Wynonna Earp Recap — Heaven Is a Place on Earth

Hello, friends, and welcome to my recap of the season-four finale (and possible series finale) of Wynonna Earp. What a long, strange trip it’s been.

Deep breath.

I don’t think I’ll ever accurately be able to write what this show and the people associated with it have come to mean to me, although I’m sure I’ll make a bumbling attempt to do this very thing at the end of this recap, but I will say that this finale is possibly the most perfect thing to ever exist in the world of television. This was a shit year, and we all deserve a little bit of happiness. I think Emily Andras knew that and gave every single character — even the one that I thought couldn’t have a happily ever after — a satisfying, happy ending. It didn’t feel rushed or cheesy or quaint or silly; it just felt perfect. And also, what the fuck was Charlotte Sullivan doing?

But I digress.

So once more into the breach, my lads. Grab your Costco-sized box of tissues, get out your magnifying glass to try to see where I’ll put in a Willa reference, and make sure your tires don’t have any bullet holes in them, because here we go.

Previously on Wynonna Earp, Dark Waverly was in a crisis, Jeremy and Robin aren’t together on account of his non-functional memory, Doc is human and wants a fresh start, Nicole invited Waverly to buy her a cup of coffee with all of the swagger in the world, and if they ever go get that coffee, it better be local, because Nicole is the angel’s shield and can’t leave the Ghost River Triangle. Oh, and instead of coffee, they decide to get married instead.

We open on a wedding gone wrong in 1968 Purgatory. A trail of bloodied corpses lays behind a blood-stained bride in a dress with an inlaid blue heart, and said bride stumbles outside and axes herself in the throat after burying the blade in her groom’s head. The church bells ring as bodies lay on the ground. See? Avoid the church and maybe you would have been okay. That’s my takeaway. Sorry, Mom.

At the Homestead, Waverly’s wedding dress has arrived. She takes it out the box and holds it up, she and Wynonna squeal with joy because baby girl’s getting married! Oh, what’s that — the dress has an inlaid blue heart? Son of a — If I have to watch Waverly butcher her family with the Earp spoon, I’m going to need to speak with the manager.

Ooh, baby, do you know what that’s worth?
Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth

Wynonna and Nicole are readying the Homestead for a wedding. Sister-zilla is freaking out because the cake is covered with a non-vegan buttercream, and Nicole suggests they just don’t tell Waverly. HaughtPants gets it — there’s no need to stress about having the perfect day, because none of them really have a perfect vibe going on anyway. They’re doing the best they can with a Homestead wedding; no need to panic. Waverly joins them, high on wedding bliss, and Wynonna pops her metaphorical balloon by telling her that her betrothed wanted to break her vegan vow by basically serving her a Big Mac. But Waverly, always the planner, made vegan cupcakes yesterday. CRISIS averted!

They say in Heaven, love comes first
We’ll make Heaven a place on Earth

Inside, Rachel and Nedley are planning a fishing trip, and this may be the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. He’s just happy to be going with someone who’s likelier to catch something that isn’t mono (hashtag Sorry, Chrissy). Rachel just seems so excited to do something…normal. I love this for her. She deserves a boring, normal fishing trip with a pseudo dad.

Wynonna is carving something in the barn and she notices Waverly’s wedding dress blowing in the breeze. She says it’s beautiful and wonders what it would be like to wear it, and those of us who have seen Friends know where this is going.

Wynonna is running to Doc, leaving a trail of destruction in her wake. She’s covered up with a long coat, hiding what she’s wearing, and breaks the door, wilts the flowers, catches the arbor on fire, blows up the cake, and somehow ejects the wagon wheels from their axle. 

She knocks on Doc’s trailer door and shows him her predicament of the sticky dress. Well, if there’s one thing Doc’s always been good at, it’s getting her out of her clothes, and I’m sure the whiskey he pours them will help even more. She sees a pad of paper and asks if he’s having writer’s block for his speech, and he turns it over and explains that sometimes it’s hard to find what you want to say. 

Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth

Doc gently spins Wynonna around, looking for an entry point in the dress. He offers to cut at the seam and then sew it right back up, explaining that some of his clothes are 150 years old so some seamstressing comes with his territory. But bad news — he can’t cut the seam, and they’re interrupted from a hypothetical Plan B by Waverly in her Jeep.

When the night falls down
I wait for you, and you come around

Wynonna hides as Waverly gifts Doc with a saddle — Wyatt Earp’s saddle, to be precise. She wanted to have the perfect present before she asked Doc to be her best man. Doc is surprised — he assumed Wynonna would be her witness, but Wynonna is choosing to fulfill her best-friend duties and be there for Nicole instead of standing up for her sister. Doc can’t believe that Waverly is asking him, but he doesn’t let that stand in the way of him saying yes. 

And the world’s alive
With the sound of kids on the street outside

As Waverly’s walking to her Jeep, Wynonna tells Doc to find out where she got the wedding dress, and it’s from a little shop down on Hogback road. She calls it quaint, but Wynonna doesn’t think too much of Cursey’s Vintage, at least from the outside. They walk past the sign, and it breaks, yet another thing destroyed in Wynonna’s path.

On the inside, it’s an…eclectic shop, with lots of wedding dresses on mannequins and all the mirrors covered up, which I would think would be detrimental for a clothing shop but what do I know? Wynonna leans on one of the mannequins and said mannequin responds by shouting “boop,” shocking Wynonna and delighting the audience, because that weird-ass mannequin is actually named Brigitte and is played by none other than the boss’ favorite, Charlotte Sullivan.

When you walk into the room
You pull me close, and we start to move

She is a breathy-voiced, olden-timey flapper-type, interrogating Wynonna and Doc about what their story is. Before they can get too much info out, she tells Doc that nobody cares but calls Wynonna “the perfect mark,” which does not go over well. Wynonna threatens to have Doc shoot the cashier, but it doesn’t matter if she’s dead or not; cursed dresses gonna cursed dress. Wynonna asks for just the facts, and Brigitte starts to sing. By the time the wedding bells chime (not literally), everyone will be dead by the dress wearer’s hand. Wynonna threatens with Peacemaker, and Brigitte-train says that only a silkworm can undo its own thread. So WynDoc are off to find a Bombyx mori. 

And we’re spinnin’ with the stars above
And you lift me up in a wave of love

At the Homestead, Jeremy’s sampling a mouthful of icing when Waverly finds him and Nicole and tells them about the destruction. They try to figure out what happened, and Jeremy thinks he knows — the caterer, a handsome man named Damon, which seems a little too on the demon horn. He tries to shake Damon down for info but ends up just seeming super homophobic and threatening to out him as gay. 

What? What?

In the barn, HeatWave finds the destruction and the missing dress and immediately realizes the dress (that Waverly didn’t even like) is haunted. 

Doc and Wynonna have found themselves a swimmin’ hole and he belly-flops in, looking for silkworms. There are none, obviously, because this is a shitty mudhole in Purgatory. The only thing he could possibly catch is syphilis.

Doc came up empty-handed, but not Wynonna — she finds a letter in his pocket that he’d written to her, a letter saying goodbye. She can’t believe he was just going to take off and leave her with nothing but an absent child and a note, but the note was just a starting point for a discussion. He was never going to just leave, but it is time for him to go. The curse is broken, Amon and the fog are gone, and he’s human again. It’s time for him to see the world and make the most of his 183rd chance. But he doesn’t want to go alone — he wants Wynonna to leave the Ghost River Triangle and come with him and finally admit that she loves him. But that’s too real for Wynonna to deal with, and she insists she needs to paint some worms so they can deal with the singing boutique owner. 

Ooh, baby, do you know what that’s worth?
Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth

Wynonna and Nicole have worked up a murderboard real quick, and there are a lot of weddings that end in bloodshed in Purgatory. It’s just that when most things end in bloodshed in your town, well, it’s hard to connect the dots on specifics sometimes. The bride kills the family, the groom, and then herself, all with the axe…and they’re all getting hitched in the same dress that Waverly got at her quaint little boutique. Lather, rinse, repeat.

They say in Heaven, love comes first
We’ll make Heaven a place on Earth

An old wedding announcement lists the gown as being from the same shop and person who sold Waverly the dress, Brigitte Hogback from Cursey’s Boutique. Seems that Brigitte was left at the altar and killed all of her guests. Nicole kinda gets it, though — if Waverly left her, she may even kill Nedley, which sounds very sweet to Waverly, and she walks over to her bride and they’re about to get absolutely exhausted in that barn. Grab some coconut oil, ladies.

Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth

They’re interrupted again, of course, because there aren’t even any doors to lock this time, but at least Jeremy has better timing than Willa and walks in on them after they’ve finished. He tries to tell them about the demon caterer, Damon, but he definitely added two and two and got “demon” when he should have gotten “haunted wedding dress.” Now Jeremy is kicking himself and Waverly’s going to kick some ass, shotgun in hand. I do love our baby girl with a gun. 

When I feel alone
I reach for you, and you bring me home

Wynonna tries to pass off some nailpolish-painted worms as silkworks, but Brigitte knows her Bombycidae and calls out the fakes immediately. Doc tries to explain that, yes, they tried to cheat her, but that cup is representative of the kind of hero Wynonna is; the kind of person who would do anything to keep her family safe. It may be a cup of love, but love isn’t enough to stop Wynonna from killing everyone. Wynonna tells Brigitte that she will paint every worm she can find if it means Waverly has a blessed wedding, and she’s confused because isn’t the one wearing the dress the one who’s getting married?

When I’m lost at sea
I hear your voice, and it carries me

Speak of the angel — here comes Waverly, silk banner streaming behind her, and she wraps Brigitte up in it. Some silk, a reversal spell, and bingo, the haunted dress slips right off. Wynonna wants to shoot the demon, but Waverly stops her. After quickly explaining who’s getting married to whom and glossing over why the one in the dress isn’t one of the brides, she explains that Brigitte was left at the altar, heartbroken, and the killing just sort of happened. Waverly apologizes to her, because everyone deserves love. 

In this world, we’re just beginnin’
To understand the miracle of livin’

Back at the barn, Wynonna has rustled up Mama Earp’s dress, and Waverly thinks it’s perfect — or will be after a few modifications. Waverly can tell something’s on her sister’s mind, but Wynonna just insists it’s about the wedding.

Baby, I was afraid before
But I’m not afraid anymore

Nedley knocks on the door at the Homestead, and Nicole greets him in a lovely burgundy suit, looking absolutely gorgeous. He says he never knew a woman could look so good in a suit, and Nedley, I’m going to tag you in a few pictures later, because I have notes. Nicole nervously talks about barn sex, of course, and then gets to the one last thing she needed from him. She asks him to walk her down the aisle and stand by him, like he has been doing her entire life, and let me tell you, friends, this — this is where I lose it every single time.

Ooh, baby, do you know what that’s worth?
Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth

Much like myself, Nicole is a strong woman who doesn’t need help down an aisle and who definitely doesn’t need the patriarchal bullshit archetype of being given away by a man. But also like me, she does like the symbolism of one last time, having that guy who’s been there your whole life standing by your side on your most important day. But unlike me, Nicole got to have her dad at her wedding; that’s the only thing I wish that I could change about my day. So, yeah, I never won’t cry at this scene.

Nedley walks Nicole down the aisle towards Jeremy, who’s waiting to marry the two lovebirds under the arbor Doc built. He kisses Nicole on the forehead and steps back, and Doc approaches the front as Waverly’s best man and shakes Nicole’s hand. She takes a deep breath and sees the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen in her life — Waverly Earp, smiling at her from the makeshift aisle, being escorted by her favorite sister.

They say in Heaven, love comes first
We’ll make Heaven a place on Earth

The look on her face is one of awe, as if she can’t believe this beautiful, perfect angel is about to marry her. Wynonna touches foreheads with her sister and tells her (accurately) that she’s the best of us, and then stands next to her best friend, Nicole. 

Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth

Jeremy tells the crowd to be seated and Rachel and Nedley sit down, since they’re the only non-wedding parties there. And then we have a queer wedding performed by a gay man celebrating the love of two women who are going to spend the rest of their lives together. If you would have told me that this was in my television future, even just a few years ago, I would have laughed right in your face. Representation matters.

Heaven, Heaven, Heaven

Jeremy talks about how sometimes two elements, minding their own business, run into each other and become more than they were as individuals. I could probably write a thousand words on their vows alone, so in the interest of time, I’ll just say they pledge their love to one another for the rest of their lives, and it’s absolutely perfect. Wynonna can’t help but watch them and wonder if this is a happiness that she could have. Something normal and beautiful and solid. And it seems like Doc is thinking the same thing — he knows that’s what he wants, but he doesn’t know if Wynonna is brave enough to believe she deserves it.

In this world we’re just beginnin’
To understand the miracle of livin’

The camera pants to the chairs in the crowd — spaces saved for everyone they’ve loved over the years. Mama Earp, Mercedes, Julian, Robin, Chrissy, Perry, Dolls, and Gus — all gone, at least today, but never forgotten. 

And just like that, two become one.

Baby, I was afraid before
But I’m not afraid anymore

Wynonna pours champagne for everyone — juice for Rachel and Billy, of course — but before she can toast the brides, Rachel beats her to it. She tells her new found family that she had barely done anything in her life before she met them, but now? Now she feels like she can do anything. She didn’t know what to get the couple as a gift, so she serenades them with “Wildwood,” which you may remember from 1×09 and a couch. It’s beautiful and lovely and the best argument I’ve ever seen for having a band rather than a wedding DJ.

Heaven

Everyone just looks so happy.

Ooh, baby, do you know what that’s worth?
Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth

Wynonna decides it’s time to make her best-woman toast for Nicole, her ginger-bitch best friend. “I’m so glad you finally found someone worthy of you,” she says, and neither of them look like they can believe she’s saying it.

They say in Heaven, love comes first
We’ll make Heaven a place on Earth

Rachel asks Nedley if Billy can come on their fishing trip, and just like that, Nedley has gone from retired sheriff to being the quasi-adoptive father of two wayward youths, not just one. Billy can come along, as long as he doesn’t pitch any tents in his pants. 

Doc hugs everyone goodbye; everyone but Wynonna. He looks back over his shoulder at Wynonna, dainty and delicate in blue, as Rachel sings the chorus of “I’ll never get over you.” She looks devastated but just watches him speed off in Charlene as the others look on.

Jeremy tries to make it unawkward with Damon the non-demon and is mediocrely successful? He helps Damon clean up and tries to explain that not only was he not trying to out him; he’s just as out in the outness as Damon is. Damon stops Jeremy’s stumbling and asks him out on a date, and Jeremy enthusiastically accepts, then has to take a call. It’s a sexy, siren-voiced Black Badge agent who’s offering Jeremy a job as the deputy director of BBD. He says yes, because who could say no to that voice, and agrees to start on Tuesday after his date.

Doc is loading up Charlene with his prized possessions — first up, Wyatt’s saddle — and Wynonna finds him and says she’s finally convinced that maybe he’s not bluffing. He just can’t stay where he is anymore, and besides, he wants to see the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He finally admits to one lie he told Wynonna — he originally told her it was the thought of vengeance that kept him going at the bottom of the well, but while that may have kept him alive, it was actually the thought of love that kept him from being scared. 

Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth

You see, life is short. But it is long. And it is lonely. So if you manage to find a group of souls who will tolerate you and elevate you…oh, and one… and one who will especially love you. Well, that is all it’s about. That is what the fight is really for.

Wynonna insists that she can’t leave Waverly, and Doc gets it — for Wynonna, the person who she especially loves more than anything, it’s Waverly. He tells her that she’s the best Earp he has ever known and kisses her goodbye as she sobs. She apologizes for hurting him, and he says “we only ever hurt ourselves, Wynonna. I wouldn’t have changed a note.” He drives off in Charlene, and Wynonna watches him go.

Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth

Wynonna sits on the stoop of Homestead, and Jeremy, Nicole, Rachel, and Billy can’t believe she didn’t go with him. Nicole points out that he — and they — could be toxic at times, at least before he changed. Nedley stumbles up and just tells Wynonna to go catch up with Doc, and then can’t believe it when Nicole tells him Wynonna said no to the stache. Wynonna points out that as the Earp heir, she needs to protect the GRT with Peacemaker and she can’t even think about leaving. “UH, THE FUCK YOU CAN’T,” Waverly says, mildly disagreeing. She expresses her disgust with everyone but Nicole (“FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!”) for letting Wynonna give up her chance at happiness AGAIN for them and ear-marches her to the barn.

Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth

Waverly grabs the first plastic bag Dom has touched in years and starts packing up Wynonna’s stuff, such as it is. She’ll probably have to stop for underwear on the road, is all I’m saying. Wynonna insists she’s not going, and Waverly asks her the most important question she’s heard the entire run of the series — does she want to go? Because for the first time in her life, she has the choice, and Waverly wants her to see there is a choice to be had. She’s not tied to a sister or the GRT or any of them — they’ll call, they’ll write, and Wynonna will be back. It won’t be like the last time she left. Wynonna may be the only one who can wield Peacemaker, but the others can still protect themselves. She doesn’t need to stay for Waverly; Waverly is Waverly and she can protect herself. And if not, she has her own shield that she just married. She needs to stop thinking she’s alone, and she needs to stop punishing herself. For everything. She deserves to be happy, and she deserves to choose herself this time and choose happiness. Waverly tells her sister that even though she and Doc don’t always work together, he’s changed and become a better man. He’s allowed himself to break free, and she needs to choose to leave her burdens behind, too. She can leave, but Waverly isn’t afraid anymore, because she knows she’ll always be back. It’s her home. It says so right on the mailbox. 

And finally, Wynonna lets herself believe Waverly and chooses to be free.

Wynonna runs out to the truck (in the same shirt she entered town in) and tries to start it, but even if Wynonna’s leaving, Gus’ truck is staying. Jeremy tracks Doc and sees that he’s almost at the border, and Nicole brings Wynonna her trusty leather jacket. Wynonna realizes the only way she’ll catch up is if she takes the back roads…and her motorcycle. Passing a “leaving Purgatory; you’ll be back!” sign, she almost catches up to Doc as they cross the border. She decides the best way to get Doc’s attention is to shoot out his wheel, and Charlene skids to the side of the road. They each walk about ten paces in a reverse duel and meet between their two vehicles. Yes, she shot Charlene, but good news — she loves him, and not just in a friend way. In a “bottom of a deep, dark well” way. She loves everything about him, including his butt because that’s where love lives, and how he loves her sister and her. She refuses to go to Cleveland in Charlene, but good news, there’s another form of transportation waiting for them. She climbs on her motorcycle, and he climbs behind her, embracing her and his status as the best damn sidekick in the business. “It’s been a long time since I traveled light,” she says, finally shaking off the weight of her responsibilities, her guilt, and the limitations of her hometown behind her. No sunset yet, but they do ride off into the gorgeousness of Alberta. It’s what they both deserve.

Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth

The couple stops off for a beverage as Wynonna looks at Doc’s itinerary. It’s pretty full and she wonders if they have time for a pit stop in Miracles, Montana, to visit their own little miracle. He wonders if Alice will recognize them, and Wynonna will take that bet; in fact, she’s all in.

And now, they ride off into the sunset.

At the Homestead, Nicole and Waverly finally enjoy some peace and quiet. Nicole assures her bride that Wynonna will be back, and Waverly knows she’s right. Waves wonders if Nicole is jealous of Doc and Wynonna’s adventure — does she wish they were the ones going on a road-trip honeymoon. But Nicole is a simple gal — she has everything she’s ever wanted and is where she always wanted to be — “home with my wife.”

“Home,” Waverly repeats back in possibly the last words ever spoken on Wynonna Earp.

Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth

The camera moves to the Earp mailbox, with a few additions from Wynonna, Nicole, and Waverly to Doc’s original mailbox, but the most important one reminding us that on this Homestead, in this town, on this show, everyone is welcome. 

Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth

Let me first start by saying, Charlotte Sullivan is a goddamn delight. I had only seen her in a few things before this, but just her handful of minutes in this episode was enough to make me start watching Rookie Blue the next day. Brigitte may be my favorite monster-of-the-week, and not just because her portrayal was hilarious and delightfully unhinged (and you could see Melanie trying not to break). The character lost everything and was just reacting, and Waverly understood that. I think this is the first sign that things are going to be different in Purgatory. Wynonna didn’t automatically shoot just because she was a demon…or at least she let her sister stop her. Sometimes bad things happen to good people, and they just react. I loved the portrayal, I loved the demon, and I loved the non-murdery resolution. It sucks that it’s taken this long to get Charlotte to Earp, but I can safely say it was worth the wait. This was a perfect role for her, and her performance was like nothing we’ve ever seen before. 

This was one of the most beautiful wedding scenes I have ever seen on any screen ever, and it’s not just because it’s two of my favorite characters on my favorite show doing a thing that I myself loved doing in my own life. It’s all the little things, sure — the costuming, the way it’s shot on a beautifully sunny Alberta day, the perfect vows, and all the rest of it — but also, it’s because the wedding was there to exist as a wedding; nothing more, nothing less. It wasn’t inserted as a filler, and it wasn’t used as a vehicle for a dramatic interruption or runaway-bride situation or the setting for a crime. It wasn’t a ratings stunt, and it was a focal point of the episode without it feeling exploitative. It existed because Emily Andras wanted to give Earpers the feeling that they got to see their favorites get married. There were empty chairs, sure, but it felt like the real guests who mattered the most weren’t in that field, or even just a name on a chair. They were the ones grabbing for tissues as they hit the volume buttons on their TV remotes so as to not miss a single word. It was a wedding because, more than Nicole and Waverly deserved to be married and be happy, we deserved to watch it happen. 

Waverly Earp has had such a journey on this show — from Champ Hardy to marrying a skull to walking away from the Garden of Eden to marrying her one true love. She’s slowly gotten out from underneath trying to be that perfect girl that everyone wants her to be and has fully embraced following her heart. And now she gets to spend the rest of her life doing what she wants most in the world.

I think with Wynonna Earp, like Jeremy said about WayHaught, the right amount of magic was involved. And boom — because of the people I met from this show, we are stronger than we were before. And we became love. There are different kinds of love, and what was created from this show is a different kind of powerful than what you get in a regular friendship. It’s a love born of and shared by people who feel like their souls and brains understand each other, and who have been looking for a really long time for people like them.

I sometimes feel like I’ve found the missing pieces of my family that I never knew I was missing. I will forever be grateful to this show for putting us all in the same box so we could fit ourselves snugly against each other. 

During a con, I had the pleasure of attending a writing class that Emily Andras held. It was the second time I went, and though I do like to fancy myself a writer, I am definitely not a fiction writer, much less a TV script writer. I didn’t know how much I’d actually get out of it, but I had friends going and I love hearing Emily talk, so I figured why not, right? Not to give too much away, but during the class, she mentioned a particular moment during Days of Our Lives that was pivotal for her in terms of storytelling. Picture it — Salem, 1984. Hope Brady is scheduled to marry local crime boss Larry Welch, when tough-guy Bo Brady kidnaps her from the nuptials and whisks her away off the back of his motorcycle. Imagine my surprise and delight when I realized that not only did Emily adapt this for her own needs, but she made Wynonna Bo Brady, with Doc Holliday the metaphorical bride on the back of the motorcycle. Proof that Emily Andras is a genius who possibly lives inside my brain, and who also knows that inspiration can come from anywhere.

Monica’s Random Points of Randomness:

  • Good thing Waverly didn’t wait till the last minute to ask Doc to stand up for her.
  • The smile that lights up Wynonna’s face when Waverly says she and Nicole are best friends will never not make me smile. 
  • The look on Wynonna’s face at Brigitte is maybe the best facing she’s done of the entire series.
  • Exactly how many guns do they have laying around the Homestead?
  • Wynonna’s reasoning for trying on the dress — that she just wanted to feel like a normal bride in a normal relationship — was relatable and believable and heartbreaking. 
  • “I think Mama’s banging her way through Turkey”; convenient, since one of the last times we saw her, she was elbow-deep in a turkey.
  • The “where you go, I go” banner was a lovely touch.
  • Waverly says she’s thankful for the bullet-proof vest? I’m calling that a Willa reference. 
  • I love that Jeremy caught the bouquet.
  • Doc, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is on a hellmouth, so just…use caution. 
  • No writer trusts their actors more with fewer words than Emily Andras.

Monica’s favorite lines:

  • This isn’t a secret wife, Nicole. This is the matrimonial icing.
  • Both of Waverly’s dads died here.
  • You are a good person. Not perfect, but trying, every day to be better. And that makes you the best man I have ever known. And so…I’d like you to be mine. Today. My best man.
  • It would be my joy to stand by your side and watch you marry that formidable woman.
  • “I am a gunslinger.” “Okay, nobody cares.”
  • Well, I guess we’ve got to find some bugs and save a wedding. 
  • Baby, if you left me at the altar, I would fuck shit up.
  • A coward would stay…instead of admitting it is high time to let go of the past and get to living.
  • I’ll make sand out of that witch.
  • Then why was the aggressive one in your wedding dress?
  • Was he not wearing his hat?
  • That cowboy became a cow man for you.
  • Fashion first, bitch.

I started writing recaps right here at this very blog in season two, and then in seasons three and four, I was lucky enough to have them featured at The TV Junkies. Because of some technical issues, they ended up back here, and I don’t hate the full-circle-ness of it all. I wrote them to make my friends laugh and because my brain was screaming for a creative outlet, unsure if anyone else would ever read them, but not really caring. I feel so lucky to have met the people that I did, in part because of the opportunities it gave me for my writing. I’ll never be able to thank my boss, Bridget Liszewski, enough for seeing a rando nerd writing way too many words about an episode and saying, “Hey, why don’t you do it here? No changes to anything except could you please make your pictures a different size?” I’ve been lucky enough to have pieces published about other shows and even interviewing someone from one of my favorite shows, and none of that would have been possible without Bridget and without you. 

It has truly been my honor and delight to write about Wynonna Earp all of these years, and I am so grateful to all of you for the support and encouragement (well, most of you; the season-four comments section has been disabled for a reason). Thank you for reading what I have to say and thank you for the opportunity to make you laugh. You let me be me, and nothing has made me happier. 

Obviously, I hope this is not the end. This show deserves six seasons and a movie, minimum, because these characters and the writers deserve it. That being said, if this is the end, wow — what a perfect ending. Emily Andras managed to do the impossible. She tied up the majority of the loose ends of the season (I know, I know, Eve, blah blah — look up “majority”), gave us a beautiful wlw wedding that made me cry and laugh in all the right places, and gave our titular heroine the happy ending she deserved. She gave us happiness and light during what has really been a time of darkness and despair. It’s easy, in a way, to write monster-of-the-week episodes, or even just completely fuck shit up and put everyone in danger, especially on a genre show. It’s a tried-and-true formula of getting in a pickle, being in the pickle, then consuming the pickle and being mostly okay, but dealing with pickle consequences. It’s more difficult to let everyone be happy and make it seem genuine and heartfelt and like it could actually happen, especially with characters as broken as the ones on this show are.

It’s harder to make the love interesting without the drama, I think. Not every show can do it, and no other writer could have done this, in my opinion. Wynonna wouldn’t be Wynonna without Emily, and she gave us one last gift — this perfect finale and a fitting send-off if this really is the end.

Wynonna Earp may have saved me, but Emily Andras, you are my hero.

Wynonna Earp airs every day at any time you want in your heart, because it will never truly leave us.

Wynonna Earp Recap — Where Do We Go From Here

Hello, friends, and welcome to the penultimate episode of Wynonna Earp season four. In the previous episode, we were left with so many cliffs hanging that we wondered how the writers could possibly tie everything up in two episodes. Well, surprise! They tied them up in one, and now we are, allegedly, just left with a WayHaught wedding, but — well, I’m getting ahead of myself. Be patient; we’ll get there. So grab your bird of choice, check your vamp status, and be sure to book your stay at the Boobie Munch Salon for a full makeover, because here we go! 

Previously on Wynonna Earp, Rachel goes to Wynonna for training, Waverly grabbed her own book from the Garden but it’s blank, Cleo helped Wynonna, Mercedes got shot, oh, yeah, and Waverly paid a visit to Jolene in the Boobie Munch Cabin and was compelled to take her final form, which appears to be of a dark angel of sorts. Neat, right? Just a regular day in Purgatory.

The BBD agents drag shot Mercedes’ bleeding body into the cell with the rest of the food, and that’s only an issue because the bloodsucking vampire dentist is having trouble controlling his hunger. He begs Jeremy to hold him back, but one groiny BBD nerd can only do so much. 

In the forest, Wynonna is staring at Waverly’s final form, which has evolved even more (or she’s taking a trip to the Boobie Munch Salon for the works). She can’t stop staring because baby girl is both beautiful and terrible. Bonus — she has also de-fogged the GRT. She’s speaking in a bit of a disembodied voice and of Waverly in the third person, like she’s a third-rate professional wrestler trying to act like she’s more important than she is. This is maybe even more concerning than the whole goth makeover, but I’m sure it’s fine.

Wynonna begs her Waverly to come back, but she’s not in the mood for chit-chat. She’s got places to go and people to see — well, place to go and people to protect by locking up the Garden. Wynonna refuses to let her sister go, so Dark Waverly puts her hand on her face and I totally thought for a moment that she was going to face-drain Wynonna, too, but whew! Not this time. Wynonna’s just blind, so we’re cool.

Wynonna asks why, and the dark version of her sister calmly answers, “Because it’s her turn, Wynonna.” Man, no one is letting Wynonna take a turn these days.

In the woods, Cleo asks a gun-holding Rachel how training is going and taunts her about (not) being a killer. She tries to poison her against Wynonna, but it’s not working — Rachel believes in her family, and Wynonna is a part of that. Cleo tells Rachel she just wants to leave the GRT and the rest is just confetti, doubling down on Evil Wynonna, saying that just because Rachel considers her family doesn’t mean it’s reciprocal. Oh, and Wynonna totally lied — Billy’s definitely the Reaper du jour. 

Jolene’s hair from the ritual goes up in flame, meaning Jolene won’t be taking anyone’s man anytime soon. But now that the Reaper has been de-victim’d, he’ll be turning on his most hated enemy — an Earp…unless Rachel acts now and helps Cleo with a de-Reaping.

Where do we go from here?

Mercedes is still bleeding and writhing on the floor in pain, and Doc is having trouble controlling himself. Jeremy’s trying to tend to her while werewolf Freddy pleads with Doc to stop. So everything at BBD is going great, too.

Rachel is doing a Reaper ritual and squeezing her blood onto a rock. Cleo tells her it’s working, but I can’t tell if she’s serious or if there are worse consequences to the “tie you guys together forever” threat she drops like it’s just a casual weather fact. Rachel keeps asking if they’re close and Cleo keeps telling her a facetious yes, and that’s rude because Rachel is the purest soul in Purgatory and lying to her should be illegal.

Wynonna’s still blind and still lost in the forest, but yet somehow she remains sexy. She’s wandering aimlessly and searching for help and seems to have found the opposite of that in a gloved, finger-horned, snarling demon that’s nearby. Her one-track mind is, of course, Waverly, and she’s just trying to get to safety. She even offers to make out with whoever’s stalking her if they’re at least a 5/6 out of ten. She runs and falls and looks up into the face of Reaper Billy, but she just quietly asks if it’s Waverly before screaming for help. Spoiler — no, it is not.

Where do we go from here?

Wynonna runs through the forest blindly, screaming for her sister. She again runs into Billy the Reaper, but good news — the de-reap has taken. It’s just original-flavor Billy now, who very nicely hands Peacemaker to her, and Wynonna almost cries at being reunited with…something, at least. Billy’s also in disbelief at the de-Reaping, and he offers to help guide Wynonna back to safety.

Freddy is ready to let Doc loose, and the vampire points out that Mercedes is toast, and not the good kind you make in the oven, but he’d like to eat her anyway. Jeremy senses it’s a losing battle, but he tries anyway. He tells the man who he thinks of as his brother that he’s not saving Mercedes’ life, per se. He’s saving Doc’s soul — if he did this, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself. He says if Doc wants to feed on a human, fine — make a snack out of Jeremy but leave Mercedes alone. This finally does the trick and Doc is able to calm his hunger. Pretty good hero speech, Jeremy, and don’t mind me if I chanted “kiss kiss kiss” just a little bit.

Doc keeps trying to pull the bars off, but this is one bar he can’t knock over. Freddy can’t help, because of his werewolf allergy to iron. I bet he can’t even drink IC Light. Weakly, Mercedes points out that she’s dying and being immortal really fits her whole vibe, so why don’t they give that a try? They make sure to get consent to convert this Mercedes, and when she enthusiastically agrees, Doc makes her the Angel to his Darla.

Nicole is still wandering in the woods and she tries to raise Wynonna on the walkie, which apparently didn’t die after all. Then she gets some BBD interference on her walkie, and she’s able to pick up the plan for the Noah protocol, code red, and killing all of the townspeople. Well, maybe if BBD were going to eliminate all of the chickens, she’d let this one slide, but the townspeople, even the ones that didn’t vote for her or tried to propose to her girlfriend? Not on her watch, missy. She makes the decision to let Wynonna save her sister and heads to BBD to make things Haught.

Mercedes, looking a thousand percent more alive now that she’s undead, laments the loss of her veneers, and helps the other dentist she knows bust out of their cell. Newly turned, she’s not as great at whatever vegan lifestyle Doc has adopted, but I can think of several people who would gladly let Mercedes Gardner drain them in any way she wanted, so I think it’s fine. 

The battle’s done and we kind of won

They free their fellow caged humans and demons and knock out the BBD agents, grabbing keycards along the way…and maybe a snack for the road. Suddenly, some type of bisexual lighting alarm starts flashing, and Doc and Jeremy know they’re in for it.

Wynonna can suddenly see, so at least Dark Waverly had the generosity enough to make it fast-acting blindness. She finds the remnants of Rachel’s blood sacrifice, but no Cleo or Rachel. Billy finds his covenant tooth, and they realize that Cleo took Rachel as leverage. Wynonna doesn’t want to find them because it’s clearly a trap, but Billy says it doesn’t matter. Trap or no, Rachel is in danger and needs some saving. Since Waverly isn’t Waverly anymore but Rachel is still Rachel, she knows who needs her help more. Since this Reaper thing didn’t pan out, maybe Billy should look into a future as a motivational speaker or gunslinging vampire dentist. 

Billy goes to look for help because, as the old saying goes, you can’t go home again or you’ll get re-Reaped. Wynonna tells Peacemaker it’s just the two of them to save the day, but she doesn’t want a repeat of last time. She wants things to be different.

Wynonna hopes that some time has healed Dark Waverly’s wounds, but it looks like it just made them worse. She stands over BBD headquarters, wings spread, watching it burn as it’s screaming with chaos. Turns out it’s time for a smoke break, so she grabs a fallen agent’s Virginia Slim and decides to take five. She ruminates about how there’s always a crisis (CRISIS) with humans, and I suppose that’s true…on infinite earths, you could even say.

So we sound our victory cheer

Doc and his band of merry humans and demons are free from their cells but can’t open the door to get out. Just as they are starting to get gassed, a keypad beeps and the door opens. It’s our old friend General Graham, technically, although he was motivated to open the door by Nicole and her sidearm. He can’t believe she’s letting all of these demons go, but Nicole knows these demons can’t help that they were born this way. Nicole’s running an inclusive town, and the only thing it won’t tolerate is intolerance, so General Graham needs to general scram.

Where do we go from here?

Nicole tells Jeremy they need to get the townspeople to safety, but he’s worried about the sneaky-snake fog that just keeps on rollin’, rollin’, rollin’. He grabs a Garden Fog Scanner™ and checks out the situation, but good news — it’s fog free since ‘93! Or at least the last little bit.  

Doc can hear a voice calling to him, and he has to get ready for…something. Don’t know what. Everyone’s like, “Okay, cool, no prob, weirdo.” Since he’s unaffected by the gas, he heads inside to get his guns and any stragglers, and everyone looks at him like he’s being weird and not acting like a gunslinging vampire dentist, but they just go along with it and let him leave. You know, for “stragglers.”

Wynonna cautiously steps foot onto Clanton ground and finds a digital well full of smelly, screaming Reapers. Is this where all that moisturizer is going?

Cleo and Rachel are in Mam’s hoarding shanty, and Cleo still clearly has complicated feelings about her mother. The more she talks about Mam, the more it seems like she and Ward were one missed connection away from a perfect union. Rachel tells her that her mother was a hero, but Cleo is a little short on empathy today. All she cares about is moving on from the weight of her family curse. 

Speaking of heirs and curses, Wynonna shows up and unties Rachel. Cleo’s thrilled, because she’s been waiting, and then the Reaper-formerly-shot-in-the-back-by-Peacemaker shows up. Cleo didn’t do it; the Clantons just turn into Reapers when they die, unless, of course, they’re fed to other Reapers before they have the chance to turn, which is why we won’t be reunited next with an even grosser version of Mam. 

Turns out Mam was keeping secrets from her kin, too, about the weight of being the Clanton heir. Cleo is constantly feeling the pressure of all of her Reaper family wanting revenge, wanting food, asking for moisturizer, probably. They never sleep, and it seems like she hasn’t gotten much lately, either. But Cleo is another smart one, because she has a plan. 

Why is the path unclear

Wynonna begs her to call the Reapers off, but she should know better the weight and responsibility of a curse that you can’t just walk away from, especially when every single Reaper is pulling at your soul. So Cleo’s not going to run from the curse; she’s making the curse run from her. She’s transferring it to her family’s greatest enemy, and Wynonna will kill everyone she loves. 

Wynonna doesn’t want history repeating itself, so she gives Rachel Peacemaker and tells her to run. Cleo brands a rock, and presumably this will not end well.

Across town, Doc is readying his weaponry and trying to ignore the voices in his head when he finds Dark Waverly outside, though that’s not the name she answers to anymore. “A scion of the great guardian, Julian” feels like a mouthful, so we’ll just go with Dark Waverly for the purposes of this recap. Doc tries to get her to leave, but she’s looking for what’s hers — the book. If he hands it over, she’ll be on her way home, but Doc knows that this is home; it’s this world that when they’re here, they’re family. Just like Jeremy did for him, Doc stands up to Dark Waverly for the Waverly Earp that’s still inside, because he knows that she wouldn’t want this. 

When we know hope is near?

This dentist/angel standoff is interrupted by a searing pain — it’s the Clanton brand being burned onto Doc’s hand. She tells him that he has seen what’s coming so he knows what’s about to happen, but Wynonna taught him that there’s always a different way. He’s the only one who can write his story, too. When Dark Waves starts to go for the book, her timing sucks because Doc is transported elsewhere.

Understand we’ll go hand in hand

Back at the Clanton ranch, Cleo’s on the ground and Wynonna doesn’t feel any differently. Cleo thinks it didn’t work, but it just didn’t work how she expected. The Earps weren’t her family’s greatest enemy; it was Doc mother-stachin’ Holliday, the new Clanton heir. So…I guess congrats are in order for Cleo, since the spell worked. Good for you!

Doc forces Wynonna to the center of a stone pillar circle for a showdown. You remember the one — with magic barriers so they can’t leave. The Reapers are screaming and want to see the Earp heir be defeated — all but Cleo, who peaces out with a “good luck!” thrown at Wynonna as she speeds away in a convertible that puts Doc’s old pink Caddy to shame. It’s a win/win for her — she gets out from underneath the crushing pressure and guilt of her own curse and is able to ruin the lives of two of her enemies in the meantime. It’s an impressive plan, honestly. I don’t think Mam would be proud of you, but I am. I mean, I don’t want you raining down pain and destruction on my faves, but I can still be impressed at the plan. Cleo grew up in as much of an abusive household as the Earp girls did, if not worse, so no matter the methods, I can’t help but cheer that Cleo is getting free.

Wynonna tries to flirt her away out of danger, but Doc doesn’t seem super into it at this time (“The next time I step on Earp whore land, it will be to coat it in the blood of your kin.”) Wynonna wants Doc to leave her friends out of it, but Wynonna always wanted to involve them, so Doc’s taking them down, too. Again, Doc is begged to remember who he is inside, underneath the vampire teeth and underneath the curse he’s just had thrust upon him. It doesn’t take, though, and even though it’s not dawn, Doc challenges her to a duel. The Clantons have had enough pain and suffering thanks to the Earps and Doc Holliday, and he’s confident the family who holds his curse will prevail.

Thanks, Hamilton, for teaching me how a duel works.

Wynonna refuses to fight and doesn’t even have a weapon, but Peacemaker has a great flair for timing. Reaper Holt is holding Rachel hostage and forces her to throw the weapon in the supernatural hexagon. Wynonna refuses to pick up Peacemaker, so Doc threatens to kill Rachel if she doesn’t. Wynonna agrees, but terms and conditions will apply.

But we’ll walk alone in fear

Doc agrees to spare Rachel if Wynonna picks up the gun, and she knows she’s out of options. She blames Peacemaker for being a jerk — she’s not mad, just disappointed. They’ve really come a long way together. She tells Doc what a waste it was for him to have been working towards being a better man, if it’s all just going to end with him killing her. The Doc-shaped meat suit insists that Doc is dead, but Wynonna knows that dying is just an inconvenience for Doc Holliday. He’s come back from that before, and he can fight through this, too. He’s not the Clanton heir; he’s a fuck-up, like Wynonna. Like Casey. And he’s a fuck-up who’s been trying to be a better man. And didn’t Doc tell us just a little while ago that you can be a fuck-up and a hero, too?

Doc asks her to raise her weapon so they can have a fair fight, and Wynonna knows that’s one thing any iteration of Doc Holliday would want. 

BBD is still just a musterbluck of chaos. Nicole’s leading the previously incarcerated demons to a truck for an escape, and when she gets to the cab, Jeremy’s immediately struck with groin pain over her. She’s…confused, to say the least, but the bottom line is this — Jeremy will get everyone to safety. Nicole needs to go to the Stairs — am assuming the Garden ones but am happy to be proven wrong — because she’s “the only one she won’t hurt.” 

Tell me, where do we go from here?

Nedley’s mixing himself a sadness cocktail at Shorty’s — banana liqueur, water, and a cocktail umbrella — but his pity party is interrupted by a still un-un-dead Billy. Nedley’s impressed at his growth spurt — he’s grown an entire body! — but still manages to look exhausted when Billy asks him for help. But when he hears Rachel and Wynonna are in trouble, he’s in for helping, doubly so when Billy asks if he’s good at incantations. Good thing he keeps his holy book and ceremonial wolf head behind the bar in case of emergencies! 

Wynonna and Doc turn around and are walking their traditional ten paces and Rachel tries to convince her that the first saving was good enough; no need for a repeat. But Rachel should know by now there she’s safe — with family like this, there are no boundaries.

Doc counts down from five and turns around, but Wynonna stays where she is, her back to him. It’s his refusal to shoot her in the back that proves that our Doc is still inside the Doc meat suit. She knows his code, the one she never should have broken, because it broke them. 

But he’s not Doc anymore, and the Clantons have no code.

When he aims and cocks his gun, Wynonna fires Peacemaker into the magic barrier, and the bullet comes out in Reaper Holt’s temple. Doc fires, but the bullet explodes backwards out of the chamber, hitting him. She tells Rachel to run and Doc that she can’t believe he fired, but then she sees — he loaded his gun at BBD with the wrong bullets because he saw the future that awaited him and he couldn’t bear the thought of shooting his greatest love. 

There really is always another way.

At Shorty’s, Nedley and Billy are incanting their little hearts out, trying to bring the curse back to its rightful place. The brand sears Billy’s hand and he screams in pain, so it seems like it may be working. He commands the Reapers to stand down, and it works. They’re not after Doc and Wynonna anymore, at least for now.

Doc wants Wynonna to end it by shooting him with Peacemaker, but that’s just too much to ask. She can’t do it, even if he’s done with this life. His pain will stop, but hers will continue forever. She knows it’s wrong, and so does he, but he still wants it. He’s tired and still selfish enough to ask her to do this.

When does the end appear?

She steps away, insisting there’s another way, and Dark Waverly, sounding like my mother suggests that perhaps a miracle may do the trick. 

Dark Waverly talks a bit about how curious it is that humans know fate is inevitable but they still try to change it. Wynonna can’t believe this dark angel in front of her is the same baby sister she’s been protecting her whole life. She suggests that maybe it is time for a miracle, and Dark Baby Girl agrees that he does have regret for all of his transgressions, but he’s lived more than his fair share of lifetimes already. But so what — she’s no stranger to breaking rules, but Dark Waves points out that Wynonna herself was the only reason Waverly got up from the Garden throne and abandoned her post. Wynonna’s negotiating her heart out for Doc’s life right now and throwing everything out at this shadow of her sister. The heir gets on her knees and begs — she’s lost everything, and if she’s going to lose her last sister, too, at least let her final act be to save Doc. Give the champion this one final sister act.

Waverly wants the book back so she can return it to the Garden, because I assume the overdue fees there are out of this world. Wynonna’s had a taste of negotiating now, and she can’t seem to stop — if Waverly saves Doc first, she can have the book back.

Dark Waverly gingerly places her hands on Doc’s head and, in a reverse Bobo/Mam Clanton, breathes life into him. Doc feels different than before and wonders what Dark Waverly did to him, but the angel is distracted by her bleeding nose since her human flesh bag is fragile. 

Wynonna hands the book over and at the same time tearfully begs Waverly not to go. With a final look at her sister, Dark Waverly walks away and says that Wynonna’s sister did this for her and her sister “loved her very much.” 

Dark Waverly hears the Reapers screaming and Holt is begging her to make his pain stop. Channeling her best Red Daughter, with a bolt of lightning from her hands, she turns them all into magpies and they fly away from the Clanton ranch.

Dark Waverly has made her way to the Garden stairs but is just part way up before the sheriff finds her. She tries to chase her up the stairs, because history, but can’t get in and bounces off the barrier. Dark Waves tells her to go away, as this is none of her concern, but clearly she’s new in town because Nicole’s supposed to marry the body that Dark Waverly is renting out and that means it’s definitely her business. She insists the gate has to be closed and she’s the only one who can do it, but seems like everyone in Purgatory is stuck in the bargaining phase today. She refuses to stay behind again because “where you go, I go, remember?” Nicole’s humanity means she can’t follow her girl to the Garden, where she’s destined to be the failsafe who protects the Ghost River Triangle. Nicole tries to convince her that Wynonna could do this job, since she’s the champion and the sword-wielder, but, channeling original-flavor Waverly, she doesn’t want to burden Wynonna anymore. She’s given up enough.

When do the trumpets cheer?

Oh, wait, did someone say “protect”? Good news, demon angel — standing in front of you is the fast-talking sheriff of Purgatory, who agrees to become the protector of the entire GRT. Everything good in her life is because she came back to the Ghost River Triangle, and she’s willing to make the GRT her Hotel California and never leave. Anything is worth being able to go where Waverly goes. You know, as long as it’s local. 

Dark Waverly did break the rules already to save Doc, and Nicole says that she bets it feels pretty good now that she has a taste for it. Nicole tells her to look in the book and see that Waverly’s story is Nicole’s story, but the book belongs to the Garden, just like she does. Nicole runs into the barrier again and begs her to check the book, and Dark Waverly gasps at what she sees. She can’t believe that Nicole is willing to give up so much, but Nicole points out that everything she loves is already in the GRT.

Deciding to break the rules a second time, another bolt of lightning flies from Dark Waverly’s hands to Nicole, and Nicole vows to be bound to the Ghost River Triangle as long as she lives, vowing to be patient and just and to be the angel’s shield. With a final burst of lightning, Nicole is thrown from the barrier and along the forest floor. Dark Waverly has lightened up and is original Waverly now and, thinking quickly, throws the book into the Garden door before it closes.

Waves runs to her unconscious girlfriend and tries to wake her up, placing a delicate kiss on her lips just in case all of those fairy tales were right (and knowing she has consent for all of their days). This does the trick and Nicole wakes up, but then winces in pain from a new tattoo she’s gotten at the metaphorical Boobie Munch Salon.There’s no doubt that she’s the angel’s shield now, and she’s got the ink to prove it.

The curtains close on a kiss, God knows

Waverly can’t believe that Nicole sacrificed herself for her, but Nicole points out that she didn’t really promise anything she wasn’t planning to do already — just a perpetual hang with the love of her life in their hometown. 

General Graham stumbles outside of BBD HQ and demands that Jeremy call, well, everyone. But Jeremy isn’t feeling it. When the red emergency phone rings, he tells them that everything’s fine but, unfortunately, General Graham didn’t make it. Graham can’t believe Jeremy is siding with the demons, but he doesn’t get it — Purgatory’s very fabric is woven with demons, and Black Badge was just making things worse by trying to quilt with it. He makes his prophecy about Graham come true by inviting Freddy the florist to have a mid-day snack.

The gang is at Shorty’s, except for Nedley, Rachel, and Billy, who are having celebratory “we’re alive!” burgers in The Big City. Everyone’s pretty excited that they can travel without a hardcore fog advisory now, but regardless of the weather, Wynonna just keeps putting blanket upon blanket on Doc to keep him warm and cozy. The two of them just look so happy with the weight of the world off their shoulders and surrounded with a metaphorical weighted blanket.

We can tell the end is near

Wynonna leans in for some mustache time and Nicole interrupts them with a clearing of her throat, because she wants to talk about “the issue at hand.” Dark Waverly’s taking a permanent vacation for now. A Doc-hatted Jeremy wonders if Nicole is talking about Black Badge and tells everyone that they’ve also retreated for now.

Where do we go from here?

Doc is distracted by his reflection — understandable just on a base level and also because he didn’t have one for so long. Yes, that’s right — now he’s just a regular old gunslinging dentist/former vampire, thanks to Dark Angel Waves and his desire to be a better person. He tells Wynonna he wants a fresh start, and this is the best news she’s heard since they found out kombucha would de-ogre Nedley.

Where do we go from here?

Nicole interrupts them again because none of them guessed what she wanted to talk about — it’s the wedding. She’s ready to marry Waverly, and why wait? It’s time to have ourselves some nuptials.

Where do we go from here?

Dominique Provost-Chalkley delivered another amazing performance this week as she completely morphed into Dark Waverly. Her mannerisms, her voice, her speech patterns, her body language — all completely different from the Earpiest Earp that we know and love. 

Oh, yeah, and what about Waverly’s book? Is it still blank? Does it remain unwritten? Or since Nicole has taken this heavenly burden from her, she can finally have a future now?

It’s a well-documented fact that this show has zero budget, and it’s always so impressive to me what they do with their fourteen Canadian dollars. Wynonna running through the woods was so scary, primarily because of the camera work and the music. 

The scene with Doc and Jeremy in the cell when Mercedes was dying is one of their best together. The dialogue was warm, heartfelt, and believable, and Varun and Tim made me feel all of the things. Jeremy, the jagged little nerd who never felt like he belonged, trusted Doc enough to be willing to sacrifice himself, and with a little bit of hero speech, Doc was able to push through. Jeremy’s gained such confidence since we first met him, and I just loved this moment for him.

I really liked the little moment with Nicole and Dark Waverly where Nicole is told the Garden isn’t for her “kind.” First of all, it’s not the first time Nicole has been “the wrong kind” in this show. Second, judging from the look on her face, she didn’t think her humanity was being referred to, but rather her sexuality. The weight and pressure of our upbringing is constantly at war with a lot of us queer people, even if we think we’ve come to terms with it, and Dark Waverly teling Nicole her kind isn’t welcome there really flips her switch for a moment. I appreciated the fact that this heavenly being reassured her it was just her non-supernatural qualities, not her sapphic ones, that were barring her from the Garden.

“Why?” “Because it’s her turn, Wynonna.” And that’s it in a nutshell, isn’t it? All this time, Waverly has wanted to be important. She wanted to break the curse, she wanted everyone to like her, she wanted her father to love her and pay attention to her. And now she technically has what she’s wanted all along, but be careful what you wish for, right? Because this isn’t how she wanted it to happen. She didn’t want to turn into an emotionless shell just to play a part in everyone’s story. 

And so what happens? Her person steps up, another woman who’s been struggling to find her place and where she belongs — and make sure that it’s done the right way. Nicole, who was left out of the blood oath with Black Badge, who often felt like she was the third wheel around her girlfriend and her sister, who literally got left behind when she broke her leg and Wynonna went to the Garden to save Waverly, is the one who gets her hero moment and to save her fiancee from a fate of sitting in one chair the rest of her life. And all it cost her was the agreement never to leave the Ghost River Triangle. A pretty good bargain, some would say. I am some. I say that. It’s a small price to pay to save the woman you love from a life alone.

This episode covered so much ground and made me feel all of the emotions — I shouted and jumped and cried and laughed and basically any other thing you can think of. The number of times the tension was broken with a self-deprecating joke or some gallows humor really just drove home the point that Emily Andras could comfortably spend time in my brain. I have been through some shit and the only way I’ve gotten through it has been making light of it, you know? So it really speaks to me when other characters do that, and this episode had highs of jokes to match its valleys of anxiety. 

There was so much sacrifice this week, with just about everyone saying “If I can’t be with you in whatever way, I don’t want to be here anymore.” It really drives home how important this family is and how lost they’d be if they had never found each other, and it made all of the stakes even higher. Doc, Jeremy, Wynonna, Waverly, and Nicole all said or acted on some form of this, and you could tell they really believed it. 

It feels right that Emily wrote these last two episodes…which may really be the last two ever, since we don’t know if it’s returning for season five. This show wouldn’t exist in the form we know it without any of the people involved, really, but it wouldn’t exist at all without Emily Andras. She’s given Wynonna and the group their heart, their sass, their bravery, and their fight, and she’s given a lot of us the family we never knew was possible. 

If there’s one thing Wynonna and Emily have taught me, it’s that there’s always another way, so I haven’t given up hope yet.

I may be the only one who can write my story, but I feel like Emily Andras would do a pretty good job of it, too.

Monica’s Random Points of Randomness:

  • Of course Mercedes was worried about her outfit. Of course she was.
  • I love that Jeremy was making a cross with his hands to keep Doc away from Mercedes.
  • Shout-out to the vampire Mercedes, who I hope gets her own spin-off. And nice foreshadowing of the first time we saw her, performing in the Glory Hole, with her fake fangs. We were so naive, so emotional. We had no idea what was to come. If we are blessed with a season five, I would love to see her manning the Glory Hole again, but this time in more of a managerial position.
  • Nicole was sad that they didn’t have time to get “Memento” tattoos, but life, uh, finds a way, doesn’t it?
  • I’m honestly surprised it’s taken four years for that “master baiter” line.
  • “I am a scion of the great guardian, Julian” okay, but he left his post and fathered a child, so let’s temper our use of the word “great” here, huh?
  • Wynonna and Doc in a duel makes my heart hurt.
  • If Waverly has scars from where Jolene cut room for her wings, might I suggest a course of coconut oil?
  • Sheriff “I’m not a bride” is the one to bring up the wedding? Yeah, that feels right.

Monica’s Favorite Lines:

  • The affairs of man are no longer my concern. I mean, same.
  • I’m no man. I’m the woman who will not watch you become this…thing.
  • Waverly…don’t leave me alone in the dark!
  • I’ve got you, Earp. Simple, familiar, but those four little words do a lot more lifting than they should.
  • Vamp permission granted. Now get over here and suck me off already!
  • What are you, a ‘90s modeling agency? I will eat who I want. No more diets!
  • Let’s fuck it up.
  • Looks like it’s just you and me. Let’s do it differently this time. 
  • Humans. Always a crisis. (CRISIS)
  • Some of these foods are human beings!
  • He’s also my florist.
  • You see, General, our town here? It’s pretty inclusive.
  • What is it, sire? There goes all my feminist street cred. 
  • I do not need a prison to best you, but your fear gets them excited.
  • You want me to do an OK — hey, maybe even a Great Corral with you, I’m gonna need some assurances.
  • Corral your emotions, dude.
  • Honestly, Haught, you can’t just interrupt intimate moments like that.
  • You’re still the champion. And the Earp heir. And my favorite sister. Top two, top two.

So everything’s tied up and all the baddies are gone, and all that’s left is hugs and puppies and what promises to be a problem-free WayHaught wedding that we all deserve after this terrible year. I’m sure there won’t be any surprises or drama and just a happy ending as we wait for word on season five. Right?

Right?

I’ll see you back here next time, friends, because for one more week…

Wynonna Earp airs Fridays at 10/9c on SYFY and CTV Sci-Fi.