occupies real quick. Her first lesson will be provided by a pair of revenants in “Landslide”, Friday at 10/9c on Syfy!