Before I start this When Calls the Heart re-cap, I’d like to remind everyone that Thursday, April 9^th, is the last day to cast your vote for the Best Supporting Actor of the 2^nd Annual Gold Sally Awards! The next poll will be posted on the April 10th! Here is the link to the poll:

Now it’s time to choose the Best Supporting Actor of 2020’s Gold Sally Awards!

As I’ve mentioned before, When Calls the Heart is about a cast of characters. Over the course of seven seasons, many characters have been featured on the show. This creates a variety of people for the fans to choose as their favorite. For me, Tom Thornton is my favorite character, despite his limited presence on the show. Tom’s introduction is one of the reasons why I like the second season out of all seven of them. The more I watch When Calls the Heart, the more I notice there is something for everyone. With so many characters and stories, there is bound to be something that one gravitates to. When that happens, one could feel like the show is telling them, “hey, I made this just for you”. I wonder if this is another reason why When Calls the Heart has acquired the number of fans it has?

Just a reminder: If you did not see this episode of When Calls the Heart, there may be spoilers within this re-cap.

Season: 7

Episode: 7

Name: Heart of a Writer

Major Stories:

Before recess ends, Lucas asks Elizabeth if she’d like to go to a book reading for an up-and-coming author named Virginia Woolf. He has two tickets to the event, which takes place in Union City. As Opal interrupts their conversation, since recess is almost over, Elizabeth tells him she’ll think about his offer. After school, Elizabeth shares this news with Rosemary. When she explains her reservations about going with Lucas, Rosemary asks Elizabeth what she wants to do. With that, Elizabeth decides to go the book-reading. She then visits Lucas at the saloon, where she tells him that she’ll go to the event simply as a friend. After agreeing to this condition, he informs her that he’ll pick her up at seven the next morning and that they will be attending a fancy restaurant following the event. The next day, Lucas picks Elizabeth up at her house in Henry’s car. During their journey, they stop in a nearby field so they can have a picnic lunch. Over this meal, Elizabeth learns that Lucas got the event’s tickets from a mutual friend. When they arrive at their hotel, the concierge mistakes Elizabeth and Lucas for a married couple. After they clarify that error, they receive their room keys. In the evening, Lucas and Elizabeth attend the book-reading. Following the event, they have dinner at the aforementioned fancy restaurant. While waiting for their food, Elizabeth and Lucas learn more about one another. Elizabeth shares that she, sometimes, misses her life in Hamilton. Lucas confesses that he’d like to have a family one day. When they talk about the book-reading itself, Elizabeth learns the real reason for Lucas’ desire to attend the event. It was more about wanting to spend time with Elizabeth than experiencing Virginia’s work.

When Nathan visits Elizabeth during recess, he tells her that he’ll be in Cape Fullerton during the weekend because he’ll be a witness on an upcoming trial. He also says that Allie will be spending time with Opal’s family over the weekend. The next day, while at Opal’s house, Ally sees Elizabeth leaving Hope Valley with Lucas. Nathan also comes home earlier than expected. When she visits Nathan at his office, Ally tells him what she saw. For the rest of the episode, Nathan appears to be disappointed, but doesn’t let other people know how he’s feeling. He minds his own business by chopping wood and going fishing with Ally. When Elizabeth and Lucas do come home, both Ally and Nathan try their best not to make their interactions with Elizabeth seem awkward.

Minor Stories:

Because of Elizabeth’s weekend plans, Lee and Rosemary volunteer to take care of Jack. Since this is the first time Elizabeth and Jack have been apart for more than a few hours, Jack is more fussy than usual. Over the weekend, Lee and Rosemary misplace Jack’s favorite toy: a small, stuffed dog. They search everywhere for the toy, but have difficulty finding it. Until they can locate the dog, Lee purchases a stuffed toy duck for Jack as a replacement. Unfortunately, Jack isn’t impressed with the new toy. Lee and Rosemary try their best to make Jack happy, but most of their efforts fail to work. One day, while in town, they decide to pay Carson a visit. When they arrive, Carson is typing a document on his typewriter. During this visit, Lee and Rosemary notice how much calmer Jack is. This leads them to discover that Jack likes the sound of the typewriter, as it reminds him of his mom. When Elizabeth returns home, Lee and Rosemary are happy that Jack is reunited with his mother. Toward the end of the episode, Lee and Rosemary finally find Jack’s missing toy: it was located under the pillows on their sofa.

After Jesse and Clara arrive from their honeymoon, they immediately move into their new home: the house that’s connected to the café. When they bring their belongings into the house, Clara discovers Jesse only has one small box containing his things. When she asks where his favorite armchair is, he tells her he had to discard it, as he says it was broken. The next day, Clara sees Jesse giving some of his belongings to Kevin. One of these items is the aforementioned armchair. After she tells Bill about what she saw, Bill tries to figure out why Jesse has so few possessions. When Bill talks to Jesse about it, he doesn’t get an answer. Later in the episode, Clara tries to talk with Jesse over dinner. Unfortunately, Jesse doesn’t want to talk about his small number of belongings. The next day, Jesse comes home to find his possessions throughout the house. Clara confesses that she asked the people who received Jesse’s things to give them back to Jesse. Clara tells him that she wants their home to be a place where they both feel they belong.

At the beginning of the episode, Lucas notices he didn’t receive his check at the end of the previous month. When he confronts Henry at his office, Henry tells him there’s nothing to worry about. At the saloon, he asks Mike about the late payment. Mike reveals how he’s not in charge of the plant’s finances anymore, as Henry has now taken over that responsibility. Meanwhile, Henry goes to the Infirmary, telling Carson he has indigestion. During an examination, Carson discovers Henry has higher blood pressure. He tells Henry he’ll give him some medicine and advice to take a break from work. The next day, Carson finds Henry working in his office. Even though Carson is concerned about Henry’s well-being, he simply tells Henry that he can come to him if he wants to talk about anything.

Some thoughts to consider:

• I was disappointed that the book-reading wasn’t shown on screen. When Lucas tells Elizabeth it will be held in a theater, I was hoping to see this location. Since this show takes place in the 1910s, the theater would likely have a grand style that is usually found in big cities. Hopefully, a theater like that could be featured on the show in the future.

• Personally, I think Lucas over-showed his hand on his first date with Elizabeth. Talking about the future and sharing family history is not a bad thing. However, I don’t think Lucas should have brought these ideas up this soon in his relationship with Elizabeth. Despite the fact they are on a date, they are not officially dating. Lucas’ choice could scare Elizabeth away from building a romantic relationship with him.

• During Lucas and Elizabeth’s conversation about the book-reading, Elizabeth mentions how her sister, Viola, gave her a copy of Virginia’s short stories. Even though we haven’t seen Viola since the second season, it was nice to see a former character being referenced on the show. Now, if only Elizabeth could reference her brother-in-law and her son’s uncle, Tom Thornton…

Do you like this episode? What has your favorite story-line? Share your thoughts in the comment section!

Have fun in Hope Valley!

Sally Silverscreen