Well, that was painful. The backbone for this week's 'House of Memories' was the relationship between Waverly and Willa, which could have made for some great character moments, unfortunately actress Natalie Krill did not have the range to make any of her lines convincing. There were quite a few cringe worthy moments, especially when she tried to be more playful at the Winter Solstice .
Most of Waverly's lines were really well written and acted, as we have come to expect from actress Dominque Provost-Chalkley. The dislike she has for her sister was really felt throughout the episode, starting with that scene in the barn when she reminisced to Willa about their shaky childhood together. The bombshell at the end that saw Willa siding with Bobo was quite heartbreaking, considering that it probably could have all been avoided if Waverly didn't keep pushing her away.
The episode had some interesting reveals. Ward made a deal to give Bobo 'the lead' in exchange for having the Earp curse lifted over his daughters. The lead was of course himself; Bobo could walk over the Ghost River Triangle if an Earp heir went willingly beside him. Of course, Willa was the key, after the botched attempt with Ward in the past. It was hard to tell whether Krill was intentionally acting terrible at the Solstice scenes because she wanted Willa to look fishy being that she was scheming against her sisters, and it did seem that way, or if she was just simply acting terrible. Either way her scenes at the end leading up to the betrayal was pretty painful.
The villain of the week was some maniac who took joy in torturing and liked to play with his victims and to do some pretty graphic and obscene things to them. If there is one thing this show has done well, for the most part, is its weekly antagonists who have all been quite terrifying and menacing in their own way. However, this antagonist, like the last few, did not last long after being dispatched easily by his latest captor, Doc Holliday. Last week, it seemed this plot point would lead to something huge, being that Wyatt getting abducted ended the episode, but it ended up leading to nowhere other than giving his character something to do.
We also got to see more Dolls and Wynonna in 'House of Memories' culminating in them kissing at the Solstice. This followed quite an emotional heart to heart moment when Wynonna expresses sadness over losing her heir-ness. It has been quite an evolution to watch Wynonna go from reluctant heir to realizing just how much she loves it upon losing it all. With regards to her kiss with Dolls, no complaints as their relationship was teased and built up all season.
Overall, this was a solid episode and a great set up for the finale with Willa's betrayal and Wynonna and co. stuck at the solstice with crazy and poisoned partygoers after them. However, with Willa being in so many scenes and thus having to endure Krill's painful acting, the quality of the episode did lessen. Still, a better than average episode this week.
7/10
