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The latest program of Wynonna Earp a long time was coming. The back half of the fourth season (and most likely) of the cult drama has followed a downward spiral of Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano) after the execution of Hoyt Clayborn (Ty Olsson) – an event that affected her love Doc (Tim Rozon) and since then Wynonna has been taken away from everyone else.
(Spoilers forward for Wynonna Earp season 4 program 10, “Life Turned Her That Way.”)
While Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) and Nicole (Katherine Barrell) marry, Doc tries to be a better man, and Jeremy (Varun Saranga) ‘s focus on Black Brooch, Wynonna has remained steadfast. instead, with Peacemaker and its bottle of whiskey as her closest company. Wynonna’s isolation and dependence on alcohol culminates in a little-received intervention, in which the new cracks in Wynonna and Waverly’s relationship seem to be widening. And when the other demonic Waverly Jolene (Zoie Palmer) returns, she successfully turns the painful burden that Wynonna has borne as a Purgatory hero into making Waverly her own power and birthright. final application.
Scrofano jumped on the phone with Vulture to talk about Wynonna’s mental health journey and destructive treatments, the tragedy of being a hero, and how she feels about saying goodbye to Wynonna after four seasons.
This interview was prepared for clarity and length.
After Wynonna Hoyt was killed, her ongoing drinking and mental health problems had escalated dramatically. What about this event that was so inspiring for Wynonna?
That was not what she did for Hoyt. I think what sent her home was Doc’s response and the way she saw someone she cares so deeply about, and [it] she made her think about her own actions and see things a little differently. I think she felt a kind of hatred for who she is and what she is, but also [she saw] or another way out. So it was as if she felt locked in position and who she was. She saw no other way out but for self-sabotage.
Waverly and Nicole present an intervention for Wynonna at the beginning of this program. Can you talk about Wynonna ‘s relationship with alcohol and how it has changed this season?
I think it was always a crutch for her. But I think it ended, again, with Doc’s conflict and her seemingly no way out. I think she used alcohol to stop thinking and just say, “Well, I have to do this. I don’t know if I should do it anymore, but I don’t see any other way. ” I think alcohol became a way to reduce the pulse without knowing to move on anymore, but knowing that she still had to. So it became a way of not thinking about and just being active.
The intervention becomes very intense, especially when Waverly accuses Wynonna of becoming a father. Can you talk a little bit about filming that scene and all the famine that is exchanged between the sisters in it?
In that view, it is another person who makes her feel who she is to blame – and not only flawed, but very abusive. I think anyone can relate to being compared to someone you don’t respect or know you’ve done horrible things. It just eats with your identity, as you can see. I think for Wynonna, it must have been so painful. But also then for Waverly, it must have been really hard to watch someone she loved just bequeathed that way. And I think it was really heroic to go against it instead of acting like it wasn’t happening.
Everyone else in Wynonna’s life is moving on, and you’ve talked about how Wynonna doesn’t see a way out of her normal situation. What do you think makes her so trapped?
Apparently, she’s damned if she does and she’s damned if she doesn’t. If she does what she has to do, people will judge her and grow up with her. And if she doesn’t, they will die or be dangerous. She says it at the end [“Hell Raisin’ Good Time”], she is like, “I am sick of feeling guilty for what I am when I have what I need. “And I think it’s also essential that causes her a lot of pain.
Why do you think it was so important for the show to just examine the burden of being a hero on Wynonna and her mental health?
I would like to know what [creator] Emily [Andras] thinking. For me, it was something interesting that Wynonna always drank. And I was always interested in the fact that… she always avoids pain or tries to alleviate pain with her words, by drinking, or by killing… I like the idea that we have to do things in our lives that we feel are important, but we did not want to carry that burden. And so what is it like for people who have to carry a burden in their lives that they have not asked for, that they have no way out of it? What does that do for them? And I think there are a lot of real examples of that.
While the beginning of the episode directly explores Wynonna’s drinking and destructive dependence on demonic kills, the focus then shifts to rescuing Waverly. Can we get more of a resolution on those issues that Wynonna will be dealing with?
I think we get to the heart. Oh, you know, I realized something else is going on for Wynonna, and while she has to do it all, Waverly is getting married… She’s committed to someone other than Wynonna . And I think that loneliness, along with Doc choosing another path in his life, has left Wynonna feeling lonely. I think her loneliness has always been at the heart of her problems. I think moving forward, Wynonna will definitely have a chance to look at that loneliness closer to Waverly and address those feelings with her at some point.
After taking Waverly with Jolene, Wynonna is ready to run into the fog to save him, but Nicole insists this is her chance. This was a small moment, but a very powerful one. What was it like for Wynonna to be the one to leave for once?
I believe that it is a small moment, but in my mind it was always a big moment as well, because it is as if Wynonna has been replaced in Waverly ‘s life. This is something she has to decide on her side to allow, because she can’t always be a hero to her sister … And so that was a big moment for Wynonna, for many reason, to allow Nicole and be the one to take a step back. I think that would have been, on so many levels, very difficult for her. Not that I think she processed in an instant. But I definitely think her knee would be the one that should go and then the problem of saying, “Okay, you go on,” would be very symbolic and well sorry for her.
When Waverly first met Jolene, it was the love affair between the Earp sisters that helped Waverly find the strength to fight her. But this time, Jolene arms that relationship. Does the fact that Jolene is capable of handling and injuring Waverly using Wynonna mean that there is truth in what she says?
I think that’s part of why Jolene’s words were so powerful because there was truth to them… She celebrates Wynonna’s loneliness, for the most part. And I think she really shows Waverly the depths of Wynonna’s isolation, and I think that would be a really painful thing for Waverly because I don’t think she ever looked. on Wynonna in such a harsh and realistic way before. So that’s the kind of genre behind how Jolene’s part was written, just that it’s not that far off. Waverly has to be a good guy all the time and Wynonna has to carry this burden and the kind of bad looks to do it, and that has to be a very lonely thing.
The program concludes this massive version of Waverly becoming a dark angel. Such a big topic in this program was the animation of the sisters and who make the sacrifices and have to be a hero. So how does Waverly’s transformation shift the movement between the sisters and play out moving forward?
For better or worse, Waverly takes full possession of the place she found in her life. And it kind of makes her independent of Wynonna, in fact, in a way she never was before. I think it will show Wynonna that she is not her little girl now, and that it is her own entity, whatever that entity is, and that she must kind of let go out.
I know Emily Andras is still trying to find him a new home Wynonna Earp. But if this season is really over, how do you feel about where the show and Wynonna are leaving?
I am very happy with it. I think the way it ends would be a big end. I think if we had to come back, there would be an interesting way to get back, because it seems to be neatly connected but in my mind there is always a way to get rid of it, you know? And so I think it’s a great ending. I’m very happy with it, but I also think Emily has just put so much heart into it. It felt like she opened her heart and let everything out into that script.
What was your greatest pride or joy in playing Wynonna for those four seasons?
Oh my God. I never liked a character as much as I liked Wynonna. And I think this is because not only of who she is and what she represents in terms of such a completely imperfect person, but because of the relationships she has had and the relationships we have developed as a result of the show. I think I learned so much about myself and what it means to be part of a family… My love for Wynonna seems to be the most important woman in my life. And I am so thankful that I met her and that I loved her and that I am her.