*** Warning: This article contains spoilers for the Wynonna Earp episode “Old Souls”. ***

Even after all the tears have evaporated and eyes have dried, we’re guessing that it’s going to take awhile to wipe the smile off of many Earpers’ faces after that Wynonna Earp Season 4 finale episode. The finale, “Old Souls,” written by Emily Andras and directed by Paolo Barzman, saw many of the series’ main characters get happy endings and start out on the path to new beginnings. Many fans have not given up hope that the series, which was cancelled by SYFY after four seasons, despite having previously renewed it for a Season 5, will find a new U.S. distributor, but in many ways this finale episode served as the perfect end to an incredible four season run. 

At the center of the story was Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano) herself, struggling over whether or not she should allow herself to follow Doc (Tim Rozon), put down the burden of being the Earp heir, and leave Purgatory behind. The struggle between these two has been ongoing, but recently Doc really worked to prove that he truly was a changed man. For his portrayer Rozon, seeing Doc’s growth culminate in the way it did in the finale has been nothing short of a gift. “The mistakes he made in Season 3, and where he came from in Seasons 1 and 2, it’s all led up to this great change. The only word that comes to mind is gratefulness and thankfulness. What an absolute gift Emily Andras gave me in this character, to be able to play and be so proud of the man he became. It was just remarkable,” he recently said. 

In the end, Rozon explained that Doc “just realized he had to let go of the past,” something that was a little harder for Wynonna. “The way Doc saw it towards the end was just ‘we don’t need to fight anymore. At what point are you just holding onto the fight for the sake of the fight?’ It’s easier for him to say that because he doesn’t have the actual burden of being the hero.” Scrofano has a theory of her own as to why it took longer for Wynonna to come around. “Part of the reason she carried that mantle was because it was a way to avoid the pain if things don’t work out with Doc. She used it as protection.” Scrofano went on to say that Wynonna thought without being the Earp heir that “nobody would need her — not her sister, not Doc, or her friends. I think by the end she finally realizes that he seems serious. ‘Maybe I am enough? Maybe I should try this.’”

Though all the changes in Doc and her own willingness to leave still couldn’t soley get Wynonna out of town. In the end, it was all Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley), as she gave her big sister the push she needed to let go, a bittersweet moment for Scrofano. “It was so bittersweet, at least for me when I read it, because I wanted Waverly to want her to stay. She is doing the right thing, which is true Waverly, and she’s doing exactly what Wynonna needs. When I read it I just wanted her to ask her to stay so they could be sisters forever.”

Prior to Waverly’s last big push out the door, a moment that undoubtedly brought about many Earper tears was Doc’s speech to Wynonna about how he thought about love during his time at the bottom of the well for all those years. “I remember when I read it that I was immediately moved with happiness and joy — even in the pain there’s joy because of how far the character has come,” said Rozon. He went on to share that “sometimes playing the character, he’s so different than I am, it was difficult, but that’s the job. This Doc was closer to how I would’ve felt which was nice. It was therapeutic.”

“I told you a lie when we first met. All those years at the bottom of a well. Yes, vengeance drove my thinking, kept me alive, and gave me a purpose, but when it was dark and I was scared — and I have been scared for a long time, Wynonna — I mostly thought about love. See, life is short, but it is long and it is lonely, so if you manage to find a group of souls that will tolerate you, and elevate you, and one, and one that will especially love you, well that is all it’s about. That is what the fight is really for.”

Doc Holliday

Filming that scene was equally emotional for Scrofano. She says that she “didn’t let him say those words until we started shooting because I wouldn’t have kept it together. I was crying when I got dressed for that scene. Then when he did say them, they were incredible and magic.” She also told us that they had to shoot the scene under some pretty crazy conditions. “What’s funny is that during that scene it got so windy that the mics kept not working, we couldn’t hear ourselves, and the car wouldn’t start when Tim went to drive away. It was like the universe was saying Doc couldn’t leave. It felt to me like everything that Wynonna wanted to say, but wasn’t saying, was coming out in this perfect storm stopping Doc from leaving. It was really magical and like even the universe was invested in the outcome of this season.”

After all the speeches were done and Wynonna finally realized that she could go with Doc, the couple were set to ride off into the sunset to go see their daughter, Alice. The fact that they did get such a happy ending may have come to a surprise to many fans. For Rozon, he said “it’s what I always wanted” because “I’m a hopeful romantic,” and that he “thought it was absolutely beautiful. There’s one thing to read and watch it, but getting to perform it was incredible and very medicinal.”

Scrofano said she wasn’t surprised at the fact that the finale contained a happy ending, she just didn’t think it’d be for Wynonna and Doc. “I thought that Waverly and Nicole would get a happy ending. I thought that Wynonna and Doc would just never get it together. I never even thought of it as an option, that Wynonna would leave and say she was done. I love that I didn’t think that and it was such a nice surprise. It’s so nice to be surprised by this story that we’ve been telling for a long time. If Emily were to write the next 10 years of it, I know that every turn would be a surprise and I wouldn’t see it coming. That’s what I love so much about our show.”

So now Wynonna Earp leaves Purgatory with Doc Holliday on the back of her motorcycle. Rozon said it was a move that “makes perfect sense for so many reasons,” and that he loved it because “I’m an Earper, too.” Scrofano saw it as “an image of peace and an ease that they hadn’t had in forever. It was so symbolic of their journey, where they have come from, and where they are going. It was a powerful image.” Will they eventually be back to Purgatory, though? “Yes, that’s where their home is,” Scrofano said. “This adventure with just the two of them is such a nice way to allow them to be alone together, with no distractions, and a chance to really be together. This is what they need, but I do ultimately think that their home is with the people they love and that includes Waverly, Nicole, and Alice.”

While many Earpers will be happy over what went down in the finale, it’s going to be a heartbreaking thought to think that this ride may not continue. If Wynonna Earp is unable to find a U.S. distributor for Season 5, we all could have just watched our last Wynonna episode. That’s a thought that affects the actors as well. “For me to not be able to play Doc Holliday, to say I wasn’t gutted would be a lie. I love that character more than any other character I’ve gotten to play,” said Rozon. 

There is one thing that makes the pill a little easier to swallow, though. “Of course I just want to do Doc forever,” said Rozon, “but the only part that makes it easier is just how beautiful the story ended. I found that remarkable and it makes it easier.” He also added that he’s “super happy for the Earpers because they get an ending to the four year story we’ve told.” Scrofano agreed, saying that if this indeed the end of the road, “we didn’t get cheated. Nobody got cheated or ripped off by a loose end. Everybody had forward momentum and yet, had kind of wrapped everything up. If it were to go again, I could see it, but if it weren’t, I don’t think anyone can really say we did wrong by them.”