Wynonna Earp - S2E2 - Shed Your Skin

Previously on Wynonna Earp, “Steel Bars and Stone Walls”

Does anything ever go well when spiders are involved? Uh, hell no!

It didn’t take long for things to get dark and icky now that Purgatory is swarming with all manner of supernatural creatures. For most of “Shed Your Skin”, viewers were subjected to a swarm of skin-crawling arachnid vermin that had a taste for construction workers. Agent Lucado - demoted to a supervisory role in the BBD’s Purgatory office - puts Wynonna to task, with the ladies occasionally butting heads on how to get the job done. Meanwhile, Doc and Waverly went through their own trials, leaving poor Wynonna in the dark and feeling unloved. It didn’t help that during their absence, The Heir believed she was being haunted by her older sister.

The burden of being the number one demonslayer in all the land never sat right with Wynonna from the beginning, yet the villainous turn of big sister Willa and her subsequent death at the hands of Wynnie remains a huge trauma that goes unresolved. It’s difficult for our stalwart heroine to process because it’s an unrelatable tragedy she could share with others. Plus Wynonna prefers to bury things deep and cover it with enough whisky to start her own distillery. The unexpected return of a fellow hellion by the name of Mercedes Gardner (Dani Kind) gave Earp a respite from her self-inflicted torment, if only for a moment.

It was fun to learn that Wynonna had a partner-in-crime (of sorts) during her wild days, but now Gardner is in the midst of a quarter-life crisis like Earp was a year ago. Given their shared history and similar angst due to adulting, it would be nice if Wynonna had a friend outside of work and family to help her let off some steam.

Still, the guilt remains. Though Wynonna never had a full glimpse of the latest terror floating around town, she immediately believed it was Willa seeking vengeance. What else is a girl to do but get drunk and torch all her late sister’s belongings in case any one bound her spirit to this realm. Naturally!

As we know, Waverly’s sentiment for Willa was the complete opposite, and she especially didn’t give a motherfig after reading Willa’s journal about “the baby” not being one of them. Even if she wasn’t infected/possessed/slowly being consumed from the inside out by the black goo, Waverly’s disdain for her turncoat sister would continue to burn hotter than a thousand suns. The animus Willa showed for the littlest Earp was gratuitous, however the pieces are now starting to come together. From the talisman she fashioned to break the aura of protection at the Homestead and her inheritance as Keeper of the Bones, to the strange desire to consume the black goo and her increased aggressiveness, Waverly had embraced her dark streak well before her current “transformation”. Bobo was on to something, but we’ll have to wait a bit more to discover Waverly’s true destiny and how it’s tied to the Ghost River Triangle. 

But first, a light snack!

He’s no daisy, no daisy at all…

Hot damn, is Doc on a tear or what?! He made quite the impression on the Black Badge last week, even though Wynonna and her Peacemaker are the sole reason the entire squad managed to stay alive. Nevertheless, Holliday’s tenacity and unconventional means of escaping virtually any situation are a boon for the BBD. That is, if they can ever get him to do his part, which Doc won’t! Now that Lucado has taken over Dolls’ responsibilities, the team is pretty much back to square one and Doc is having none of that… especially after seeing firsthand how Jeannie treats his friends.

Now that Xavier is AWOL and the rest of the gang is under the BBD’s thumb, Holliday’s irascible side that appeared to be tempered in the later episodes of season one has reawakened. Surly and insistent aren’t strong enough descriptors of Doc’s behavior in “Skin” as his dismissal towards both Lucado and Earp were a touch surprising, given his unique histories with the ladies. Thanks to Nedley’s due diligence, Holliday gained ownership of Shorty’s after Bobo’s all too brief stay as proprietor. Unfortunately for Wynonna, Doc’s concerns for Dolls remain paramount, as evidenced by the cold shoulder he continues to give the Heir.

It’s one thing to rebuff Earp’s advances but John Henry took it a bit further and let his disappointment towards Wynonna quite known. For a man who’s taken to the ins and out of the 21st century, Doc still has plenty of growing up to do. Yes, his contempt for the BBD is warranted and they certainly have an agenda that goes beyond “ridding the world of evil”. However, Wynonna needn’t take any blame for the tenuous partnership. The team had no other choice but to form a pact in blood, for the sake of not only their lives and Xavier’s but all of Purgatory. Still, it’s understandable why Holliday is extremely cross as he is bound to yet another curse.

In the meantime, Doc recruited the services of a mysterious woman named Rosita Bustillos (Tamara Duarte) for her advanced knowledge in mixology… and biochemistry, perhaps? Whatever the pair are up to, it wouldn’t be surprising if it involved Holliday’s fugitive friend.

Notes from the Ghost River Dispatch

• We’re only two episodes in, but Sheriff Nedley is drawing up a strong campaign for Most Improved Player of the season. Yeah, he’s an ornery cuss with a personality that’s as charming and gentle as extra coarse sandpaper. Yet he gives credit where it’s due and low key supports Wynonna and Doc when the “good guys” have their collective thumbs up their butts. No one loves Purgatory more than Nedley, and he’s comfortable betting house money on Team Wynonna getting shit done.
• Writer Alexandra Zarowny didn’t buck from tradition as it’s becoming well known that at least one lead always gets it on in all of her episodes. It took three acts but Wayhaught finally had their time to shine (so to speak)!
• So those other new beasties introduced in the episodes known as The Widows… they weren’t creepy at all…
• Considering that the Chapel turned out to be a ruin of great reverence for evil, color me shocked if there aren’t two other sites across the Ghost River Triangle that are big time monster magnets.
• Seeing how no one can find any revenants except Earl, I believe Wynonna and company are asking the wrong question. They shouldn’t ask where did they go but who is leading them on this new path.
• The inclusion of Jeremy (Varun Saranga) in the gang’s daily chaos has been a winning experience so far, especially when he made his crush on John Henry known to the legend himself. What’s that about chill? No, we don’t believe in that ‘round these parts.