‘Wynonna Earp’: Dominique Provost-Chalkley on That Mother of a Season 2 Finale
Q&A
Purgatory had its share of hell and heaven in Wynonna Earp’s second season.
Among the memorable moments in a season full of monsters, Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano) got pregnant, gave birth in a saloon, sent the baby girl away for safekeeping and revealed she knew where her mother was! Her sister Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) was possessed by a Revenant demon (a revived outlaw killed by Wyatt Earp), broke up, then reunited with Nicole (Katherine Barrell—the other half of fan fave couple known as WayHaught), and proved she wasn’t a Revenant by being able to use the demon-killing Peacemaker colt available only to Wyatt Earp’s heirs, then passing through the demon-proof Ghost River Triangle barrier.
TV Insider spoke with Provost-Chalkley and creator Emily Andras about the emotional and action-packed season finale and what’s up for Wynonna Earp Season 3.
Melanie Scrofano must be the coolest pregnant woman ever. How far along was she by the season finale?
Emily Andras: I feel confident that Melanie was the coolest pregnant woman ever. The last scene she shot was when she was on the pool table having the baby. Four days later, she delivered a baby boy for real! To add to the story she was in ADR adding in dialogue, and when she was finished she went into labor. She’s like a pioneer woman who would be back working on the sod roof. She worked with our stunt coordinator to make sure the stunts she wanted to do were safe for a pregnant woman. She was so fit, she was still wearing leather pants in the finale!
Dominique, how was filming that childbirth scene so close to Melanie’s due date?
Dominique Provost-Chalkley: I was absolutely petrified that day! Honestly, when she was doing the contractions and breathing and giving birth in the scene, I was holding her hand, and I kept thinking, if she’s going to push, then it’s going to come out. It looked so real. You can see my worry about Mel on my face the whole time. No acting was required.
Emily, did you know that Wynonna would give up her baby from the start?
Andras: From the beginning. The things I wasn’t sure about was whether the baby would be human, demon or even metaphorical. In the end, I thought it was a powerful story to tell about a real woman who gets accidentally pregnant and bravely gives the baby, named Alice, up. We thought it would be right to have a human baby in the midst of all the chaos. Even though the baby will be off screen, it will provide an even deeper motivation to break the Earp curse so Alice won’t have to.
How will Wynonna react next season after relinquishing her child?
Andras: How she usually does: drinking and fighting through the pain. It will affect the baby’s daddy, Doc Holliday (Tim Rozon), Waverly and the whole gang. But you will see as we always promise, more of the “feminist fun,” as you’ve called it. We’ll get Wynonna back angrier and wittier than ever.
Will Wynonna and Doc be a couple? How about the equally hunky Agent Dolls (Shamier Anderson) whom she kissed last season?
Andras: It’s complicated. It’s hilarious that she and Doc have had a baby when they’be barely had a relationship or romance. Dolls finally found an opening where he could proclaim his intentions and then she got pregnant. It’s hard that Dolls and Doc kind of developed an affinity for each other. I think we’ll bring in somebody next year to shake up our love triangle.
Even more complications! What other new characters can we expect?
Andras: I’m looking at stealing some characters from the comic book series and the creator Beau’s unique weird mind. We will have new villains to meet next year, for sure.
Provost-Chalkley: I want to say that Varun Saranga and his character, Jeremy, have been a wonderful addition to the show. I think that Jeremey is the new Waverly, and we’ll see a lot more of him next season.
Now that we know Waverly can’t be a Revenant because she was able to use Peacemaker and briefly leave the triangle. Is she 100% human?
Andras: All we know at this point is that she’s not part Revenant.
Provost-Chalkley: That was a huge relief when she stepped over the boundary, but she still doesn’t know who she is; that’s really hard for her.
She learned that Revenant Bobo (Michael Eklund) isn’t her father, though he is kin of some sorts. Bobo’s stuck in a well, will he be back?
Andras: Michael Eklund is so delicious and the character knows so much information that I’m fairly confident he’ll be back in some capacity.
Pictured: (l-r) Melanie Scrofano as Wynonna Earp, Dominique Provost-Chalkley as Waverly Earp
There was another huge shocker in the finale. We saw Wynonna talking to a woman we saw from the back and it was her long lost mother! She said the ominous line, “He’s rising, maybe now you’ll believe me.” What’s going on?
Andras: Well, Mama seems to have some knowledge about Baltshar, who is the demon who essentially cursed the Earps in the first place. Wynonna clearly knows where Mama lives and has for some time. The big questions are: who is mama, and why did Mamma leave three little girls with a not very good alcoholic father? And what will the fallout be if and when Waverly learns that Wynonna has known where their mother is.
I’ll hazard that it won’t be good, considering how angry Waverly was when Nicole didn’t tell her that she had an ex-wife!
Andras: It will be juicy. Get some popcorn. I also think that Mama can shed some light on Waverly’s parentage. I can’t wait for Mama to turn around and see who we cast. In my mind, she’s Lucy Lawless. It would be so funny if we could get Xena, the foremother of female warriorism, for Wynonna’s mom. I have a few people on my wish list.
Provost-Chalkley: It’s beautiful how the season was bookmarked with that, because the idea of motherhood has been such a strong storyline. I think Waverly will feel completely betrayed by Wynonna that she didn’t let her in regarding Mama. It will be interesting to see a divide between the siblings.
Well, she forgave her girlfriend Nicole.
Andras: They still have a lot to talk about, but there’s no doubt that they’re the romance of the show, the one that we’re cheering for.
Provost-Chalkley: Even though fans were upset to see our characters grow apart, this is clearly true love, a relationship that they both want on a very deep level.
A wedding next season?
Provost-Chalkley: [Laughs] I think that would make a lot of people very happy. Emily should take note.
Andras: A wedding? I don’t know, but with the right kind of incentives, maybe….
Waverly has dedicated a lot of her life to trying to break the Earp curse. When the time comes, shouldn’t she be at least part of that solution?
Provost-Chalkley: The fact that Waverly wants it so deeply is a beautiful support to Wynonna. The strength of the sisters together breaking the curse is ultimately what should happen. The brains of the operation paired with the woman who puts her heart into it full force. It’s a partnership but of course, Waverly will always make sure that Wynonna is the one who finds the cure. She’s the star of the show!
Wynonna Earp, Season 3, 2018
