Friendship has always played a huge role on When Calls the Heart. Sometimes, strangers and new individuals have gone on to become familiar faces and even favorite characters. While watching this episode, I noticed that friendship was an over-arching theme within this story. When Henry told Abigail about friends leading to opportunities, I realized that he had a good point. Without friends, there are so many experiences and memories that we would miss out on. Friends can also help us grow as individuals and become better people. In the show, the friends in Hope Valley have gone through a lot. But, in the end, they’ve acquired so many memories and opportunities along the way. Because of the friendships they gained over the course of the show, the characters on When Calls the Heart have evolved as time has gone by. Speaking of friends, let’s revisit our friends in Hope Valley in this week’s re-cap!

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

Season: 6

Episode: 3

Name: A Vote of Confidence

Major Story:

• After hearing complaints from her neighbors about the saloon’s noise, Abigail approaches Lucas about the issue. She explains that the reason why people are upset about the noise is because, in the past, the saloon closed at 10 o’clock. Lucas tells Abigail that he will keep an eye on his business, especially during non-busy business days. The next day, the noise at the saloon is so loud, that it wakes up Cody. This causes Abigail to visit Lucas at the saloon. When she asks him why he went back on his word, he says that he’s doing exactly what he told her he would do. Because business was busy that night, it caused Lucas to keep the saloon open late. Fed up with this problem, Abigail decides to use her power as mayor to organize a town council meeting regarding this issue. When the meeting finally arrives, the townspeople have a chance to vote for a new business plan that requires all businesses to close at 10 o’clock. However, the vote ends up in a tie. As Abigail’s turn to vote comes up, she chooses to create a compromise with Lucas. She suggests that the saloon stay open late for only two days a week. Not only does Lucas accept this compromise, but this decision makes everyone involved, including Lucas, very happy.

Minor Stories:

• Toward the beginning of this episode, Bill goes to Cape Fullerton to testify against two deadly gun-men. However, once he arrives in Cape Fullerton, Bill discovers from the prosecutor that both gun-men have been recently released due to a lack of evidence. When Bill visits the judge, he learns that the judge was threatened by the gun-men, which caused him to release both criminals. Bill’s course of action is to visit his friend, Jeremiah, and ask for help in catching these criminals. When he arrives at Jeremiah’s house, Bill is met with skepticism and doubt from his friend. But, after some convincing, Jeremiah finally agrees to help Bill. During their journey to search for the gun-men, Jeremiah leads Bill to a short-cut, even though he claims he has never seen it himself. But he feels that this short-cut is through an abandoned mine. While in the mine, Jeremiah and Bill’s path is blocked and they become lost. As they search for a way out of the mine, Jeremiah shares with Bill about how he has been haunted by a past mission gone wrong. Bill reassures his friend that the criminal that escaped in the aforementioned mission was caught four months later. This reassurance gives Jeremiah the confidence to find their way out of the mine. Once they leave the mine, Bill and Jeremiah spot the two gun-men they were looking for. Bill decides to confront the criminals by himself, while Jeremiah stays by the mine. This plan proves to be a bad idea as a third gun-man suddenly emerges from the forest. Fourtunately, Jeremiah arrives just in time, knocking out the third gun-man in order to protect Bill. After this eventful confrontation, Jeremiah returns home and Bill brings the gun-men to prison.

• After learning about explorers in school, Cody, Robert, and Timmy become interested in pirates. At recess, Cody and Robert pretend to be pirates looking for treasure. Timmy wants to join in on the fun, but gets stuck creating “waves” by throwing water at their make-shift boat. A few days later, at recess, Timmy brings his spy-glass to school and shows it to Robert and Cody. This not only excites them, but this allows Timmy to join their game. After school, Timmy discovers that his spy-glass is missing. When he asks Robert and Cody about the whereabouts of his prized possession, they say that they probably left it by their boat. This causes Timmy to look for the spy-glass all by himself. While riding her horse, Elizabeth sees Timmy searching for his spy-glass. As Timmy tells her his situation, she says that Cody and Robert should be helping him look for his spy-glass. She also gives him the advice to be honest with his friends and tell them how he feels. The next day, at recess, Timmy tells Cody and Robert how upset he is that they wouldn’t help him look for his spy-glass. He also says that all he wants is to be their friend. Moments later, Cody and Robert encourage their entire class to help Timmy look for his spy-glass.

• Days after the saloon re-opening, Faith tells Rosemary exactly what Carson told her. Rosemary tells her that because certain words can mean a variety of things, she needs to make her feelings toward Carson clearer when addressing this matter. Meanwhile, at the saw mill, Carson tells Lee exactly what Faith told him at the saloon re-opening. Lee tells Carson that he needs to be more honest about his feelings toward Faith. As the days go on, both Faith and Carson make it clear that they want to honest with each other, but are not yet ready to address their feelings. Finally, Carson tells Faith exactly how he feels. However, Faith is afraid of starting a relationship with Carson, especially after hearing from Rosemary that relationships between two co-workers don’t always work out. A few days later, Carson tells Faith that they have to visit a patient during a house call. While on their way to the patient’s house, Faith finally shares her feelings about Carson to him. She also says that she wants to start relationship with him. After they kiss, Carson reveals that they weren’t going on a house call, but on a picnic instead.

Some thoughts to consider:

• When Elizabeth mentioned that she’d like to start a library, it seemed like this facility was just another establishment on When Calls the Heart’s growing list of places that have never been built or never been seen on-screen. As much as I’d like to finally see the Ice Cream Parlor in a future episode and Rosemary finally receive her theater, I’m not sure if the show has room in their budget to make these places a reality. While there have been changes in Hope Valley, we haven’t seen any new buildings arrive in the town. Also, is it just me or does that railroad that was promised last season seem almost nonexistent?

• Personally, I didn’t like how the episode ended with Elizabeth’s class still looking for Timmy’s spy-glass. Ambiguous endings are something that I’m not a fan of. So, I hope that the spy-glass is referenced in the next episode.

• During this episode, when it’s time for the mail call, Fiona discovers that a trunk has been sent to Lucas from San Francisco. I’m wondering what is in that trunk and who could have sent it to him? Hopefully these questions get answered in an upcoming episode.

How did you feel about this episode? What was your favorite story-line? Share your thoughts in the comment section!

Have fun in Hope Valley!

Sally Silverscreen