This post was sponsored by one of our Patreon donors! One of the benefits that came with Will’s pledge was the ability to recommend any show he wanted us to watch and then write about. He picked SyFy’s Wynonna Earp. So, giddy up, gunslingers: we’ve got demons of both the personal and the hell-spawn variety to vanquish.
A girl rolls back into town on a sketchy late-night bus. It’s clear from her demeanor and the stilted conversation she makes with the woman across the aisle that this isn’t a homecoming that she’s particularly looking forward to. Then there’s a pit stop gone awry, a severed head, and a government spook who wants to keep it quiet, and you quickly determine that Wynonna Earp isn’t your average Western.
The SyFy original series based on the graphic novel by Beau Smith recently wrapped up its second season. (The first is up on Netflix and the second, you can check out on the SyFy app or onDemand.) And not a week went by during the newer batch of episodes when a thinkpiece or two didn’t cross my timeline. So Will’s recommendation was gratefully received; with this much worthwhile TV out there, it’s a relief to have a solid reason to bump something to the top of your list. (I first typed that as “top of your life,” which is also accurate.)
So if you’ve been making note of the fuss and wondering if Wynonna Earp is worth your time, I’m here to tell you that it is. Here’s why:
A Batshit-Crazy Premise, Taken Extremely Seriously
As in any good genre series, the grounding comes from the relationships between its characters and the very familiar shit they have to deal with, on top of all the old-West demons. I’ve never been marked by a unbreakable family curse, but I DO have middle child syndrome. So Wynonna and I have at least that much in common.
Women who are allowed to be everything


The Bechdel Test is in ashes by the end of the pilot, because Wynonna also does right by women by making their relationships with each other a priority. The sisterly bond of Wynonna and Waverly is the show’s heart, and it’s given the time and consideration it deserves, considering how complicated those relationships can be, especially since the elder sibling skipped town for seven years and left Waverly on her own. And there are less significant but still refreshingly real girl-to-girl interactions elsewhere in the series. When Mercedes, one of her few high school friends, comes back into town, she and Wynonna fall back into their old pattern of affectionately calling each other “bitch,” a privilege which Wynonna has to tell Dolls when he oversteps that he has not earned.
The show takes great pleasure in upending tired tropes; I felt like someone was winking at me through my screen. Take the scene where Wynonna puts on her best pout and endeavors to charm and distract some workmen. She finds that they’re workwomen, and forges ahead with the plan. When the ladies remain unmoved, she reads the room and sends in Doc to coyly fiddle with his shirt buttons and complain about the heat. He has NO problem playing the seductress, and it works.
SO MUCH EYE CANDY


What to ship is probably the most important decision I make when I’m watching a series for the first time. This one did not make it easy. But there’s a little something for everyone, whether it’s canon or just excellent fic fodder. But before I get to the others, here’s the big question: to ship Wynonna/Doc or to ship Wynonna/Dolls? There’s SUCH GOOD STUFF about both of them.


Dolls is the work-obsessed authority figure (“At best, it’s just my girlfriend.”) who’s reluctantly impressed by Wynonna’s loyalty, courage, and yes, tendency to break the rules he loves so much. And Doc is this man who comes from the era that predicted Wynonna and made her who she is. (Take his feelings for her as shedding some light on his feelings for his departed ride-or-die Wyatt, like I do. Trust me, it’s fun.) He’s got that irresistible allure of a cad who’s found a reason to get settled. There’s some OT3 potential in there, which only gets more potent as Dolls and Doc start saving each other’s asses and actually forge a friendship. So pick one or don’t, it’s all up to you.
Meet Your Audience Insert Character
Having an audience’s voice IN a show isn’t always necessary, but Jeremy’s running commentary shows that Wynonna Earp knows how to handle its meta.
HERE IS A HUGE SPOILER WARNING, I’M ABOUT TO TALK THAT EXPLOSIVE SEASON 2 SHAKE-UP
Oh, Baby


In most other series, I’d be worried about how the next season would handle Wynonna’s baby-related depression. All the demons of hell want her child, even though it’s not the half-revenant that she feared. (Cool that Doc’s little guys are still swimming after several hundred years.) So when Season 3 starts, they’ll presumably still be separated, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to watch an adorably defiant badass bitch wallow for all 12 episodes. But I have faith based on what we’ve seen so far. Pregnancy and baby storylines are not my favorites, in part because they seem to follow particular patterns. But Wynonna Earp breaks all of those, starting with the enchanted sleep time jump and ending with Alice wrapped in what Doc had told Wynonna was the “girl” color of his day. (“Dainty and delicate in blue.”) The whole group is going to protect that baby like they’ve accepted this duty to protect the rest of the Earps. And I trust that our hero won’t have lost any of her spark, as tragic as her necessary decision was.
We’ll be doing some more WE content coming up, including a dedicated Fan Video Friday post. (SHIP ALL THE SHIPS.) Have you watched yet? Tell us what you love about it in the comments.
Wynonna Earp? I have been all in since that bus first appeared on the screen. Or as Waverly declares to Doc the first time they meet: I am an Earper.
Not one mention of the fantastic vistas and set locations. Definitely a major character of the show and adds such perspectives & panoramas to the overall feel of the show by making Purgatory a mystical entity
Totally true! There are lots of amazing elements about the show, we were by no means trying to name them all in one post. – S