Wynonna Earp Review [1×08]: “Two-Faced Jack”

Wynonna Earp’s ‘Two-Faced Jack’ could have been the name of a throw-your-popcorn-everywhere horror movie and still be infinitely more frightening than anything in the theatres.

With Doc (Tim Rozon) the one to discover the police car (with some seriously creepy backing music) he barged into the Purgatory precinct to seek Dolls’ (Shamier Anderson) help in looking for Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano), and alerted the division to find Officer Haught (Katherine Barrell). Using Waverly’s (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) brains and research, they theorised that a Revenant, Whiskey Jim, could harbour information on Wynonna’s whereabouts or information on the Jack of Knives (Greg Bryk).

Dr. Reggie the silent ninja (Ryan Belville) from the previous episode turned out to be an absolute psychopath. Wynonna, who was still firing quips at ten-per-minute—a defence mechanism, Reggie noted—quickly deduced that her intravenous infusion was not of the helpful kind, and had rendered her legs paralysed. Using her wits and sheer courage, Wynonna retrieved a scalpel, biding her time until Reggie had revealed the location of Peacemaker and Wynonna, standing and ready to kick some ass—held the scalpel to his throat until he bled…red.

No—Reggie was a human toy for the real mastermind behind the disgusting organ-removal operation: the elusive Jack of Knives. As Dolls and Doc dished it out in the Revenant Fight Club (first rule…) and then fought their ways out, they reached the hostage establishment just in time as Wynonna faced-off against the deadly Jack of Knives. He got into Wynonna’s head, besmirched her sister’s memory, kicked her father’s honour to the dirt with his close connection to Bobo. As he must’ve gained experience yanking organs out of a body, he pried inside Wynonna’s head and exposed the vulnerability that drove her reckless mission for vengeance against The Seven.

You gotta let go some time, Waves. – Wynonna

Truly: what will happen next? The Seven are officially gone, and it was evident that Wynonna would never tell Waverly about the Wyatt Earp bombshell. Could blocking the always-probing Waverly cause friction between the sisters? And how about the final scene, where Dolls had delivered a tied and gagged Whiskey Jim, about to deliver some serious torture? Let’s get diggin’…

Melanie Scrofano delivers her absolute best performance so far in Wynonna Earp, of a top-notch bunch.

Melanie Scrofano has always undoubtedly been the star of the show. Consistently fantastic, snort-inducing funny, heartbreaking and raw—it felt as if Scrofano wasn’t talked about enough, with such a fantastic cast of scene-stealers and brilliant performances. But Scrofano’s work never went unnoticed, for such brilliance never does—and this episode, she delivered her best performance of the series—without a doubt.

Confused, desperate, and still firing one-liners, Wynonna’s panicked struggle to break her and Bethany (Sasha Barry) free was mightily suppressed by her desire to maintain a disaffected facade. It was sheer magnificence, the way Scrofano layered her frantic scramble of emotions underneath her typical Wynonna “I’ll kick you in the face” mask.

Tell me Wynonna, what happened when you killed your own father? – Reggie

I was committed. Put under the care of a specialist. Every time I told the truth, I got a nice jolt of electric too. – Wynonna

Was the shock therapy effective? – Reggie

…Yeah. It made me good at poker and now I don’t have to shave my left leg. – Wynonna

With her image of her father’s honour tarnished severely by Jack’s knowledge of Wyatt’s corruption, Scrofano’s display of hollowness after completing her gung-ho mission of targeting all of The Seven was despairing to see. It’s an absolute tribute to Scrofano’s consistent star quality as everyone’s hearts broke for her at Jack’s revelation. It’s a testament to Ms. Emily Andras’, the show-runner, ability to sculpt such a beloved protagonist, but it is truly Scrofano’s mind-blowing performance tonight that rendered us utterly speechless and broken. The very simple fact that Wynonna Earp offers us a heroine that is undeniably scarred, but badass, fearless and powerful-and allows her vulnerabilities to be shown in the narrative and explored, is something actually incredible. Wynonna’s vulnerability here is never exploited as a weak trait of character: it’s simply in her genes, and in her genes there is a great love for her father, deeply embedded. And that…that’s not weakness. It’s gorgeous character exploration and a meaty chunk of writing for Scrofano to act out and break our hearts.

There are scene-stealers and there are brilliant guest stars; there are recurring stars that shine bright every week—but this week was a solid reminder that Melanie Scrofano is unequivocally the star of the show. There can be no other Wynonna Earp. Scrofano is Wynonna, and that, is quite simply that.

Doc and Dolls: it’d be a nice sitcom name if they weren’t, you know, trying to kill each other all the time.

As per last week’s review, this is the show to rant and rave about when they mix up partnerships (this Doc and Dolls one was a long time coming, and boy was it good) and expand the show’s web of relationships-this episode with some serious pummelling. Admittedly, the very moment Wynonna went missing and an injured Waverly couldn’t come between them to the action, everyone must’ve caught solidly onto the fact that this was going to make for some disastrously comic fun.

You, sir, are an asshole. — Doc

There are still smatters of suspicion between the two, even after ‘Two-Faced Jack’. Though Dolls withdraws his statement, it’s now Doc with the upper hand as he’s handed a key by Whiskey Jim to something private of Dolls’. What that is remains to be seen…will it be those cases of injections? Or something bigger?

The back-and-forth between Anderson and Rozon was on top form in ‘Two-Faced Jack’. With Doc so wayward and Dolls so strait-laced, it was endlessly amusing to see the two bicker. Perhaps the most hilarious scene was when they found Wynonna, and she told them quite firmly to not “kill each other”—and promptly half a millisecond of her leaving, the duo pulled their guns on each other.

Rozon’s performance in ‘Two-Faced Jack’ was certainly elevated, too. The monologue he gives at the precinct was eerily captivating; a magical story. His intensity and his anger at Dolls’ betrayal, and the sheer comedy of Doc trying to work Dolls’ car and his horror at the prohibition era of alcohol (he was glad he was trapped in the well for that part). Most touchingly was his brief hug with a crying Waverly. Rozon and Provost-Chalkley’s chemistry has been mentioned before and it was evident and beautiful—just that short moment. Here’s to hoping they have more scenes together, because Rozon’s performance is climbing impressively and Provost-Chalkley has proven on more than one occasion she’s more than capable of matching her scene partner toe-to-toe. The cast’s chemistry is like a perfect dance around each other, graceful like ballet, ferocious and clashing like a gladiatorial showdown.

The show continues to build on unlikely partnerships but its recurring and guest stars are also glue-to-the-TV riveting.

In Katherine Barrell as Officer Haught, it’s blatantly obvious just how intelligent an actress she is; in the brief injured snippet of Haught we caught tonight, in which Dolls questioned her, Barrell was a stricken and stunned victim. She was disbelieving, slowly recalling details, still haplessly, hilariously giving a dreamy-voiced Freudian-slip of a major pining issue:

Okay. So what was the last thing you saw? – Dolls

Waverly Earp. Smiling at me from her front porch—and, um, a man stepping out in the highway. Flagging us down. – Haught

Barrell’s portrayal of a Haught desperate to help, blankly recalling her memories, her voice trembling with fear as they flooded back, her self-anger at not being of more help—was a brief scene but a moving one to watch. She stacked upon piles of mounting frustration and helplessness and sorrow—and let’s hope Officer Haught recovers well and soon, for Barrell’s magnetism is undeniable.

Ryan Belville (Reggie) and Greg Bryk (Jack) were perhaps the most excellent guest stars we’ve seen on the show so far. A little theatrical—though both characters were truly that way—their performances made for the utter creepiness and disgusting nature of their work in this episode. It’s rare to credit a guest star like so, but Belville and Bryk were insanely good, and I cannot revel in this cast’s talent any more than I currently do. Often on shows, guest spots aren’t played by the most captivating of actors but in this particular episode, Belville and Bryk deserved standing ovations.

Final Verdict: In genuinely one of the scariest episodes of television, ‘Two-Faced Jack’ didn’t need for a surgeon to cut out my organs—they’d already jumped out of my skin in fear.

‘Two-Faced Jack’ felt like a film. It was nicely paced, sharply scripted, and a seriously terrifying villain of the week in Jack the Knives—it could’ve played in the cinema and everyone would’ve screamed in fear at certain scenes. This was not an episode to watch without someone who can’t withstand your nails digging into their arm in shuddering fear. The absolute winners of this episode were Melanie Scrofano’s unquestionably best performance of the series (so far), and the script delivered by James Hurst.

Credit must also be given to Lisa Parasyn, the show’s casting director, for honestly creating such a talented cast—recurring or regular, or even guest. Anyone other than Scrofano is unimaginable as Wynonna, and that may be said until the end of days in these reviews but this episode was one that truly, truly showed it. Scrofano’s consistency has been a wondrous gem to uncover, but ‘Two-Faced Jack’ proved why she’s the lead (if it needed proof at all). It didn’t feel quite as cohesive, snappy and unified as ‘Walking After Midnight’, but that is by no means a bad thing at all—episode seven was an absolute thriller. However, Melanie Scrofano’s incredible performance elevated an already thrilling episode into perhaps the best of the season-or a well-deserved match for ‘Walking After Midnight’. It was a great contrast, for both Earp siblings got to shine in each episode. With show-runner Emily Andras probably looking to keep up this exciting pace, and this is becoming rapidly becoming a season nobody wants to end.

Questions and Comments to ponder:

• I don’t disbelieve Dolls has military training—in fact, when they pronounced him dead, my immediate theory was exactly what he said: lowering his breathing rate on purpose. He had enough time. But with the revelation that Dolls is something else (genuinely cannot think of anything other than a lizard) is this a booby-trap?
• Am I questioning everything because of how paranoid that made me?
• What will Doc do with Dolls’ mysterious key?
• The song at the end was beautifully fitting. I have to credit Robert Carli and Peter Chapman if they picked that—it was gorgeous.
• Doc’s horse outside the precinct. That scene had me in stitches.
• Moving forward: now the Seven are dead, what’s Wynonna’s plan? To go for the big-gun Bobo? Dig up more Wyatt Earp mysteries? Or is there another fight coming, as Constance Clootie said in ‘Walking After Midnight’ there were far bigger threats than Revenants?
• Oh, go on, then. Count me all aboard ‘WayHaught’—ahoy!
• Thank you to the commenter last week who informed me of Ms. Provost-Chalkley’s London West End career. This suddenly explains everything.
• Haught Hair Spot(!): it was down this week and sent Twitter nuts, so the theory of Officer Haught having a posse of admiring handmaidens in a special precinct room braiding that perfect piece of hair before her shift is a-go-go.
• NB: Thank you to the incredible Ms. Emily Andras for a correction-it is Dr. Reggie the creepy morgue-lurker, played by the excellent Ryan Belville!

WYNONNA EARP airs FRIDAYS, 10l9c on SyFy.