Ep 11 recap – Follow Your Heart
BY: Rach Kayrooz
The people of Hope Valley are proud of Lucas’ bravery in drawing public attention to the Governor’s corruption and the plans to destroy Hope Valley. Rosie’s cover article attracted national media coverage, making Lucas the latest pin-up boy.
Elizabeth is confronting her deepest fears of change and losing people she cares for deeply. There’s been no time to think about Lucas and their future. Our protagonist hasn’t worked out what her heart is truly saying, and needs to talk with Lucas. We all know what that means!
Gustav is continuing to confuse Mike by speaking in his native tongue and baking the most amazing cakes. Maybe if Hickam asks Mei on a date, Gustav will reward him with his own French patisserie.
Bill and Lee are teeing off, planning to show Lucas a good time at his bachelor party at the 19th hole, albeit his own saloon. Hope Valley really is party central.
Bill is worried the Governor will overturn the injunction if he wins the election. The pressure is on for his contender, Cunningham. Lucas is rattling the tin to raise funds for the campaign. Or Bill’s golf pro lessons.
Nathan is strutting down Main Street like a man on a mission, displaying a quiet confidence we haven’t seen previously. There is a humble wisdom to our Mountie since his sit-down chat with Elizabeth.
Mike pretends to read a Mills and Boon novel to avoid Mei Sou at The Mercantile. She asks to borrow the book. If only Mike would borrow some of Nathan’s confidence and ask Mei out on a date!
Rosie manages to run both the paper and Lucas’ interview schedule, whilst planning Elizabeth’s wedding. Where is Goldie? Is the baby looking after herself, or wandering around the Coulter Lumber daycare centre with Lee? Maybe she went looking for some clothes.
Cunningham has withdrawn from the race, three weeks before the election. Was he bought out? Lee and Rosie aren’t buying it. What they will buy is their own lumber to fix the leaking roof at The Valley Voice office.
Mike wonders what they’ll do with the money they’ve raised. He’s hoping they’ll spend it on Lucas’ bachelor party with imported French wine and more of Gustav’s cake.
A telegram arrives for Lucas. Cunningham’s team want Bouchard to run for Governor!
Lucas is the right choice to run against Balfour. As Elizabeth said, “everyone knows your name”, just like in Cheers. Lucas asks if she’ll be okay with it; her response is that if it’s what he wants, then yes. This is not the defiant, feminist Elizabeth we know. Her heart is torn between saving the town, Lucas, and, this guy…
Henry is gathering shingles (thankfully not the chicken pox kind) to fix the roof. He also doubles as the babysitter and asks Goldie to hand him a Phillips screwdriver.
Mei read all 526 pages of Mike’s novel in 1 hour. While he cannot find the words to ask her out, Mei does it for him. Finally! Team Meikam!
Nathan and Bill are trotting up through the woods to find Montague and his men. It appears they are now diverting water on government land whilst the injunction takes place, confident that Balfour will be re-elected as Governor. Montague keeps stating “eminent domain” in lawyer-speak. Is anyone else finding this guy really, really, annoying?!
Lucas is swept up with the interviews and campaigning, yet that important conversation about moving to Capitol City has not been discussed with Elizabeth. The town are celebrating, nonetheless.
Nathan, our cluey and concerned Mountie, notices Elizabeth is unsettled and approaches her at the school. In a scene that wreaks of impending romance and a walk toward Elizabeth that makes her knees wobble, it is evident our trusty teacher has been backed into a corner with Lucas’ sudden run for Governor and is hiding her feelings on everything!
Elizabeth’s focus is on what is good for the Valley. Her commitment to standing by Lucas seems to be for that very reason, and not for love. Nathan stirs old feelings and hopefully plants a seed for Elizabeth to think about what she really wants.
Rosie shares this concern – what does Elizabeth truly want?
Sure enough, the 4am train is leaving, and Lucas doesn’t even notice that Elizabeth arrives with no luggage. That’s because Faith has all the town’s bags in her cupboard. Elizabeth tells Lucas that she will not be accompanying him and that his calling is to run for Governor and save Hope Valley. Her’s is to stay with Jack Jnr. Her heart isn’t really with Lucas. It’s with Hope Valley. And Nathan (ok, so I added that last bit in).
As we await the final episode for season 10, again I pose to my fellow Hearties, will Elizabeth choose Nathan? Or will she choose herself?
I feel to add that the showrunner and writers for the latter part of this season have increased the intensity, anticipation, pace, and drama. They’ve allowed the cast to grow beyond the usual one-dimensional, brief character appearances, and demonstrate a deeper level of emotion, with more clarity and close-ups by the camera operators, that truly capture the movement and environment. We cannot wait for next week and season 11!
Memorable Moments:
Mike (to himself, holding the book Mei Sou returned): “It’s a date! Oh no, I’ve gotta read this thing!”
Lucas (on radio): “I don’t want to leave Hope Valley, but sometimes sacrifices must be made.”
Lucas (directed at Balfour): “You came to my town, now I’m coming to yours.”
Emily’s card to Elizabeth: “We love you, Mrs Thornton. You still bring sunshine to our lives.”
Watch When Calls the Heart season 10 on Wednesday nights at 7:30pm AEST on GOOD. or stream from the free GOOD app. Watch this episode now. CLICK HERE.
About the Author: Rach is an AACTA Award-winning writer, emerging producer, and tv/film content creator, with a background in social and human rights advocacy. A classically-trained vocalist and proud mum of a singer/songwriter/musician (and a rescue dog), she continues to teach singing professionally and rock 90s dance moves in a non-professional capacity. In the brief moments between raising awareness for accessibility and inclusion for people with disability, Rach dreams of travel to faraway places (like Paris and Vancouver). A former theatre and film actor, these days Rach is an award-winning speaker, currently working on pre-production for her documentary FND: Not My Story, and reality tv show Facing the Fear.
Socials: @rachkayrooz
Feature Image: When Calls the Heart promotional content from GOOD.