Wynonna Earp and Doc Holliday ride off into the sunset in “Old Souls,” the 10th and final episode of season 4 (perhaps the last season) of the incredible, incorrigible, and irrepressible show that is Wynonna Earp.
This was an emotional finale, in all the right ways. As I watched a second time, it occurred to me that the creators of Wynonna Earp, starting with Emily Andras, are one of the few groups outside Romancelandia (as readers of the romance genre call it) to understand the appeal of romance.
That is, sometimes, we desperately want good things to happen to good (though flawed) people. That sometimes, we crave to know that hope lives and that love triumphs. That there is no stronger connection between audience and creation than an emotional one. And finally, there’s no more satisfying ending than a hard-won happy ending.
And the Earpers have had some truly hard times in their four seasons.
1. Every episode of Wynonna Earp is named after an appropriate country song.
“I Walk the Line” is the title of episode 1, season one of the show. This is a classic 1956 Johnny Cash cash song about behaving (walking the line) for those one loves. It’s an old-fashioned song in the best way, but it is part of the past.
This season 4 finale (I refuse to call it a series final yet) takes its’ title from “Old Souls” by Charlie Farley. The song has some appropriate lyrics for our cast, such as “we just some young folk living with old souls,” but songs like this are also the future of country music, as Farley blends traditional country sounds with rap elements for a modern style.
Wynonna’s reluctant return to Purgatory was all about the weight of the past and the crushing burden of the Earp curse. At the end of “Old Souls,” Wynonna chooses her own future unburdened by obligations and curses of the past.
2. A family where everyone is welcome.
Found families are my fictional catnip. At the start of the show, the only Earp family left were Wynonna and her estranged younger sister, Waverly. Season 1 was even more brutal for the Earps, as Wynonna had to kill long-lost sister Willa in order to save Waverly and Purgatory itself.
Yet the seeds the found family also began in season 1. First, of course, was the return of the immortal, cursed Doc Holliday, who quickly had eyes for Wynonna, despite his pursuit of vengeance. There was also the introduction of Black Badge Marshall Xavier Dolls, a rival for Wynonna’s affections, but also a mentor, and, eventually, a friend.
And, of course, Waverly met Deputy Nicole Haught, launching the ship that gave rise to a million #wayhaught fanfics, and a relationship that was an oasis in the midst of what was a particularly hard time to be an LGBTQA+ television viewer, so much so that Andras had to take to social media to assure fans that, no, neither Waverly nor Nicole would be killed off for dramatic effect as seemed to happen so often to non-straight couples.
Nicole wasn’t just the “love interest” either. She was a full-fledged member of the gang and eventually became Wynonna’s best friend, much as Doc and Waverly developed a similar, unbreakable platonic bond. The Earpers did lose Dolls to the battle against evil but they also added new allies, especially Black Badge scientist Jeremy Chetri, ex-Sheriff Nedley, and, this season, Rachel Valdez, and Billy Clanton.
Everyone attended the WayHaught wedding at the center of the final episode, even Dolls, who has a special seat set aside for him.
It’s a big sprawling, inclusive, loving family, who have literally all risked their lives for each other.
Everyone welcome, indeed.
3. Purgatory lives.
While I correctly called Wynonna leaving Purgatory, hopefully with Doc, in my last recap, I was wrong about the future of Purgatory. The humans left have accepted that this is always going to be a weird, wild, place, frequented by various sorts of demons and supernatural creatures.
Continued belowHuman and demons all, Purgatory citizens are okay with that. At least for now. Looking after all of them will be the Angel Shield, Sheriff of Purgatory, Nicole Haught. If the show continues, there are a great many plot threads to pick up from here.
The biggest one: where the heck is Eve?
4. Wynonna and Doc are parents. The show never forgot that.
As Doc and Wynonna plan their romantic road trip at the end, Wynonna suggests they check on their daughter, Alice, who was sent to live with relatives after it became clear she would not be safe otherwise. Alice is hopefully living well-loved and will welcome the arrival of Wynonna and Doc too.
Doc and Wynonna wonder if she’ll remember them. The show certainly never forgot Alice and the role she played in Wynonna and Doc’s lives.
Many times, the pregnancy of a star in a show is treated as something to be moved past and quickly forgotten. But in season 2, the creators of Wynonna Earp decided to spotlight star Melanie Scrofano’s pregnancy. The pregnancy and the impending birth of Alice added poignancy to season 2, with Doc declaring he was “all in” and Wynonna fighting for her life and that of her child. (Aside: I love that Wynonna still had action scenes while heavily pregnant.)
The decision to give Alice to others to raise was the right one. But longing and worry for their daughter never left her parents. Wynonna referred to herself as a MILF, for instance, her joking way of acknowledging her daughter was never far from her mind. The need to protect all the Earps, including Alice, contributed to Doc’s boneheaded decision to become a vampire as well.
5. The costumes!!
How could I not mention the wedding attire? I know, many people are going to swoon over Waverly’s dress but I covet Nicole’s beautifully tailored formal suit, seen above.
The show went overboard with the costume fun, giving us not only Wynonna in the cursed wedding dress but a visit to a bridal shop full of dresses. In the end, everyone looked like themselves, only more formal and happier. The wedding itself was beautifully staged, from the costumes to the vows.
A special nod to the costume department for the reappearance of the shirt Wynonna wore in the pilot episode in “Old Souls.” Wynonna wears the same shirt as she leaves Purgatory.
Bonus Thought: Getting Personal.
Wynonna Earp is unique among comic book adaptations for me because I found the character so early in her evolution.
At first, Wynonna was the star of a fun, rollicking series by comic writer Beau Smith, one I found via a recommendation on a comic book board. A female descendant of Wyatt Earp who hunts monsters? SIGN ME UP. I loved the stories and was able to interview Smith back when I wrote for Wired online. I was one of those annoying readers who kept asking “okay, you need to read this right now!”
That Wynonna Earp became a show seemed like a gift from fate. That the show welcomed Smith as “Papa Earp” and honored its’ comic roots was lovely. But then the show expanded the original stories into the world of Purgatory and the Earp sisters and it became this whole worldwide phenomenon ….and that was incredibly special as a fan.
It’s rare to see a character you love have a long life in any kind of story. The best thing ever is to see a character and a world you love expanded so now you’re part of a larger community.
I was at the Wynonna Earp panel at Comic-Con International in San Diego in 2016 when season 2 was announced. It wasn’t in Hall H. It wasn’t even in one of the main panel rooms. But the panel was packed solid and the joy that erupted at the announcement of the renewal is something that warms me still today.
Earp on.
