We’re back with the Earps in Purgatory with “Love’s All Over,” the premiere of the second half of season 4 of Wynonna Earp. The first six episodes of season 4 dealt with the escape from Eden and the menace of the Clantons, ending with “Holy War: Part II,” in which Wynonna shot Hoyt Clanton in the back to protect her family.
That earned her Doc’s smoldering anger and disgust.
How do they follow up such a serious episode?
With a show so ridiculously dirty that it writes its’ own fanfic. Yes, the chaotic good that is Wynonna Earp is back.
1. Which Couple Is This ReallyAbout?
Yes, the stated purpose of all the partying in “Love’s All Over,” is a celebration of Waverly and Nicole’s engagement. They are adorable together, as always, especially when Nicole is high on Cupid’s love glitter.
The love glitter overall is a ton of fun, creating couples and maybe threesomes all over the place. Mostly they hug and dance and give heartfelt compliments to each other. My favorite: Doc and Nedley, whose shipping name should instantly become #dedley,
But once the spell is banished, Doc and Wynonna linger in their dancing. Wynonna’s “I don’t want to let go,” is heartbreaking because Doc does just that, leaving her alone again.
This show, along with DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, is wonderful at comedic episodes that end in emotional gut punches.
2. Yes, this was the dirtiest but also one of the sweetest episodes.
“Love’s All Over” began with Doc’s toast to the happy couple, “To all the kisses you’ve snatched and vice versa” and that set the tone. That was followed by lines like “I’m Mount Haught,” “magical coochie,” and “good Golden Globes.”
In a category all by herself is Wynonna, at ladies night at the local strip club, sleeping in the back of a pick-up truck with that ridiculous golden chef’s hat borrowed from one of the strippers, and that incredibly sexy, dirty black leather bra, straps, and pants ensemble at the end.
However, it’s not sex on everyone’s mind this episode but love. When Bunny is entranced and falls for Waverly, she brings her a bouquet of roses. Wynonna, bespelled, tells Nicole that she “loves her more than whiskey.” And mostly what Nicole wants to do under Cupid’s spell is give Waverly her dream wedding.
I tip my hat to the writers for avoiding what would be non-consensual sex under the enchantment.
3. Truth hurts.
The oddest couple in this episode was Doc and Cleo, the last of the Clantons. Doc’s under the influence of the glitter when he comforts a distraught Cleo, waxing poetic about her worth as a human. Under the attention, Cleo seems to recover nicely enough to drop a truth bomb into Doc’s lap.
Cleo spills the full details of the deal that Nicole made with the late Clanton matriarch in a desperate attempt to rescue Waverly from Eden. In exchange for Mam Clanton’s help, Nicole would hand over Doc to her.
Ouch. Yet Doc seems to accept this news with a resigned nod.
The other truth is revealed to the audience. Last episode, it seems as if Waverly might have magically killed Mam Clanton to protect her family, much as Wynonna did to Hoyt. But Cleo’s words to her mother’s dismembered body seem to indicate it was Cleo herself who did the deed, in revenge for turning brother Billy into a revenant.
4. Diving into “Love’s All Over,” the episode theme song.
You can find performances of “Love’s All Over,” a duet by Porter Wagoner and American Treasure Dolly Parton all over YouTube. The song was written by Parton, who worked for years with Wagoner but famously left him to go her own way and become a bigger star. Leaving Wagoner was probably the best decision among a life of good decisions for Parton.
The lyrics of this song are all about how love cannot be hidden anymore. On the surface, that’s about the Cupid glitter and the love spell it spreads. But, underneath, it’s a message that hiding love will only hurt worse. See: Wynonna and Doc.
5. Melanie Scrofano owns this episode.
I talk a great deal about the wonderful supporting characters in Purgatory but sometimes an episode comes along and attention must be paid to the title character because Scrofano commands the episode.
Continued belowHer Wynonna is, at turns, menacing, fun-loving, heartbreaking, and, mostly, in complete denial. It’s not so much what she says but what she does, veering from threatening to kill Amon in the beginning to seducing him at the end in that black leather outfit.
A perfect example: Scrofano allows body language to reveal Wynonna’s true mood in the scene in the back of the pick-up. Yes, we’ve seen her hungover and disheveled before, so much so that Waverly doesn’t even react to her odd choice of beds. But as Waverly fills her in on what’s happened the night before, Wynonna begins to undress, stripping off the top bra (a motion that caused my husband to sit up and say “whoa!”), and replacing it with another. But Wynonna is so off that she needs Waverly’s help to finish dressing.
Wynonna is a hot mess, as usual, but one deeply angry not only at Doc but herself.
It’s going to make the rest of this season heartbreaking but, hopefully, lead to some hope at the end.
