Wynnona Earp - S1
Aug. 29th, 2017 09:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatFinished watching Wynonna Earp S1 on Netflix last night. It, unfortunately, does not have S2 available as of yet. So, the options are to 1) buy it on Amazon or 2) watch it in SD on "On Demand".
Right now I'm trying Demand, but I miss the clarity of HD.
Wynonna Earp is basically a horror/Western thriller. Similar in concept and tone to Sleepy Hollow and Supernatural except it merges Western elements and mythology, as opposed to urban legends or Northeastern rural horror tales. In some respects it's a little bit more innovative because of that. (There are no vampires or werewolves. There are however, plenty of demons.). It also doesn't go down the same well-trodden Christian mythos as Supernatural. (ie. Angels and demons are at war, whoa boy. That's actually what turned me off of Supernatural and to a degree Sleepy Hollow, well that and Sleepy Hollow was a bit too gory and scary for my delicate sensibilities.) In some respects it appears to have more in common with Buffy and Angel in how it handles the demon mythology (except no vampires, because done to death, but does have zombies...).
The series is based on a graphic novel, similar to The Preacher and Lucifer series. Except I think it sticks a bit closer to its source material. Written and created by a female show-runner, and has garnered a few awards in Canada. It's a Canadian-American series, filmed mainly in Canada, with Canadian actors and crew.
Much like Sleepy Hollow, one of the male leads is an anachronism, or out of time, in this case it's John Henry "Doc" Holliday, the gunslinger, gambler, law-man, and best friend of Wyatt Earp. Who has been cursed with immortal life by a demonic witch. Then thrown down a well, which he manages to climb out of in the first episode. Portrayed by Tim Rozon, he's oddly captivating. And is sort of the rogue with a heart of gold character...
The heroine or hero/chosen one is bad girl Wynonna Earp, who upon her 27th birthday and due to the untimely death of her eldest sister as a child, has become the "heir" and is cursed to protect the Gold River Triangle, and kill demons aka revenants. The Revenants are the people that Wyatt Earp killed, either directly or inadvertently, along with the assistance of his friend and Deputy, Doc Holliday. Doc can only be killed by a knife or a gun, he can't die of natural causes. Nor does he age. In order to break the curse, Wynonna must kill all 77 revenants, if she dies prior to this, then they all come back for the next heir, assuming there is one.
The Revenants are trapped in the town of Purgatory and can't leave. They all live in "Purgatory" which in turn is in Wyatt Earp County. I'm not entirely sure where this is, either Kansas, or Colorado. Seems a bit wooded and hilly for Kansas. Most likely filmed in Canada.
The mythology is soaked in old west lore. With references to Native American skinwalkers and other things. And in the first season, the characters are quickly developed and various mysteries rapidly resolved. It doesn't string it out, nor is the audience relentlessly teased. A love triangle of sorts is set up between Wynonna, Dolls (a black badge agent), and Doc Holliday. (It's rather annoying and my only quibble with the series. Not a fan of love triangles.)
Wynonna starts out as a bit of a reluctant hero. By the end, she's accepted her lot in life. More or less. Tough as nails, vulnerable core, with a rifle and mean kick. But I'm mainly watching for Doc Holliday, who...is a bit comical, but also tragic, and a tad ambiguous regarding motivation.
The demons are not necessarily evil here, it's not always clear cut -- and there's a heavy American Western motif surrounding them. Some of themes and metaphors are intriguing...and surprised me. I've seen a lot of these things so...and I didn't expect to like this one, mainly because of that. But like I said, it surprised me. One episode focuses on a demon that kills people via a mirror (possibly among the better episodes), and another on, unfortunately, Jack the Ripper, which is worth watching for the character development and the developing relationship between Dolls and Doc. You can for the most part ignore the bits concentrating on Jack.
I'm shipping Doc hard at the moment. But there are other characters, Wynonna's sister Waverly enters into a lesbian romance with a female cop. My one quibble with the series is the women look a bit alike and are all skinny twenty-somethings, while the men are more diverse. We do have strong female characters and they are front and center, with a black male lead and Doc. In some respects I find the men more interesting than the women, although I like Wynonna a lot.
Just wish the whole thing was on Netflix.
Right now I'm trying Demand, but I miss the clarity of HD.
Wynonna Earp is basically a horror/Western thriller. Similar in concept and tone to Sleepy Hollow and Supernatural except it merges Western elements and mythology, as opposed to urban legends or Northeastern rural horror tales. In some respects it's a little bit more innovative because of that. (There are no vampires or werewolves. There are however, plenty of demons.). It also doesn't go down the same well-trodden Christian mythos as Supernatural. (ie. Angels and demons are at war, whoa boy. That's actually what turned me off of Supernatural and to a degree Sleepy Hollow, well that and Sleepy Hollow was a bit too gory and scary for my delicate sensibilities.) In some respects it appears to have more in common with Buffy and Angel in how it handles the demon mythology (except no vampires, because done to death, but does have zombies...).
The series is based on a graphic novel, similar to The Preacher and Lucifer series. Except I think it sticks a bit closer to its source material. Written and created by a female show-runner, and has garnered a few awards in Canada. It's a Canadian-American series, filmed mainly in Canada, with Canadian actors and crew.
Much like Sleepy Hollow, one of the male leads is an anachronism, or out of time, in this case it's John Henry "Doc" Holliday, the gunslinger, gambler, law-man, and best friend of Wyatt Earp. Who has been cursed with immortal life by a demonic witch. Then thrown down a well, which he manages to climb out of in the first episode. Portrayed by Tim Rozon, he's oddly captivating. And is sort of the rogue with a heart of gold character...
The heroine or hero/chosen one is bad girl Wynonna Earp, who upon her 27th birthday and due to the untimely death of her eldest sister as a child, has become the "heir" and is cursed to protect the Gold River Triangle, and kill demons aka revenants. The Revenants are the people that Wyatt Earp killed, either directly or inadvertently, along with the assistance of his friend and Deputy, Doc Holliday. Doc can only be killed by a knife or a gun, he can't die of natural causes. Nor does he age. In order to break the curse, Wynonna must kill all 77 revenants, if she dies prior to this, then they all come back for the next heir, assuming there is one.
The Revenants are trapped in the town of Purgatory and can't leave. They all live in "Purgatory" which in turn is in Wyatt Earp County. I'm not entirely sure where this is, either Kansas, or Colorado. Seems a bit wooded and hilly for Kansas. Most likely filmed in Canada.
The mythology is soaked in old west lore. With references to Native American skinwalkers and other things. And in the first season, the characters are quickly developed and various mysteries rapidly resolved. It doesn't string it out, nor is the audience relentlessly teased. A love triangle of sorts is set up between Wynonna, Dolls (a black badge agent), and Doc Holliday. (It's rather annoying and my only quibble with the series. Not a fan of love triangles.)
Wynonna starts out as a bit of a reluctant hero. By the end, she's accepted her lot in life. More or less. Tough as nails, vulnerable core, with a rifle and mean kick. But I'm mainly watching for Doc Holliday, who...is a bit comical, but also tragic, and a tad ambiguous regarding motivation.
The demons are not necessarily evil here, it's not always clear cut -- and there's a heavy American Western motif surrounding them. Some of themes and metaphors are intriguing...and surprised me. I've seen a lot of these things so...and I didn't expect to like this one, mainly because of that. But like I said, it surprised me. One episode focuses on a demon that kills people via a mirror (possibly among the better episodes), and another on, unfortunately, Jack the Ripper, which is worth watching for the character development and the developing relationship between Dolls and Doc. You can for the most part ignore the bits concentrating on Jack.
I'm shipping Doc hard at the moment. But there are other characters, Wynonna's sister Waverly enters into a lesbian romance with a female cop. My one quibble with the series is the women look a bit alike and are all skinny twenty-somethings, while the men are more diverse. We do have strong female characters and they are front and center, with a black male lead and Doc. In some respects I find the men more interesting than the women, although I like Wynonna a lot.
Just wish the whole thing was on Netflix.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-30 12:41 pm (UTC)I binged season 1 on Netflix not too long ago and am also anxiously awaiting the availability of season 2.
And I really like Doc as well. So much that I pulled Doc by Maria Doria Russell off my dusty TBR shelf and finally got around to reading it. The two 'Docs' are obviously very different, but being based on the same basic historical figure they do have their similarities and I liked the contrast.
I'd much prefer a OT3 sort of setup to the triangle, but am unsure if a mainstream show will go there yet.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-30 01:47 pm (UTC)OT3? As in Wynonna/Doc/Dolls not a triangle, but all love each other, similar to one of Sense8's groupings?
Eh, no. If it was a Netflix series, maybe. But this is commissioned by Syfy - it's a SYFY original series. And Syfy tends to be fairly mainstream in its content, at least for the most part and is directed towards a largely hetero male demographic. You can sort of tell by how all the leads are written as straight up hetero. If we get an OT3, it would be with Waverly, Nicole and the lab tech. (Female, female, male.) Note, when Wyatt sees Doc in the flashback, its' female, female, male.
I could be wrong, but that's my impression of it at the moment..
no subject
Date: 2017-08-30 02:56 pm (UTC)A girl can dream! (LOL)
no subject
Date: 2017-08-30 03:19 pm (UTC)Yeah, I'd rather see it as a OT3 than a triangle as well. I rather like the bro-romance between Doc and Dolls. I no longer romantically ship or not hard characters in these types of series, it's just painful. Television writers suck at writing long-term romantic relationships for the most part. They are much better at platonic relationships.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-30 03:35 pm (UTC)Coach and Tami Taylor in Friday Night Lights is one of the one long-term, onscreen couples I can think of that was handled well. Did you ever watch that show?
no subject
Date: 2017-08-30 03:57 pm (UTC)Yes. Loved that series, but it was straight drama, which lends itself better to that sort of relationship..Family dramas like This is Us do it well too. But action/adventure or sci-fantasy don't... The one that worked for me in science fiction was Aeryn Sun and John Crichton. But I can't think of many within genre shows. Non-genre, quite a few work...but different dynamic I think.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-30 08:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-08-31 12:30 pm (UTC)I need to start watching what is saved on my DVR. (The Expanse, Broadchurch, Fargo, Claws, Midnight Texas, Younger, The 100) - I have over 54 hours. It's sad.
I've decided to wait until Wynnona Earp S2 comes out on Netflix to watch, because Syfy only offers it in SD format "On Demand", no clue why. And it's $19.95 for a full season on Amazon, which no, it's not THAT good. ;-)