DISCLAIMER: This recap of Wynonna Earp episode “Life Turned Her That Way” is laden with spoilers. You’ve been warned. Proceed at your own peril.
Welcome back, Earpers! This week’s Wynonna Earp outing was the very definition of “bonkers.” The Earp Powers That Be amped up the insanity by tenfold. Of course, we’re charging toward the end of the season, so naturally what transpired in “Life Turned Her That Way” will surely impact the season finale.
Jolene made an unexpected return! Doc and Jeremy were captured! Mercedes was shot! Waverly was forced to embrace her darkness! From henceforth, I shall refer to her as “Dark Waverly” in honor of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Casey perished while being a hero (RIP to a real one)! Wynonna had to rely on her archnemesis Cleo Clanton for aid! Holy Jeebus, so much happened!
Ready to delve into “Life Turned Her That Way”? Let’s get to it.
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Now, we open with our Earp heir extraordinaire Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano) gracefully rising to meet the morning while armed with Peacemaker and a flask of whiskey. We see her forge ahead into the woods bordering Purgatory as she shoots demon after demon after, well, demon. Then, she falls onto her bed in the barn and repeats the cycle again. And again. And again. Each time she wakes up more fatigued, more hungover and definitely more trigger happy.
Later, Wynonna rises one morning to find she’s bereft of Peacemaker. She heads into the kitchen. Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) and Nicole (Kat Barrell) appear to be waiting for her therein. Wynonna reveals that Peacemaker is missing, so it’s all hands on deck until they track it down. Waverly procures Wynonna’s magic gun and places it on the table. WayHaught is there to stage an intervention.
Next, Waverly prefaces the impending intervention by reassuring Wynonna that everyone loves her very much. This isn’t an attack. Waverly has noticed that Wynonna’s drinking has increased exponentially along with her time spent hunting baddies. Wynonna is merely doing her job as the heir — dispatching demons so the Ghost River Triangle is safe. But, naturally, Waves and Nicole are worried about her. Wynonna storms off.
Then, Waverly chases her down outside. Tensions are boiling between our Earp sisters. Waves notes that she thought they’d have some time prior to Wynonna transitioning from “fun drunk” to “mean alcoholic.” There it is. The straw that breaks the camel’s back. Wynonna spitefully calls Waverly a “sanctimonious a**hole” and to have fun planning her wedding. God, this scene breaks my heart. But what a riveting performance from Scrofano.
Later, Waverly calls someone and vaguely tells them to meet her at her place with “the thing.” We see it’s Doc (Tim Rozon). Waverly wanted him to bring her book from the Garden to the stairs. Apparently, no text has appeared on its pages since she snagged it. Waverly discloses her argument with Wynonna. Wynonna’s 100 percent not okay. Of course, her spat with Doc plays a significant role in that.
Suddenly, Dallas (Samuel Hoeksema) and Remy (Ben Wong) appear on the scene. Food sources for demons are drastically depleting. The Glory Hole was ransacked earlier that day and BBD agents rounded up the demons within. Some were killed, others were taken. Dallas and Remy are starving, and Waverly looks mighty tasty. Waverly withdraws Peacemaker from her purse and brandishes it. She tries to pull the trigger, but … nothing. She can’t use it. Doc urges her to run. Waves flees straight into a patch of the supernatural fog that was dancing on the edge of town. Now, it’s rampantly spreading.
Then, we see Waverly running through the fog. She’s covering her mouth and nose so she doesn’t inhale or breathe in said fog. She wanders into a nearby cabin for shelter. While it looks empty, it most certainly is not. We see Jolene (Zoie Palmer), everyone’s favorite demon, emerge from the shadows. Plot twist! She didn’t die after all!
Meanwhile, a slew of BBD agents appear by the stairs. They shoot Doc, Dallas and Remy with darts meant to knock them unconscious. Doc and Dallas are taken captive. Rachel (Martina Ortiz-Luis) approaches Wynonna while she’s training in the barn. Apparently, she wants to be just like Wynonna — a badass, crazy chick with a gun. Wynonna is still seething from her argument with Waverly. The “mean alcoholic” comment really got under her skin.
Next, we see Cleo (Savannah Basley) trying to skip town. Now you have to fill out documents in triplicate if you want to leave the Ghost River Triangle. Thankfully, her paperwork is accepted. We see Reaper Billy (Billy Bryk) is lurking behind her. He consumed an entire bus full of old people, but that wasn’t enough to sate his hunger.
Later, Wynonna is taking Rachel under her wing. Showing her the heroic ropes. First thing’s first: learn how to sneak. So far, Rachel’s failing with zero colors. But Obi-Wan Wynonni’s lesson hour abruptly ends when they find Remy. He’s bleeding profusely. The demon reveals that Waverly fled into the memory-wiping fog while Doc and Dallas were captured by BBD. Sh*t’s hitting the fan. It’s our sh*tshow. Would we expect anything less?
Then, Doc meets a man by the name of General Graham (Stafford Perry). He’s upper management for Black Badge. They’re rounding up demons and slaughtering them if they don’t meet their needs. Graham has his lackeys kill Dallas in front of Doc. Doc’s vampire-ness kicks into high gear and he bears his fangs at Graham. Graham’s tickled. He’s keen on keeping our cowboy vamp.
Now, Jolene knocks Waverly unconscious and ties her up. We learn that Jo Jo was released by Bulshar’s vines when he was decimated by Wynonna. However, once Waverly unlocked the Garden, the fog seeped into the Triangle and subsequently entrapped her. Jolene has spent a lot of time reminiscing about all the fun moments she’s shared with Waves. She’s ready to forgive Waverly. Let bygones be bygones.
But first — she has to give Waverly sh*t for not lending a helping hand to her sister. Supposedly. There’s a lot of manipulation and brain forking here. Jo Jo just wants Waverly to embrace her innate darkness. Her inherently true nature. Demons, angels … they’re all cut from the same cloth. That means Waverly and Jolene are like sisters!
Meanwhile, Wynonna enlists in Casey’s (Andrew Phung) aid in freeing Waverly. Nicole is present as well. Our crew has relentlessly tried to contact Jeremy but to no avail. He was working on a cure for the fog. We see Casey is donning a harness. He’s a fog expert, y’all, especially after he inadvertently “fog f*cked” Wynonna and Waves. The plan is to send Casey into the fog while Wynonna and Nicole follow him so they don’t get lost.
However, Casey reveals that he can only take one of them into the fog. This time, Nicole comes out on top. She wants to be the savior for this go-round. Even Rachel agrees that it’s Nicole’s turn. Wynonna acquiesces. Next, Wynonna tries to communicate with Nicole and Casey after they disappear into the fog. They all have walkie-talkies. Nicole informs her that Waverly’s tied up and she’s not alone. Jolene’s back! We hear Casey scream and then some scuffling. Suddenly … radio silence.
Now, Rachel receives the signal to pull Nicole and Casey back in. Unfortunately, Rachel brings in Casey, but Nicole is nowhere to be found. Even more unfortunate, Casey’s dead. Jolene slaughtered him. RIP to the coolest of demons. You weren’t a f*ck up. You were a damn hero.
Meanwhile, Waverly escapes her restraints and shoves Jolene onto what appears to be a coat hook. Jolene procures a blade and stabs Waverly in the back. We see her withdraw a black feather from Waverly’s backside. The transformation has begun!
Later, Rachel is reeling from Casey’s passing. She wants to give him a proper burial, but Wynonna is too preoccupied with everything else going on. She makes contact with Nicole, who’s okay. The fog ejected her and now she’s trying to find her way back to Wynonna. Wynonna decides to head to BBD herself and demand help in rescuing her sister.
Then, Doc reunites with Jeremy (Varun Saranga). He was thrown into a cell for pushing back against an initiative/protocol that upper management sanctioned. It was one he’d never heard of before. The objective is to eliminate the Ghost River Triangle and Purgatory for good, but not before selecting a crop of demons on which to, undoubtedly, experiment.
Next, Wynonna meets General Graham. He wants her to join his team. He could use a “good soldier” like her. She reveals that she’s not leaving town until she finds her sister. Wynonna demands to see Doc and Jeremy, so Graham leads her to them. Wynonna and Doc reunite. He appears concerned for her wellbeing. He even grabs her hand. They still love each other!
Now, Graham will only allow her to take one person to assist her. In a surprising move, Wynonna chooses Cleo, who she spots sitting in the back of the cell. Her archenemy. Meanwhile, we see Jolene embracing Waverly as she transforms into something that’s presumably sinister. She’s in an immense amount of pain. Waverly doesn’t want to embrace her true power because she doesn’t understand what that entails. Her book from the Garden is still empty. There’s no manual to follow.
Then, Wynonna brings Cleo into the fold. Rachel is taken aback that she’d enlist the help of a Clanton. However, Cleo’s now the heir, so she has the ability to control the Reapers. Cleo casts a spell to order a Reaper through the fog. We see that Reaper is Billy. Wynonna is able to spot him since they’re linked. She attaches herself to Billy and the pair charge ahead into the foggy abyss.
Later, Wynonna and Billy find Waverly. She’s bleeding from the wound in her back. Billy and Jolene duke it out, but the latter rises victorious. Jolene utilizes her demon powers and magically shoves Wynonna out into the ensuing fog. Waverly screams for her. Of course, the fear is that Wynonna will lose her memories and claw her own face off like poor Robin.
Next, Waverly’s eyes turn black. Her face changes. We see the dark transformation is almost complete. Jolene is ecstatic. However, Waverly nonchalantly informs Jolene that she won’t live to see Waves destroy the world. She kills Jolene. Mercedes (Dani Kind), everyone’s favorite b, appears at BBD to save the day. Apparently, she was hiding in the vents until it was the right time to strike. Mercedes successfully opens the jail cell door. But General Graham enters the fray, whips out his gun (not a euphemism) and shoots her point-blank.
Meanwhile, Wynonna is laying in the fog and looking the very picture of disoriented. Suddenly, the fog pulls away. We see Dark Waverly stoically looming before Wynonna. A pair of wings are on her back. Waverly is no longer the Waves we know. She’s something much darker.
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Earpers, if you need to catch your breath, you’re not alone. “Life Turned Her That Way” kept me on the edge of my seat. It was a heart-stopping, gut-wrenching affair. Palmer’s return was a much welcome one. Provost-Chalkley and Palmer’s scenes are always top-shelf. On the flip side of that, I’m sad to see Phung go. Casey was such a fun, vibrant character. He perfectly fit in with our sh*tshow. That Earp sister spat was a punch to the stomach. But Scrofano’s nuanced work and her subtle mannerisms are always such a joy to watch.
What do you think Dark Waverly will do now? Will Nicole find her way back to Purgatory? Does Cleo have an ulterior motive and will she set that into motion? Join me next week as I recap Wynonna Earp, here on Geek Girl Authority.
Wynonna Earp airs Fridays at 10 pm on your Syfy affiliate.
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