Anyway, this week we say goodbye to Xavier Dolls. I'm not gonna talk about the behind the scenes reasons for this. I just want to talk about the show and how they handled it. Badly. The answer is badly. In the episode where he died, Dolls barely had any screen time. We were quickly told that he was dying and he knew it and then he sacrifices himself mostly off screen at the end. Wynonna doesn't even realize he's dead until the rest of the group brings her attention to it. Very much an afterthought to the supposed male lead. Not that he's been treated like the male lead since season 1. It's strange. If you look back at the early episodes, a lot of it was Wynonna and Dolls. He was the main love interest. Wynonna didn't really form a deep emotional bond with Doc until the end of season 1. Wynonna and Dolls had classic endgame written all over them. After a lot of setup for a rich character, Dolls sort of faded into the background and his death was equally half-heartedly done.
The latest episode, Colder Weather, was the most attention Dolls has received since the season 2 premiere. We got to see in character reactions to his death. We even got an acoustic version of the theme song, as Katherine Barrell replaced Shamier Anderson in the credits. This felt like a true tribute to a main character. It strikes me as too little too late. Where was this when he was around? I'm also not a fan of posthumous character development. Thanks random Black Badge guy for telling us more about Dolls now that he's gone and no longer a factor. Maybe Anderson will pop up again on the show someday. At least for a cameo. But, for now, this seems pretty final.
As for the rest of it, for a show with such mediocre to terrible writing, they did a surprisingly good job portraying grief here. They touched on things that many shows skip over, such as what to do with the body? What kind of funeral/wake would the deceased want? I appreciated these details. There was genuine thought and heart put into this episode and to how the characters dealt with it. They all handled it in different ways. Anger, sadness, denial, putting a brave face on, and even some laughter.
Wynonna's anger was very in character. How ironic is it that she condemns Jeremy for doing essentially the same thing she did to Waverly for nearly her entire life? Wynonna is impulsive and she lashes out and that was turned up to 11 here. It was a strong reminder that Melanie Scrofano continues to be the best actor on this show.
Now for some brief thoughts about the non-Dolls portions of the episode. As someone with a long fascination with Doc Holliday, he has always been my main draw to the show. I'm always up for hearing more about his past. Bringing Kate in is appealing. At the same time, it seems similar to bringing in Rosita last year. Hopefully, this relationship will feel a bit richer. I also can't help but fear she won't make it to next season. She's looked to have ax over her head from her first appearance. This is Kate. Presumably Kate Fisher/Elder and she deserves better than to be Rosita 2.0. Let's save that fate for the obvious Dolls replacement, Quinn. The solution to losing a corner of your love triangle is not to just shove another random guy in there. Truly, it isn't. Don't do it.
I will close by saying this is one of the stronger episodes of the series. They put put a real effort into a story about loss and grief. And I think they did it well. Last week's episode may not stick out in my mind, but years from now, when I'm looking back on the series, Colder Weather will.
No comments:
Post a Comment