Wynonna Earp: Emily Andras Talks “She Ain’t Right”

*** Warning: This article contains major spoilers for the Wynonna Earp Season 2 episode “She Ain’t Right” ***

“It’s time to be serious,” Wynonna Earp showrunner Emily Andras told us and boy, she was right! This week’s episode was chock full of Earp sister goodness before it took an absolutely shocking turn with some insane events over the last several minutes. The demon that had been possessing Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) ever since she touched that mysterious black goo, has now seemed to jump ship into the “more fun” older sister Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano). Now the Earp heir is the one possessed and oh yeah, remember Dolls? It turns out he is more fire-breathing dragon than lizard!

The craziness of “She Ain’t Right,” written by Ramona Barckert and directed by Ron Murphy, didn’t stop there though. The Earp girls spent the episode fighting off a demon mob boss (played by Bellevue’s Billy MacLellan) and Waverly went undercover for Black Badge Division, allowing Provost-Chalkley to show off her impressive singing skills. We also saw that Mercedes Gardner (Dani Kind) is still around, but she and sister Beth (Meghan Heffern) have gotten a bit of a face lift thanks to the Widows.

With such a crazy and insane episode there was much to discuss, and thankfully, Wynonna Earp showrunner Andras joined us for her weekly postmortem chat. She discusses a little of what we can expect now that the goo has left Waverly for Wynonna and what’s next now that Dolls is back in town. She also shares why she knew she wanted to include Provost-Chalkley’s skillset into Waverly’s storyline this week. As always, once you’ve read what Andras has to say about the episode, be sure to add your own thoughts and theories in our comments section!

The TV Junkies: What the hell was that ending? Emily Andras, explain yourself!

Emily Andras: Oh yeah, that. Look, what’s better than one Earp sister tentacle? Double tentacle! Come on, Bridget. You thought Gooverly was trouble, but I’d like you to buckle up for Goononna, who is, hello, the Earp heir, super powerful, and now seems to be inhabited by some sort of demon. Just skip Episode 5, it’s too much for you.

TTVJ: Before anyone else can coin it, here’s your chance, now that Gooverly is no more, what’s the Goo name for Wynonna? Are we going with Goononna?

EA: No, I have absolutely taken a backseat on the naming because you know how delighted and humbled I was by Gooverly. I would never, ever attempt to name Wynonna. Something with calamari? No, I don’t know. Make it your own, people, but get back to me though! I mean, if anyone survives. Let’s just get through Episode 5, 6, 7, 8.

TTVJ: Dominique has been absolutely amazing this season playing Waverly being possessed by this demon, but now we get to see Melanie Scrofano take a turn at it, and I’m giddy with excitement.

EA: From the student to the master. It’s pretty intense. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I don’t know why I just don’t make all these characters evil because they are so delicious.

TTVJ: Tim’s touching the goo next…

EA: Tim’s touching the goo, Shamier is just having the goo on his bread, Evil Nedley, sure. Everybody! That was kind of an insane ending, but I really like a really intense, crazy cliffhanger, Bridget. I like it.

TTVJ: Well, mission accomplished!

EA: Yay! Good!

TTVJ: One thing that had me curious was Peacemaker burning Wynonna’s hand once the demon was inside her, but last week we saw Waverly holding the gun when Wynonna was polishing it. What’s up with that? Shouldn’t it have burned Waverly too?

EA: She wasn’t in tentacle mode. She wasn’t pure Gooverly. All your questions are going to be answered, Bridget. The goo is going to affect them differently. Waverly is a woman of extraordinary talents and I think the fact that she was able to hold off this goo as long as she did is the good news. The bad news is that it’s now in sexy, badass Wynonna.

TTVJ: Who is a lot more fun, according to the goo. Dom was so good when she was like ‘I’m not having any fun!’ How is that the same person that plays nice little Waverly?

EA: Because she just commits, and all in a different accent. Amazing! But don’t you feel like you just want Earp sister scenes all the time? It’s incredible. They are just sitting tied to a chair for most of this episode and it’s the most compelling stuff we’ve ever put on television.

TTVJ: No, it’s amazing. I could watch it for hours, and right before that moment we finally get that nice scene of Waverly admitting something was wrong with her.

EA: I know, I know. It’s finally coming to a head and you just feel the guilt and panic on Wynonna’s face as she tries to remain calm. I feel so sorry for Wynonna, and I know there’s a joke about her being Oblivious Wynonna, but she has so much on her gorgeous shoulders, truly, and I just think it’s hard to keep track of it all. Maybe the one thing she’s taken for granted is that Waverly is OK, finally in a good place, and dating someone she likes, and finding herself. I feel so terrible for Wynonna that she just cannot catch a break.

TTVJ: Because it was even nice when she goes back to Haught and apologizes and says she does think something is wrong.

EA: I think Wynonna really likes Nicole, and I think the vice versa is true, even though I also like they aren’t at all the same type of person. I think so much of their disagreements in Episode 203 were because they are both just looking at Waverly through blinders, and want to protect her so badly, that it wasn’t even about Nicole or Wynonna. It was just about them both being concerned, but in a different ways.

TTVJ: Now that Waverly has the demon outside of her, what’s next for her? Will we see her go back to her old self?

EA: Is she going to go back to her old self? She’s lying on the ground with evil demon, tentacled Wynonna/whatever we decide to call her/name pending there! I think she’s in a lot of trouble, Bridget. There’s no going to Ikea, there’s no going back to being Purgatory’s nicest person. She’s in a lot of danger. So out of the frying pan and into the tentacle fryer, that’s what I think.

TTVJ: So Dominique’s trick this week was singing and we got a real, full on moment of getting to hear that and she was amazing. Was this just another instance of you knowing her talents and trying to work them in?

EA: I really want you to know this, all actors work a lot harder than you think they do. They work 14-18 hour days, they have to workout, they have to take care of themselves, learn their lines, and work extraordinarily hard. But I want you all to know that the very same week Dominique cheerleaded for 8 hours a day, she also had to sing and do this whole performance. So I went with Dommie to the sound booth so that she knew someone was there to support her because she was pretty nervous. The truth is that she was on the West End when she was a teenager, in the Spice Girls musical with Killjoys’ Hannah John Kamen, and is crazy talented.

So I knew Dominique was a good singer and it felt like a good fit. We knew we wanted to make her infiltrate this demon mob and we were like, ‘Oh, it’d be fun if she had a special skill, and literally had to go undercover like a Bond girl, and if she had to sing that’d be really fun.’ So we recorded the song and we picked it with the ever brilliant Andrea Higgins [music supervisor]. I sent Dom a bunch of choices because I wanted her to feel comfortable, and luckily she picked the song that I loved which is “Girls Are Like Guns.” We have a recording of that song and I’m sure we’ll put it out in some capacity.

TTVJ: Are there other tricks from her this season?

EA: Yes, Dominique still has some tricks up her sleeve. She actually does. She works so hard and this has been an incredible year for her.

TTVJ: At least you didn’t make her play one-handed as a trick for very long.

EA: That was a good act out though, right? I was proud of that act out because it was so painful. The pain on Melanie’s face and the pain, it’s just so terrifying. It’s so fraught! I just love Earp sister drama and how hard they’ll fight for each other, no matter what.

TTVJ: The other huge WTF moment in the episode is that Dolls isn’t so much a lizard as he is a freakin’ fire-breathing dragon! What in the world? Is this a cool new party trick?

EA: It’s a pretty good party trick. That’s a pretty good one. I can Russian dance, that’s my party trick. I’m an excellent Russian dancer, as I have a very low center of gravity. I just want that on the record, but I’m not a dragon. I just thought it was such an awesome trick and it’s so fun and funny. Shamier has been such a good sport about being patient and like ‘What am I?’ We were like ‘Oh, we’ll let you know…’

He seems to be some sort of flaming lizard/dragon creature/demon, but he is badass! I’m so happy he’s back. What a return!

TTVJ: Is he back to stay now and if so, how will they get around Black Badge?

EA: He is and they are going to have to deal with that. There’s no doubt about that, but they are a family. There’s something to be said for destiny as he’s been returned to them. I think they worked so hard to save him, recreate his drugs for him, and so, I think he’s pretty determined to stay and help them out when they need it most. He is a wanted man and escaped fugitive and no one hates him more than Lucado, right? That’s going to have to be dealt with.

TTVJ: I feel better about his chances knowing he’s a dragon, though.

EA: Yes, I agree. I feel like you can cut to the front of the line. You don’t have to wait at the bank if you’re a dragon. I feel like he has advantage as a dragon. If he can control it, it seems kind of crazy.

TTVJ: I really loved the Doc and Dolls moments in this episode and that they acknowledged the elephant in the room between them, but then pushed past it.

EA: Well, they are grown ups. One of them is 150 years old, and one of them is maybe a dragon, but they are still grown ups. I think their relationship has changed so much this year. In a weird way, instead of them just being rivals and competitors, the fact that they both care about Wynonna, Waverly, Haught, and everybody, that’s almost what bonds them. But I do agree that I like that they can actually joke around about it a little bit.

I thought the boys were so good in this episode, and I honestly don’t think they get enough credit. I think they are so supportive and I really love the way we write them, though I’m completely biased. They are really interesting and complicated, but ultimately they’re such good men in that they support the female characters on our show so much. So it’s nice to see them have their moment.

TTVJ: We got to see Doc Holliday: Jack Bauer edition and he even got a new hat.

EA: I’m so sorry you had to suffer through that, Bridget. I know how you feel about Doc Holliday. You’re like ‘Get him off my screen, shave that mustache, I’m not interested.’

TTVJ: I loved that Doc was so excited because I was thinking that’s probably how Tim felt shooting it.

EA: Tim has no poker face and is the complete antithesis of Doc Holliday. So when he reads it at the read-through he honestly tears up and starts fist pumping when he finds out he gets to use his guns. It’s ridiculous. He has no game. He’s so happy when he gets to shoot something. His whole thing is that Wynonna always gets to shoot something and he’s like ‘Hello, I’m supposed to be the best gunslinger of all time.’ But he’s also so supportive that he’s like ‘The show is called Wynonna Earp so she’s got to kill the thing.’

He was very excited to get his hat back. I didn’t think the hat back was going to be such a big deal. Hatgate 2017 has come to an end. Our national nightmare is over. It’s a beautiful thing and the best reunion ever.

TTVJ: The Gardners are a super creepy bunch, especially now that they got facelifts.

EA: How crazy was that when you saw Mercedes again and were like what is happening? First of all, she’s mainlining bacon, which I like and thought ‘that’s my girl.’ Then, it’s like she’s never tasted bacon before so what’s going on? Can we give a shoutout to the special effects team, Bleeding Art Industries, Leo Wieser and everyone for the totally disgusting face job they did on the original Mercedes and Beth. Disgusting! Horrific!

TTVJ: I kind of liked the new Mercedes in that we get snarky, sort of mean Dani Kind.

EA: Can we keep Dani Kind in any form? I don’t know what she is, as her face has obviously been lifted and stuck on one of The Widows. And how creepy was Tucker when he basically gave up his sisters?

TTVJ: Also A+ wardrobe points for that cat shirt on him.

EA: I have to say I really pushed for that because I wanted him to dress as an anime loving pedophile. The wardrobe was like ‘OK’ and they don’t miss a beat! He has some excellent t-shirts this year.

TTVJ: Any hints as to what “nurturing his prowess” entails then?

EA: Nothing good. I think it needs to be clear that those two have come to Purgatory with a very specific goal in mind. What I like about Episode 204 is that whether you can see it yet or not, everything is starting to circle the Earps again. It all comes back to the Earps, the curse, the Ghost River Triangle, and all that stuff. We had our fun, but this is when we get hella serialized, so pay attention and I look forward to your crazy Twitter theories.

TTVJ: What can you preview about Episode 205?

EA: Episode 205 is one of my favorite episodes. We have Wynonna having been tentacled, which means Melanie “greatest actress of her generation” Scrofano is completely off the chain. If you read other interviews you’ve heard Mel, Dominique, and others talk about a huge, game-changer in this episode so just stay tuned. It has one of the biggest things we’ve ever done on the show. It’s also got a lot of really disgusting moments that I’m really exceptionally proud of.

OK Earpers, what just happened? Please share your thoughts on that insane episode and let us know what you think is next in the comments below!

Wynonna Earp airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on Syfy and Space Channel.