Keeping Up With The Earps: 3×10

Ok, we’re down to the wire and there is A LOT to keep track of as we head into the final 2 episodes on Friday. As usual this is broken down into two parts, a look at 3×10 itself followed by The Big Picture where I’ve been keeping track of anything that seemed relevant about our main players. So if you’re new to this blog and don’t see something you think is important in the Part 1, check Part 2. This might look a little different than the first 9 editions since I’m putting an emphasis on being ready for the finale.

You may notice that this post doesn’t go very in depth regarding the religious/mythical parallels and symbolism or this history of Bulshar and those fighting him. That’s because I’ll be doing a whole Bonus post that looks at THE WHOLE SEASON, everything we know about JC, Julian, and Bulshar, and what I can find in various religious lore.

Also, because this is a beast of a post and I’m trying to wrap up everything you need to know before 3×11/3×12, I’m even going to include a “Too Long; Didn’t Read” section at the very bottom that boils it down to the nitty-gritty. 

Disclaimer: Nothing included in this post should be taken as absolute fact. Even information that I took directly from the show is stated as I see it and is in no way endorsed by anyone officially linked to the show.

Brief recap of  3×10: The Chosen One.

“The Guardians were powerless in the face of evil that the serpent was perpetrating. Their remit was to stand by idly even as a new reign of terror began.”

The episode starts in 1887 on the night of the Blood Eclipse with Robert Svane informing Father Juan Carlo that Wyatt Earp is coming. The Father tells Robert that they need to ride for the flats and that they need to get Peacemaker to the Champion.*

Back in the present, Jeremy and Waverly are just trying to figure out what it all means. What we seem to know is that Bulshar wants into the Garden and that he used his power over trees to find it. They suggest that the reason he wants into the Garden is also tree related given that the Garden of Eden was home to two pretty famous trees.

Nicole and Doc go off in search of a book that belonged to Juan Carlo in hopes of getting answers about what Bulshar is after and how to stop him. Bobo says that Maeve Perley (our 3rd Perley witch) was the last person to have it, so they head to the Perley homestead. Nicole gets possessed by a teenage ghost-fire-witch and it’s glorious, because Kat is brilliant. Through Maeve’s attempts to get into a suitable body we learn that Jeremy is NOT purely human, but that Nicole is (ha!). Eventually they get the book and the cranky teen sets the whole place on fire. Doc thanks Charlie for pulling him out of the burning house by eating him. Nicole is distraught, not only because she’s holding her friend’s murdered corpse, but also because she blames herself for his death. She brought Doc along and feels responsible for his actions. She points her Glock, loaded with wooden bullets, at Doc and vows that if she ever sees him again she will kill him.
Doc seems a tad remorseful as he walks off until he is out of sight then a truly unsettling (not just because of the blood) smile creeps up. Doc has made his first kill as a vampire and giving into that urge changed something in him. I’ve been mad at Doc pretty much all season, but I still haven’t given up on him and I think it’s worth noting that despite that fact that he has the fastest draw in history and Nicole…well, she really doesn’t, he makes no move to defend himself while Nicole has her gun aimed at him. It’s not much, but for someone with as strong a sense of self-preservation as Doc, it’s not nothing.

Let’s talk about Kevin, who first of all, is KILLING IT in that black suit. She also has a hell of a throat punch (wait a minute! throw the flag!). Kevin is “a representative of a long line of ambassadors tasked with looking after the balance in the world” and is in Purgatory to help the Champion defeat Bulshar. First she needs to make sure that there even is a worthy champion, so she sends the Earp sisters on what ends up being a test. They, or rather Waverly, passes the test by using the ring to control an arm formally attached to Bulshar, currently attached to a radioactive revenant. They end up at the Gardner place and are greeted by Mercedes, whose face is good as new. Mercedes tells them that Waverly and her angel ring healed her. Waverly’s ability to control the arm, combined with Mercedes’ story is enough to convince Kevin that Waverly is, in fact, “The Champion”. Kevin tells Waverly what we’ve figured out by now, that the ring was stolen from her father by Bulshar and says that Waves is “the daughter of one of two angels tasked with protecting the Garden”. **  So what does our champion have to do to stop Bulshar? It’s simple, Waverly just has to take her rightful place on her father’s throne, which will seal the Garden…oh and also Waverly will turn to stone, so I vote, “no-go”.

Three-fourths of the Unkillable Gay Squad are at “BBD” reading through Juan Carlo’s journal, Jeremy reads “Bulshar was created in the Garden to enjoy the spoils of Paradise” and figures out that Bulshar is the infamous serpent from the story of the fall of man.  Between the book and Robin’s knowledge of astronomy they deduce that Bulshar can only be defeated during The Blood Eclipse/The Pledge Moon. One only happens every 120ish years, but lucky(?) for us it has been exactly approximately 120 years and there’s one happening tomorrow. Sounds like the makings of a season finale.

Our Champion and brave little toaster, and her big sister sit in the floor of the Homestead and contemplate all of the crazy shit they learned today. And guys, this hurts me more anything else on this show because I am, first and foremost, a big sister and I can’t help but think of myself in Wynonna’s shoes and I get it. Sacrificing myself to save people I care about is a no-brainer, I’m all over that shit. But if saving the world meant losing my sister I’d do pretty much the same thing Wynonna does in the preview (knock little sis out and lock her up). I’d fight and I’d try to find another way, but if my sisters life was the cost of saving the world, the last thing she’d see is me protecting her (and I’m pretty sure I just accidentally paraphrased Buffy or was that Wynonna? or neither? Seriously, someone tell me what that is from). #EDIT: It was Buffy.

Anyway, it’s way too late for the sun to be out this time of year, yet there it is, shinning away like an asshole (I’m not a fan). Also, who TF is putting their hand on Mercedes’ perfect new face?! Actually I think I know who it is, but I’m not going to say.

*As J.C. he mentions Peacemaker, he uncovers a sword. Later Kevin wonders out-loud how Wynonna with “no training, no blade” hopes to defeat Bulshar.
*He also never says who the champion is. After what we learn it’s probably safe to say that he’s referring to Julian or at least that he is not referring to Wyatt.

**I want to break this down a little just in case. Kevin says “You are the daughter of one of two angels tasked with protecting the Garden: Juan Carlo…” then Waverly continues “and Julian”. I know what the obvious conclusion is here, that Juan Carlo and Julian were the two angels tasked with protecting the Garden, this conclusion is supported as Jeremy reads what are assumed to be Juan Carlo’s words from the book. BUT the fact that Kevin doesn’t finish her thought leaves just enough room for me to question if that’s what she was going to say about J.C. Why am I questioning Juan Carlo’s wings or at least that he was like Julian? Because of some serious déjà vu:
JC: “to survive and witness, never to decide”/ Kevin: “we observe and record, but don’t participate”
JC: “I’m not allowed to interfere” / Kevin: “that would be interfering” (on why she didn’t get the arm)
The wording can’t be a coincidence. Was Kevin about to say that Juan Carlo and Julian were the angels protecting the Garden or was she going to say that Juan Carlo was from the same group of “ambassadors” that she is. And who’s to say Kevin isn’t a type of angel? I mean, she looks like Anna Silk, rocks the hell out of a black suit, and loves pickles. Sounds pretty angelic to me.

IMPORTANT reminder about Tarot Cards:
They seem to assume that Wynonna and Bulshar are Tarot Twins and that their cards were the exact same. They did have the same three cards, but they aren’t in the same order. It makes perfect sense that the last two cards are different for Wynonna and Bulshar. Bulshar’s reading was done over a hundred years ago, his future is now Wynonna’s present. Kate even mentions this at one point “his future. or is it now his present?”.

Bulshar’s cards:
– Past : devil
– Present : lovers
– Future : Tower (Darkness and Destruction)

Wynonna Cards:
– Past : devil
– Present : Tower (Darkness and Destruction)
– Future : Lovers

Gems You May Have Missed:

• Waverly wants a flame-thrower with a hula girl on the dash. Charlie’s firetruck has a hula girl on the dash. Great minds?
• Himalayan Salt Lamps are more common in Purgatory than I would expect (I have one too).
• The box of matches say Wooden Lucifers. Amusing double meaning since a “lucifer” is also a term for a match.
• After Charlie gets Doc clear of the fire Doc says “You will save me”, Charlie misunderstands and responds, “Yeah, I saved you.”.

Answers to questions you may have:

• Nicole didn’t shoot herself with any bullet, wooden or otherwise. That whole deal confused me at first, but the flash was just the Fire Witch leaving Nicole’s body. Thanks to @LuckyWantsTo on twitter for pointing out that she was carrying two guns. The Colt that she (the Fire Witch) points at herself that was presumably loaded with regular bullets and Glock that she pointed at Doc, presumably loaded with the wooden bullets.
• The Fire Witch isn’t in Doc. I know a few people were a bit confused after seeing Doc walk away with that smile, but they made it a point to state that Maeve needs a purely human body to inhabit and Emily doubled down on that in an interview. My take on the smile is that Doc enjoyed it, this is the first time we’ve seen him stop torturing himself and give in to what he is.
• There wasn’t really enough on screen to justify Nicole’s reaction to Charlie’s death, but I think a lot of people are forgetting that she knows him outside of what’s been shown, they were apparently close enough for Nicole to have warned him about Wynonna.
  We were also supposed to understand (apparently) that Nicole was kind of giving Doc a chance when everyone else had counted him out and that part of that included making sure he didn’t murder anyone.

Questions that I don’t know the answer to:

• aka plot-holes I wish I didn’t notice: Wynonna can hot-wire, they def could have started the truck and driven away.
• aka plot-holes: Kevin, who can’t participate or interfere, punched Wynonna in the throat. Throw the flag!
• aka maybe, maybe not: “Don’t forget Eve.” “Oh, I wish I could. Don’t even get me started on that girl”. You’ll recall from S1 that while in the cult, Willa had been known by the name “Eve”. Here’s my take on the possibilities related to that:
  • I really don’t believe that Willa’s alias in S1 was decided on with any thought to having a storyline that pulls from Genesis in S3.
  • That being said, I don’t put it past Emily and crew to find a way to tie it in and make themselves look super smart (which they are, but that still didn’t happen), but that would be a lot of trouble to go to just to explain that a common name was used in two non-related ways over 3 seasons.
  • THAT being said, I wonder if this line was meant was a fun little nod to the coincidence?
• Kevin says Julian and Bulshar were the original haters. This may just come down to differences in how people use the term “haters”. Maybe it means that they hated each other, but to me it sounds like something they had in common.

Favorite Lines:

• We must, we must, we must – we must increase our bust?
• We are the heirs of cruelty and torture.
• Wow, you’re a regular Mariska Hargitay.
• Gretta “when you wish upon a bitch” Perley?
• And your name’s Kevin? – Did I stutter?
• You couldn’t find your ass with a map. – Where is it? I dunno.
• I am fairly certain that if you weren’t such a douchebag, we could hang.
• I don’t have a boyfriend? – Is it the bangs?
• Who asked you to eat pickles?!
• You are Wyatt Earp’s boyfriend.
• Copper’s down with Victoria’s Secret.
• Ya eyebrows are on fleek!
• I dig wolves.
• Are you a good guy or a bad guy?
• Above the belt, though, right? Such a ginger fetish.
• If I ever see you again, John Henry… I will kill you.
• Guys, I don’t understand. It doesn’t even have a diamond.
• You selfish, short-sighted, weak-willed millennials. You’re gonna kill us all. (I love this because it’s real. Old people shit on millennials all the time despite the fact that we’re constantly making sacrifices to try to save the world…I mean, pretty much that)
• You’re the only thing that keeps me going. You’re the light, Waverly.
• Not the face

Under-appreciated (according to me) Lines:

• Should I be nice and normal more or never, ever again?
• hey there, nice ombré
• Are you too employable?

The Big Picture

My attempt at the timeline:

• Bulshar entombed: 1887
• Willa Born: 1987
• Wynonna Born: 1988*
• Waverly Born: Sept 8 1994*
• Mama left: 1999**
• Attack on the homestead: May 2000
• Wynonna comes of age: 2015*
  *What we know for sure is that the attack was in 2000 and that Wynonna was 12 and Waverly was 6 when it happened. Keep in mind when doing the math, that Emily wrote the pilot in 2015. It all falls apart if you try to use the air date for the math. Also, because the month someone is born can mess up the math, this is all kind of give or take a year.
  **The original line was that Waverly was 4 when Mama Earp left, making me think it was two-ish years before the attack, but in 3×01 Wynonna says that Mama had only been gone six months when the Homestead was attacked.

Season Three Credits Breakdown:

• Angel with one wing in an old cemetery. Surrounded by several dead looking trees. When we zoom in the the angel is wrapped up by a large snake.
  – I’ve assumed all season that the angel with one wing was about Waverly being half-angel, but the fact that it’s made of stone…guys, they told us how this was going to end the first time the S3 credits played. Ballsy. 
  – Or, hell, maybe it’s Julian because angels turn to stone.
  – The snake represents THE SNAKE.
• More ugly trees, the biggest one in the forefront has half a face
  – It’s because Bulshar is turning people (and Vampires) into murder trees.
• BIRDS. Ok, so I didn’t include the birds earlier because they aren’t unique to the S3 credits, but I’ve now noticed bird cages in the background of two scenes and it feels like it might not be a coincidence. There are also at least 3 bird feeders in the Gibson Greenhouse.
  
  

  unsettling

  

  Fake (dead?) Bird in cage at Gardner house.

Main players: What we know about what we don’t know

Most of this will be things that were shown or stated in the show, however I am including theories that I feel strongly about, those theories with be in italics. Anything that was added since the last post will be in bold.

Mama Earp aka Michelle Gibson:

• Spent nearly 20 years in prison, accused of trying to kill Waverly when she burned down the barn with Waverly in it.
• Was never trying to kill Waverly, she was trying to exorcise a demon that was after Waverly. She ended up binding the demon to herself and lived with it tormenting her the entire time.
• The demon talked to her about Bulshar.
• Used to run to the Gibson’s greenhouse to escape Ward, she was often met there by Julian, who is Waverly’s father.
• I STILL (yes still!) refuse to believe that it’s a coincidence that Mama Earp and the Widows wore the same perfume (I don’t know how to spell it…Shalotel?).

Wynonna Earp:
– Most of the mystery surrounding Wynonna has to do with the years she was away from Purgatory and doesn’t seem like it’s going to have much of an implication on the show (I’ve heard it’s explored more in the comics).

• Earp heir
• Great hair
• Refers to herself as “Dubs”.

Waverly. Daughter of Julian. First of Her Name. Actual Angel. Master of Wii. Champion Against Evil. Rightful Heir to the Throne:

• Was born in the greenhouse on the Gibson farm.
• Her father’s name was Julian and per Michelle he was “someone better”.  According to Bobo, Julian was a literal angel, making Waverly half ANGEL!
• I’m going to quote exactly what Kate said about the tarot card she pulled for Waverly: “Temperance. The angel card, balance and moderation, but it’s upside down. Lack of long-term vision.”… “She’s something alright.”
• Bobo referred to her as “kin”.
• Promised to Bulshar by Bobo.
• Has been given powers by her father’s angel ring. 
• The Arabic words that translate to “Garden of Paradise” appeared on the ring after she put it on.
• Is The Champion who is meant to save us all by keeping Bulshar out of the Garden.  

Julian:

• Angel. In fact “one of two angels tasked with protecting the Garden”.
• Bobo refers to him as “missing for some“.
• Per Mama “Ward pushed Julian outside” the GRT the night Waverly was born. And he’s been lost ever since. This raises so many questions. Did Ward physically push Julian? How did Ward make an angel do anything? Why is Julian “lost” being outside the GRT? Remember we’ve heard the GRT triangle referred to as a prison and a sanctuary.
• Kevin says that Julian and Bulshar “were the original haters. ”  Who or what did they hate?
• The damn statue in the Greenhouse. Like the one we see in the credits, the angel only has one wing, which I’ve always interpreted as “half-angel”, meaning Waverly, but now that I know that Angels can literally turn to stone, I’m admitting that it’s possible. Devil’s advocate (no pun, yo), during Michelle’s flashback to the Greenhouse we see the statue THEN we see human looking Julian, we don’t see them both at once. Maybe what Michelle really went looking for was a way to turn Julian back (maybe that sword?). I still don’t buy that it’s him, because why the hell…? If the last time they tried to stop Bulshar was 130ish years ago and Bulshar has been entombed since then, what would have happened less than 23 years ago to have either turned him from stone to soft and bangable or vice versa? 

John Henry Doc Holliday:
There are plenty of questions, but I’m not going to dig TOO deep unless I think it’s going to have an impact on the show in the near (this season) future.

• Has a wife named Kate dating back to his pre-well days. Regardless he still talks about Wyatt as if they were soulmates
• Went to hell when he died in the AU. Is super emo about it.
• Is a vampire now.
• Totes doesn’t deny being Wyatt’s boyfriend.

Jeremy Chetri:

• Has a sort of empathetic connection to people (“now I can sense when my friends are super scared”) every since he was in a car crash with his mother and stuck with her body for three days. My poor child.
• Black Badge “did stuff” to him as well.
• Not “purely human”. I don’t really take this to mean anything more than what we already know as stated in the bullets above, but who knows, maybe he’s the werewolf. 

Nicole Haught:

• Only survivor of an attack linked to the Cult of Bulshar. During the attack she “somehow” got down to the river.
• After getting herself down to the river and in a canoe to get away from the massacre, she was found by Nedley! He “kept an eye” on her after that and offered her the job after finding out she was in the academy.
• Apparently her hippy, negligent parents don’t like that she’s a cop.
• Totally human.

Bobo Del Rey aka Robert Svane:

• Was a good guy and close friend to Wyatt before he became a revenant.
• Was part of Black Badge.
• Can telepathically move metal objects, including Peacemaker.
• Was there the night Waverly was born. Took the baby to Ward and threatened his life if he didn’t care for the child, his angel.
• Likes avant–garde.

Kate aka Katalin aka Countessa:

• Nobility from Hungary. Finally the nickname makes sense.
• Became a vampire after she heard that the Stone Witch gave Doc immortality and hid him so that she could look for Doc no matter how long it took.
• Had her friend Sally pose as the outlaw Big Nose Kate because Vampires can’t be captured on film.

Charlie Fire-services (RIP):

• Fireman
• Really interested in Team Wynonna.
• Seems to be aware of the whole supernatural deal in Purgatory, including all the stuff about the Earps.
• Seemed like the rescue mission wasn’t his first time killing stuff. He was equally unimpressed with Wynonna ask if they could cut their date short to kill vampires. Also, comfortable enough about vampires that he got Doc some blood. Bonus points for doing a kind thing for “the enemy”.
• When Wynonna thanks him for the help he says “No problem, it’s what I do”. Wynonna takes this to mean saving people in general, but it seems a little specific to killing demonic things and saving people from becoming trees…ok maybe not that last part, but I don’t think this was his first Demon Rodeo. 
• Not a homophobe. Way to be, Chuck.

I like Charlie, I like his normalness in the face of all the abnormal, I like that he appreciated Wynonna’s tendency to be inappropriate, I like that he supports Wynonna’s fashion choices, and I like that he likes Wynonna, and that he seems to make her happy in way that doesn’t also make her sad.

Peacemaker:

• Bluntline Special that Wyatt Earp used to put down 77 “outlaws”.
• Only weapon that will send the revenants back to hell.
• Can only be fired by the current Earp Heir.
• Cannot be handled by a demon without burning the shit out of them.
  • Kate the Vampire had no problem handling Peacemaker.**
• Glows orange when aimed at a demon. My theory about it glowing orange in 2×12 when Wynonna pointed it at Doc is that it knew the bullet was meant for the widows. 
• Glowed blue for the first time when Wynonna used it to kill Willa.
• Glowed blue for the second time when Waverly pointed it at Rosita and Wynonna ordered it to fire, grazing Rosita.
• As Wynonna prepared to shoot the Stone Witch, which was presented more as putting her out of her misery, the barrel started to glow orange, but quickly switched to blue.
• Bulshar needs the tower to get into the Garden of Eden, Peacemaker is the tower, but it has to be given up willingly by the heir, which it was.
• When Wynonna pointed the gun at Bulshar it glowed white, both IRL and in her hallucination.

** There are two probable answers for this. 1) it’s because Vampires aren’t full demons, maybe if she was vamped out it would have burned her. 2) We already know that Peacemaker has sentient qualities and even though it generally follows a set of rules, sometimes it just does whatever it wants. Maybe it had nothing to do with with how much demon Kate is or is not, and everything to do with who she is, Wyatt’s friend.

Bulshar/ Cult of Bulshar:

• Was created in the Garden to enjoy the spoils of Paradise. That’s right, Bulshar is the infamous serpent from the story of the fall of man.
• Entombed around 130 years ago (1887) by Robert Svane, Constance Clootie, and Juan Carlo after he was shot by Wyatt Earp.
• Cursed the decedents of Wyatt Earp.
• Really mad at the Original Families of Purgatory for letting him be defeated.
• His ultimate goal is to “enslave humanity”, somehow the Garden seems to be the key to doing so.
• Turns people (and vampires) into creepy trees, which he controls and communicates with, that’s how he found the Garden.
• Kevin says that Julian and Bulshar “were the original haters. ”  Who or what did they hate?

The ring:

• Belonged to Waverly’s father, Julian. Bulshar stole it. 
• Kate tells Waverly not to  “underestimate the power of this relic. It’s older than most things on earth.”
• When Waverly finally puts it on, not only can she not take it off, Arabic writing appears on the ring. The writing translates to Garden of Paradise.
• Was with Bulshar the entire time he was entombed, but who knows how long he had it before that.
• So far we’ve seen the ring: give Widow Mercedes a serious Glow-Up and enable Waverly to punch a zombie witch across the barn, melt a demon’s face, be able to control Bulshar’s former arm (now connected to a radioactive revenant) and heal her friend’s face.
• Can’t say if this is on purpose or not, but Waverly yelling at the ring to get it to suddenly be useful is too similar to Wynonna yelling at Peacemaker in 2×12.

I think Peacemaker and the ring are siblings and the sword for that matter*. 

The Garden:

• Home to two very important trees, The Tree of Life and The Tree of Knowledge [of Good and Evil].* 
• The creepy staircase in the woods is supposedly the entrance to the Garden and possibly can only be seen by the gays. Wynonna didn’t see it and suggests that it can only be seen by the “righteous”, which as of now includes Jeremy, Robin, Waverly, and Nicole (maybe the Garden of Eden is gay and it really was Adam and Steve?)
• From Juan Carlo’s journal “We guarded the entrance to keep him in, to keep everything in, but we failed, Julian and I”.*

I still kind of think there is some connection between “The Garden” and the Gibson Greenhouse.

Black Badge Division: Because might as well leave this in here JUST in case. 

• Supposedly a highly classified branch of the U.S. Marshalls, but as we according to Agent Moody BBD “isn’t a government agency, never was.”
• Early members include Robert Svane aka Bobo Del Rey.
• All the main characters except for Nicole have signed a contract in blood.
• Inconclusive as to what extent they still exist. Quinn, a friend of Dolls’ and fellow Black Badge agent wanted to take revenge on whatever is left of BBD HQ. Wynonna tells Quinn that if he ever returns to Purgatory that it better be because he recovered the blood contract her team signed. Quinn seems to agree to the mission mentioning paying “Mr. Moody” a visit.

 

*Check back soon for an in-depth look at the trees and the sword and the guardians of the garden and all things biblical that we’ve been teased with this season.

TL;DR: Bulshar, the demon who cursed the Earps, is actually the snake from the Garden of Eden. He is trying to get into the Garden, likely to access its very important trees. We’re not sure exactly what he has to gain from the tree(s), but he has stated that his goal is to enslave humanity. It seems like he is well on his way to getting what he wants now that he has Peacemaker, which will allow him to enter the Garden.
The only way to stop Bulshar involves Waverly taking her place on Julian’s (her father) throne, which sounds simple enough, except that doing so will turn her to stone. Oh, he can only be stopped during the Blood Eclipse.

Ok, friends, that’s all I have for this week.  Feel free to discuss theories in the comments. If you think I got something totally wrong from the show that I should correct, please offer proof. The format for this is still a work in progress, if there is something you think should be taken out or something you think should be added, please let me know.

If you hated this, keep that to yourself, I’m sensitive. If you enjoyed it and would like me to continue, please let me know by liking, commenting, and sharing it on twitter.