‘Wynonna Earp’ Review [2×07]: “Everybody Knows”

‘Wynonna Earp’ doubles back when Wynonna confesses the father to her baby may not have been Doc at all, and uncovers an unnerving concept whilst Doc’s notorious past catches up with him.

After the abnormal baby bump boom Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano) has a heart-to-heart with a newly-determined Doc. It’s gut-wrenching how sincere Doc is when he says this:

Doc: All I want, excuse me for being old-fashioned, is for you to be healthy. For you to be-as close-to happy as possible. And I will do anything, I will give anything, to ensure it.

But Wynonna confesses to Waverly that Doc (Tim Rozon) may not be the only candidate for the father. Stunned, Wynonna and Nicole (Katherine Barrell)—our favourite detective pair (can we have some more, please, sir?) team up to retrace her steps.

Typically, we find that Wynonna had stumbled drunkenly to a strip club…called Pussy Willows. The father in question is a handsome guy by the bar, Jonas (Mark Ghanimé). It’s a nice opportunity for Scrofano and Barrell’s sizzling chemistry once more, but also for Nicole Haught to just let her hair down. That’s until Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) calls, and Nicole proves she’s the worst liar in the entire galaxy.

Oh, and Jonas is a Revenant.

Meanwhile, the boys are in their own trouble when Jeremy (Varun Saranga) accidentally ties him to Dolls (Shamier Anderson) and Doc in a strange “you move, I move”. It’s so stupidly funny that it’s brilliant. As Doc battles his emotions over Wynonna, his past catches up to him as he’s sought out for his crimes. Yet here is where, crucially, Dolls’ nobility and integrity shine as he uses his position as Deputy Marshal to pardon Doc.

Among the comedy lies ample opportunity for everyone to strengthen their bonds, and prepare themselves for the next few episodes as Waverly drops the “I might not be an Earp” bombshell.

Wynonna tearfully lashed out at the end of episode six about fate deciding everything for her. But in this episode she shows us how much agency she commands. Most shows may have the genetic father take a role but blood doesn’t always run thicker than water.

People make mistakes, and Wynonna’s catch up to her in the most twisted of ways,. The pregnancy was one thing: a Revenant being the father was another! Well, we guess Wynonna’s never going to settle for a normal life with a house and a white picket fence. We remember the episode well—and Wynonna’s drunken shenanigans were shown to us only briefly (as well as her L’Oreal advert audition). But in that brief moment we were shown Wynonna’s…overly-affectionate attitude.

Seriously, though, the Revenant could’ve been stupid-Earl and we would’ve felt better. This Revenant was pure nasty. Mark Ghanimé’s brilliantly evil Jonas was a piece of sexist, insulting, arrogant piece of crap. And the decision to kill him probably wasn’t as hard as it could’ve been.

Ward Earp has never been talked of as a good father. Wynonna, knowing this, and knowing how far she’s come from that day—knows she doesn’t need a father to raise a good kid. Especially not someone as filthy as Jonas. And it’s one way to stick the middle finger up at fate, too, because it’s haunted Wynonna all her life: the curse, being the heir, this pregnancy… But now, Wynonna’s choice to get rid of Jonas is hers and hers alone. She will reclaim full-control of her destiny.

Not having a father doesn’t equate to not having anyone. Wynonna does not need a man to raise a child. With Ward’s abusiveness, we do have more questions in the back of our mind about Mrs. Earp and what she was like. But Wynonna has Dolls, Waverly, Nicole, and Doc—who’d said he was “all in”—and we think maybe he’ll stick to that, despite being angered this episode.

Wynonna: I’m gonna raise this kid to be good. To be strong. Everything you’re not.

We’ve always backed the mixed bag of relationships on this show. The oddball pairings in this episode in particular absolutely shine because Nicole Haught is a useless drunk.

It’s genuinely unbelievable. Nicole Haught is such a useless drunk that she cannot even lie to save Wynonna’s skin from Waverly’s wrath. And they’re at a strip club. What’s so frustrating about this is that Nicole actually gets super drunk in a rather noble way, if you can. She’s trying so desperately hard to keep this pregnancy a secret for Wynonna. It’s a new level of trust they have ascended to. Therefore, in Nicole’s mind, when Wynonna says she is drinking for three, she literally drinks for three. By the end, Nicole is so hammered that we’re pretty sure even Jonas is staring a little in disbelief at her…and then it all goes to pot when Waverly calls.

Nicole: It’s Waverly. You know who I am. I—I can’t lie to her.

Wynonna: See, what you get when you’re friends with a narc.

Nicole: I guess I deserved that too.

Strangely, and we say strangely because it’s ‘Wynonna Earp’, damn it, Nicole being so drunk is important. So was her cutting her hair. And changing her police uniform. Nicole, for so long, has been a bit of a conspiracy theorist. She knows there is something else up with Purgatory the moment she steps foot in it. Now, we finally get possible-Sheriff Nicole roaming the streets with her girlfriend and the BBD so why can’t she, for once, have a little fun? Be a little more sexy (somehow)?

It was a big turn for Nicole to open up, because usually she’s so compressed within herself. What works about ‘Wynonna Earp’, as we have said so many times before, is the characterisation. She is strict in uniform and dedicated to her job; she is ambitious beyond belief. But be damned if a girl can’t have a little bit of fun, too.

Speaking of family—Bobo del Rey, you little twerp. He comes back to haunt us as Waverly finally confesses to Wynonna what he’d revealed to her.

Every single Earper knew this would come to bite us back in the ass. And it has. Waverly’s angst over this—be it the truth or not—has finally come out. With Provost-Chalkley’s tear-inducing performance, we’re partially in the mood to give Emily Andras and her writing team a good shake and ask them through sobs why they’re putting the Earp girls through so much emotional turmoil.

Ever since the beginning, Wynonna and Waverly were tough. Independently, and together. They make a gorgeous team-up and the dazzling chemistry between Scrofano and Provost-Chalkley was always a winning factor. The way the sisterly relationship was written had always been the strongest point of the show by far.

But after a season where motherhood is forced upon Wynonna; as Wynonna balances Nicole as a friend and as someone she feels necessary to watch carefully for her sister; whilst Waverly is possessed for the first half of the season by a demon… all those repressed emotions can surely rear its ugly head. By the end of season one, the Earp sisters had lost Willa and just about nailed their relationship. However, this year outside forces threaten to tear them apart. While Wynonna stresses that the baby is an Earp, and that’s what matters, it’s perhaps time Waverly feels she has to admit what Bobo told her.

However, Wynonna’s single-mother status literally came about because despite Jonas being the father, Wynonna refused to welcome him into the family. He had no Earper qualities about him. Blood does not run thicker than water, as exhibited by Willa and now Jonas. So really, despite the inner turmoil of this plot, do we honestly think Wynonna will think of Waverly as anything but her little sister?

We firmly don’t think so.

FINAL VERDICT: Consequences catch up for our motley crew this episode, and we’re shown that whilst we cannot always run from our past, we can stand and fight it.

Doc’s past as the legendary gunslinger and best friend of Wyatt Earp, the lawman who took matters into his own hands, found vengeful cowboys wanting to exact revenge for his past crimes. Waverly found Bobo’s revelation finally catching up and Wynonna, upon tracing her steps, found that it was not her indiscretions with Doc but her one drunken night that was the moment for her.

Yet what Brendon Yorke’s script shows along with Emily Andras’ excellently built arc and superb characters is that we can conquer our consequences. Doc’s a changed man, and Dolls champions it for him. Wynonna will not let the cosmos force Jonas upon her as a father—because he’s awful.

Yorke’s script was perhaps one of the funniest amidst one of the most emotionally powerful, too. The ability to weave in slapstick comedy among such a heart-rending script is exquisite. The actors’ ability to have chemistry with everyone is something we’ve always adored. We may be halfway through the season but we think it’s safe to say that whilst the show is darker than ever, it’s also funnier than ever, too.

It’s difficult to point out our stars this episode when everyone dazzles. And everyone’s spectacular because the script is, too. Combined, we’re talking a freakin’ supernova of a cast here. Scrofano’s defiance, Provost-Chalkley’s vulnerability, Barrell’s comedic timing, Rozon’s see-saw of gentility and bitterness, and Saranga reminds us of the crazy doc in Back to the Future—only much cuter.

The USP of this show has been and gone. Now we’re just in awe as this show elevates itself when we think it can no more!

QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS:

• Brownie points to Katherine Barrell for managing to act like a hapless yet somehow adorable drunk and not making it cringey. Barrell’s had quite a few comedic moments—mainly of background reactions and subtlety, but the scenes in the strip club with Wynonna were brilliant.
• Can we admire that even a drunk-ass Nicole (who is useless, I really want to emphasise) can’t betray Waverly’s trust? Even when she’s bladdered?! It’s kinda sweet. Almost like the “I’d shoot anyone for you” line. These two.
• Every episode gives me more reason to want to know Mrs. Earp. What was she like to the girls? When did she die and how? Is that why Ward Earp was like how he was said to have been?
• And hell yeah for a pregnancy storyline that actually has a vision, plot and makes some solid, relevant commentary about misogyny, single parenthood, family bonds, friendship, support…
• Another hell yeah for still no fights breaking out between macho Doc and Dolls over the lady! Thank you!
• The line about motherhood and it still making Wynonna a superhero was excellent. That’s exactly what the show is.
• Mark Ghanimé was the perfect jackass. The casting on this show is brilliant.
• Did I hear Colorado 1882? Or ’72? He was dead by ’82 I think so perhaps I heard wrong. But nonetheless, for all Doc Holliday’s adventures alongside Wyatt—and then not—it was good to see the past catch up to him. Rozon was amazing. I’d love to see a flashback to the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral just because I want it on my TV on this show.

WYNONNA EARP returns 28th July, 10/9c on Syfy