'Wynonna Earp' Season 4 Episode 5 Review: Moment of respite as Wynonna seeks her purpose and looks for Peacemaker
Spoilers for 'Wynonna Earp' Season 4 Episode 5 'Holy War Part 1'
Now that the menace plaguing the Earps has made itself known as the Clanton clan, it's time for Wynonna Earp (Melanie Scrofano) and her team to prepare for war. Unfortunately, they're already several steps behind, with Wynonna having lost the Peacemaker, Nicole Haught (Katherine Barrell) having done something grossly unspeakable, and Carol Clanton's (Paula Boudreau) mysterious plan already underway. Wynonna is going to have to catch up quickly – although it Doc Holliday (Tim Rozon) has his way, there may not be a war at all.
With the whirlwind that has been Season 4 so far, Wynonna has not had the time to just sit and figure out what her life is going to be now that the curse is gone. This episode gives Wynonna that chance. We've seen glimpses of the fact that she's lost without Peacemaker, and without her role as a demon slayer, but it's been five episodes now and there's not been a single demon slayed – that's a year and a half of no dying demons to some. Wynonna's only goal at the moment is to find the Peacemaker again – but as the gun rejects her, the show seems to be asking if Wynonna should even find it in the first place.
Though there have been many comparisons between Wynonna and Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), the main difference between the two characters is that Buffy always yearned for a normal life – while Wynonna dreads it. Of course, how normal her life is in a town riddled with demons is a matter of debate, but Wynonna may be forced to seriously consider whether or not a life of violence is the one set out for her. Doc Holliday seems to be considering the idea of peace – of somehow putting an end to the war with the Clantons. Sheriff Holt (Ty Olsson) seems to be considering the same, despite the family grudge. It's food for thought, even as the episode introduces new bizarre twists on the road to recovering Peacemaker.
Nicole Haught gets a lot of focus in this episode as well. The story of her 18 months waiting for Waverly Earp (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) to return from Eden is a mystery that continues to unravel, and she's pushed to extreme measures to find a way out of the deal she's made with Carol. Everyone's waiting for a WayHaught wedding, but weddings are Season Finale affairs, and Carol has a lot of guilt to process before she can get to that point. Exactly what deal it is that Haught made is still unanswered, but her guilt is less about the deal she made, and more about her feelings that she's failed everyone in Purgatory - and that she wasn't the one to save Waverly. Feelings like those run deeper than dark dealings, but until Nicole can stop puking frogs every time she tries to talk about it, there's no real chance for her to express her feelings aside from amphibious vomit.
The Clantons play a relatively minor role in this episode – 'Holy War' is apparently something that will play a bigger role next episode. However, the fact that Carol has zombified her own son is tragic proof that there are no limits on just how far the Clantons will go to get their revenge. There is going to be no changing of Carol's mind, meaning that even if war is to be averted, there can be no steps to peace until Carol has been dealt with.
The next episode of 'Wynonna Earp' airs August 30 on Syfy.