Episode Recap: Walking After Midnight

Doc has been camping out in the wintry woods to seclude himself from Wynonna and the Revenants that want to kill him for aiding the heir on her rampage. His reverie is interrupted first by a raging Revenant, then by Wynonna — Doc doesn't know which guest is worse. Wynonna kills the Revenant before asking Doc for some help identifying the last of the posse that took her daddy, but Doc refuses: he's risking life and limb for her, and she's not reciprocating.

At Black Badge Headquarters, Wynonna and Dolls comb the photograph for more clues to the Revenant's identity, since Doc is being a whiny jerk and won't help. Their perp is a gentleman who carries a cane, and upon further inspection Wynonna spots an insignia — a spade — on the knob of that cane, a clue that could help lead them right to the guy. Perhaps it's the prospect of Revenant research, or that Doc appears to be slowly exiting the picture of Wynonna's love life, but Dolls seems more chipper than usual as he goes out to get the pair Chinese takeout.

Meanwhile, the Stone Witch and her two husky handlers pay the Blacksmith a visit at her shop, looking for the skull of one of her sons. The Blacksmith doesn't let slip a word, and the two get locked in a magic duel (but without wands or fake saws). Ultimately, however, the Blacksmith succumbs to the Stone Witch's superior magic, and under torture, and divulges the name of the holder of the skull.

Doc swings through the old Earp residence to pay Wynonna an apology. Instead he finds Waverly setting up for a girls-only engagement party she's hosting for a friend. She shows him the skull she found last episode, which he tells her to keep it hidden. She also invites Doc to live under the Earp roof, rather than risk the elements and Revenant wrath. He considers the offer. Meanwhile on his way back from the takeout run, two agents who relieve him of his gun, cell phone, and, most importantly, his food intercept Dolls. Dolls calls Wynonna and tells her she's going to have to finish the hunt for the remaining Revenant on her own.

Waverly's party gets underway…and sinks pretty quickly, as hardly anyone shows up (the Earp house is a graveyard for dead Revenants, not a club). Thankfully Doc shows up to liven the mood, and deal some poker; but he isn't there long before a suspicious sound has him investigating the barn. There he finds the dying Blacksmith who's come to warn them all that the Stone Witch will arrive at the witching hour to reclaim the skull and kill Waverly. Promising to take Waverly far away, Doc learns from the Blacksmith how to vanquish the Stone Witch once and for all, using dark magic.

Without invitations to Waverly's party, Wynonna and Office Haught are left at the headquarters to thumb through a serial killing case. YOLO, right? The last victim, they learn after talking with an airheaded forensic scientist in the morgue, was cut open alive, had her organs removed, then oddly replaced, and then her wounds were cauterized shut by something of extraordinary heat. Oh, and on her neck is the imprint of a spade, which, for the record, looks like a hickey.

The post-mortem is interrupted when the trio notices someone is tiptoeing through the cooler where the bodies are kept. Psych! It was a diversion. When the three return to the corpse on the slab, they find the killer has been there, and left his calling card in the corpse's now-opened mouth: a playing card. Suit: spades. Face: Jack. Could be the excitement, could be something else, but Wynonna's nose starts to bleed inexplicably.

Meanwhile, the witching hour is upon the Earp house, and as Doc (having reneged on his promise) gets ready to open a can of Stone Witch whoopass. One of her henchmen has already weaseled his way into the party disguised as a stripper. Doc takes care of one of the witch's lackeys, while Waverly stabs the other in the head with some scissors. Not your average host, not your average party. Unfortunately, the Stone Witch's henchmen — and now the Blacksmith — remain under her spell, and continue to terrorize Waverly and Doc, and kill one of Waverly's so-called friends. They need backup: Wynonna.

While Doc fends off the zombified gang, Waverly takes the skull and sneaks outside to confront the Stone Witch. The Stone Witch tells her that Wyatt killed her sons but that they did not rise because they were not human…say WHAT? When the Stone Witch threatens to take the skull from Waverly alive or dead, the younger Earp sister hurls the noggin against a sidewall, and it shatters to pieces. The Stone Witch is understandably peeved. She works her weird magic, and sends Waverly flying against the barn door. And she might have killed her if Doc and Wynonna didn't show up, and scare her off. Doc shoots at her and grazes her arm and then he notices that somehow he's now bleeding too from the same arm. How curious. Something tells us the Witch will be back, and maybe she'll be driving the newest model Cadillac.  

The next day, Office Haught conducts interviews at the scene of the crime. Suspicious of all the activity at the Earp household, Haught urges Wynonna to be frank with her. It might take some time, but there seems to be a partnership brewing here. Meanwhile, Doc returns to where the Stone Witch was last to pick up some of her fleshy remains to use the next time he crosses her path — and considering he didn't leave this last duel unscathed, who knows if he'll make it out alive the next go round.