Wynonna Earp: Let’s Pretend We’re Strangers Recap

Synopsis of 2×05: Wynonna is possessed by a demon while the rest of the team tries to save her. Meanwhile there’s apparently another ‘order’ of do-gooders in town and they aren’t as concerned with saving Wynonna as they are with eliminating the demonic threat. And if that doesn’t pique your interest, just wait until we get to the last few minutes of the episode…

Something that Wynonna Earp does really well is episode openings. You get thrown into the demon-of-the-week antics from the very beginning and this episode does a really good job of using their ‘cold opening’ to introduce our do-gooding, bro-cult enigmatically known as simply ‘The Order.’ Basically they drag a dude in a suit into a basement, cut his head off (it’s okay though because he’s possessed by a gnarly demon), and then head off for nachos.

I’m not gonna lie, they’re kinda my sort of demon hunters if they celebrate every kill with nachos.

Demon Wynonna is not about the nachos, though. Instead she prefers smoothies made of rats. Yeah. I don’t know, folks. I’m usually down with the gore (seriously, I’m loving Syfy’s Blood Drive), but blending dead rats is apparently where I draw the line because that was super gross. Anyway. While she’s making this smoothie Waverly is tied to a chair trying to appeal to real Wynonna’s better nature which, you know, doesn’t go well. 

Doc shows up and Waverly is unable to get free and warn him so he goes off with demon Wynonna as if nothing is wrong at all.

At least Dolls shows up to rescue Waverly. And by rescue I mean threaten to kill her because he thinks she’s still a demon. Luckily she proves herself to him. Not so luckily, Lucado shows up almost immediately afterwards to attack Dolls… and of course Dolls hasn’t untied Waverly yet. But Waverly manages to finally get free and stop the two of them by pointing out the obvious: Wynonna is a demon and that’s way more important than their hate for each other.

In the meantime, Doc and Wynonna head to the police station where Jeremy explains that the plate they found last episode holds a secret underneath the paint. (Spoiler: it’s the symbol of ‘The Order’ from earlier in the episode – and it may be much more important than just a commemorative plate). Wynonna tries to warn everyone that she’s possessed by writing it down on a pad of paper but it doesn’t go well. And to add insult to injury she also takes some time to try and sabotage Waverly’s relationship with Haught.

Who the hell doesn’t like #WayHaught? Even a demon should ship them.

Whatever.

Demon Wynonna and Doc go check out the local fire station, where the Order’s symbol can be found on the building’s exterior. Yes, the bro-cult are all firefighters and they don’t just protect Purgatory from fires but also demons and other supernatural things. They’re also connected to Juan Carlo who advises them and apparently has for an unspecified – but likely pretty damn long – period of time.

The whole confrontation with Ewan, the leader of the Order, doesn’t last long because demon Wynonna can’t stay in the building long. She feels that all of her demonic brethren have been killed there and apparently the ground is consecrated to boot so… she has to get the hell out of there. 

This is all that Doc needs to finally put two and two together and trap her in his trunk. He’s not just a pretty face, guys – he’s smart enough to realize when Wynonna isn’t really Wynonna. 

With the team all back together, they go about trying to figure out what’s going on with Wynonna. Doc and Waverly go off to follow one lead. Meanwhile Lucado and Dolls already know what’s going on — she’s possssed by the demon Mikshon, who has a habit of possessing and destroying entire populations. We also find out that The Order also knows who Mikshon is and they are willing to kill Wynonna – and probably anyone who gets in their way – to eliminate the threat.

Dolls and Lucado apparently want to be sure that it’s Mikshon, though, and somehow that involves cutting off one of Wynonna’s fingers? (Don’t worry – it grows back.) But still. That seems a bit extreme. And then the severed finger ends up taking over Lucado’s body because she’s obviously unhinged. It doesn’t really take, though, because her head ends up exploding.

Yeah, so… that’s the end of Lucado.

It’s also apparently the end of Black Badge for now because they weren’t talking to Lucado and when Dolls goes looking for them later he finds the whole organization has picked up and left. (Which probably has something to do with the demonic remains that blew the place up.)

I’m actually kinda of sad because it feels like Wynonna Earp is just burning through characters left and right. We’ve lost Mercedes (though demon Mercedes is still around, I guess) and now we’ve lost Lucado. We had someone who could have helped Wynonna seem more normal and we lost our primary antagonist of the season – and it’s only the fifth episode. And now we’ve also lost Black Badge – so what does that even mean for the characters who swore a blood oath to the organization?

After all of this happens (and a hilarious moment where Waverly thinks Dolls just got fed up with Lucado and killed her), Waverly goes and takes the demon back from Wynonna. I guess it’s so she can pick up Peacemaker again and vanquish Mikshon, but that still seems like a pretty terrible idea. Especially because the demon seems to prefer Waverly after spending a bit of time in Wynonna’s body.

The demon goes back to the homestead, manipulates Haught, and does everything she can to complete whatever nefarious plans led her to make her giant, shiny, metal contraption in the barn. The Order guys show up and, after Wynonna proves she’s not infected with  Mikshon’s influence any more and after she gives them back the plate with their little ‘seal’ on it, they let her go try and save Waverly.

In the end Wynonna expels the demon from her sister and saves the day. 

Here’s the thing, though. 

We were told that this episode was going to change everything. I think all the teasing was meant to make us think that Wynonna may be possessed for a while and that we’d have to get used to the team fighting against her. But it turns out the showrunners had a different surprise in mind for us.

Wynonna Earp is pregnant. (So was lead actress Melanie Scrofano throughout filming – congratulations!) And that’s a huge deal. 

I mean, this show revolves entirely around the idea of an Earp heir wielding Peacemaker to protect Purgatory from the Revenants and demons that plague the tiny little town. Since Wynonna killed her older sister and Waverly has turned out to be an adopted member of the Earp family, she’s it. If she dies – that’s theoretically the end of the Earp line unless some random cousin appears out of nowhere to save the day. Now, though, there’s a whole lot of potential because we could soon have a new Earp heir!

Of course, there’s going to be a lot for Wynonna and the others to figure out over the course of the season. Who is the father? How long has Wynonna been pregnant and not known it? Her life has been pretty stressful recently so it’s easy to see how the little signs could have slipped her mind. Will demon Mercedes try and weasel her way back into Wynonna’s life by throwing a hellish baby shower? Does Wynonna even want to be a mother? And if she does, will having a little Earp encourage her to work harder 

Just imagine the storytelling potential!

I can’t wait to see what happens next week and how Wynonna handles the news – and whether or not she chooses to tell anyone else besides Waverly!