Chapter Text
Chapter Four.
REMINDER: Nicole has just been shot! We see Nicole's body hit the floor, Waverly runs to her and theeennn...
This total shock to the system is followed up with this lovely blank screen…
We'll Be Right Back After These Messages.
For 3-5 minutes, Earpers everywhere panicked. Here it was again. The “Bury Your Gays” trope.
Let's take a minute to discuss this.
Though the trope has been present since the 90s, between July 2015 and May 2016, thirty-three lesbian characters were killed off in TV series. It was the bloodiest time to be an on-screen lesbian. The highest-profile of these deaths was Lexa from “The 100”, resulting in the birth of ClexaCon. Dom & Kat would appear at the inaugural convention in March 2017.
When Episode 113 aired and went to commercial on June 24th (US) and June 27th (Canada), 2016, many feared the ghost of Lexa had come to take Nicole Haught away. And of course, as usual, it was JUST when we all started to love the red-head cop. It was JUST when we felt like Wayhaught was on to something. It was JUST when we all got emotionally invested because Waverly had proclaimed “I love her.”
A complete list of the victims of BYGT are listed here - https://lgbtfansdeservebetter.com/bury-tropes-not-us-2016-edition/
Also, this article is an interesting read as Emily Andras herself talks about why showrunners need to “do better by their LGBTQ characters” - https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/news/a28685/gay-lesbian-character-deaths-tv/
Now back to your regularly scheduled scene analysis
We come back from commercial to see Waverly turning Nicole over. The cop is groaning. Now we know she didn't just kick it immediately.
Bonus, look at Waverly, being an excellent first aid provider. She supports Nicole's head and neck before turning her!
Come here.
Waverly is trying to comfort the red-head with soothing words.
There is some fog as to what Nicole says between her gasps of pain, (it sounds to Umachica like "Wa-" as in Waverly) but all subtitles and multiple transcripts read;
I want…
She's trying to let Waverly know she's okay. It's the first thing she's worried about. It also could be that Nicole wants Waverly to hold her. It could be that Nicole wants to apologize for putting the Earps in the situation they now find themselves in. Quite possibly, she wants to tell Waverly she loves her too.
But, we never hear the end of the sentence due to Waverly's fussing.
Nicole: FUCK ! Bullets HURT !
I know, I know…
Waverly is stammering a response to all the things "I want" could mean. She just wants her lover to save her strength.
While Waverly is focusing on comforting Nicole, Wynonna is still on the alert. The heir picks up on something much more worrying (to her at least).
No blood…
Wynonna thinks she smells a rat. A very blendered rat in a vegan smoothie. It might just be the dead possum in the vents, though.
There’s no blood!
Shh-shh!
Waverly continues to comfort her girlfriend in her pain, not entirely sure where Wynonna is about to go with this.
If my sister joined the dark side and you’ve been a revenant this whole time, I’m just going to call in sick tomorrow.
Wynonna is SO DONE with this. She looks like she's about to be sick. So DONE is she that she accidentally guesses the 'friend that's been a revenant the whole time' plot a whole season early! Spoilers Wynonna!
Waverly: Wait, what? No way, right? Please, no. Please?
She’s…
Waverly is on the verge of a total break. She went through the panic/despair of thinking Nicole was dead, to the intense anxiousness of Nicole being alive, but possibly very very hurt, and now she might be a revenant?! It would be too much for her mind to take.
Nicole wouldn't know this yet, but revenants
DO
bleed, just not red. They bleed brown. If there is no blood, not even brown…then that means…it means…
No, I’m…
Wynonna unceremoniously rips open Nicole’s uniform shirt for inspection, the sound of buttons clattering away on the floor. No blood, red or brown, means Officer Haught is…
...wearing a bulletproof vest.
She looks right at Waverly first.
Nicole: See? M'okay :D ... Also, OW !
Nicole says this while gasping for air, but it’s clear she's allowing herself to enjoy pulling this fast one regardless of how much pain she is feeling in her ribcage. She knows she’ll live to patrol the streets of Purgatory one more day…and remain with Waverly.
The audience all shares Waverly's expression. Holy fuck, the lesbian didn't die! Praise Heda Leksa kon Trikru, a vest! That's genius! HALLELUJAH! THIS SHOW OWNS MY HEART FOREVER!!
Emily Andras and her creative crew of hooligans solve all manner of problems with a stick of dynamite and obliterates the Bury Your Gays Trope.
Yeehaw Nicole!
Both Earp sisters are flabbergasted. Waverly gasps. Wynonna’s mouth falls open. Neither can believe it. Willa shot Nicole with no quarter in mind, thinking the cop had no protection on her person. But here, Waverly’s girlfriend was. Hurt, but alive.
Seriously, look at the expression on Waverly's face. She firmly in that halfway point between laughing, cheering, and crying all at once. She sways on the spot, like she might just faint. Nicole is OK!
Nicole is looking at the projectile in mild interest and disdain.
Nicole: Well...know how that
REALLY
feels now.
It’s kinda standard operating procedure when we have a 404 on our hands.
Kinda standard operating procedure? Ok, so according to the interwebs...no...this is not a 404 not found. A 404 is police lingo for “Unknown Trouble.” If Nicole Haught had to prove that she could deal with all the crazy shit that happens in Purgatory, this is it right here.
She flings the bullet away onto the floor as if to symbolize that she is where BYG ends.
Meanwhile, Emily Andras, all snuggled up in her cozy PJs, is enjoying with Twitter implosion with maniacal laughter.
Nicole flashes a smile as she jokes with the women. She can see they’re both still concerned, so she tries to ease the tension.
Bunch of crazy hicks off their rockers?
You finally picked a smart one.
Awwww, lookit, Waverly! She's so proud of her smart baby! All Waverly can do is beam.
Wynonna, now smiling, gives the pair of them a wink.
Wynonna: About damn time, girl.
This is Wynonna speak for "I give you my blessing" or "I'm totally cool with you being gay, it's no biggie."
Waverly tells Nicole that she'll take her right to the hospital. Naturally, Nicole tries to brush it off, but she's still looking pretty dazed. She tells Waverly that she and Wynonna need to go stop their "kind of a dickhead" sister. Wynonna really doesn't feel up to it and wishes that Doc or Dolls were here.
( Record Scratch : Ha! Doc & Dolls. It's D&D!)
They went to raid Shorty's... somethin 'bout an annidote.
Nicole is definitely out of sorts and needs to be checked out by a doctor.
( Record Scratch : Ok, so there is a bit of thing going on with how Nicole says this line that none of us can really put our finger on. If you listen to Nicole in hospital after the Jack of Knives abduction, she seems to have an accent that sounds a bit...Texan? I personally just cracked it up to a significant morphine high. However, some people think that Nicole has an accent in Season 1, but could definitely be fatigue or drugs. We should ask Kat one day if she imagines Nicole with a slight accent sometimes. I, for one, hear no accent as I live in a country (Canada) where many different accents are a norm...soooo I tend to miss them. -Jaymie)
Waverly smiles proudly again and praises Nicole for being "super smart." Wynonna grins and decides not to tell Waverly that remembering where people took off to has very little to do with intelligence.
Wayhaught crashes together. Thankfulness, joy, pride, love all surging forward. Their eyes close and Waverly pulls them together.
It starts as a "thank God you're alive!" kiss, and probably was meant to be a quick one. But damn Nicole's lips are so good, and Waverly just wants more. Relief once again acting as a powerful aphrodisiac. She almost DIED. Nicole, for her part, thinks this is the best first aid for a GSW (gunshot wound) ever!
Alright. Yup. You guys do that.
Gettin' a little too intimate for Wynonna here. That's her sister in a lip lock inches from her face for crying out loud!
Wynonna feels like she's intruding, so she gets up to gather their things, buying Wayhaught just a tiny bit of tiiime...
Waverly breaks the kiss first this time, and Nicole's hand closes around her wrist.
Nicole: Wait, don't go yet...
Nicole is holding tightly onto the arm that Waverly has threaded behind head. Her look is one of pure awe.
Nicole: Oh, my God. She's an angel, I swear. I am so in love, it's ridiculous.
(Hands down my absolute favorite Nicole expression! -Umachica)
Nicole actually starts to move her lips like she's gonna say something. Perhaps to say "I want-" again. Like she's trying to say, "I want you to know I love you too."
But Wynonna rudely interrupts them as she will continue to do for all time. Wayhaught has had their moment.
Wynonnus Interuptus, round two people! (The first being while the duo was sneaking into Nedley’s office for a quick kiss.)
But Nicole doesn't seem to care (for now) because she's loved by and in love with Waverly Earp. And it's AMAZING .
Go…
With one more parting kiss and build-up of music behind it.
Nicole finds herself in the unfamiliar position of watching Waverly run into danger and having to stay behind. Her eyes are swimming with emotion and worry.
***
As the Earp sisters, exit the building, Waverly proclaims angrily to Wynonna that Willa “shot my girlfriend,” while wiping tears away. Waverly is now free to tell Wynonna everything...and it’s a relief.
Meanwhile, Nicole remains on the floor of the police station. We don’t know how long she stays there. We don’t know who finds her. We don’t know if she goes to the hospital or not.
What we do know is that Waverly proclaimed she was in love with Nicole. For someone who was holding back their own feelings so she wouldn't scare the woman of her dreams off, Nicole would be in some kind of shock and disbelieving.
I love her...
Waverly’s admission would be ringing in her ears louder than the deafening crack of the revolver.
Once, outside of the Earp Homestead on a cold morning, Nicole saw Waverly Earp smiling at her from her front porch. She had felt the tug then, but she held herself back. It would have been unfair to both of them if she allowed herself to fall over the edge.
Even so, Waverly was all she could think about. The morphine drip made it even harder to banish the thought of Waverly at her side, in her arms, on her lips...
She was the woman Nicole thought she’d never have a chance with. The woman that the Stetson wielding cop had so boldly flirted with when they first met. The woman that the thoughtful red-head was patient and kind with during times of loss, suffering and confusion.
Even after Waverly had tackled her to the couch in the precinct. Even after their botched attempt at being alone with each other for the first time, Nicole still held back on verbalizing her feelings. She would never push Waverly. Nicole wanted Waverly to be herself, not someone she wasn’t. Waverly always came first. She would lead unless she asked Nicole to do so. No pushing, just tender care.
We, the audience, know Waverly will not repeat these words of affirmation again for a long time. The fear of losing people she says she loves is overpowering. Still, we know that regardless of that, Waverly continued to be in love with Nicole. It's in the actions she takes for Nicole. It's in the way Waverly touches her lover.
On the cold floor, with a breathtaking pain in her chest, Nicole gives herself permission to tell Waverly, and herself, the truth.
Nicole: I love you too…
***