"Maybe miracles do happen."
Hello everyone!
Hope you've all had a very merry Christmas, and that there's an even better New Year on the way!
Last year around this time, I watched and then blogged about the When Calls the Heart Christmas special. So when news broke that this year would ALSO mark another two-hour episode (or one hour and a half sans commercials) for the Hallmark Channel's hit series, well, I couldn't just ignore it now, could I?
The answer to that would be no, especially since I absolutely LOVE the Canadian West saga by Janette Oke which this show is based off on. Of course there are quite a few changes (and even the Return to Canadian West books aren't exactly the same) but that doesn't mean I haven't fallen in love with the show, because I have. There's something about stories from the frontier, from a different time, when life seemed to be simpler in a lot of ways, that always gets me going.
So here we go, another year almost done, another Christmas episode to review, which means that without further ado we are moving directly into When Calls the Heart: The Christmas Wishing Tree!
Note from little old me: the link to the previous special can be found at the bottom of the page. Also, I do know there was a New Year's episode maybe about two years back which I have yet to include in this collection of blog posts, and I'm working on it, I promise!
For tonight, however, let's focus on the here and now.
First, a brief summary: a young, well-off woman Elizabeth (Erin Krakow) comes to Coal Valley on the Canadian frontier to teach, where she meets and falls in love with RCMP member Jack Thornton (Daniel Lissing). The two have their ups and downs through the seasons but end up engaged before he has to go off to fight in the Northern Territories where gangs are running rampant. Through it all, they have the help of their friends in the re-named Hope Valley, and a stellar cast which includes but isn't limited to Lori Loughlin, Kavan Smith, Jack Wagner and Pascale Hutton.
In this blog's episode, it's Christmas again in Hope Valley as we begin the story with Elizabeth and her voice-over about what's happening. She's trying to be upbeat and in the groove of things, but with Jack still away (as he has been for six months) it's difficult, despite how everyone keeps telling her everything will be alright.
But that's okay, because this year Hope Valley's doing something special for Christmas - a wishing tree!
How it works is this (says Mayor Abigail): you write a wish on the back of an ornament and hang it up. If someone takes the ornament down, that means your wish just might come true!
Me, I'm thinking that everyone and their mother will be writing for Jack to come home for Christmas, but Elizabeth is hesitant to put her wish on the tree (again despite what everyone tells her) because she doesn't want to be seen as weak or selfish. Eventually, after pep talks from Abigail and Bill don't work, Rosemary's does the trick and brings Elizabeth to the tree.
At which point Jack suddenly pops up from out of nowhere as a surprise!
I was delighted that he got to be a major part of the episode as opposed to just dropping by at the end, and also it was nice to know Elizabeth's friends are all rooting for her and Jack and pulled strings to get him back - unfortunately with a caveat, as he has to leave again on Christmas Eve.
But enough about that! Elizabeth is just determined to enjoy Jack's company for the few days he's home, and he's of the same mindset, accompanying her to school and promising the kids to help them with their Christmas projects, among other things.
Of course the wishes are just part of this episode; while Jack is busy helping one of Elizabeth's students build a crib for the boy's future sibling, the town doctor is having a harder time of it.
Carson spends most of the episode trying to convince an elderly patient of his to embrace the Christmas spirit (which she has basically ignored for decades since her husband's passing). This includes but isn't limited to him bringing carolers out to her cabin AND trying to press decorations into her hands. Unsuccessfully, might I add.
Point, if a handsome guy like that popped up on my doorstep, practically begging to come in so he could decorate, I'd let him in, let's leave it at that.
By the end of the episode, however, Carson manages to bring her way of thinking around, as he finds her and dinner at his office and later on sees her handing out gingerbread cookies to the kids. The doctor was ideal for reaching his patient in her dark corner because he too had lost his wife and understood her pain, so this was a lovely arc for Paul Greene's character.
A minor subplot is given to Jesse and Clara, which also ends happily with the girl receiving her gift and the guy learning that you can be a good man and not let temptation get to you, and still give your beloved what she wants.
It's a bit more difficult when it's about a baby, however, as Robert, Elizabeth's student, admits when she gently prods him for more information, sensing something might be wrong: she learns that the reason he's so frantic about the crib is because his mother hasn't felt the baby move in a while and his parents are worried something might be wrong. In Robert's mind, if the baby knows there's a place to put him or her, then there might actually BE a baby soon.
Luckily it's a time for miracles as a healthy baby is soon born for the family to enjoy.
One of the funnier plots in this episode - and a major one - happens for Lee and Rosemary. Apparently, Lee decided to take the holiday week off, but is now at loose ends at home, to such a degree that he's beginning to clean things that aren't meant to be cleaned (says Rosemary) and breaking things in his zeal. Basically, Rosemary gets a taste of her own medicine, but when all hands are needed on deck to build the Christmas floats for the parade, Lee's more than happy to jump right in. Plus, as a bonus, he gets to play Santa Claus, despite the meager fight he puts up.
As his wife says, it's cute that he thinks he actually has a choice in the matter!
Meanwhile, someone who's quickly becoming my favourite makes a reappearance: former mayor Henry Gowen is back in Hope Valley per special request made by current mayor Abigail after hearing about the dismal conditions in state prisons. With too many inmates, some are forced into tents for the winter, and Abigail's heart can't stand the thought, so she strong-arms Bill into bringing Henry to the jail cell in town where at least he'll be warm and dry.
Also, he's put to work in community service, grumbling out loud about it but actually doing a heck of a job and being quite handy with tools, honestly.
And, when news reaches Abigail that her daughter Becky won't make it home for Christmas, Henry, out of all people, is the one who mounts a horse and rides off into the night. While Bill, Jack and the rest think he's done a runner and Abigail is beating herself up about it, I'm sitting here with a smug smile on my face since, when he comes back, he's got Becky in tow, safely delivering the girl into her mother's waiting arms.
Let me put this in writing here just in case anything gets lost in translation: I'm rooting for an Abigail/Henry relationship somewhere down the road. This show is all about redemption and arcs that bring criminals back onto the right path, and who's the biggest criminal but a fraud-y former mayor? Plus, come on, even a blind person can see the chemistry ping-ponging between Abigail and Henry, not to mention he genuinely cared enough to go get Becky for her, expecting nothing in return.
My best guess? He's absolutely terrified of being good when all he's ever known is being bad. He needs someone like Abigail in his life, and I'm HOPING this is the direction the show producers are going with. Abigail and Bill work much better as friends, as do Abigail and Pastor Frank, actually, because the chemistry there just isn't quite right.
Besides - Martin Cummins hit the gym at some point, or they put him in a shirt one size smaller than he normally wears because DANG. Man looks good for someone going on fifty!
And finally, we get to actually see the Christmas parade in action, including a special little surprise for Abigail: Cody, her stepson, had found one of her deceased son's Christmas lists that was unfinished, and made the last item come true. Later, both he and Becky gift their new mom with a photograph of themselves in combination with Peter's, so all her children are now in one place.
As for Elizabeth and Jack? Well, Bill put his own Christmas wish up - writing simply 'hope' on the back. And wouldn't you know it, just as Jack is about to leave (after giving Elizabeth his grandparent's wedding rings might I add), Bill bring a telegram that says there's a blizzard of the century happening farther north, so all mounties on leave need to stay put and wait for further instructions.
And that's a wrap!
As When Calls the Heart usually does, this episode made me cry so bad with some of the scenes, but the real show-stoppers are and always will be the kids. Though I won't deny it's nice to know Daniel Lissing's character is sticking around for a while longer! The show makes a realistic pitch about the perils of loving a mountie, but practically speaking we all do like to see that handsome face once a week.
Now I can't wait for February when the show returns with it's fifth season!
Happy holidays to all :-)
xx
*images are mine except for the poster
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