"Christmas comes but once a year."
Hello everyone!
So it took more than just one day which it usually does for me to finally find a good working link where I could watch the Christmas special When Calls the Heart put up for this holiday season.
Now I've already written about the show and the books, I think, but in any event I shall check and link all my older posts down below as is my custom when I'm trying to make sense of everything that's come before (and at this point, trust me, it looks as though the only way for me to keep track is by using keywords all around).
In any event, however, I managed to watch the hour and a half special which I had honestly thought would be shorter, but luckily for me it wasn't!
I've missed these characters and their everyday problems, because the thing that initially drew me to the show wasn't the drama or anything of the sort, but what a person would have to get through in an average day on the Canadian frontier.
Plus, I will admit that I have a bit of a crush on Constable Thornton.
Anyway, to recap very briefly: Elizabeth Thatcher is a woman from a well-off family who decides to leave the comforts of home behind and move to the frontier, to a little town called Hope Valley, a mining town where she will be the school teacher. Along the way to discovering her own strengths and faith in her fellow citizens, she meets a wonderful array of people: RCMP member Jack Thornton (who she falls in love with, ahem), café owner Abigail, pastor Frank, Mayor Gowan, influential lumber mill owner Lee, actress Rosemary, and so on.
The people of Hope Valley keep coming together to solve mysteries and problems as a community, with a strong faith in God (even when they learn their pastor used to be a criminal).
So at the point of this Christmas special, Elizabeth is in charge of the Christmas committee, Rosemary and Lee are on their honeymoon, and Jack is helping build homes for the miners who've lost everything during a recent mining accident.
Elizabeth has everything under control, down to picking the tree she and Jack will share this season, and even Rosemary's early return won't deter her.
She and Jack meet a peddler in the woods (well, they meet his dog, Dasher, first) and the peddler later makes his way into town, where he slowly - but surely - begins to untangle the webs between the citizens.
With former Mayor under a federal investigation, he can't really function in his proper role, so he turns into the Grinch and Abigail steps in to lead the town in his absence. Meanwhile, one of the widows packs up her son and leaves despite the pastor's arguments against it, saying she wants a new beginning somewhere where she won't feel the pain of her husband's death.
Bill, another Mountie, is in charge of the café, and uses a rolling pin to make sure his customers don't complain about the food, cheering everyone up, especially after he loses a game of darts and has to play Santa Claus at the end of the nativity play.
Of course things have to be romantic as well, as Jack asks Elizabeth to accompany him to the Mountie Christmas Ball, which she gladly accepts.
And which Rosemary notably uses as an excuse to dress her friend up a little.
Things don't go smoothly, however, as Jack suspects the peddler is actually a little thief, although this is later cleared up when Rosemary admits she had found the present Lee had bought her and gave it away, hoping he'd think he lost it since she didn't like it.
Women, right?
But the major issue is the train with all the presents and show things they need which gets derailed and won't arrive, causing a near-panic. Elizabeth then pulls the town together so they all pitch in overnight to make toys and finish everything they need.
Both Elizabeth and Jack also sacrifice the Mountie Ball so they can stay behind and help.
And through it all, the peddler keeps popping back up with either friendly advice, just the thing someone might need, a helpful trade, or even just a helping hand.
Finally, Abigail goes to Gowan and convinces him he's as much part of the community as everyone else, and the pastor tracks down the widow and her son, bringing them back in time for the nativity play.
Afterwards, Jack creates some magic with a last-minute decoration to the saloon to have his ball with Elizabeth after all.
And the peddler?
He leaves Dasher with Abigail and her adopted son, and after throwing a baseball to create fireworks, disappears from town.
Which makes me think he was probably Santa, but who knows?
This is a very brief, very stilted run down of the show which has been going strong for three years now, and I hope you have the time to some day watch it! It's something to lift your spirits and just bring a smile to your face every single time you watch an episode.
xx
*images and video not mine
No comments:
Post a Comment