Smart, sassy, sultry debut
Wynonna Earp strikes the right tone between whip-smart dialogue and whip-cracking action, finds James Croot.
Acritically acclaimed cult hit since it debuted in North America just over five years ago, a gleefully subversive, cynical, fantasy Western horror has finally found a Kiwi home. Part Buffy the Vampire Slayer, part Supernatural, part Justified, Wynonna Earp (now available to stream on TVNZ OnDemand) mixes visceral thrills with gunslinging action and acerbic one-liners.
Based on the comic-book series, first published in 1996, by Beau Smith, it follows the adventures of eponymous Wynonna, the greatgreat-grand-daughter of legendary lawman Wyatt Earp.
When we first meet shaggy-haired Canadian actress Melanie Scrofano’s hot mess of a character, in the first of 49 episodes across four seasons, she’s returning to the god-forsaken Rockies town of Purgatory for the first time in three years.
A place where nothing lives but cattle and cowboys, the ‘‘bustling metropolis’’ has been recently plagued by a spate of murders of young women – three in the past six months.
Planning only on staying for as long as it takes to bury her recently deceased Uncle Curtis, Wynonna is urged by her younger sister Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) to help battle the forces they both know are responsible for the town’s increasing problems.
Known as the ‘‘Earp curse’’, 77 demons stalk the land, those brought down by great granddaddy and his Peacemaker gun, now mysteriously brought back to life. While many locals try to downplay it, the government now even has a secret agency looking into it.
Having heard Wynonna is back, the Black Badge Division’s Deputy Marshal Xavier Dolls (Shamier Anderson) is keen to recruit her. However, with her own relationship with law enforcement already ‘‘somewhat complicated’’, it’s an offer Wynonna has no desire to take up. ‘‘I don’t do authority. These days, I barely do sober.’’
That’s just one of the many witty one-liners that litter this entertaining show. Creator Emily Andras strikes just the right tone between whipsmart dialogue and whip-cracking action, the snark and sass helping to paper over some of the less-than-ideal special effects.
It helps that Scrofano is such a revelation, a kind of female version of Nathan Fillion (especially his Firefly character Mal Reynolds), offering an explosive cocktail of abrasiveness and arch-humour, as she navigates antagonistic locals and the occasional anti-Christ.
Bristol-born Provost-Chalkley is almost as impressive as her slightly softer, but no less intimidating sibling.
A series that doesn’t pull in any punches and constantly aims to smash expectations, Wynonna Earp isn’t for the faint-hearted or easily offended.
But if dialogue like, ‘‘why don’t you slip into something more comfortable, like a coma’’ is what you’re here for, then this will quickly become your new favourite binge-watch.
All four seasons of Wynonna Earp are now available to stream on TVNZ OnDemand.