When Calls the Heart - Season 2 Review (A Few Spoilers!)

**SPOILER ALERT: There are a few spoilers for those who haven't watched all of season two yet! I didn't reveal too much, but those who haven't watch this last season may not want to know everything I've said.**

Watching the second season finale of When Calls the Heart (which aired on 6/13) left me raising my voice in indignation and horrified phrases of "I thought that was going to happen!". Needless to say, the ending was a cliffhanger. A major one. One that made me realize what Mr. Bird meant when he said the season ending was the 'best thing' but also the Hearties' 'worst nightmare'. I can't reveal the details, but the writers are doing a pretty good job keeping us on our toes!

Throughout the season there have been many (many...) ups and downs, but maybe those ups and downs needed to happen. Jack and Elizabeth, the charming Mountie and our head-strong heroine, have faced trials this last season (I'm sure those trials aren't the last we'll see!) and have grown. Where is character development if there is no battle and triumph?

Speaking of characters, I adore some of the newer ones. Take Lee Coulter, for instance. He's the new timber mill owner, who totally beats Gowen at a game of Poker and totally wins over Rosemary. From the beginning, I liked him. I loved the way he and Rosemary interacted, and it was so nice to see her with someone she genuinely liked! They make a great pair; and they make a really good team. That last episode where Lee gets Molly to act as though they're courting to get Rosemary jealous? Loved it. Rosemary's 'advice letter' to herself (with a little help from Abigail)? Oh, yes. Was I laughing/smiling? Of course! Seriously, though, can we keep Rosemary and Lee around?

 

I'm sure many people have begun to grow fond of Rosemary, myself included. I probably would've been pretty skeptical if someone would've told me so in the end of season one. Like Rosemary? Never, I dare say! But I would've been proven wrong, because this season her character has developed into someone I really hope sticks around! Yes, sometimes she shows a bit of her more selfish side, but I really have enjoyed her this season! She's probably one of the main sources of good laughs! She's so dramatic - and it's really funny to watch. And Lee...well, he takes it in stride, and I think he kinda loves it.

Then, we have all the intertwined stories developing in Hamilton, an expansion to our dear TV series. It's the place of Elizabeth's childhood, where old friendships and...family members lie (I do hope we'll see more of it in season three!). Some of those family and friends don't quite take to Jack as much as Elizabeth and Julie, her younger sister, have. And Tom Thornton, Jack's brother? Well, he seems to be a bit of a scoundrel when we're first introduced to him - or, maybe I should say, 'troubled youth' - but he...well, he kind of comes around eventually. He was an interesting addition to the cast, and hopefully we'll see more of him next season.

Julie, being her head-strong, naïve self makes for some shake-your-head moments. I do think Julie needs to be able to go out on her own and make some of her own decisions, but I also think she's been coddled, or undisciplined, for most of her life, so now she doesn't really know much about how to really live responsibly, and her parents are facing consequences of her somewhat-free-reign upbringing. That might all be resolved in...dare I hope?...season three. But! I can see her side of things...

The whole Jack-Elizabeth-Charles (maybe even Faith) love triangle could've gotten a bit frustrating. It wasn't actually as bad as I was expecting it to be when the season started, though. I was grating inside (before the season started) waiting for Jack and Elizabeth to break up and end up with Rosemary and Charles. But things turned out better than I expected. Can I just say: those trailers make things seem so much worse than are!!! Okay, so sometimes...most of the time. ;) But there can be certain exceptions...

I think my favorite episode of the season has to be the finale episode. The interaction between Jack and Elizabeth was kind of fun (especially the part in the mine!), and I liked the Lee-Rosemary scenario. But it also left us with questions, which is good storytelling! "What is Elizabeth going to say to Charles?" Almost more importantly: "What is Jack going to say!?" "What IS going on with Bill Avery?" "What is the pastor (whom I kind of like) hiding?" "Where has Julie gone?" etc. etc.

 

Speaking of Bill Avery, the pastor, and Nora: Bill's been acting shifty, so I cannot tell whether I should believe what he said to Jack or stick with what I've been thinking (which I won't say!). The pastor? He and Abigail are kind of cute together. They make a pretty good pair. But he is hiding something, and I have a little bit of a feeling it will shatter a little piece of Abigail's trust in him when and if she finds out what that 'something' is. And Nora? She is...kind of creepy. And she's teamed up with Gowen, so we know she's trouble. ;)

I enjoyed the storyline of Clara, Abigail's daughter-in-law. She's been a good addition to the series, and I hope we'll see more of her also in the season/s to come!

In this season, the focus of the story really shifted from Elizabeth and her students and the people of Coal Valley to specific characters and their own personal stories. We don't see a lot of Elizabeth teaching the children this season. But that was okay, because we really wanted to see what was happening in the specific characters' storylines, and that was the writers gave us!

This series is really good, and I hope it continues!

To draw this rather lengthy review to a close (albeit, I could say more!), I want to thank the cast and crew for making a show that's fun - and clean - and great for the whole family to watch! You guys are making a great show and, to Michael Landon Jr., Brian Bird, Daniel Lissing, Erin Krakow, Lori Loughlin, Pascale Hutton, and Kavan Smith and the rest of the cast (and crew, o' course), I hope we'll see you all back for a season three!

When Calls the Heart's Hallmark website: http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/when-calls-the-heart
When Calls the Heart store: http://www.whencallstheheartstore.com/

Special shots from the episode!