'Wynonna Earp’ 4.08 Review: Fog'gettaboutit

This post contains spoilers for Wynonna Earp.
Check out our last review here.

Last week, Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano) wasn’t in her right mind as a result of magical glitter. This week, Wynonna isn’t in her right mind as the result of magical fog. But whereas “Love’s All Over” didn’t quite connect its magical mind shenanigans much with the larger storyline,  “Hell Raisin’ Good Time” uses its central gimmick to introduce a terrifying new development in the Ghost River Triangle — because apparently there wasn't already enough going on in Wynonna Earp.

After Jeremy (Varun Saranga) assigns Wynonna her latest case for Black Badge — bring them the murderous, pumpkin-headed demon Rotten Jack alive — Wynonna and Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) set off to track down the extractor they’ll need to get the job done. But since it's Halloween, they do so with Wynonna dressed as “Baby One More Time” Britney and Waverly dressed as a ladybug. And though this could feasibly wait until later, it feels important to mention as soon as possible that Doc (Tim Rozon) is dressed as Freddie Mercury in this episode. A true gift!

While working the BBD mission, the sisters wind up near the edge of the Triangle, where they learn that the extractor isn’t just located at KC’s (Andrew Phung) trailer — the extractor is KC. And after helping make the chili cookoff episode one of our favorites of the fourth season, it’s beyond a delight to see KC back in Purgatory again.

Unfortunately, KC isn’t as happy to see the Earps as we are to see him. Upon realizing they’re working for BBD, he puts on a gas mask and runs straight into the mysterious fog that has popped up at the edge of the Triangle. Waverly and Wynonna rush in after him, but it becomes immediately clear that this is no ordinary fog — it’s magic, mind-altering fog that causes both Earps to forget who they are. All three do make it back out of the fog safely, after which KC tells the sisters that they’re just really stoned and to go home, find snacks, and avoid watching Cats. (“They say it’s hilarious, but you’ll never look at Dame Judy Dench the same way again.”) 

Somehow, Wynonna and Waverly do make it back to the homestead, where they attempt to piece together who they are. The key word here is “attempt.” In the end, they deduce that Waverly is a cop named Wynonna and that Wynonna is a bartender named Waverly. A for effort though, Earps! 

As fun as the low-stakes amnesia mix-ups are, it’s obviously not destined to last. Soon enough, Amon (Noam Jenkins) learns of the situation and tricks Wynonna and Waverly into coming with him to the Glory Hole, where he’s been running a livestream in which demons bet on who Rotten Jack will kill next. But now that he has Wynonna and Waverly in his grasp, Amon puts a new item on the auction block: the Earps’ lives.

The bidding begins — at an insultingly low price, Wynonna rightfully points out — but just in time Doc arrives at the Glory Hole, KC in tow, to make sure the prize is never claimed. When the winning “demon” joins the Earp sisters on stage, Doc is preparing to violently protect Wynonna and Waverly until the demon theatrically scratches his groin, signaling he’s actually Jeremy wearing a hilariously ramshackle disguise. (Jeremy’s psychic crotch is one of the things we’ll miss most about this show.) Our beloved BBD agent shoots Waverly and Wynonna with a fog antidote instead of bullets, giving them back their memories and allowing Wynonna to kick some serious demon ass.

But before she can really get started on said ass-kicking, Rotten Jack shows up because he is apparently still the big bad of this episode even though he barely gets any screen time. A terrified Amon bolts out of the Glory Hole to secure his own safety and locks the door behind him, trapping everyone else — including his own employees — in with the killer jack-o-lantern. Though multiple characters told us how scary Rotten Jack is and blah blah blah, all it takes to put him down is one chop to the back of the head and KC extracting the candle from inside his pumpkin brain and voilà, you’ve got dead demon.

 Jeremy’s new boss at BBD isn’t exactly thrilled that Wynonna brings him pumpkin purée instead of a living demon, but they are clearly in so over their heads there that they don’t have the bandwidth to reprimand her. And it turns out, one of the big reasons BBD is so pressed is that magic fog, which is spreading deeper into the Ghost River Triangle and seemingly coming from the Garden. Could this be part of Eve's plan to destroy the world? Is this the result of Waverly not taking the throne? Or could it have something to do with that creepy blood machine inside the Garden? Hopefully we'll get answers to these questions soon, but at least we're getting some serialized developments this week!

BBD is currently working on refining the fog antidote, since the one they currently have isn’t 100 percent effective and can wind up killing the recipient if the dosage is off. The lack of a reliable antidote is especially weighing on Jeremy who — finally!!! — reveals to Wynonna what happened to Robin (Justin Kelly).

In a heartbreaking revelation, Jeremy recalls how he's the one who asked Robin to jump off the evacuation train to help Wynonna, only for Robin to wind up landing in the fog. When BBD found him weeks later, a fog-sick Robin had torn his own face off — which is one of the best reasons for a recasting we have ever heard. And yes, you read that right: Robin is no longer played by Justin Kelly, whose presence will be sorely missed on this show. But the real tragedy of this situation isn’t Robin getting a new face, but the fact that Robin still hasn’t regained all his pre-fog memories — including all the memories of his and Jeremy’s relationship. 

Now, Robin 2.0 is a BBD accountant who's friendly with Jeremy, but nothing more. In fact, he even has a new boyfriend. Still, Jeremy continues to slip the antidote into Robin’s coffee during their weekly meet-ups at a BBD trauma group, hoping it will build up in his system and bring back his memories. But as a tearful Jeremy tells Wynonna, he isn’t doing this so that he can get Robin back. He just wants Robin to be happy and healthy, even if it’s with someone else.

Scenes like this are an important reminder that Jeremy is and always will be one of the best parts of Wynonna Earp. He may not be as powerful as Wynonna, as sweet as Waverly, as loyal as Nicole, or as mustachioed as Doc, but Jeremy is a little bit of all of these things, making him perhaps the most well-rounded member of the whole squad. (And yes, this is also a petition for Jeremy to regrow his season three mustache. It worked for him!)

Speaking of mustaches, Doc also delivers a key scene at the episode’s end. Having already quit working for Amon after the demon used his hookup with Wynonna to get under the gunslinger’s skin, Doc has no qualms hunting down the Glory Hole proprietor and getting some revenge. But rather than deliver him to Wynonna for Peacemaker’s judgment, he brings a tied-up Amon to the Glory Hole employees he had left for dead so that they can deliver their own sentence upon their traitorous boss. 

Is this the last we’ve seen of Amon? Who knows, but we won’t be upset if it is. The countdown to the finale is on, and the Earps’ have far bigger foes to deal with right now.

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