TELEVISION
Wynonna Earp star set for Season 2
It was just under a year ago that the cast of Wynonna Earp was informed they would be returning to Calgary to shoot a second season.
It wasn’t complete surprise. By that point, the supernatural modern western was already earning a devoted fan base. There were other hints. Before any official decision had been announced, the show’s American network, Syfy, brought all the principal cast members to the San Diego Comic Con to greet fans, which would have been a decidedly strange exercise were the show about to be cancelled.
Still, while the cast knew the decision was imminent and would likely be announced at Comic Con, actress Melanie Scrofano insists they were officially in the dark during that trip to San Diego.
“We were not sure what we were going to say if it didn’t go ...” says Scrofano, who plays Wynonna Earp, in an interview on the Calgary set of the series a few months ago. “It would have been sooooo awkward. We would have so had our tails between our legs. They told us at a lunch and it just brought Comic Con to a whole new level because we just had this lightness about us.”
It was a pivotal moment for the cast in more ways than one. Not only did they discover the series would pass the one-season threshold, they learned Wynonna Earp had all the early hallmarks of a sci-fi cult show. It was the first interaction with fans, who came in droves to the panel discussion in San Diego. Since then, American and Canadian devotees have coalesced into a determined and often opinionated army known as Earpers, adopting the series as their own and making it a hot topic on social media.
On Friday, Season 2 will kick off on Space, which should only serve to broaden the Canadian fan base. Season 1 aired on Syfy in the U.S., but in Canada it was broadcast on the Ontario-based CHCH, which meant it was not easy to see in the rest of the country.
Space not only picked up the show for Season 2, it has also been running the first season on Saturdays since April. It ended with a number of cliffhangers, which means fans should be chomping at the bit for Friday’s season première.
“We really get into a lot of trouble this season, both personally and supernaturally,” says Scrofano. “So we all really have to come together as a team. But with that, a lot of sacrifices have to be made for Wynonna this season and for Wynonna’s mission. It just complicates the relationships a lot. It’s sort of like anybody who is touched by Wynonna has to make really horrible choices and sacrifices. So the complexities that come out of that are really interesting this season.”
Supernatural and personal troubles have become trademarks of the show. The series maintained a nice balance between the two in the first season, offering both with a healthy sense of irreverent humour. Wynonna is the greatgreat-granddaughter of Wyatt Earp, whose efficiency when it came to gunning down baddies in the wild west resulted in a group of said baddies being resurrected as revenge-seeking, Earp-hating demons. Carrying on the family tradition, or perhaps curse, Wynonna was recruited by the Black Badge Division to wage a modern supernatural battle against these revenants, who resided in the mysterious Ghost River Triangle. She was joined by an immortal version of great-great grandpa’s old partner Doc Holliday (Tim Rozon); her sister Waverley (Dominique Provost-Chalkley); and special agent Xavier Dolls (Shamier Anderson) of the Black Badge Division.
On the personal front, there’s been various romantic entanglements between these characters. Waverly became one half of a same-sex relationship with Officer Nicole Haught (Katherine Barrell), a romance that has been passionately embraced by both fans and the LBGT community and dubbed #Wayhaught on social media.
But one of the most alarming cliffhangers in the season finale was the unsettling news that Waverly may not be an Earp at all. For a show that was based so heavily on sisterly love, this will be one of the more dramatic twists to resolve in Season 2.
“For her to discover that she is possibly not an Earp is a huge shock to the way she thinks of herself,” says Wynonna Earp creator Emily Andras. “Nobody has a bigger identity crisis this year than Waverly. At the same time, I have always said the true romance of the show is that sister relationship. I’m going to fight to the death for it, mark my words. Just like Wynonna will.”
As for the supernatural side of things, Season 2 will borrow a few pages from the IDW Publishing comic books from the 1990s that the series is loosely based upon and expand the types of supernatural villains the gang goes up against.
“We were really encouraged and excited to dig back into the comic books, which is really about this character named Wynonna Earp fighting all sorts of paranormal creatures,” Andras says. “Not just demons but also aliens and zombies and werewolves and whatnot. Without saying exactly what we battle, there’s a little bit of that now. There’s a sense that more supernatural, paranormal creatures are being drawn to the Ghost River Triangle.”
While it is obviously premature to talk about what a potential third season will bring, she says she is developing a plan that would definitely include more of Alberta’s eclectic vistas.
“One of the things that has set us apart as a genre show is that we have these huge, wide western landscapes,” says Andras, who grew up in Calgary. “There is a different sense of dread. Not only are you fighting demons, if you’re on a wintry plain an injury could kill you. You could die of frostbite. I think it really adds to the stakes and the cinematic feel of the show, which feels classic and fresh at the same time. Next year Drumheller is on my wish list. If I can get to the Badlands, that’s my Season 3 wish.”