'Wynonna Earp' stars promise Tubi special won't undo beautiful, brilliant finale

NEW YORK, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Dominique Provost-Chalkley and Katherine Barrell say their scripted special, Wynonna Earp: Vengeance , is a new adventure intended to update fans about where their favorite demon-slayers are today.

Premiering on Tubi Friday, the standalone story was written by Emily Andras and picks up two years after the contemporary supernatural western and graphic-novel adaptation ended its four-season run on Syfy.

The romantic and hilarious series finale saw Waverly Earp (Provost-Chalkley) -- great-great-granddaughter of legendary 19th-century lawman Wyatt Earp -- marry small-town sheriff Nicole (Barrell), while Waverly's gunslinger sister Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano) rides off into the sunset with her immortal beau Doc Holliday (Tim Rozon).

"I really think that if we had gone in with the idea of needing to top [the series finale], it would have been a disservice to the universe, and would have backfired because how can you top something that was so beautifully, brilliantly wrapped up?" Provost-Chalkley told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.

"This is a new thing. This is something that is an evolution of where we left them and, so, it's completely different and you can't really compare," Provost-Chalkley said. "It's such a different energy. It was so nice to just be able to dive in and just be like, 'Alright, I'm here for the ride and let's go on the adventure together.'"

Barrell said she was surprised, but thrilled about returning to the fictional Canadian town of Purgatory.

"We left these characters in such an amazing, beautiful place that I was at peace with the fact that that was the end of the story we got to tell and I had said my goodbyes and, so, to get to come back it just feels like a bonus," she added.

"I'm actually really happy," Barrell said. "I didn't ever feel a need to top [the finale]. I just felt like we would continue and it would be great because of Emily, the story and the fanbase. I knew that whatever we did, it was going to be awesome because it all kind of coexists."

The special sees Nicole and Waverly settled into married life at their homestead, which, for years, had been a portal for malevolent entities that the Earps and their romantic partners battled to save mankind.

"They are just enjoying the calm, I think, especially, Nicole," Barrell said.

"The fact that Purgatory feels very stable and very demon-free, or at least demon-suppressed, feels really good to her," Barrell added. "Demons still exist, but everyone is harmonious and in a really good place and there's no kind of chaos."

Barrell said the special authentically depicts life following "the happily-ever-after" of the finale.

"They've been living in domestic bliss, and now there's the desire to go: 'OK, we've really enjoyed that. What's the next chapter? Where are we as individuals in this partnership and what does that look like? And what do we each desire for our own evolution?'" she said.

"Your life doesn't just stop when you get married. You have to keep evolving and, hopefully, you keep evolving side-by-side and together."

Of course, this armistice with other-worldly creatures can't last forever and a new villain descends on Purgatory, bringing Wynonna and Doc -- who have been traveling the countryside -- home to help out.

"She's ferocious and I think quite a personal trigger for Wynonna," Provost-Chalkley laughed about the Earps' new foe.

Barrell chimed in, "There's some shared history and they're kind of coming out of a similar environment and that made the character really interesting."

Although Andras and the cast frequently get together at Wynonna Earp fan conventions and interact on social media, Provost-Chalkley and Barrell said everyone was grateful to be filming together in person in Canada again.

"It just felt so nice to be back with family," Provost-Chalkley said.

"There was the sense of 'just enjoy it every step of the way,'" Provost-Chalkley added. "We just have such a cadence with one another because we've lived alongside one another for such an important part of our lives. I was 25 when I got cast in the show. Those are really big years -- 25 to thirty-whatever -- and that time brings such a depth to the experience."

Barrell loves the idea that Wynonna Earp represents an isolated, fictional life she cherishes, but that is very different from her own real existence.

"It's really special to have that. It feels ritualistic for me in a sense. There's a tradition and getting to come back is really a unique experience that I've never had on anything else I've ever worked on," Barrell said.

"Going from home life, where I have two children and a lot of responsibility, and getting to go back and be in Wynonna-land is like another really fun other side of me that gets to come to play. I think all of the characters think, 'This is one side of me,' and then Wynonna brings out of each of us something."