“You’ve Seen Me Before Coffee” — Let’s Talk About Last Night’s Wynonna Earp

 

The Clutty threat continues on Wynonna Earp, but now we see the present day human (or near-human) toll on our cast of characters. Oh, and now Beau Smith himself is part of that group!
The episode opens with a great exchange of glances between Smith and Doc. It’s a nice treat before things get serious. And, boy, do they get serious. While everyone believes Tucker is dead, Dolls twinges that something is wrong in the Gardner house. Waverly is still furious at Nicole for withholding the blood test results, and suddenly notices Rosita. Wynonna, meanwhile, needs to have a hear-to-heart dinner with Doc.
The stakes are all set up, but the tone for each reveals the various tones the show allows for itself; from comedy to drama to horror to pathos.
Dolls and Jeremy become a wonderful comedy duo in this episode. All season, actor Varun Saranga has brought the comedy chops with everybody as his tech support characters defies death and everyone’s shortage of patience with him. But with Dolls, he has a straightman whose impatience is tinged with some sort of compassion. He kept Jeremy from mustering out of BBD. And as Jeremy himself says, Dolls saw something of value in Jeremy. Nonetheless, Doll’s tolerance of Jeremy’s quirks (or lack thereof) makes for great banter. We’ll definitely need more of their dynamic next season.
And then Dolls finds himself on MTV’s Fear facing down one the Clutty widows. Nice switch to horror there.
Speaking of horrors, Tucker’s face finally reflects his grotesque soul. Bravo to the people in makeup for making his frostbitten extremities so ugly. Also, bravo to Caleb Ellsworth-Clark for playing the guy with quiet but all-to-true menace. It’s a remarkable performance as Tucker becomes the most despicable villain in Purgatory yet. I’m sure Clutty will be amazing when he finally appears, but Tucker is a very familiar demon who doesn’t need the supernatural to make him loathsome.
Meanwhile, the supernatural explains away Rosita — after a fashion. In saving Waverly from Tucker, she revealed herself as a Revenant. Which adds a shade of meaning to much of Doc’s dialogue with her throughout the season. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here. To break the curse, she must go to Hell. At the same time, she is unlike the other Revenants we’ve met until now. Is it possible her nature is unrelated to the curse? Her mention of Wyatt suggests the answer is no.
Oh, but you have to wonder if Waverly’s sudden interest in Rosita has something to do with her own nature. As mentioned last week, her relationship to Bobo suggests she is somehow part Revenant. And now that she’s facing the possibility of actually being some sort of halfling, it calls so much into question — including an attraction to other Revenants. Then again, that could just be a side-effect of losing so much faith in Nicole. It’s devastating to see those two so far apart, but I think Waverly has every right to be angry. And since her emotions are never half-steps, she has to walk through this intense sense of betrayal in order to get back to Nicole. Well, to hopefully get back to her. Rosita sent her Nicole’s direction, but one wonders if they’ll have the chance to reconcile.
 
Back at the Homestead, a demon doll delivered by demon painting gave voice to a lot of unsaid thoughts. Doc’s devotion to Wynonna is worthy of at least a few tears, but his reticence to give up the ring was not some devilry. Underneath it all, John Henry Holliday wants to outlive everyone, even someone he loves deeply. But for all his suggestions that Wynonna is equally selfish, I think her desire to end the curse is more about the baby than her own whims, even if she can’t admit that to herself yet. Whether half-rev or half-Holiday, the child will be an Earp and subject to the curse if Wynonna can’t end it.
Oddly enough, this was the thread that felt rushed. Well, rushed in the sense that the devil doll, while creepy, was not a traditional episode antagonist. The show had a lot of emotional ground to cover though, so it makes sense that the doll would get less of a focus than it might have, say, four episodes ago. But that plot ended in a satisfying way, with Wynonna and Doc seemingly on the same page in regard to the third seal and the baby.
Of course, it’s still Wynonna’s prerogative to break the seal when she damn well feels like it.
Oh, but there’s so much to worry about until next week. Will Nicole survive her encounter with the Clutty Widow? Will Waverly repair their strained relationship? Will Bobo walk into Shorty’s and shock everyone? I can hardly wait.
Wynonna Earp airs Fridays on Syfy.