Wynonna Earp boss on what's next for WynHaught

Spoiler alert! This article contains details from the third episode of Wynonna Earp season 2 — so quickly get to another page if you haven’t watched “Whisky Lullaby,” because you won’t be able to unmake your peace.

Following last week’s game-changing twist, Wynonna Earp has a lot to deal with going into this week — namely her newly discovered pregnancy and how she’s going to tell the rest of the team. But not long after the episode begins, the Ladies in Black (still wearing Mercedes and Beth Gardners’ faces) visit a demon by the name of the Sandman, causing him to put the entire town of Purgatory to sleep for a month so they can search for the rest of the seals they’re trying to break. With a little help from her pistol Peacemaker, Wynonna is able to rouse Dolls, Waverly, Nicole, Doc, and Jeremy, as they try to figure out what happened — and struggle to stay awake.

As it happens, the second seal the Ladies in Black are looking for is in Shorty’s, where Jeremy, Doc, and Waverly uncovered it. But when they try to stop the two demonesses, they are paralyzed and unable to do anything. Luckily, Wynonna enters with Peacemaker. And though she’s able to clip Mercedes’ arm, the two Gardner-sister-face-wearing villains are able to slide away. Only, as we see a little earlier in the episode, Tucker Gardner now has the Sandman’s daughter, whom he attempts to sexually assault in Waverly’s bedroom. Thankfully, Officer Haught has been tracking his phone and is able to get there in time to shoot him, causing him to then leap out the window. Later, we see that Tucker has gone rogue, having decapitated the Stone Witch and left her rotting head on his former home’s doorstep.

And Wynonna is dealing with the fact that while she was asleep for a month, her fetus has now grown considerably, giving her a very visible baby bump. As a result, despite her large bulky coat, other members of the team — starting with Nicole, followed by Dolls, and finally Doc — slowly discover that she’s now pregnant. (Jeremy, as it turns out, knew all along!) As the episode comes to a close, we see Waverly comfort Wynonna, handing her a note that Doc gave her that simply reads, “I’m all in.”

Here, showrunner Emily Andras walks us through episode 6’s craziest moments…

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How does it feel now that this secret is out? Are you relieved? Are you excited to jump into other story lines?
EMILY ANDRAS: A little of both. I am in shock we managed to keep the secret. I still talk about pregnancy in hushed tones. Our code name for the pregnancy was “the podcast” so we were constantly talking about “the podcast.” But I’m really relieved. We’re now mid-season, so I’m excited to see the rise of other story lines and the rise of WayHaught and the villains. We have some new shocks and surprises coming that people still don’t know about. And just showing how Wynonna is still a badass and still dealing with all these multiple things. I’m excited for all of it.

One of the big twists of the episode is that time jump in the middle. How did that come about? Was that just to catch Wynonna’s body up with Mel’s?
When we did the math of how pregnant Mel is, we were like, “Oh my God.” We didn’t want to reveal it till mid-season for a variety of reasons. But the truth is, she’s very pregnant at this point. She’s seven months at this point in real life. So even Melanie [Scrofano], goddess who walks amongst us, is going to start having a baby belly. So we needed to advance the story and the pregnancy. But even more critical, is the reality of the kind of woman Wynonna is like, I’m not necessarily sure she would keep this baby. I feel like that that choice is not something that is talked about a lot of times on television, although Scandal did a great abortion story line. But I just felt, knowing who Wynonna was, it definitely was an option that needed to be discussed. So if we were going to be playing this pregnancy, we almost needed to take that option away from her. This is just one more thing that’s going to make her mad at destiny and fuel her to make her own choices down the line.

It’s also a great way to hint that this might be a supernatural baby.
Could be…

Did you have an idea for the order in which everybody found out about this pregnancy as you were breaking this episode, or did you always kind of know it would be Nicole first?
I liked it being Nicole first because people are really interested in their relationship. And if that’s your jam, there’s some delicious stuff coming down the line. They didn’t have problems with each other and really liked and respected each other, but their relationship really changed once Wynonna found out that Nicole and Waverly were dating. Those natural, protective, older sister feelings came up, so she was looking at Nicole through a different lens. The other truth is that Nicole is a cop, and Wynonna doesn’t always have the best history with law and authority. So as much as she likes Nicole, they’re just different people. The fact that Nicole was so understanding about it was so critical. We’re going to see those two cover new ground together because of the pregnancy and just reconcile their feelings for one another and that they care about Waverly.

Then, I knew we had left Dolls hanging. The truth is we haven’t done a lot with Wynonna’s romances this year because she’s been so busy. But also now we have this new complication. Dolls was great in this episode, and I really like the tragedy of him having come to the decision that now that Black Badge is no more, that maybe he has the freedom to pursue what he really wants, which is Wynonna. But once again, destiny and timing just seem to be playing a joke on all these people and it’s not just going to happen. It was important that Doc be the last person to find out. They had to be kept apart, and I wanted to keep his reaction a secret. We really debated the different reactions people would have. We wanted them to be in character, but also we thought they should all react differently. So that’s what I like about it. But then, of course, you have the joke at the end where Jeremy’s like, “No kidding. I’ve known for months. I just thought it was impolite to say anything.”

What clues did he pick up on that the rest of us might have missed?
I don’t know. Big baggy sweaters? Luxurious glossy hair? But it’s not the first time Jeremy seems to know things.

Going back to Nicole for a second. Mercedes is Wynonna’s friend. But she’s not been playing that role in a way we’d hope for, while Nicole kind of is.
It feels like a more natural fit. Obviously, there are some complications. But it’s cool and kind of sad because the audience really fell in love with Mercedes in these first few episodes, and it felt like Wynonna was finally getting someone out of her circle that she could confide in and drink and have fun with. So there’s a little bit of a heartbreak now where again, Wynonna is like, “I can’t trust you so I can’t be your friend.” And we know Wynonna’s instincts are correct, but it’s tense. That kind of cat-and-mouse game with the Gardners and Mercedes and Wynonna is really interesting.

Has there been a case yet where you’ve fallen in love with an actor or actress and decided to change whether their character is evil or even has to die?
You do often fall in love with an actor. But often the opposite happens. One example I have to talk about, unfortunately, is Kate Drummond, who we all kind of fell in love with, but Lucado’s head exploding is the end of that character. You have to honor your own rules to some degree. Even though it’s a supernatural show, there have to be some cases where death sticks, or it doesn’t start to count, or people don’t count the stakes. So it’s a real tightrope walk about keeping those actors you love or not wanting them to be evil. But the thing about Dani Kind is she is so good evil, and she has so much good stuff coming up that I’m so happy we went the route we did because she’s so marvelous.

How is it impacting Dolls to find out that not only is Wynonna pregnant, but that it’s Doc’s baby? Is that something he’s worried about?
Yes. Definitely. He does still love her, but he’s heartbroken. But Dolls is a guy who’s always done the right thing insofar as he’s always denied his own desires and wants in service of the greater good, and that is Black Badge, who he almost considers a parent. So he’s very used to those feelings of repression. He lives in that zone. What’s extra tragic for me in this episode is that he was finally breaking out. He was smiling and flirting. He was going to go for it. But by the end of the episode, he goes back to what he knows best, which is the boss who swallows his feelings. That was what was so heartbreaking for me. But he definitely knows all the options in this situation. He knows exactly why she had to talk to Doc. But the other complication is that he doesn’t hate Doc anymore. So the whole thing is one big, sexy mess.

What does it mean for Doc to tell Wynonna that he’s all in on this baby at this point in their relationship?
It’s incredible. Doc is 140 years old. When he was sitting in that well, there were certain things he just never thought were going to be part of his life, and one of them was definitely children, and love, and all that stuff. He was driven by revenge and selfish needs and wants. So the fact that there’s even a possibility is astonishing. But it’s so in character with Doc. He’s so classy when the chips are done. It was a beautiful note. But the truth is nobody knows anything about this baby yet. It’s great that Doc is saying that, but just saying it doesn’t make it so that it’s his. But he’s doing the right thing, though. I love Tim Rozon and his Doc. He has some great stuff coming up.

Tucker Gardner has gone rogue now. How is that impacting the Ladies in Black now that they can’t use him the way they did this episode?
They can’t even use him. Tucker got shot and jumped out a window in the middle of winter. “Going rogue” is a very generous interpretation of what happened. I don’t expect that we might find a body in the woods in the future. But it just goes to show that the Ladies in Black, the Widows if you will, they can’t really trust humans. They got played by a bratty human kid. So it’s just going to steel their resolve that the only people they can depend upon is each other. Even if they don’t seem to like each other very much, they’re kind of bound together. I wouldn’t count them out. They’re just getting started. We see what they can do. They can paralyze people.

I wasn’t expecting Nicole to actually shoot Tucker. Was there any discussion about that and if she’d go through with it?
I just knew I wanted Nicole to kick some ass this year. She’s an exceptional cop. We knew that the best story line for her was not making her part of Black Badge because we really need a cop we can go to in the town. Someone like that. We need someone who can bring us cases and deal with everyday crime. But what I loved about that Tucker-Nicole storyline is that it felt personal. This is really her enemy, and that she knew in her gut was wrong, but couldn’t really act until he did something truly wrong. But she knew was going to hurt someone, which is what’s so terrifying. I still love that she shoots him, but she doesn’t shoot to kill. Nicole is just one of the most principled characters on the show. So we didn’t hesitate at all with that. He had a knife and a hostage in Waverly’s bedroom. Nicole did what she had to do. So she shouldn’t feel guilty about it. She saved that girl’s life.

Melanie Scrofano has just been on fire this entire season, but that final scene was so incredibly heartbreaking.
I just want us to start the Emmy campaign for Melanie Scrofano. The scene at the end, with Dominique. That girl blows my mind. It’s so incredible and genuine. It was so moving. You could even see it on Dominique’s face, who’s also so wonderful in the scene. She was just looking at Mel/Wynonna with so much admiration for what she’s doing. Mel felt all of that. It’s the beginning of a lot of exceptional performances this year.

Wynonna Earp airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on SYFY.