Leavin’ on Your Mind? Nope! I’m stayin’ to watch Wynonna Earp! There’s a whole lot happenin’ in Purgatory. The Stone Witch selected 3 Revenants to collect items for a spell which will let them leave Purgatory. It’s taken them 15 years to collect the items. Wynonna helps them get the last thing they need. But: Who is ‘The Stone Witch’?
If you haven’t seen it yet, you can watch it (with your Syfy provider) &/or the Official Recap will catch you up. This post is FULL of spoilers!
First up, I really have to say: “Ouch!”
Doc saying to Wynonna: “What makes you think that you are mine?” That was kinda harsh! Especially as Doc was chatting up Waverly earlier (although maybe that was part of his mission for Bobo?) Thank goodness Waverly was there to remind Wynonna that she’s OK, and to do it without being soppy. #siblinglove
But that scene at the time capsule opening reminds us what these Revenants are: nasty! Also not very strategic. Instead of attacking at the public opening, and killing a man for the fun of it in front of a crowd, they could have broken into a building at night to retrieve the book of poems. Similarly, waving the hand in front of the bus stop camera seemed like they wanted to be caught!
The items for the spell that the Revenants were collecting, are paradoxes, like the ‘living dead’ who are collecting them:
- left hand of an “innocent murderer”
- book of poems from a deaf/mute poet: a mute’s voice
- red heart pendant of an unfaithful wife: a loveless heart
Maybe Dolls is also a paradox: ‘the emotionless myth believer’. When Waverly was explaining her research, and the ‘Ghost River Triangle’ to Dolls (& us), Dolls continued with his Sheldon Cooper impression:
This isn’t my first time hearing about demonic maledictions or enclaves of evil.”
and doesn’t miss a beat when he tells Wynonna: “You have powdered sugar on her nose,” to a perfectly timed cessation of dramatic music, after she says “I want them to tremble with fear before me”. (The humour continues!)
Wynonna gets him back not long afterwards:
Sometimes you come so close to cool…and then cool makes a run for it.”
Doc taking Waverly’s book of Revenants is more than an inconvenience, since it was her only list. Doc has probably done the Revenants more of a favour than he realised! Maybe Waverly could re-do some of that research? At least they’re certain of the 7: the team who has killed 3 Earp heirs, including their father and Willa. Haven’t they already killed two of the 7: Malcolm and Red? Is Levi still alive? If not, I think that’s 3 of them. Wynonna recognises Marty as another one of the 7, and Shorty tells us that Sam killed Willa (eventually), so he was one of them too. That would make 5 down, 2 to go. Then they just need to identify the other 70.
Sam the Revenant in the hardware store. He looks harmless enough, right? Image from Syfy.
Good thing Waverly had another copy of the Doc Holliday picture! Now she knows! No wonder she suggested ‘Big Nose Kate’ when Henry asked her about a likeness of a woman from the past!
In real life, Doc Holliday had a common-law wife, known as ‘Big Nose Kate’. She was a prostitute before taking up with Holliday, and continued to work as one sometimes during their turbulent relationship. There is an unsubstantiated rumour that she had a relationship with Wyatt Earp before Holliday met her, and that it was she who introduced Earp and Holliday. She must have cared about Doc quite a bit, because she even forcibly broke him out of prison once. (While I’m adding historical trivia: “Doc” was actually a Dentist, but perhaps didn’t make much money from it, as he seemed more interested in hustling.)
Waverly recognised the name Bobo. Was Doc warning her? Was the whole conversation about giving her clues? When she saw Doc talking to Bobo, did she recognise him as the same Bobo from her childhood? Did Bobo recognise her when he told Doc to “deal with” her, or does she look too different after about 15 years? Since he’s an excellent shot, presumably Doc shot to warn her to run, rather than to kill, so: he’s not ALL bad. (And: what was Bobo marking on that map?)
I’m not sure what was on that newspaper page…what did I miss? Doc seemed to find what he wanted, and Waverly made some notes from it – she circled a woman’s name on her notepad: Constance Clootic? At least she didn’t leave it for Doc to find this time, knowing that he’s not there to help.
When Wynonna found Revenant Marty at the graveyard, it’s kinda sweet that despite knowing that there are Revenants around, she doesn’t assume that everyone acting oddly is a Revenant. But: she has GOT to stop chatting before firing! Another Revenant got away! It seems that Peacemaker didn’t want to hit him this time: part of it’s magic seems to be hitting/not hitting things, rather than shooting straight. Peacemaker made an impossible shot to free Waverly and knock Malcolm’s gun from his hand in episode 1, but Wynonna fired 3 times and missed at the cemetery. Interestingly, Peacemaker wouldn’t fire for Dolls, but it fired for Wynonna straight afterwards. Is Peacemaker like Mjolnir: only the worthy can use it? Did Peacemaker decide to kill Wynonna’s father (Ward) instead of the Revenants? Was that to stop him giving them some information? Was it something to do with a timeframe, like waiting for Doc to resurrect before all the Revenants can be killed?
Wynonna comments three times this episode on how fast Revenants are. I expected her to put this together with Doc shooting before she did in Waverly’s room, and realise what Henry is, since she knows that he was the thief she caught. Why hasn’t Waverly told her yet? Waverly confronts Doc, but she hasn’t even mentioned to Wynonna that Henry is Doc! Even near the end, when Waverly tells Wynonna that she IS one of the good guys, it’s pretty clear she’s thinking of Doc NOT being a good guy, yet: she says nothing! What’s with that, Waverly?
Speaking of the cemetery, that Revenant was digging up ‘Stan’, because : “Stan knows the numbers, just gotta ask!” But: once a body is available, how does one resurrect it?
Three of them made me what I am.”
Three somethings made Marty a Revenant. Three numbers? Three people? Three demons? Three objects? What??
The paper Revenant Marty dropped already had some numbers or passwords on it, but not all of them. From the scene next to the safe, he used to know all the numbers, but he’s forgotten some. How did that happen? Is it part of the demon taking over the man? ‘Stan’ was the Manager of the Bank where Marty worked in the 70’s, and died in 1979. The bank went out of business, closed with some specific things (including Stan’s wife’s locket) still locked in the vault. Does anyone else wonder exactly when the bank went out of business, and why? Gotta be a story there! Now the bank is a hardware store, with the vaults built over, where Shorty and Champ shop.
Champ reminds us that he is ridiculously vain, when the Revenant calls “dibs” on his body. His (failed) attempt to keep his phone was actually pretty smart, though. It was probably a bit brave not to just run off immediately that he had the chance, although Doc did point out at the beginning of the episode that “bravery is a fancy word for stupid”. At the wake back at ‘Shorty’s’, Champ showed that while he’s trying to be affectionate and supportive with Waverly, he really has no idea how to connect with her. When he’s kissing her face, she reminds me of a cat putting up with a child’s unwanted affections. On the other hand, Waverly seems to really appreciate Officer Haught’s overtures of condolence. Even ‘I don’t do relationships’ Dolls can see what’s happening.
Dolls and Haught got off to a rather rocky start: she tried to be friendly and he threatened her with the death penalty Looks like they’re being more co-operative this episode. They have a couple of conversations without animosity, and seem to recognise some common ground. I don’t think it’s just their connection to Waverly, I think they’re going to be able to trust each other’s professional skills. Dolls might also recognise a colleague in danger of becoming emotionally attached to a potential future fatality. It sounds like Dolls has come to accept that people die in his line of work, and Waverly is certainly in the front line.
Officer Haught and Deputy Marshall Dolls (Image from Syfy)
Revenant Gary seemed scared of Revenant Marty (“Alone?”). I was thinking that presumably Revenants still feel pain,then, otherwise: what could Marty possibly do to him? Turns out: Marty killed Garry with a knife. From what Marty said afterwards, it seems like the Revenants don’t have complete control of themselves. Marty had waited 15 years for Gary to arrive as a Revenant, & he wanted Gary alive again, yet: he had just killed him.
We didn’t trust each other, and now look what I done!”
Is there an internal battle between the remnants of the original human and the demon which is taking them over? Revenant Marty seems to be able to hear Revenant Gary although his body is dead. Wynonna tells them that he will resurrect sometime, so it seems that the spirit stays around for that to happen. Shorty was still in his body, as he hadn’t actually died yet, and it was a different man’s demon who had possessed him. Revenant Sam reinforced the concept that every time a Revenant goes to hell and is resurrected, they become more demonic. Marty had been to hell 3 times. They’re seriously Demonic too: not just ugly and wanting to eat to survive, but actually wanting to inflict excruciating pain and suffering on people, for days at a time. (Shudder.)
From the times mentioned, Gary might have been sent back to hell by Wynonna’s father, since Gary died (properly) about 15 years ago, and that’s about the time that Ward and Willa died too.
Marty calling “dibs” on Champ’s body, and “Don’t make me damage what will soon be mine!” makes even more sense when we realise that he’s planning to wear it, not eat it. Shorty having an angina attack during the whole hostage situation, added to his being stabbed during the car ride makes it only slightly less tragic that Wynonna had to shoot him: he was already dying. He was courageous to step in front of Wynonna and take the Demonic spirit himself. Not just a friend, a hero. It’s almost a pity that the township can’t know that he was such a hero.
The Stone Witch arrived in a distinctive pink 1970’s Ford Lincoln, but we didn’t see who she is! Presumably she was there to drive the 3 Revenants to their next destination, but drove off, realising that things hadn’t gone to plan. Considering that Doc is looking for her, and she must be “the woman who changed [him]”, I’m sure she’s going to be important to the story! She selected these three Revenants for the body-snatching spell escape. What else has she been up to? Could it have been her who created the ‘Ghost River Triangle’? If not, who did? I’m starting to wonder if she made Peacemaker, and the curse went with it? How long has she been around? If she was around in the 1880’s, when Doc was alive, and is still around in 2016, but isn’t a Revenant herself (she was going to drive Sam, Marty & Gary out of town), what is she? At least now we know to look out for her car. There can’t be many of those in Purgatory.
Fortunately, Dolls arrived in time to keep Wynonna alive. I’m hoping that Dolls collected and stored (or maybe better: destroyed) the vessel and it’s contents, so that more Revenants can’t use them. Those 3 Revenants knew about the items for the spell, and had been working on it for over 15 years (because of the mention of waiting for Gary to resurrect). They needed a body each, but they hadn’t shared their secret with the other Revenants in all that time. Was that just selfishness? I don’t think it was the strategic recognition that a crowd of people would have been more difficult to control.
This episode we found out that Wynonna’s criminal history really was quite criminal, not just accidental (like shooting her father was). She not only recognises the type of safe, but she cracks it! However, she says that despite everything she’s done before in her life, it’s working with Dolls, where some people (like Shorty) are “collateral damage” in a “war”, that makes her most ashamed.
Doc introducing himself to Wynonna at the end of the episode was sweet. It probably also gave Wynonna hope after such a dreadful day. Such a pity that we know it’s because Bobo sent him to get Wynonna to trust him, and he’s doing it in order to get to the Stone Witch. I think Wynonna could use a real friend, not a double-agent who is likely to break her heart. Waverly: this is your cue to tell Wynonna what you know!
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