Season 12 Ep9 Recap – Treasure Trunks
BY: Rach Kayrooz for GOOD.
Judge Avery arrives at the Mountie Station, looking mighty fine upon his mighty steed. He and Nathan are on alert for Sonny Garrison, who escaped Granville jail. Is he on his way to the Martell ranch to search for the stolen loot?
Rosie and Elizabeth are discussing Ava’s wonderful performance and extravagant stories. Little Jack is hungry for candy and Nathan informs Elizabeth that he and Bill are headed to a stakeout. Or to eat steak out at the Saloon.
At The Mercantile, Ned informs Ava that Elmer Fudd, or rather, Elmer Peterson, lost a trunk just like hers. At the train station. On the same day. Have Rosie and Elizabeth caught on yet?
Minnie and Joseph are heading off with Angela for a campus tour at Schwartzman, leaving Mike and Mei in charge. Does Hickam understand that he is to ice the cupcakes, not eat them?
Meanwhile, Rosie is catching on to Ava’s great acting.
Rosie appoints herself and Elizabeth as stand-in Sheriffs. This can only spell trouble – with a capital T!
Nathan and Bill are out searching for Sonny, as new-man-in-town Woody strolls along a path he soon shares with Garrison, HIS COUSIN!
Woody has a map that looks like Jack Jnr drew it. The paper trail doesn’t show where the gold is, but instead points to the location of Lovers’ Tree – perhaps where Nathan is planning his next picnic with Elizabeth?
Lucas is debriefing about McGinty to Henry who is cleaning out the stables. The Governor seeks Henry’s wisdom for his next steps.
Will Lucas risk votes, and his Governorship, for the National Park?
The Canfields are meeting the delightful Clementine at the college, who excites Angela with the thought of a pottery class.
Edie arrives at the Saloon to book a room. She apologises to Lee, and admits to coming around to Hope Valley’s way of thinking.
She bumps into Lucas and shares that the Mounties advised her to stay somewhere safe, until they find out about her late Uncle’s affiliations. Lucas extends an olive branch and invites her to dinner, much to Lee’s amusement.
Oliver and Allie are using the free internet at Minnie’s when they’re interrupted by Woody. They offer to take him to the tree he’s searching for, with Molly overhearing, and Woody rudely bumping into her upon his exit.
Rosie and Elizabeth quiz Lee and Hickam on Ava’s trunk, and explore ways to see what’s inside.
They sneak outside Ava’s room, only to miss seeing her throw the trunk over the balcony. Is this really the behaviour of two grown women in designer couture?
Allie and Oliver meet Woody in the woods, as Hickam returns Ava’s ‘lost’ trunk from the wagon outside. Rosie demands answers from Ava, doing a ‘good cop / bad cop’ routine with Elizabeth.
Ava discloses she was working for a con man, the ‘mentalist’ Clive Maxwell, as his plant.
Clive tried to scam a Pinkerton at his show, and put the blame on Ava, so she ran. All the way to Hope Valley, thanks to Elizabeth’s book.
Angela is getting a taste of college life, meeting more of the students, and sitting in on an Agatha Christie read-aloud.
Woody discovers Oliver is a Mountie Cadet and calls the expedition off, just as Sonny appears from behind the trees, shovel in hand. He grabs Allie and forces Oliver to take him to the Lovers’ Tree, so he can dig up the buried gold.
Allie discreetly places her hair ribbon over a tree for the search party she knows will come looking for them.
Lucas apologises to Lee for the National Park taking so long, and compromising their friendship.
Elizabeth asks around as to where Allie and Oliver are, with Molly piping up that she saw them take a Saloon guest on a hike. Elizabeth soon works out that the children are in danger, and Sonny Garrison is involved. Hickam and Henry jump on the horses to help, while Elizabeth races off to find Nathan and Bill.
The Mounties are getting restless, with no sign of Garrison on Ernie’s land. Nathan and Bill leave another Mountie stationed at the ranch, and head back to town.
Elizabeth comes across Allie’s ribbon before finding Nathan, and heads to rescue the teens.
Oliver digs up a treasure chest, only for Sonny to find the lock broken and nothing inside.
As Allie and Oliver try to turn the Garrison cousins against each other, Henry finds Nathan and Bill. He directs them back to the ranch in search of Elizabeth and the kids.
Elizabeth uses her noisy cow bell to bring attention to their location and distract Garrison. Or scare the wolves and bears.
Oliver tells Allie and Mrs Thornton to go, as he wrestles Garrison. Nathan rides in and knocks the escapee to the ground.
With the criminals in the lock-up under Scout’s watchful eye, the group head to the Saloon for an apple juice. Allie and her hair ribbon are now the talk of the town!
Rosie is already planning the headline for the Valley Voice scoop:
And preparing Nathan to take Ava’s confession.
Lucas and Edie are awaiting service at Minnie’s, with Mike and Mei having forgotten all about their hospitality commitment.
While Mike and Mei fluster about in the kitchen and ring up Uber Eats, Lucas breaks the news to Edie that he will be signing an Executive Order to designate the original land boundary to the National Park. Edie warns him that McGinty will do whatever he can to stop Lucas, or take revenge.
Lucas is not fazed, keen to maintain his friendship with Edie, starting with the most fulfilling dinner.
The town can eat properly again, as the Canfields are back. Angela tells Minnie she doesn’t want to attend the college, worried as to how she will take care of herself. Minnie reminds her daughter of her incredible capacity and courage.
Ava is preparing to attend court and testify against Clive, with Rosie and Elizabeth warmly farewelling the stranger who became a friend.
But she can’t leave without one more thing…
Memorable Quotes:
Henry (to Lucas): “That’s how desperates rule, isn’t it? They make everyone figure that it’s too much to oppose them.”
Lee (to Edie): “Perhaps the divide is shrinking a little bit, kind of like the park.”
Nathan (to Elizabeth): “I go on one little stakeout, and you see more trouble than the jail sees in a year!”
Rosie (to Ava): “Don’t you forget the young lady who lit up an audience and followed her dreams.”
Watch When Calls the Heart season 12 on Friday 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, tv/film content creator, director, and producer, with a background in human rights advocacy. A proud mum, and a lover of animals and music (especially 80s power ballads), she spends her ‘spare’ time writing children’s books, watching GOOD., and adding to her dream list of places to travel.
Rach is currently working on her reality TV show pitch, Facing the Fear, and pre-production for her documentary, FND: Not My Story.
Socials: @rachkayrooz
Feature Image: When Calls the Heart promotional content from GOOD.