Wynonna Earp’s “Gone as a Girl Can Get” was honestly the weakest episode of season 2. (Bold statement. I know. But stick with me.) It didn’t have its spark or usual flair. And maybe that was their point. Maybe this episode was to show how amazing and important Wynonna Earp is, not just to the characters themselves, but to the show and the viewers.
That’s not to say I didn’t appreciate the Wayhaught, Dolls, Doc, or Jeremy scenes. They are characters/ships of their own who can stand their ground and aren’t solely defined by one person. But Wynonna is the secret ingredient. She’s that special thing that makes them click and work together. And it took them, and the viewer, Wynonna disappearing to realize the extent of how important she is.
Without her kicking ass, sharing bad oneliners with Waverly, and taking on the terrors in her life, including motherhood, I didn’t care as much about what the revenants were doing to the town, that Waverly was getting married, or that the Sheriff had died. Wynonna was missing and that’s all I could think about every minute of the episode until she returned at the end in that cozy field.
Part of me feels that this is a good thing and that they’ve done an amazing job at selling us a kick-ass, funny, charming, messed up character. But a part of me sees this as a negative thing because without her the story kind of fell flat. Hopefully we’ll never have to experience that again. And with one episode left before the season finale I hope we don’t get a surprise like this again.
And finally there is Waverly and her realization that she might be gay.
I understand that she was just coming to this realization in this alternate world. I also understand that different people identify themselves as different things. That being said, it kind of bothered me that she declared herself to be gay instead of bisexual.
Waverly Earp is bisexual. And by excluding this word it kind of made me feel like they were erasing her past and in a way erasing me as well. I identify as bisexual and Waverly made me feel accepted and like I was part of a group of special and amazing women, Wayhaught and the fans, who were going through a journey together.
It also made me think of Willow and Tara from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Once Willow started dating Tara everything from her past was erased. She was a lesbian and everything before didn’t matter as much or was a mistake. Their past relationships weren’t a mistake. Oz wasn’t a mistake. and when TV shows continue to erase the past like this it feels like bi-erasure.
I’m trying not to dive too deep in it. I know that people identify as gay or lesbian or bisexual. It’s a personal choice that nobody has the right to take away from you. But I would really like a show to come on out and say that their character is bisexual on screen more often without being so afraid of the word or by using a blanket term. Willow is bisexual. Clarke from The 100 is bisexual. And Waverly is bisexual.
Say it loud and say it proud!
I’m going to stop myself before I start spiralling and talking about how bisexual characters can be monogamous (like Waverly with Nicole) and that they aren’t hyper-sexual monsters with a craving for the D or the V. I’ll save that for another piece.
P.S. The writers choice to have Waverly identify as gay drove me into an epic Google search where I wanted to see other people’s opinions and how members of the LGBT community identify themselves. If you have a different opinion on anything I’ve said above, I’m game to talk!
Check out the trailer for next week’s season finale of Wynonna Earp:
Wynonna Earp season finale airs August 25 at 10 p.m. on Syfy.
