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USA TODAY

Nothing can keep Syfy’s “Wynonna Earp” down. Not a financial crisis at the production studio, not a two-year hiatus and not even a global pandemic. 

“You can’t kill this show with fire,” “Wynnona” creator and producer Emily Andras tells USA TODAY. “We’ve just been through so many trials and tribulations to try to get Season 4 done, what’s a little pandemic? Honestly.”

The cult fantasy/Western, about a descendent of legendary gunman Wyatt Earp who must fight off supernatural threats in her town of Purgatory, has had a tougher time than most series returning for its new season (Sunday, 10 EST/PST).

Although Syfy renewed it in 2018 after Season 3, production company IDW Entertainment had difficulties getting the funds to film. During its long 22-month hiatus, it was unclear at times whether the series – beloved by a vocal and notably kind group of fans, particularly for its LGBTQ storylines – would ever return to TV. But eventually, after a fan campaign that included a Times Square billboard, Season 4 started shooting late last year. 

“Wynonna Earp” stars Dominique Provost-Chalkley, Katherine Barrell, Melanie Scrofano and showrunner Emily Andras at the New York Comic Con panel for the Syfy series in October 2019. After a two-year hiatus caused by financial woes, “Earp” is back for Season 4, and even starting film amid COVID-19, in Canada. (Photo: Astrid Stawiarz/SYFY)

“The most important thing is that the cast and crew and I have long realized that this is a really special show,” Andras says. “To see what it has come to mean to the fans, you don’t get that too often. I don’t want to be jaded about the industry, but this is the one. It feels special.”

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Just when “Wynonna” was finally back in business, the COVID-19 pandemic caused most film and TV production worldwide to shut down. Andras and her team only had one half of Season 4 completed. But, because the series shoots in Calgary, Canada – an area where the outbreak is currently under control – they are among the scant few TV series that have been able to resume production, getting back to work in mid-July, with significant safety protocols in place. 

Melanie Scrofano as Wynonna Earp, (left) and Katherine Barrell as Officer Nicole Haught suit up for the highly anticipated fourth season. (Photo: Michelle Faye/SYFY)

“Our show has always had this underdog energy,” Andras says. “We’re a small budget show; we’re a genre show. Every year has had its own challenge.”

She notes that the on-set safety measures go beyond even what the Canadian province has required.

“Everybody gets the temperature check everyday,” Andras says. “Everybody wears a mask all day long. … We basically rewrote the back half (of Season 4) so that 90% of it is filmed outdoors now. And thank God it’s summer. We film in Alberta, Canada where it can be minus 30 degrees (in winter).” 

Beyond the safety protocols implemented on set, Andras says the cast and crew are doing their part outside of work to stay safe and isolated. 

“To their credit, they care about one another so much that they basically are living like monks,” she says. “They are one another’s bubble. They’re seeing each other for picnics outside, but they’re not socializing. They’re not going to clubs. Not that there’s any clubs to go to (right now).” 

Andras says Season 4 has themes that will resonate amid the pandemic. It’s partially about “isolation and even certain themes of quarantine,” Andras says. The season begins with Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano) returning home to discover that most of her friends have disappeared to another realm.

“A lot of feelings people have had now after months self-isolation are going to be reflected in the show,” she says,

The mood of the series may echo quarantine life, but Andras is adamant that COVID won’t be coming to infect Purgatory. 

“I think people now, more than ever, need an escape,” she says. “Every car commercial is telling us ‘OK, guys, we’ll get back on the road.’ I think people just want to watch sexy people kicking some butt. And I’m like, ‘Wynonna Earp’ is definitely the show for you. We promise to deliver that.”

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