Evenings At The Shore: You’re Never Too Old for a Balloon

During a phone conversation, Nell tells Arthur how he’s never too old for a balloon. While she was referencing his birthday, Nell’s quote stuck out to me. When you think of a balloon, simpler and happier times usually come to mind. From the way I interpreted her quote, I think what Nell is trying to say is how you’re never too old to enjoy the simpler and happier things in life. Throughout the series, we have seen the characters try to achieve this in their lives. By Jess and David working together at The Inn at Eagle Point, they always appear to be happy. Megan has re-visited a passion from her past, currently using it to help a fellow artist. But there are characters whose passions are still unknown, the audience left wondering what truly makes them happy. Until that can be discovered, let’s re-cap this episode of Chesapeake Shores!

Just a reminder: If you did not see this episode of Chesapeake Shores, there are spoilers in this re-cap.

Chesapeake Shores Season 5 poster created by Crown Media Family Networks and Hallmark Channel.

Season: 5

Episode: 6

Name: Love is Here to Stay

Abby’s story: Abby continues to work with Evan on their hotel project. But due to the possibility of the hotel residing on a potential excavation site, the project may come to a halt. In the previous episode, some artifacts were discovered by Abby. In this episode, a representative from the Smithsonian reveals to Abby and Mick how more artifacts were found. The representative also shares that the artifacts might belong to a ship from the 1600s. Because of these findings, the site where the hotel project resides is now deemed an excavation site. Before this news is revealed to Evan, Evan discovers the elevator company working on the project is one that he doesn’t like. He also tells Abby that it bothers him how she kicked him in the head at Tae Kwon-Do class the other day. Later in the episode, after returning from his trip to Iceland, Evan apologizes to Abby by offering her a sweater. Abby uses this time as an opportunity to tell Evan about the hotel project site finds. Before leaving Abby’s office, Evan tells her he’ll think about pulling out of the project. Abby gets her answer at Jess and David’s wedding, as Evan was invited by the bride and groom. He tells Abby he is pulling out of the hotel project, which upsets Abby.

Bree’s story: While walking to her car at the University of Maryland, Jerome keeps Bree company by walking with her. During their conversation, she mentions how she’ll not only be attending her sister’s wedding, but she’ll also be officiating it. Bree invites Jerome to be her plus one. He accepts her invitation and gives her a kiss. One day, while on the beach with Abby, Bree shares what happened at the University. She also reveals there’s another guy she is interested in. At Jess and David’s reception, Jerome apologizes to Bree for spontaneously kissing her. They both agree to act like it never happened. During the event, Bree learns that Kevin invited Luke to the wedding. To avoid any awkwardness, she spends time with Luke after Jerome leaves the reception. But, while Bree and Luke are dancing, Jerome sees them together.

Connor’s story: Connor has spent the past two weeks unemployed. He feels defeated about his dream job turning into a nightmare. However, Mick’s case is what helped make Connor’s decision to leave a little easier. Connor seriously considers his father’s advice of starting a firm in Chesapeake Shores. He even looks at a property for sale, a building that used to be the town’s pet store. While Connor shows his father the property, Mick is impressed with the building’s architecture. He is also impressed with Connor’s blue-print for the firm. Mick not only offers to help, he also gives Connor valuable advice. He tells his son that one of the most important parts of growing up is knowing when to ask for help.

Bride and Groom image created by Freepik at freepik.com  <a href=’https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/nice-couple-wedding-invitation_841530.htm’>Designed by Freepik</a> <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/wedding”>Wedding vector created by Freepik</a> Image found at freepik.com

Jess and David’s story: During the week of the wedding, Jess keeps having recurring dreams about something bad happening to David. So, she wants to get married as soon as possible, in order for these dreams to stop. While David doesn’t think much of the dreams, Jess’s siblings have their own ideas of whether her dreams will go away after the wedding. Despite all of this, the wedding runs smoothly with no issue in sight. Even the reception turns out great! David’s parents change their minds about the wedding location, as they think it was perfect for David and Jess. When Abby asks Jess what she thinks of her wedding, Jess says it was better than her dreams, especially since David survived.

Arthur and Nell’s story: One day, Nell calls Arthur to wish him a Happy Birthday. Arthur responds by telling her it’s been a long time since anyone has called him on his special day. During this call, Nell tells him to go to his front door. After listening to Nell’s directions, Arthur discovers a basket of baked goods on his doorstep. In this basket, he finds birthday cards from Kerry and Caitlyn. When Arthur discovers the artwork inside Kerry’s card, he gets an idea. Later in the episode, Arthur gives Kerry his painting supplies. He explains how he hasn’t used them in years, believing Kerry will put them to better use. When Kerry expresses how nervous she is to paint anything, Arthur tells her to paint anything how she sees it.

Birthday cake image created by Freepik at freepik.com. <a href=’https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/chocolate-birthday-cakes-collection_765437.htm’>Designed by Freepik</a>. <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/birthday”>Birthday vector created by Freepik</a>. Image found at freepik.com.

Some thoughts to consider:

  • In this episode, Bree expresses her interest in Luke. But she doesn’t know about his past yet. As of this point in the season, the only person who knows about Luke’s past is Mick. If Bree did find out, I wonder how she’ll respond to that information? Would her interest in Luke change?
  • While Arthur performed a nice gesture by giving his art supplies to Kerry, it did make me ask one question. When Arthur said he hadn’t used the supplies in years, I wondered if the paint had expired? For Kerry’s sake, I’m hoping the paint is still good to use. Otherwise, replacing all that paint would probably get expensive.
  • I’m glad this episode didn’t contain the “planning-a-wedding-in-an-unrealistic-time-period” cliché. However, I wish Jess’s concerns over her dreams had been taken more seriously. It was kind of frustrating to see her family brush off her concerns like they were no big deal. Even David didn’t offer any words of encouragement. From a screen-writing perspective, I know creating a subplot out of this concept would have been difficult. But I don’t think Jess’s concerns should have been glossed over like they were.
Evening view from the shore image created by 0melapics at freepik.com. <a href=’https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/landscape-in-a-swamp-at-night_1042860.htm’>Designed by Freepik</a>. <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/background”>Background vector created by 0melapics – Freepik.com</a>. Image found at freepik.com.

What did you think of this episode? Are you looking forward to the next one? Let me know in the comment section!

Have fun in Chesapeake Shores!

Sally Silverscreen

Take 3: When Calls the Heart: Home for Christmas Review

For my last movie review of 2019, I’m going to talk about the newest film in the When Calls the Heart series, When Calls the Heart: Home for Christmas! Since I reviewed last year’s movie, When Calls the Heart: The Greatest Christmas Blessing and since I re-cap the show, I thought it would be fitting to keep up the continuity. While I liked the previous movie, I had lower expectations for this year’s project. This was caused by how unappealing the film’s synopsis sounded to me. In a Word on the Street story last month, I discussed how I felt about the synopsis for this movie. To me, it seemed like the screenwriters were running out of ideas and not taking advantage of beautiful story-telling opportunities. It also seemed like they were repeating the same mistakes they made in the previous film. But, like I do for every movie I watch and/or review, I watched When Calls the Heart: Home for Christmas with an open mind. I thought that, maybe, the movie could be better than the synopsis made it sound. Was I right or wrong in my guess? We’re about to find out in this review of When Calls the Heart: Home for Christmas!

When Calls the Heart -- Home for Christmas poster
When Calls the Heart: Home for Christmas poster created by Hallmark Channel and Crown Media Family Networks. Image found at https://www.crownmediapress.com/Shows/PRShowDetail?SiteID=142&FeedBoxID=845&NodeID=302&ShowType=&ShowTitle=When+Calls+the+Heart+Home+for+Christmas.

Things I liked about the film:

The acting: Like last year’s movie, the acting in When Calls the Heart: Home for Christmas was one of the strongest elements of the project! Everyone in this cast was talented, bringing their characters to life with a sense of well-roundedness. From newer characters, like Nate’s niece, Allie, to veterans of the show, such as Bill Avery, it was a pleasure to see these characters come back on television. What works in this cast’s favor is how most of the cast members have appeared on the show for at least one season. This helps keep up the consistency of both the performances and the overall narrative. It also shows how comfortable these actors and actresses were in the roles they were given.

Learning about backstories through Christmas traditions: At several moments of the movie, the audience got the chance to receive more backstories from some the characters through the sharing of Christmas traditions. With the incorporation of Hope Valley’s Christmas Festival, we learn that one of Lucas’ favorite memories was visiting a German Christmas festival with his parents. Another example is Nate’s Christmas present for Allie. For Christmas, he gets her a charm bracelet. Nate’s sister and Allie’s mom used to have a charm bracelet and would receive a new charm every Christmas. This was an interesting way to learn about these characters. It not only expands the character development, but it also gives the audience story material before the start of the next season.

The character interactions: Similar to last year’s film, I liked seeing the character interactions in When Calls the Heart: Home for Christmas! One of the reasons why is because of the on-screen chemistry between the actors within the cast. But the other reason why I enjoyed watching these interactions was because they felt genuine and thoughtful. A great example is the interaction between Florence and Fiona. In this scene, they give each other Christmas gifts that are telephone related: Florence receives a telephone necklace and Fiona receives an embroidered piece of art about keeping people connected. This was my favorite character interaction because it showed Florence and Fiona putting effort into these gifts as well as the growth of their friendship. It was not only well-acted, but also well-written!

211460-OZXMWS-906
Christmas Tree with boxes image created by Freepik at freepik.com. <a href=’https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/christmas-tree-out-of-gift-boxes_1448089.htm’>Designed by Freepik</a>. <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/background”>Background vector created by Freepik</a>. Image found at freepik.com

What I didn’t like about the film:

Too many plots: There were about eight plots found in When Calls the Heart: Home for Christmas. Because the film was only an hour and thirty minutes, there was not enough time for these plots to be fully developed. Instead of lending themselves to an engaging story, they ended up competing against each other to see which one could be the most memorable. What also didn’t help was how almost all of these plots were basic and surface-level. Most of them felt like they could have been featured on any episode of the show, as they seemed ordinary and mundane. The only plot that had any amount of intrigue was Carson and Faith’s story.

Under-utilized characters: When a movie or television show has a cast this large, there are bound to be characters that receive more screen-time than others. But in this movie, there are some characters that could have benefitted from having their own story. Henry Gowan is a perfect example of this. Since Henry doesn’t receive his own plot, this gives him very little to do in the movie. It also doesn’t give Martin Cummins, the actor who portrays Henry Gowan, much material to work with as an actor. Jesse and Clara are another good example. They got engaged at the end of season six, so we could have seen them get married during Christmas-time. Instead, Jesse and Clara’s story was reduced to them saving Lucas Bouchard’s reputation. I understand that the show’s creative team wants to save some story material for the upcoming season. But a Christmas wedding could have been an eventful way to end Hallmark Channel’s Christmas line-up.

Plot points that don’t make sense: Throughout this film, there were some plot points that didn’t make sense. For this part of the review, I’ll give you two examples. The first involves a new character named Walter. He claims to be a struggling traveling salesman, selling his only coat for gas money and not having the funds for a new tire. If Walter is having that much trouble acquiring a steady income, then how he is able to afford a car? Vehicles require constant upkeep in order for them to run smoothly. For Walter to be able to maintain his car’s well-being, he would probably have to sell more belongings of his over a significant period of time. The second example involves Rosemary. After learning about a dilemma related to Hope Valley’s Christmas Festival, Rosemary complains to Lee about Lucas’ poor event planning skills. She then complains about how Lucas should have asked her for help. Ever since her introduction in season one, Rosemary has always been a determined and headstrong woman. No matter what happens, she finds a way to discover a solution to any problem. For Rosemary to not volunteer with any event planning and for her to expect to be asked for anything doesn’t make any sense with her character development.

05
Birthday cake image created by Freepik at freepik.com. <a href=’https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/chocolate-birthday-cakes-collection_765437.htm’>Designed by Freepik</a>. <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/birthday”>Birthday vector created by Freepik</a>. Image found at freepik.com.

My overall impression:

In 2018, I gave a good review to When Calls the Heart: The Greatest Christmas Blessing. While I had issues with the film, there were things about it that I liked. With When Calls the Heart: Home for Christmas, however, I can’t give it a good review. But I can’t give it a bad review either. At best, I found the movie to be ok. It had its strengths, like the acting and Christmas traditions serving as opportunities for character development. At worst, this film was a rushed “filler” project that tried so hard to say so much, but ended up saying so little. It felt like the creative team behind this show just wanted to get this movie done and over with so they could move on to the next project. If anything, it was less of a movie and more of an extended episode. After watching this film, I’m kind of concerned for the next season. It doesn’t help when the only thing that was shown in the commercial for season seven was Elizabeth looking at both Nate and Lucas. I’m hoping it is better than this movie was, but I’m starting to wonder if the show’s creative team is still passionate about this story?

Overall score: 6 out of 10

What did you think of this film? Are you looking forward to the next season of When Calls the Heart? Tell me in the comment section!

 

Have fun at the movies!

Sally Silverscreen