Queer ladies from around the globe flocked to Las Vegas last weekend to celebrate all things LGBTQIA in media. From Netflix darling One Day at a Time to independent films and web content, ClexaCon was a vibrant platform for all female queer voices and stories. The headliner on Friday was everyone’s favorite crazy chick with a gun, Wynonna Earp. Fans joined showrunner Emily Andras and actresses Katherine Barrell (Nicole Haught), Dominique Provost-Chalkley (Waverley Earp), and Tamara Duarte (Rosita) for a standing room-only panel where we got a few tasty teases for the highly anticipated third season.
New old faces
The first news about season three was actually revealed in an earlier panel featuring Andras, the Lost Girl reunion. While it had already been shared that Lost Girl favorite Zoie Palmer would be joining the fun in Purgatory in season three, Andras also revealed that none other than Bo herself, Anna Silk, will be guest starring on the show as well. Silk and Palmer follow fellow Lost Girl alums Rachel Skarsten and Tim Rozon into the Earp legend, and fans could not be happier. Who is Silk playing? Well, she disclosed the character’s name, at least: Kevin. What could Silk tells us about Kevin? Not much at all, but she did tease on the red carpet of the con’s Cocktails for Change event (which raised $6,000 for Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors foundation!) that one word to describe Kevin is “mysterious.”
Mama Earp is on the scene and the cast is … a little star struck
Last season ended with Wynonna confronting her heretofore unseen mother in the mountains and asking for her to join the fight against the newly risen demon, Bulshar. The reveal that Wynonna knew all along where Mama Earp had been hiding out, after she left her girls long ago, was huge, and fans have been excited all through the hiatus to find out who would be playing the pivotal role. The answer is veteran Canadian actress Megan Follows, best known to U.S. audiences for her work on Reign. She is a legend to her fellow Canadian actresses, especially Katherine Barrell. Barrell, who worked with Follows briefly on Reign, joked during the panel about how amazing it was to work with someone she had grown up admiring. Andras added that it was fun and slightly intimidating to tell the thespian to fight a demon.
How will Mama Earp actually fit in with her estranged daughters? Well, it sounds like the fact that Waverly was her favorite will still be a sticking point between the Earp sisters, but so will the fact that Wynonna has known all this time where Mama (whose name is Michelle, by the way) has been. Will Mama share more about Waverly’s origins with her daughter this season? The signs seem to point to yes, as it was hinted that we’ll learn more about Waverly’s past. Speaking of mysterious pasts …
We’ll learn more about our supporting cast
Every character on Wynonna Earp has skeletons in their closets and secrets in their past, and we’ll be learning more about many of them in season three. That includes Nicole Haught. Barrell noted, at her joint “Wayhaught” panel with Provost-Chalkley on Saturday (also packed to the gills), that she had to revise many of her own theories about Nicole when she read the scripts for the season. Another character we’ll be seeing again and learning more about is the revenant Rosita. We’re still not quite over Rosita’s betrayal of the Earps in the season finale, but that story isn’t over, according to Andras and Duarte.
Duarte confirmed that we’ll see her, but couldn’t tell us much more. She did, however, discuss some personal news: her pregnancy. Duarte rocked some serious heels and a seven-month baby bump on the red carpet. She shared that she got advice about acting while growing a human from co-stars Melanie Scrofano and Anna Silk, whose pregnancies also coincided with filming. Will Duarte’s pregnancy be part of Rosita’s story this year? We don’t know, but we wish her all the best for her growing family.
According to Barrell and Provost-Chalkley at their panel, we’ll also learn more about everyone’s favorite former Black Badge techie, Jeremy. Will this have anything to do with the teased return of the Black Badge division? Andras divulged that story is not over and will come back in a “very personal way.” Uh oh.
Things for WayHaught will still be way hot, but also domestic
The audience at ClexaCon was most anxious to hear about how things will be going for our favorite couple. The news was good. After some pretty rocky moments in season two, what with the almost dying and reveal of Nicole’s secret wife (Clark Backo), it sounds like Waverly and her lady love will be settling down more. The actresses and Andras teased that the pair will be more domestic this season, getting to know each other as people and supporting one another through all the other drama that’s sure to come. They are soulmates after all, and perhaps my favorite tidbit from Andras at the panel was her discussion of how, in a show about fate screwing people over, the idea that Waverly and Nicole are destined to be together in any version of reality is a beautiful contrast, showing that fate isn’t always a bad deal.
Diversity and inclusion remain a top priority
One of the reasons Wynonna Earp has been such a hit with fans, especially the ClexaCon crowd, is the diversity we see on screen and the unapologetically feminist viewpoint of the show. That’s something we will definitely see in season three, as well. Andras discussed that we will see more First Nations actors going forward. She is also cognizant of the fact that writers walk a fine line with diverse casting when many of the single episode roles are for villains. It’s great to hear that kind of thought from a showrunner, and even better to hear Andras say in no uncertain terms that she never wants to write a rape plot line. If you’re cheering now, don’t worry, so was the audience.
Wynonna Earp season three is still shooting in Calgary and will air on the Syfy Network later this year. Keep an eye here at The Mary Sue for more about the new season as we get closer to the premiere!
(image: NBCUniversal/Syfy)
Jessica Mason is a writer and lawyer living in Portland, Oregon passionate about corgis, fandom, and awesome girls. Follow her on Twitter at @FangirlingJess.
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