Wynonna Earp Season 3 Episode 9 Review: Undo It

This Wynonna Earp review contains spoilers.

Wynonna Earp Season 3 Episode 9

Oh, that Bulshar is good. You’ve got to appreciate a man with a plan and the focus to pull it off. While Team Earp continues to be one step behind The Demon Clootie, he never appears to be even a little bit out of control. In “Undo It,” we see him enact the next step in his plan: torturing Wynonna into giving up Peacemaker, which is apparently the key to him entering Purgatory’s Garden of Eden. #GhostRiverTriangleProblems

This episode bites off a little bit more than it can chew narratively, but still manages to mostly pull it off through sheer force of will, charm, and earnest emotion. These kinds of high-concept, hallucinatory formulas tend to work best when the viewer is as immersed in the alternate reality as the character(s) is. Because we need to know what is going on with Waverly and her ring, we get massive reprieves from the hell-like place Bulshar has stuck Wynonna, Doc, and Bobo in. It undercuts the horror of the experience and the stakes of that world which is why, once the episode commits more fully to this video game reality and defines the stakes a bit more clearly about two-thirds of the way into the episode, it is much more effective.

That being said, even before we understand the mythological stakes of Bulshar’s game world, we understand the emotional stakes for Wynonna and Doc. In some ways, the torture is helpful for Wynonna and Doc. They are forced to work out their issues. They dream of being together, which is telling, and get to see what a happy, healthy, honest relationship would look like between the two. Wynonna tells Doc that she feels the most like herself when she is with him—which, what a lovely, accurate description of love.

When the horror of Bulshar’s world truly begins to take shape, Wynonna and Doc admit truths to one another: Wynonna would never give up on Doc. Doc would never give up on Wynonna (or Alice). They would do anything for each other, including turn vampire… including give Peacemaker to Bulshar, the very thing he needs to get into Purgatory’s Garden of Eden, freely.  Because how do you torture someone as stubborn, determined, and fierce as Wynonna? You make her think she’s won, then take it all away. You remind her what she has to lose. You make her feel alone with her demons—one of her greatest fears.

Team Earp may have lost one weapon in Peacemaker, but they’ve gained another in Julian’s ring (that’s right—it didn’t originally belong to Bulshar), which appears to be permanently affixed to Waverly’s finger. In this episode alone, she uses it to burn the face off of a jeweler demon named Derek and to fix Mercedes’ face. What else can the ring do? (Get WayHaught married? … Just saying.)

Additional thoughts.

The theme of this episode’s opening was tricking us into believing people we want to have sex were having sex, only to find out they weren’t really. Too cruel, Emily Andras! 😉

It was so, so nice to see Mercedes back in Purgatory in this week’s episode. And talk about the sheer resilience of this woman! I would probably still be quivering in a corner somewhere, but she is up and snarking.

Poor Bobo. He gets out of a well only to get trapped in a tree/his own personal hellscape.

At first, I thought this episode’s choice to project Doc’s face onto the walls of Wynonna’s immediate surroundings was distracting and cheesy, but by the time Wynonna was leaning against the wall between Doc’s two eyes, being vulnerable, I was all in. What can we make Melanie Scrofano and Tim Rozon convince of us of next? Because I truly don’t think any gimmick is beyond their combined acting superpowers.

The scene of Wynonna and Bobo dying together came at a point when I don’t think this episode had fully hit his tonal stride, but, damn if this scene wasn’t beautifully-shot and acted. I love seeing these two characters together.

Any future Waverly Earp action figures should for sure come with accompanying Niagara Falls over mitt.

This show’s mix of emotion and snark often reminds me of the wonderful Wonderfalls—Melanie Scrofano’s portrayal of Wynonna reminds me of Caroline Dhavernas’ portrayal of Jaye, in particular—but never more when it is mentioning Niagara Falls.

TV has gotten pretty lazy in its depiction of romance. Wynonna and Doc’s love story is a great example of a complex, emotionally-moving relationship in which the main obstacle isn’t “does the other person love me?”, but so much messier than that. Waverly and Nicole’s love story is a great example of how a healthy relationship can still be compelling, interesting, and filled with nuance. Other TV shows, take note.

Why can’t Wynonna see the stairs in the wood that lead to the Garden of Eden? Theories?

Jeremy’s powers of empathy come in very handy in this episode, leading the gang to Wynonna and Doc’s location when they desperately needed it. Access to his boyfriend’s park ranger surveillance network came in handy, too. #friendsinforestyplaces

Just… give Melanie Scrofano all of the awards already, please.

Kayti Burt is a staff editor covering books, TV, movies, and fan culture at Den of Geek. Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @kaytiburt.