[Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for the Season 4 finale of Wynonna Earp, "Old Souls."]
Over the course of its four seasons, Wynonna Earp has been a show about a lot of things — demons, curses, inheritance, legacy, but at its core, it's persistently circled back to its most important facet: family. Whatever supernatural circumstances reared their terrifying heads, the series' devoted fanbase (who gave themselves the name "Earpers") could always rely on the fact that Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano) would be backed up not just by her tried-and-sometimes-trusty gun Peacemaker, but also the team that had come to be known as family, bonded in struggle if not necessarily in blood.
And yet last night's season finale, "Old Souls," also served as a reminder of how much this motley group has changed — not merely in their own respective journeys but in how they can lean on one another, too. As Team Earp made the final preparations for the wedding between newly-reinstated Purgatory Sheriff Nicole Haught (Kat Barrell) and Waverly Earp (Dominique Provost-Chalkley), it wasn't just the anticipation of a significant next step for two beloved characters who lit up the screen at first busted beer tap; it was the crux of a tender, quietly beautiful conclusion that the show has been working towards for its entire run.
Each of these characters has had their own evolutions, though, and nowhere is that rendered more clearly than in this episode, which felt like the perfect coda to the season. Even while the B-plot of Waverly's cursed wedding dress added a light, low-stakes element throughout (with a surprise cameo appearance by Charlotte Sullivan, another gentle wink to Earpers and fans of Canadian TV), most of the story was simply about everyone stepping back and taking a breath before making big next-step life decisions. Some (like Tim Rozon's Doc Holliday) decided it was finally time to saddle up and ride out past town limits, while others (Nicole and Waverly) promised to keep the homestead fires burning, especially now that Sheriff Haught has literally been given the divinely appointed role of the Angel Shield. Jeremy (Varun Saranga) chose to put off Black Badge Division responsibilities for another day in order to go on a first date, and Nedley (Greg Lawson) prepped to head off on a relaxing fishing trip with both Rachel (Martina Ortiz-Luis) and Billy (Billy Bryk) in tow. But where did that leave our heroine, Wynonna?
It's hard to believe that there was a time when Wynonna Earp did not want to come back to Purgatory at all, and yet watching this finale serves as a stark reminder of just how far she's come. That's not to say she's been without her struggles or her mistakes — in fact, one of Wynonna Earp's biggest strengths as a show is how it demonstrates that anyone can be a hero, regardless of whatever mess they might bring to the table to start out with.
And although Wynonna herself has taken occasionally drastic steps to not only protect the family she has within reach but her own more distant legacy of a daughter who's had to grow up without her, she has also weathered the consequences that arose from those hard choices. Even once the demon Bulshar was defeated and the Earp curse was officially broken, Wynonna still persisted through her own personal demons and skewed sense of justice, resorting to measures that often put her at odds with the people she loves most. She might have been able to cast off the heavy shackles of her family's inheritance, but she couldn't shake off some of her own worst tendencies, maybe not realizing the path she was headed down until her family made an effort to call her out on it.
It's an arc that was abbreviated all too soon, especially once greater, potentially world-ending threats took center stage in the back half of the season, but it was also an indication of how different Wynonna always has been from the Buffys of the world — an unrepentantly complicated woman who brings refreshing complexity to the definition of heroism.
However, "Old Souls" serves as the moment when Wynonna starts to let herself believe that she deserves a real chance at happiness — and not while she's already buckling under the weight of expectation, or at least what she believes is expected of her. When Waverly and Nicole get married, it isn't simply about two of Wynonna's loved ones committing to each other; it's also the two of them cementing their promise to keep watch over the Ghost River Triangle, and lovingly giving Wynonna permission to seize a future that isn't defined by her past. The emotional climax of the episode, when Wynonna gets on her motorcycle and literally chases Doc out to the Purgatory town sign, is a full-circle moment for this couple that has always just stopped shy of saying what they mean to each other. Wynonna finally being brave enough to be honest and blurt out her love for Doc doesn't necessarily promise a happily-ever-after, but it's a big step on its own, and sometimes, that's reassurance enough that these characters are in a better place than when they started — especially once we learn that they're heading to their daughter Alice, together.
Whether this is the final episode of Wynonna Earp that will ever air currently remains uncertain (reports have made it clear that this is only the end of the show's run on the SYFY network, with the future of the series presently in limbo). But if it does turn out to be the finish line after all, it was a damn fine note to send these characters out on — not with a climactic apocalypse and world-ending stakes, but an actual happy ending for all, including the heroine who gets to lay down her big-ass demon-killing gun for a while and ride off into the sunset. What could be better than that?
Seasons 1 through 3 of Wynonna Earp are currently available to stream on Netflix.