*** Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on The TV Junkies and has been republished here with the consent of its author and Emily Andras. ***

*** Warning: This article contains spoilers for the Wynonna Earp episode “Love’s All Over” ***

Could you feel the love, Earpers? Wynonna Earp is finally back! The supernatural western drama series returned Friday night to SYFY and CTV Sci-Fi for its final six episodes of Season 4. “Love’s All Over,” written by Shelley Scarrow and directed by Paolo Barzman, was a fun jump back into the Earp fold for all thanks to Cupid’s touch. You see, as it turns out, Cupid was tired of his job and tried to make Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) take over. So while she should be celebrating her engagement to Nicole (Katherine Barrell), Waverly had to fend off potential suitors including Bunny Loblaw (Jann Arden) and Amon (Noam Jenkins). 

Elsewhere, Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano) was busy once again avoiding confronting her issues with Doc (Tim Rozon). He’s still at odds with her over her decision to shoot Holt in the back, something the new Clanton heir, Cleo (Savannah Basley) has definitely not forgotten about. Just as she does every week, Wynonna Earp showrunner Emily Andras spoke with The TV Junkies all about the midseason premiere episode and what may be next.

The TV Junkies: This episode wasn’t initially intended as a midseason premiere, but that’s what it ended up being. It works really well as a fun step back into Earping, similarly to the way Episode 406 ended up being a good breaking point.

Emily Andras: It was, but I don’t feel like it’s as super splashy as you normally want your premiere to be. The finale of 4A was so serious so it did feel nice, and this did feel like a different season because time had passed and it was summer.

TTVJ: There’s still a lot of serious things at hand at this point in the season: Wynonna has just shot Holt, they trapped Billy in the basement, Doc and Wynonna are at odds. Why did you want to make such a light-hearted detour here with this Cupid episode?

EA: There’s no denying that everybody wants a bit of a chance to celebrate WayHaught. Look, they’ve been engaged a bunch of times, they’ve been through Hell, burped up frogs, melted some faces, so I’ve always thought it was a good idea to celebrate their engagement. I feel like they deserve that. Also, it worked out serendipitously that despite their problems, especially Doc and Wynonna, that this group of people really love each other. They really are a team — if they can just put their human shit aside, they can make it work. 

I think we were watching a lot of The Good Place around there. We were influenced by the idea of how messy humans are, but that the things that make them difficult are also the things that make them lovable. 

TTVJ: It all just felt so light and fun. I especially loved the cheesy effect when people fell under the Cupid spell.

EA: Oh I know, right? That was of course our brilliant director Paolo Barzman and Gavin Smith [Director of Photography]. That ‘80s hair metal, soap opera, Days of Our Lives type feeling was such a good, simple way to explain what they were seeing. We had a lot of fun, too, experimenting with the chime where we normally have a song. Was it going to be sexy saxaphone or something really romantic? It was such a gas. I loved the way it turned out and the lighting effect. God, I wish a camera crew could just follow me around all the time with that effect and a Beyoncé fan. 

TTVJ: Seriously, what Instagram filter is that?

EA: Exactly! Instagram filter Cupid’s arrow.

TTVJ: This was the first episode you had to shoot during COVID, and you were one of the first shows to return to production. How did that affect this episode? It seemed like there were more outdoor scenes and not a lot of extras at times. Not that we all don’t regularly have conversations on a couch outside in a parking lot…

EA: Oh, my god, someone has a short sleeve shirt on! What is even happening? What show is this? But you nailed it, BTrain, because that’s exactly what we did. We really decided to move outdoors and get that air flow going. It’s a real testament to the cast and crew because most of the effort that was put into shooting during the pandemic is off screen. Everyone wore their mask until the last minute. The number of people on set was limited, even the crew, and the cast was tested on the regular. 

I think you see it a little more in upcoming episodes. This one didn’t feel as challenging, but it’s more in things you don’t think of. For instance, when Waverly and Dmitri have to lick the spitballs, then we had something where people were putting projectiles into their mouths and spitting them at people. ‘Who’s getting rid of the spitballs? Are we using actual spitballs?’ It’s all the things you didn’t anticipate that come up in the moment. Stunts were big, too, because whenever you have a stunt where someone falls on a mat, you have to disinfect the stunt mat and swap it out. That stuff was a little more challenging. 

One thing that was interesting, but you don’t see it as much going forward, is that we decided it’d be easier to shoot stuff outside. However, as Season 4B went on, we figured out that doing it in our studio gave us better resources like bathrooms and sanitization stations. We were really learning on the fly. Hopefully you’re distracted by how fun the episode was and your Bunny Loblaws that you didn’t feel that anything was missing too much.

TTVJ: Speaking of Bunny, I think we were all thrilled to see Jann Arden back. How did that opportunity come about to bring her back?

EA: Listen, we will take as much Jann Arden as we can and are always up for more Bunny. She’s such a delicious character, and it’s so great to use her when you least expect it. Jann is a complete icon and so funny. I hope you’re all watching JANN on Hulu and CTV. To see her grow as a performer has been such a joy. I really think her performance in this episode is so funny.

The funny thing about Jann is that she just absolutely loves Alberta. She lives like 5 minutes from the set so she’ll just come by. She’ll say, ‘Hey, guys, I was just at Costco and got a bunch of juice boxes. Do you guys want any?’ Not to say that Jann Arden isn’t super busy, because she is, but she’s just such a lovely, good Albertan person. She loves the crew and loves the cast. It was lucky that the timing worked out. This episode was slated to shoot in March and got pushed to July so we were lucky with Jann’s schedule that she could still make it work.

I love Bunny Loblaw and think her character is so funny, fresh, and unexpected.

TTVJ: I lost it when she started singing “Insensitive.”

EA: Oh, my god! We would’ve never asked Jann to do that. We thought maybe Bunny could sing, but then Jann volunteered to sing “Insensitive.” Of course I almost died. The one thing is that Jann has her own guitar so she said she wasn’t bringing her own guitar to get smashed. So we said, ‘OK, diva!’ No I’m kidding! She just sang on the fly though and it was so amazing.

TTVJ: I know people have shipped Nedley and Mama Earp, but the pairing of Nedley and Bunny was really something. I think I ship it.
EA: That was the fun thing about the Cupid episode, too, because it was almost a chance for some people to see people they’ve known their whole lives in a different, romantic way. I liked seeing Nedley with some swagger in his step. I didn’t hate that. Hey man, maybe they hooked up back in the day at church camp. Who knows?

TTVJ: I would love one day in the future to see something with those two.

EA: Maybe. If you’re pitching the Bunny/Nedley spinoff, then I’m in!

TTVJ: They were followed closely by Doc and Nedley dancing because I died at that, too.

EA: Oh, I know! That’s the Wynonna Earp way, celebrating all different types of love. Again, the gift of this show is taking any two members of this cast, putting them in a scene together in an unexpected way, and there’s magic. I definitely didn’t think I’d see that when I started writing in Season 1, but here we are! It was pretty amazing. There are some pretty great outtakes from everyone with all the dancing.

TTVJ: Wynonna claims that she’s doing fine, but she clearly isn’t and is avoiding facing some of her problems head on. What’s she thinking sleeping with Amon and how worried should we be about her?

EA: As always, Wynonna is thinking two things at once. One: ‘F you guys for telling me what to do and I’ll do what I want.’ Two: ‘I’m only worthy of disdain and hate and this is what I deserve. I deserve something that’s messed up, unhealthy, and toxic because I am all of those things.’

TTVJ: Oh, no, baby.

EA: I know, but that’s it. We have quite a heartbroken Wynonna in this episode. No matter how much time has gone on, she is really struggling with what she did and Doc’s response. I think we should be fairly worried about it, but I’m not going to shame Wynonna for her sexual choices. I’d be more worried in a philosophical sense about what it means if she’s making choices that she knows are destructive and don’t make her happy. I’d be worried about that.

TTVJ: We saw that Cleo is definitely still around and not happy about what the Earps have done to her family. I’m excited about that even though I know she’s bad.

EA: I know, she’s awesome! I love the last song and the parallel between Wynonna’s journey on the way down and Cleo who has picked herself back up. But that’s not what you want and everyone is at the exact wrong place.

TTVJ: It did feel quite cathartic to see her feed Margo to the reapers, though.

EA: We got a lot of bad parents on Wynonna Earp, and it’s always good to see someone shake off the shackles of dysfunction and abuse. Although, cannibalism is pretty extreme but a theme from 2021 it turns out. I feel like we should’ve had a crystal ball.

TTVJ: And she did it in a cute dress with no gloves!

EA: I know! That’s not how I feed my dog to the ancestors. I have overalls and a bad pair of Crocs. She had a great pair of Hunter boots. I never look that good. 

TTVJ: So you won’t tell us anything, but now that she’s back, and knows Billy is back, any hints as to what she may be planning?

EA: I very much enjoy how you start by saying you won’t tell us. It’s the reverse psychology of ‘you used to be cool, man’ so now I’ll tell you everything. Just kidding, I still tell you nothing! Cleo is now CEO of Clanton, Inc. In a warped way, she still isn’t quite out from under the idea that the Clantons need to get revenge and lift themselves up from their own curse. In a terrible way, she’s going to try to fulfill her mom’s legacy, but she’ll do it in a very Cleo way which is very chaotic evil. She’s a wild card!

TTVJ: Doc did learn from Cleo that Nicole offered him up in an exchange for getting Waverly out of the Garden. He said he understands but does he? What repercussions may that have?

EA: I just want to give it up for Tim Rozon’s hurt, puppy dog Doc performance when he says to Cleo that he understands, and she says, ‘why are you helping me?’ And he says, ‘that’s what I do. I’m a good sidekick.’ I just think it’s so sad that Doc doesn’t think he’s in control of his own fate and can never really be the hero. That was a pretty good little moment and stay tuned. It definitely gets addressed and Doc has to speak to Nicole about it, but he at least thinks he’s on a journey of redemption, forgiveness, and acceptance. We will just have to see how he handles it, but I’d say Season 4 Doc will definitely handle it differently than would Season 2 or Season 1 Doc. 

TTVJ: Only five episodes left — cue me crying — but what can we expect next week?

EA: I would say we have another really fun one. It is time for an episode that really revisits the Earp sisters’ relationship and where they are at. We have a lot of tricks and treats up our sleeve.

Wynonna Earp airs Fridays at 10 p.m. on SYFY and CTV Sci-Fi.