Wynonna Earp: Colder Weather

August 3, 2018 8:56 PM - Season 3, Episode 3

The team must come to terms with the consequences of their actions; and someone claiming to be from Black Badge Division arrives in Purgatory.

Den of Geek - The Wynonna Earp family grieves their absent loved one with whiskey, tears, and a commitment to keep on living.

TV Junkies recap and interview - Emily Andras Talks “Colder Weather”

posted by oh yeah! (9 comments total)

Arguments about killing Dolls aside, as someone dealing with grief, this episode really resonated with me. A chunk of the interpersonal conflict was everyone trying to figure out what they were feeling and what to do about it, and what to do if there was nothing to be done...and how all those different reactions went ricocheting off each other. Where do you put the anger? Where do you out the loss, when the loss is much larger than you can handle? How do you help someone else with the loss? For me, this ep is up there in the same territory as "The Body" (Buffy tVS), but maybe that's just because of where I am.
posted by Mogur at 8:04 AM on August 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

I'm not liking the decision to kill off Dolls any better this week. Aside from all the good points made in the previous thread about why it was a bad move, I think my time in the Whedonverse has soured me on the dramatic effect of character death. Now it mostly just pulls me out of a story; it's like a 4th-wall-break, and all I can see are the puppet strings instead of the puppet show. I'm not grieving along with the characters, I'm just annoyed at the writers/producers. And the whole 'we did it to show how big a threat Bulshar is' rationale just makes me roll my eyes; it's not like we all don't know Wynonna & Co. will triumph over him eventually, no matter how powerful he seems, or that they won't end the season with some other new big bad/cliffhanger until the eventual series finale, assuming that they get enough advance notice to write a conclusion. Nicole's scene with Waverly where she talked about her traumatic brush with the Bulshar cult was more effective at establishing his villain status for me than everyone's grieving. (I mean, was I the only person who thought "White tears? Really?" at that opening shot?)

And now we've got a new POC love interest as the third point of the Wynonna/Doc triangle, and seeing as how she's a vampire and an obstacle to the OTP, her prospects of surviving the series seem dim. Sigh.
posted by oh yeah! at 8:04 AM on August 4, 2018

Oh, hey, Mogur just noticed now that we cross-posted (in case it seemed like my Whedonverse comment was a direct response/dismissive of you). As much as I am an embittered ex-Whedon fan, I do remember how incredibly affecting "The Body" was. But I think the strength of that episode is directly responsible for how un-affecting most all future Whedonverse deaths felt to me.
posted by oh yeah! at 4:26 PM on August 4, 2018

I figured that's what happened. Not a problem at all - I suspect that if I hadn't been the absolute perfect candidate for "Colder Weather", I might have had several problems with it, too.
posted by Mogur at 6:33 PM on August 4, 2018

From that interview, I find I approve of Andras's thoughtfulness and intentions, but I don't think the episode was better than mediocre.

That's okay, though, because this show is comfort food for me; I don't expect that much from it.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 1:19 PM on August 5, 2018

... though the altered theme song was an inspired choice. That was great.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 1:20 PM on August 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

And the whole 'we did it to show how big a threat Bulshar is' rationale just makes me roll my eyes

I have a perspective that tries to incorporate the business side of making TV so to me the only explanation that is necessary is that they did it because the actor asked to be written off the show. In other words, this was not a Jossing. The character wasn't just killed for creative reasons to raise stakes.

I think Andras and crew were in a real bind because fans would not accept plots where Dolls had to suddenly leave on a mission of some sort and then just never be seen again. The fan base is too savvy and engaged to think he would leave Wynonna behind and then just send an postcard sometimes. Especially after they had to send a baby off in essentially the same circumstances at the end of last season.

So I think that's why they settled on him having to die, and the actor wanted it to be a death as a hero.

I guess I do wonder when people are upset by things that happen on TV shows for *real life reasons* and not just creative choices by the show runner, how they would propose it be handled instead.
posted by Squeak Attack at 3:47 PM on August 6, 2018 [1 favorite]

because fans would not accept plots where Dolls had to suddenly leave on a mission of some sort and then just never be seen again.

Maybe some fans wouldn't, but some would. I think I would have been fine with Dolls being written out as having to leave Purgatory to go keep watch over baby Alice indefinitely, especially if death was the only other option. That way they could bring him back for the series finale if they knew when it was coming and the actor was available.

I guess I do wonder when people are upset by things that happen on TV shows for *real life reasons* and not just creative choices by the show runner, how they would propose it be handled instead.

Depends on how real/intractable those real-life-reasons are, I guess? I mean, it's not like Shamier left on acrimonious terms or died over the hiatus and they had to write him out offscreen, so, I'm just disappointed that they thought death was the best way to go.
posted by oh yeah! at 7:24 PM on August 6, 2018

My assumption is that Shamier Anderson was confident he would not ever return, and they didn't want any more loose ends when they've already ended up with a stupid loose end baby that they probably didn't really want or plan for.
posted by Squeak Attack at 9:13 AM on August 7, 2018