Wynonna Earp - S2E4 - She Ain’t Right

Previously on Wynonna Earp, “Gonna Getcha Good”

Damn. Just, damn.

The second season of Wynonna Earp flew out of the gates hard and fast, ramping up the tension in every successive episode. Though Dolls’ condition was of great concern for the entire group, “Gooverly” had been mostly unnoticed as she lurked along the sidelines… but no longer! In a truly excellent episode written by Ramona Barckert (the brains behind the equally memorable “Landslide”), all that we’ve been hoping and praying to occur did in a fantastically satisfying manner. Still, it is Purgatory and happy endings never last long ‘round those parts.

“Tacos are tasty! Tacos! TACOS ARE TASTY!”

It’s been a rip-roaring good time to watch every lead continue to shape their characters into the moody, reluctant, amazingly imperfect heroes we’ve come to love, yet Dominique Provost-Chalkley has raised the bar to an impressive level during Waverly’s metamorphosis from cutie to cutthroat. Since Wave’s turn to the dark side, Provost-Chalkley has effectively pushed the dynamic between the sisters and Nicole into territory rich in anxiety and strife. After slowly cranking up the discord for the first three episodes, Barckert blasted it ‘til the windows shattered as Waverly finally accepted that she has been under the influence of something since “I Walk the Line”. Unfortunately for all, the entity gained enough strength to radically change the narrative yet again in Earp’s enthralling story arc.

“She Ain’t Right” started off simple enough: Lucado, constantly looking for a way to get out of the boonies, heard on the grapevine a strange parcel containing an unknown object was stolen from the BBD. What better way to show she has value to the Division than to retrieve the package? Enter bubbly, season one Waverly, who’s also eager to prove her worth to the team.

Lucado reluctantly used Waverly to infiltrate a meet between the jackers and their buyer, one thing led to another and BOOM… Waves is dressed to the nines, holding her own (and then some!) as a sultry songstress amid a den of thieves. For every challenge Emily Andras and the writers have crafted for Waverly, Provost-Chalkley has excelled, providing equal amounts of pluck and vampish appeal. For all of Waverly’s remarkable individual accomplishments this season, her scenes with Wynonna continue to be a highlight in most episodes. The pair have formed a bond so strong that no amount of rope or misguided artificial intelligence can stop them from getting the job done.

Given the trauma they’ve endured from The Curse, Bobo’s antics, and Willa’s death, the Earps continue to persist and whip up snappy banter for good measure. Except for this particularly tense situation, when things were totally and completely FUBAR.

Thanks to Lucado bungling her own mission (and leaving the Earps on their own!), Wynonna helplessly watched dear, sweet Waverly lose a hand to their bone-clawed captor (Billy MacLennan). It was a shocking moment, only to be surpassed with another ghastly revelation: whatever is inside Waverly was able to regenerate her lopped off paw. Seeing as Wynonna was the only one to see Waves get Skywalker’d, Doc can’t wrap his head around the fantastical notion that Waverly is under the influence of a demonic force. Knowing this, the being inside Waves made its move against The Heir and successfully possessed Wynonna, completely neutralizing her powers, thereby removing the sole threat to its existence. Great. Fantastic. WONDERFUL. Everyone is screwed again!

Oh… but there is Dolls. Good friggin’ gravy! We hoped he’d be back eventually and resume his role as the constant the team is currently lacking, but damn. He literally walked up from the basement in Shorty’s with some Smaug-level swagger and put Edward Bonerhands down for good when he literally spat hot fire.

Sadly, Xavier and the rest of Team Wynonna will be put to the test for the immediate future now that the goo switched sisters. With Peacemaker inert, the Widows in new forms, Tucker being coerced to explore the depths of his depravity and oh y’know, 60-something revenants still on the loose with a myriad of otherworldly beasts across the Ghost River Triangle… our intrepid heroes are going to be in for a world of hurt in the second act of an extremely fulfilling season!

Notes from the Ghost River Dispatch

• Who asks for a bathroom key, then snags a croissant on their way to the loo?! Black Badge Division agents, apparently. Bloody savages, indeed.
• “I got something!” “There’s a cream for that…”
• We may need a prequel webisode for that time Waverly was tagged with a tranq dart in high school. What the what???
• So Jeremy determined one glyph on the broken seal was an osprey. According to Native legends, the bird typically serves as a guardian, archetype for healers or wellsprings… or harbinger of doom. Take your pick when it comes to this show!
• Speaking of our resident genius, what happened to Chetri’s mom? So many questions!
• Just how many Earps were there? For a cursed family they sure did get it on like rabbits…
• So the Widows… peeled off the Gardner sisters’ faces… and discovered the miracle of bacon for good measure. There’s some kind of delicious, evil irony about that whole scenario.
• Alexa > Cortana > Siri …FIGHT ME.