On Sunday night, the star of Syfy’s Wynonna Earp, Melanie Scrofano (Wynonna Earp, Letterkenny), stepped behind-the-camera to direct her first episode and was championed by fans and castmates alike on Twitter with the trending hashtag #ProudofMel. According to the Los Angeles Times, Scrofano was nominated for the director position by her coworkers as early as season 1.

Scrofano prepared for her fated role by shadowing director Paolo Barzman, who has helmed 17 of the show’s episodes to-date, during season 3, via LA Times. However, the end of season 3 saw a prolonged hiatus and uncertain future for the supernatural western, leaving it unclear whether the Canadian actress would get the opportunity to direct an episode herself.

Destiny may play as much of role on screen as it does behind-the-scenes at Wynonna Earp, as the production determinedly swerved passed obstacles and uncertainty to bring fans another season and a long-awaited Scrofano directed episode. On July 26, nearly 2 years after the season 3 finale, Wynonna Earp returned to Syfy for its fourth season despite production halts caused by COVID-19, via Deadline.

The gun-slinging SyFy series following the cursed ancestor of Wyatt Earp has garnered a reputation online for its dedicated army of fans who refer to themselves as “Earpers.” Given the fanbase, it might come as no surprise that #ProudofMel began to trend regarding Scrofano’s directorial debut with episode “Look at Them Beans.” However, the conversation became particularly sentimental when the cast and crew, who have followed Scrofano on her journey to the director’s chair, began contributing to the trending hashtag.

According to the LA Times, Scrofano’s costar Tim Rozon is the one responsible for “planting the seed” that eventually grew into Sunday’s episode by casually asking her when she planned on directing during the filming of the show’s first season. Rozon, who portrays famed outlaw Doc Holliday on the show, relayed that his early confidence in Scrofano was not misplaced by tweeting that she “absolutely killed it”.

Melanie Scrofano you absolutely killed it. 💫 💫💫💫💫 ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ @MelanieScrofano #WynonnaEarp #ProudOfMel

— Tim Rozon (@realtimrozon) August 10, 2020

The Wynonna Earp team echoed Rozon’s sentiments Sunday evening. “Proud is an understatement” tweeted actress Dominique Provost-Chalkley, who plays Wynonna’s sister Waverly on the show and went on to call Scrofano herself “family”. Katherine Barrell, the actress behind Sheriff Nicole Haught, treated fans to behind-the-scenes photos and stories when she live-tweeted the episode using the #ProudofMel hashtag. Showrunner Emily Andras could be found live-tweeting Sunday’s episode as well and epitomizing her love for Scrofano with the tweet: “Siri show me the heroine that has changed my life.”

Proud is an understatement. @MelanieScrofano you are an inspiration… Our fierce leader. A badass director. But most importantly family. Congratulations sweetheart ❤️ #ProudofMel #WynonnaEarp
Ok byeeee everyone! ✌🏼

— Dominique P-C (@DominiqueP_C) August 10, 2020

Siri show me the heroine that has changed my life. #ProudOfMel pic.twitter.com/QHimeJWbUe

— Emily Andras (@emtothea) August 9, 2020

When Melanie Scrofano herself took notice of the trending hashtag, she remarked that she was “beyond blown away” and expressed gratitude toward the fans and Emily Andras (in a follow-up tweet).

I was in the mountains minding my own business when I came home to find out that #ProudOfMel is trending. I’m beyond blown away. I just want to make you guys as happy as you make me. I can’t Earpin’ wait for #WynonnaEarp tonight.

— Melanie Scrofano (@MelanieScrofano) August 9, 2020

According to Deadline, Wynonna Earp will see a mid-season finale on August 30 after just six episodes, due to the COVID-19 disruption in production, though filming of the second-half of season 4 has now resumed in Calgary. Syfy has renewed the series through season 5, which means another Scrofano directed episode could very well be on Wynonna Earp’s horizon.