WCTH Episode Review: Don't Go (Part 1)

    That's all folks! Season 7 has officially come to an end! (A very abrupt, sudden, and dramatic end that has me asking questions that I don't have answers for...)

    This has been such a ride! So much suspense, excitement...(Stress...) romance, drama...(STRESS!) And you know what? We get to do it all over again! Yes, Season 8 was officially announced! I'm very happy and grateful to all the cast and crew for bringing us our beloved show, over and over again, and for all the hard work they do! Thank you! BUT....oooo....that cliffhanger puts a new tune on the whole waiting process and leaves us with a thousand questions. Will the triangle continue through this whole new season? Will it end within the first few episodes?

    Now, yes you read the title right! I will be reviewing most of the episode in this post, but I thought I'd save talking about the cliffhanger for Friday where I can really break it down, and talk about the comments the cast made about it. (Cliffhanger for a cliffhanger. Lol!)

A few notes:

Where did Jesse go?!!!

(Should I even bother this time?) Where is that pastor?

Sergeant the horse is back!

I Am Not Small

     You go girl! You tell that horrible boss of yours the truth! Any guy that treats his employees like that doesn't deserve you! It was such a bittersweet time for Fiona. You know what? It's actually more sweet, I think, then bitter. Sure there is the uncertainty of her future now that she's jobless, but she's free now. She can be whoever she wants to be, go wherever she wants to go. She loved Hope Valley more than her job, and in return I'm sure Hope Valley will continue to do what they do best and take care of their own. Fiona is going to be fine, actually better than fine. It is sad however that the writers waited until the end of the season to pull this storyline out. We knew next to nothing about this girl and now when we get some grit it's over in two episodes, and without a whole lot of time showing it in more detail. This is a story idea that would definitely intrigue people and provide a fun bit of drama. Either way, it will be interesting to see what's next for Fiona! (Maybe some romance?)

Side Note: That exchange with Molly, Florence, and Fiona was funny. Molly just kind of laughed at the ten second rule, but Florence was dead serious. Lol! It figures the two town gossips would end up as the telephone operators. :D

Lee & Suz

    Lee you really know how to pull on people's heart strings don't you? What a story this guy has! We've just known him as happy, hardworking Lee, but he's really had such a heart-breaking past! So Lee's sister has come to town. She hasn't seen Lee in twenty years, and we find that not only has Lee missed his father's funeral, but he has a niece and a nephew that are already grown up that he's never met. (Sniff!) As if this wasn't bad enough, things are very awkward between Susanna and the Coulters. And yes I mean both Lee and Rosemary. Lol! Rosemary was taken back by Susanna's remark for Lee to not call her by her nickname. That may have lit a fire of defense in Rosemary and so she did the same thing right back to Susanna and told her to call her by her full name. (Don't you mess with her Lee!)

    Lee really wanted to fix him and Susanna's broken relationship, and so he showed up at her hotel room to talk. (Which probably was much easier with Rosemary gone. Lol!) Things started off well as they looked at old photos, but then came a picture of Patrick. That seemed to scrape the scabs off and bring the wound right to the surface. Susanna brings her hurt to light, and Lee tries to defend himself. In the end both siblings leave sadder and more hurt than before. Rosemary sees how much her husband is hurting, so much so he doesn't even want to talk about it with her. 

    Where does she go? Right to see Susanna. She loves her husband and will do anything for him, and so she tells Susanna what for. She just comes right out and tells her to let things go. She then explains that Lee almost died and that definitely got Susanna's attention! She had no idea that she almost lost the only brother she's got left! And Rosemary asks her very bluntly, but gently, "You already lost one brother. Do you really want to lose another?"

    And thanks to Lee's loving wife Susanna decides to stay longer, and the two of them finally make amends! And it turns out, that I feel for that girl! What a hard, terrible thing to have to care for your sick father, watch him die, and attend his funeral all alone. (Well, she may have had a beau, but you get the point.) And all of this happened after she'd first lost her brother, and then her mother, and then her other brother left her to deal with things on her own. Lee and her story is very sad, and heart-breaking. You can feel bad for both sides, and yet not agree with how they handle things too. I could say here whose side I'm on but that's not the point. What matters is that Lee got his sister back. He fully apologized, and even thanked her for what she did in looking after their father while he wasn't there bringing tears to Susanna's eyes. (And I'm sure a lot of Hearties too!) It will be interesting to see if Susanna makes some more appearances in episodes to come. Will she come for Christmas, bringing her whole family in tow? I'd say will Lee visit her for Christmas, but we need our Lee in HV for Christmas! Lol! (Should we have a Christmas episode, of course.) But at last Lee and Susanna have reunited and can finally be at peace about their past.

Lucas

    I got it! I got it! Yes! (Sigh!) I got the feels, the candles, the date...I mean...(Cough!)...not date. Okay who am I kidding? That was a date!

    Okay, okay...let's start at the beginning.

    Elizabeth finds someone knocking at her door, which nowadays always leaves me excited as to who it might be. She opens the door and it's Lucas! (Yay!) And he tells Elizabeth that a publisher wants to talk with her! Lucas is obviously very excited! He's grabbing her coat, with a smile on his face like, "Let's go already!"

    It's so cute that Elizabeth and Lucas are sort of on this journey together. They're just like two best friends who confide in each other and root each other on. (And that doesn't have to mean chummy best friends.)

    And did anyone else get a call back to Jack when Lucas told Elizabeth to take a deep breath? Season 1 with the Founder's Day play? Anyone? Because I did! So she makes the call and....(Dum da dum!) She's sold her very first novel and she hasn't even finished it yet! Yay! And she's even getting paid in advance!  (Nice!) Lucas was so happy for Elizabeth and is already envisioning her being a world-famous success. We then got some fun banter between them as Elizabeth tries to contribute her being published to Lucas' encouragement. But Lucas is like, "Did I write those three chapters?" Lol! Cute!

    I could go on to where Nathan interrupts but I'll save that for his section.

    Anyhow, we then got some trouble in paradise, as Elizabeth learns that Lucas has pulled out of Gowen Petroleum! (Gasp!) I was like, "Ooo! She's going to go let him have it!" Which that could have been a good thing as it would add tension, and we all know what tension means in romance. But instead we learned the sad truth about the situation, and just what kind of man Lucas is.

    He was paying the employees right from his own pocket! (Aww!) If that doesn't say something about his character I don't know what does! He didn't leave Henry right away, and let everything crumble. He tried to help, but he saw the reality of the situation and knew why things had become the way they were. So he had no choice but to leave or get dragged down with Henry. And right away Elizabeth apologizes for assuming the worst, to which he sweetly replies, "I can't blame you for caring too much."

     But it would seem that Elizabeth inspired him to make one final attempt to save his and Henry's business. He'll stay, but only if he's the majority owner. Boy, did that light a fire in Henry! He was mad, and possibly insulted by Lucas' proposal! He literally told him to beat it! (Oh, Henry! More on him later!)

     Now, this is where people are calling Lucas shady again. He told Elizabeth about his and Henry's confrontation, but he wasn't specific about exactly what the deal was that he proposed. Now people are saying he's shady and not trustworthy. 

    My opinion? I think people might be making this bigger than what it is. Yes, he chose to not share all the details with Elizabeth. Yes, he was more selective with his words, but that doesn't make him bad or wrong. He knew that Elizabeth cares about Henry and all the people his company provides for. Maybe Lucas even wanted to show Elizabeth that he cares too. He doesn't want people to lose their jobs and I think Elizabeth inspired him to try one last ditch effort to save the company. He also knows why the company fell and he wants to prevent that from happening again. Which means he needs to have a say in the decisions of the company. So, yes, while he didn't tell Elizabeth everything, it doesn't make him a criminal or mean he has bad intentions. In fact he was honest the whole time, and never lied once. IMO anyway. Feel totally free to disagree! :)

      Anyhow, moving on we come to the big moment! Lucas has asked Elizabeth out for the second time this season! (YAY!) And... he did it! He did the date I envisioned! He set up an elegant dinner in the library by candlelight!!! Eeeek!!! Now for anyone who says he did a Jack thing, yes that was something Jack would have done, but I am totally okay with that! Jack did not trademark the use of candles, and, to be frank, everyone uses them for romantic dinners and so it's perfectly fine in my book.

    
    There are also people who say that the date creeped them out, which is sad. Lucas puts so much effort into everything he does for Elizabeth, and he clearly knows something about romance, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Now was the date perfect? No. Were some of the lines a bit cheesy? Yes. (But Jack and Elizabeth did the same thing!) Did the scene give me the feels? YES! Did I squeal in happiness? Y. E. S. It was romantic, and the kind of date I wanted them to go on! And the whole idea of them pretending if it was a date was cute, and spark flying romantic! I love that idea! 

     Some people may have wished he didn't narrate everything, and I will admit that not everything played over perfectly for me, but nothing is perfect. However this date had more of the Jack and Elizabeth first date feel than the fancy dinner in the city did for me. And it brought a huge smile to my face and made me squeal like a little girl! Lol!

  

    The last scene we have for Elizabeth and Lucas came when Elizabeth found him in Gowen's office. Lucas tells Elizabeth that Henry is out, and Elizabeth laughs at what appears to be an obvious fact. She then finds out that he meant it literally, and that he now owns Gowen Petroleum. Oh, goodness. Seems like whoever gets involved with Henry inherits his constant string of problems. Lucas is obviously very stressed about this, and Elizabeth is shocked. She asks is this what Lucas proposed to Henry, and he says no, but this is just how things ended up. Again people could say he's keeping the truth from her, but again my answer is the same. He didn't have to and technically it wouldn't have made a difference. Things are the way they are. This situation is just one of the many stories that have been stacked into this cliffhanger. What does the future hold? That's for another post. (Come on. without episode reviews to write I've got to save some things for later. That and this post would go to infinity and beyond if I explained everything here. Lol!)

Gowen 

     How the mighty have fallen! Literally! Oh, my stinking goodness! Gowen almost collapsed!!! My hands flew to my mouth as he started falling over! Kudos to Martin Cummins for that fall by the way!

    How can I sum up Henry's life? Pride comes before a fall. How many times has Gowen been in an important, powerful position, treated people with disrespect, and ended up in ruin? Darn it, Gowen! How can you be so stubborn and prideful? Alright, alright, let's back it up.

    So first off we have Henry almost fainting in the cafe. Wow! Then Carson checks him out and diagnoses him with exhaustion. Henry pays no mind to all of this and heads straight back to work. (Tsk, tsk...) Elizabeth goes to pay him a visit and make sure he's alright, and we then learn that Lucas has pulled out of the company. (We talked about E and L's exchange above.)

    Gowen just can't seem to make a go of things. He tried so hard to make his company into something great and powerful that he quickly ran out of a steam and started to collapse. (Figuratively and physically.) He was so proud of his company, something he built from the ground up....with Lucas' money. A fact that he seems to forget quite frequently.

    Lucas understands the whole situation and how they got there, and as he said he, "Can't keep throwing good money after bad." It won't fix anything if Henry keeps operating the way he has, and will only bring Lucas right down with him. So he made one final attempt to fix things, which went very bad. I think Henry was offended. After all Lucas was pretty much saying that he could run the company better than Gowen, which is partially true. But Henry is a very prideful man and doesn't like to take his orders from anyone but himself. (You'd think he'd remember where he's been, and how he's gotten this far...)

    So Gowen takes Lucas' bet and raises him one. He's like, "You think you can run my company better? Prove it!" He's basically daring Lucas to prove himself, and Lucas doesn't want the company to fail, or people to lose their jobs. He must see a way to fix things or he wouldn't have tried to help. And so he bought the entire company...and he knows next to nothing about the oil industry. (Gulp!)

    Now the truth is that Lucas and Gowen would have made a good team if they were willing to learn from each other and get along. Gowen knows the business, but Lucas could be there to keep him in check so he doesn't go charging ahead or use unethical tactics. But now...yeesh! Now things are very bad. Lucas needs Henry's help and I have a feeling he may not want to give any. He's being so stubborn, despite Lucas' attempts to help. Well, it will be very interesting for sure to see what this next season brings. I have a feeling that Henry and Lucas may work things out, but not without some trouble first.

Nathan

    (Gulp!) Well...that was...interesting. Hehe... (I'm not nervous at all...)

    Nathan certainly has made some ground this time around. (Of course he would in the finale...) All throughout these past two seasons he has been the obvious choice for Elizabeth. I like to deny things, or say all the reasons why Lucas makes sense, but reality may have struck. Now like I said I'm going to be discussing (More like dissecting) the cliffhanger in Friday's post. (Be sure to come back for that!) But we still have plenty of content to talk about for Nathan!

    So first we have him interrupting...I mean...happening upon Elizabeth and Lucas' celebrating her publishing deal. He offers his congrats and is genuinely impressed and happy about it. Nathan hasn't talked very much about Elizabeth's writing which is kind of sad. If he's the one (Which nothing is completely set in stone yet) then he should be the one who's encouraging her and is interested in it. But he's hasn't shown much so far. 

    Anyhow, we get both guys calling after Elizabeth as she cleverly avoids the very awkward situation and heads to school. Nathan's like "I'll see you there!" While Lucas is telling her to practice making a grand entrance for when she's famous. Lol! And then both guys did what I predicted they'd do, and awkwardly looked at each other, and walked away without saying a word. Lol! (If this is going to be another Rosemary and Elizabeth storyline then these guys should be best friends by Season 12. Or later...Lol!)

    So then we come to the event at school. It appears to be some kind of parents event, or end of the school term thing where the kids get to show off all their projects they've done. (For some reason the event was never named.) It was here that Nathan got up his gut to try and ask Elizabeth out. (or that's what I'm thinking). But once again, Captain Tongue-tied was attacked by his arch nemesis Dr. Interruption. (And he didn't win...)

    But never fear as Nathan got another chance the next day in the Livery as Elizabeth had gone for a ride to shake off the cobwebs as she put it. So first Nathan pays Elizabeth a compliment saying that he finds it hard to believe that Elizabeth has cobwebs. Very nice. And then he's a gentleman and offers to unsaddle her horse for her. (To save her famous hands, of course! Lol!) And then...wow! And then out of nowhere he tells her that he realizes how special she is! Goodness, man! Where did that come from? 

    That's the funny thing about Nathan. You never know just what might come flying out of his mouth. Well, that compliment must have drained the confidence meter, as he once again tried to ask her something and failed miserably. Nathan, you poor soul! You are sweet, but you are terrible at communicating! If I was Elizabeth I would just want to grab him by the collars and say, "Just tell me already!" Lol!

    But then he did. And in typical Nathan fashion. All of a sudden, right after telling Elizabeth that he had to go out of town, and she was walking away he called after her. She turns and Nathan spits out, "Would you like to get dinner with me?" (And the choir starts to sing, "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!") It has taken this man two whole entire seasons but he finally got up the nerve to ask her out. (How long would it take for this guy to propose? Lol!)

    Elizabeth seemed very happy at first but then the idea seemed to sink in, and she seemed unsure. Nathan could see that and so he told her to think about it. 

    We then come to the the moment Hearties were talking about before this episode aired. The gun shot! Well, we found out who that woman was. The crook's wife...I mean sister! Lol! (Her reaction was funny!)

    So she's got the upper hand with that big rifle pointed at them. All the guys drop their guns, and brave Nathan approaches her slowly. He tries to talk her out of breaking her brother out, telling her that he has a better chance just serving his short prison term now, whereas if she breaks him out both he and she would go to jail for a LONG time. It seemed like Nathan was convincing her, and he got so close....And then a fellow Mountie tried to help and....BANG!



    And this is where I shall leave things until Friday when we discuss the crazy cliffhanger that everyone is talking about!

Overall Thoughts

     Ummmm....wow! That was something to be sure. This finale was filled with suspense, emotion, romance, joy, and...confusion. Which that last emotion will only make sense after I've discussed the cliffhanger this Friday. I could talk about it now, but it really deserves its own post, and it will give me a chance to really dive into it, and examine it. I'll also be adding some comments from the cast to really bring it together and help form the complete picture. So stay tuned Hearties!


     Thank you all so much for reading! Feel free to tell me your thoughts below or on my Twitter page! (Blog comments will be answered in a separate blog post.) Stay safe, and God Bless!