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Wynnona Earp - Purgatory - Review

Apr 4, 2016

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My reaction to the pilot of Wynonna Earp is similar to many of the other light hearted, tongue in cheek Syfy fare, meh. Z Nation, for example, premiered on Syfy with a rather unimpressive episode. However, the B-movie inspired zombie show slowly grew on me over its first two seasons; it had a certain charm and a self-awareness about it that made it one of my favourite guilty pleasures on television as it now heads into its third season. Based on its characters alone, Wynonna Earp has great potential to follow suit.

This adaptation of an IDW comic series stars Melanie Scrofano as the great, great granddaughter of Wyatt Earp. The legendary family is cursed and when each heir turns the random age of 27 demons, otherwise known as revenants, arise in the town of Purgatory. The only way to kill them is by using Wyatt's "peacemaker."

We are introduced to a cast of eclectic supporting characters. Among them, Wynonna's spunky and curious sister Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkey), who first appears barging into a room where Wynonna is interrogating her boyfriend, shooting one round off. An emphatic and humorous intro to quite the dynamic character.

There is also Xavier Dolls (Shamier Anderson), a special agent who recruits Earp, and who they already teased as being a future love interest. Lastly, there is the mysterious and apparently immortal Doc Holliday, who may or may not be an ally to Wynonna.

Based on this first episode, Wynonna Earp does not offer anything new to the supernatural genre. It is a mix of various TV series, in particular Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Justified, which the showrunners cited as inspiration for the show. However, Scrofano is strong as the lead, she brings wit and brevity, and has a great screen presence. Provost-Chalkey has a certain infectious energy about her in the role of Waverly, and Anderson plays the straight man character as good as any.

There were some strong emotional beats too. The scene where Waverly calls out her sister as a coward, after Wynonna decides to run away again from Purgatory and thus her destiny, was a memorable moment. The fact Wynonna is aware of her flaws and just accepts it and doesn't try to change makes her a compelling character.

Overall, 'Purgatory' introduced Wynonna Earp with some clunky and generic storytelling, however, this did not hold down the show too much. A strong cast and the fact the show is aware of how fun it can be provides plenty of promise and intrigue to keep tuning in.


7/10


What did you guys think? Will you continue to watch? Leave your thoughts below!


About the Author - Kollin Lore
Kollin is an entertainment writer and a film and television, in particular genre TV, freak having grown up during the 90s and early 2000s a dedicated fan of Buffy and Angel. Current shows like Person of Interest, Supernatural, Ripper Street, Penny Dreadful, Grimm, The Blacklist, Game of Thrones, and dozens of other shows are currently occupying Kollin’s nightly hours.
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