On Friday, April 9, the SyFy supernatural western drama Wynonna Earp comes to an end after five years on the air, as reported by Entertainment Weekly. The series finale, titled “Old Souls,” is set on the Earp family homestead and documents the long-awaited wedding of the titular character’s younger sister Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley, The Carmilla Movie) and town sheriff Nicole Haught (Katherine Barrell, Workin’ Moms), SyFy Wire reports.
For longtime fans of the cult series, the relationship between Waverly and Nicole has been one of the most dramatic and engaging storylines the show has had to offer. It even comes with an official ship name– WayHaught. Writing for The L.A. Times, Tracy Brown (The Chicago Tribune) heaped praise on the warmth and tact on display in the series’ depiction of sapphic love: “The characters have been authentic and relatable, and their relationship affectionate and passionate, without ever falling into the voyeuristic male gaze that lesser shows still seem unable to shake. Plus, Waverly and Nicole’s relationship has been the only committed, long-running romance of the series.” Wynonna Earp showrunner Emily Andras (Lost Girl, Killjoys), in manner similar to the program’s online fan community, has been using the hashtag #WayHaughtWedding in a series of posts on her Twitter account, including her most recent pinned tweet:
Another popular hashtag among fans is #BringWynonnaHome, which is plea for the program’s renewal by either a network or a streaming service, Film Daily reports. Wynonna Earp was renewed for season five in the summer of 2019, but the order was allegedly reversed following top-level reorganization of SyFy’s parent company NBCUniversal, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Andras confessed that she has not lost hope in the possibility of the show returning in the future and how that informs number of events in the finale. “I was determined to give [fans] a fairly satisfying ending. There are some things that are unresolved because I like to hedge my bets or come back for a movie in twenty years. Whatever happens, I’m really proud of the finale,” Andras stated, via Entertainment Weekly.
Andras delved deeper into the process of writing “Old Souls” in her interview on the TV’s Top 5 podcast. “[Former SyFy head of originals] Bill McGoldrick (Channel Zero) was huge fan… He may or may not have said to me, ‘Emily Andras, you are famous for… cliffhangers at the end of every season. Just in case, do you think that you could… do less cliffhangers [sic] and give us a pretty good ending? And I promise [that] if we can, we’ll still do season five.’ I said yes… I did have a great cliffhanger, but my network exec loved the other emotional ending,” Andras recalled, via The Hollywood Reporter.
The emotional Wynonna Earp series finale comes to SyFy on April 9 at 10 P.M. Eastern.