Does Lucas Have a Chance?

Warning: This is completely a Team Lucas post. Team Nathan fans advised to proceed with caution. :)

    Hello Hearties and welcome to Wednesday! Yes, this is the Lucas post I had asked for you guys' help with last week! Recently I was asked to do a blog post on reasons why Lucas might win, or why I personally think he could. Both are very good ideas, and so I thought today I'd address both! Maybe give any Team Lucas fans out there hope if they need it, and it's just so much fun to talk about! :)

    Does this poor heartbroken man stand a chance after that whopper of a cliffhanger? Or did that "hug heard around the world" seal all three love triangle member's fates? My personal opinion...no. I don't think it did.

    Now before we start let me just say that just like everyone else, I do not know who Elizabeth is going to pick. After that crazy cliffhanger ending I have to admit that my spirits were dashed, and things were looking bad for Lucas. But afterward I started reading why other Team Lucas fans thought he could be the "winner" and soon my hopes were brought right back up. I now believe that Lucas really could be "the one" and I'm very excited for Season 8!

    I also totally cannot take credit for this whole post as I got so much help from fellow Team Lucas fans pointing out all the parallels and clues leading to a Lucas and Elizabeth ending. Thank you everyone so, so much for your help! I never would have realized some of this stuff without you, and so I'm kind of just reiterating what you showed me at times. :)

Signposts

    So a fellow Heartie and Team Lucas fan, @heartiehallmark, helped me out and sent me this great outline detailing the different things pointing to Lucas being "the one." Thank you so much for this as I really wanted to not just have a post listing all the reasons why I think Lucas "should be the one" and have some good solid clues.

    My two favorite points are the first two. I never even realized these things, and that's coming from a Heartie who took the time to see whether Chris or Kevin's names were credited first in the opening credits. Lol! Now @heartiehallmark has already taken the time to explain a bunch of great points here, but I thought I'd further discuss some of the things she has pointed out.

Storylines

    This is a great point and one I didn't even realize or consider. Throughout Seasons 6-7 Elizabeth has had her own personal storylines, first wanting to start a library in Season 6, and then her writing in Season 7. In both instances Nathan had very little to do with either storyline. All he did was make the plaque in Season 6 for the library plus attend its opening. As for for Season 7 he was also seldomly included in Elizabeth's writing journey. He asked about it maybe twice, and then congratulated her on getting published....at the end of the season.

    Meanwhile Lucas' storylines have nearly always revolved and intertwined with Elizabeth's. He was the sole reason the library came to be, and he has continuously helped build it from Season 6-7. He learned about her dream and made it happen, with S6's finale actually having the opening ceremony.

    And once again in Season 7 the whole reason Elizabeth finally brought out her short stories after putting them away in Season 4 was because Lucas encouraged her. He went so far as to offer to read them....and Elizabeth let him. There is so much gravity in that fact. The only person who had ever read her stories was Jack. I mean not even Abigail had read them, and now three seasons later who's the first person she let read her stories? Lucas.

    Now of course there is the argument out there that Nathan is the reason or inspiration for her novel. I'll put it this way.

    Elizabeth may never have even brought her short stories out, let alone thought of writing a novel without Lucas. She would have never known that she needed to take her writing deeper if it hadn't been for Lucas. Did Nathan help her figure out what she wanted to write about? Yes. I'm totally not denying that. I'd even go so far as to say that yes, he did inspire her. But it was Lucas who first encouraged and started Elizabeth off on her writing journey. And to top this whole thing off, Elizabeth never once thanked Nathan for "inspiring" her novel. She thanked Lucas. She told him that she had him to thank for getting published, and that he encouraged her. And so that's my take on the topic of Nathan being the reason for her novel.

    Speaking of Nathan, returning to the storyline topic the thing that I noticed is the fact that @heartiehallmark pointed out. Every time Elizabeth gets involved with Nathan its due to his own personal storyline. And not only that, but it's almost always had to do with helping one of her students. Elizabeth always gets involved with Nathan because Allie has a problem, and in turn she tries to help Nathan out as well. It reminds me when she tried helping Shane Cantrell. His son Phillip had a problem, therefore she had to seek Shane out and got into the whole thing with his late wife and helping him move on. It's sort of the same thing here.

     So often Elizabeth was interacting with Nathan because she was trying to help Allie and him with their problems. Allie's problems at school, Allie wanting to see her grandpa, and Nathan's estranged relationship with his father. Not to mention the time when Elizabeth asked for help with Robert when he wanted to become a Mountie. All of these moments were Elizabeth trying to help with a problem, and sometimes they kind of had this "teacher talking to a parent" vibe to them. Now I'm not saying that Elizabeth and Nathan haven't had their moments. I'm just saying that they haven't had as many....how do I put this....personal ones as her and Lucas have.

    Always Elizabeth is helping Nathan out with his own personal problems, but I fail to see Nathan making a conscience effort to become involved in the things that really matter or interest Elizabeth.

Missed Opportunities

    This second thing @heartiehallmark pointed out is a very good point. There were multiple times that Lucas got the moment and Nathan didn't. There were opportunities for Nathan to become the "leading male" as I'll put it, but he didn't. There were even times when he could have equaled the playing field as the outline pointed out, and the writers chose not to let him.

    The flowers were one of the biggest things. Both guys made a bold step toward Elizabeth, and yet we only saw Elizabeth's response to one of them. Now if I was Team Nathan I would have been so dang bummed that I didn't get to see Elizabeth's response to Nathan. I mean, that was a big moment for both of them, and we didn't get to see it. Meanwhile for Lucas we saw from the moment Elizabeth opened the door to even him smirking at Nathan as he walked away.

    Another thing is that when Lee was hurt someone had to go and tell Elizabeth. Anyone could have done it, but the writers chose to give Lucas that job. I wonder why... And his face said it all. Not only did he not want to have to tell Elizabeth this devastating news, but even his response the next morning showed how deeply this hit him. He had planned Lee's anniversary party, and given him ice for his sick wife, and while he doesn't know him super well, he was so upset at Lee's life or death situation.

    And of course I cannot leave out the fact that Lucas has gotten multiple romantic moments with Elizabeth, the most outstanding ones being the two date/not-dates. Nathan hasn't really had as big of moments with her. Not that he hasn't gotten any substantial ones as he has. I guess they just haven't been, like I said, as big. At least for me anyway. It really all comes down to a person's own likes and dislikes.

    I for one wanted Lucas to set up an intimate candle lit dinner, which I got to see in the finale. I don't care that that was kind of Jack's thing. To me candles are romantic as are sweet intimate dinners for two. Nathan never got any kind of date or outing with Elizabeth and he's been around for one and a half seasons. I know that some people really like that slow burn storyline which is perfectly fine. I just really enjoy watching sweet and romantic outings....with candles. Lol!

Little Jack

    Another thing I thought I would mention, which is also mentioned in the outline above, is Lucas' interactions with Little Jack. Some Hearties believe that he has barely acknowledged him, and while they are completely entitled to their own opinion I do have to disagree here. Every time Lucas ran into Elizabeth in Season 7, and Little Jack was there, he acknowledged him every single time. Sometimes he even brought up Jack when he wasn't even present! (More on that later!) This is a very important fact as Elizabeth could never be with any man who didn't want her son. Lucky for her though, Lucas has outright told her that he wants children. (I very good sign!) He may have said that he's not in a hurry, but....plans change. ;)

Parallels

    Now I know that Lucas is not Jack, and he never will be. However there have been multiple parallels between Elizabeth and Jack's relationship and Elizabeth and Lucas'. And since Jack was so incredibly beloved among the Hearties (and Team Nathan does this too) it's worth pointing them out. Now of course this isn't concrete evidence that Elizabeth is going to pick Lucas, but the similarities are definitely interesting.

Church vs. Library

    Apparently if a guy wants to win this school teacher's heart all he's got to do is give her a building. Lol! Okay not really, but it certainly helps. :) This is one of the biggest parallels. Most, if not all of you know that in Season 2 Jack used his reward money to build Elizabeth (AKA "the town.") a new church/school building. He then presented it to Elizabeth, and she was stunned.

    We then have Lucas who bought a building as an investment, but after learning about Elizabeth's dream to open a library, donated it, or gave it to Elizabeth to be used as a library. (Everyone all at once...Awwwwww!) Both of these acts of kindness were one of the most generous things both men have done on the show. Often I've heard Team Lucas fans say that giving Elizabeth the library was their favorite thing Lucas did. Anyhow the similarity between Jack and the church, and Lucas with the library is very notable.

    Not to mention in the end both buildings became as a sort of special place for both couples. (Yes, I just called Elizabeth and Lucas a couple. :) Jack was always coming around the school house, he and Elizabeth actually stayed ALL NIGHT there before he left for the Northern Territories, (Oh, the scandal!) and they even got married there!!

    Now the library has become a special place for Lucas and Elizabeth. It's where Lucas first learned about and encouraged Elizabeth's dream of being published, and of course I cannot forget their date/not a date that happened there. Just imagine how awkward it would be should Elizabeth pick Nathan and then have these romantic memories of Lucas every time she goes in the library.

It's Just Fiction

    This is something I saw awhile ago when a Team Lucas fan made a video comparing a Jack and Elizabeth moment to an Elizabeth and Lucas one. You all probably know this but for anyone who doesn't remember, back in Season 1 Elizabeth helped put on the Founder's Day play. For this event Jack painted a backdrop for it, but nobody (Except Abigail) knew he was the one who had done it. Well, as the students were rolling it away they discovered that whoever had painted it, had also painted a tiny likeness of Elizabeth and Jack kissing.

    Elizabeth was mortified and went to tell Jack, although she had quite a hard time telling him exactly what they were doing. Lol! After she finally manages to spit it out, Jack plays along and pretends to be just as shocked as she is, declaring the whole idea of them kissing to be, "Completely inappropriate" and "Pure fiction."

    Elizabeth then seemingly a bit disappointed agrees and says, "Yes. Fiction."

    Remind you of anything? Yes, I'm talking about that adorable scene between Elizabeth and Lucas in the mercantile when a poor embarrassed Lucas comes looking for "humble pie." He had thought Elizabeth had maybe based her leading man in her novel off of him, but turns out the guy isn't a perfect spitting image of him. And so he sadly admits it to Elizabeth.

    But Elizabeth then replies playfully, "Remember....It is just fiction." Alright, that in itself is a sign. I mean how obvious was that? That was like telling Lucas that not only does he have a shot, but that she's interested in him. And the whole scene was just sweet, and adorable!!!

    But once again there is a parallel here, and I found it interesting!

Shall We?

    If anyone has watched Jack and Elizabeth's romance, they probably know that those two have a special phrase that is just for them. Jack said it for the first time in the finale of Season 1 when he asked Elizabeth to, "Take a walk with me." Ever since then it's been their line, and should either of the new guys say it to her, the Hearties may launch outrage. (Me included. :D )

    Elizabeth and Lucas, however, seem to have their own sort of special phrase in the line, "Shall we?" Lucas has said it to her about three times throughout Season 7 and now it's kind of just become their thing. And of course while this doesn't mean Elizabeth has to pick him, I'm just thinking about Elizabeth and Nathan and I don't really think they have a line like that. The closest thing I can think of is when they said, "Let me know when you figure it out," but I don't know if that is going to be a continued thing between them. It was only really in S7 Episode 1, while Lucas has said, "Shall we?" to Elizabeth once in Episode 7 and twice in Episode 10.

    Just saying.... :)

Deep Breath

    This is a small comparison but I couldn't help remembering Jack when it happened. In Season 1 Elizabeth suddenly found out that she was assigned to direct the Founder's Day play. She started freaking out about it, Jack noticed, and made her sit down and take a deep breath.

    We then come to Season 7 where Elizabeth has suddenly found out that a publisher wants to speak with her. She's so nervous and excited (and freaking out) so Lucas tells her to take a deep breath before taking the call.

Elizabeth's Writing

   

    We have already covered a lot about Elizabeth's writing, but I thought I'd just mention the parallel here as well.

    Elizabeth's writing is a very special, almost sacred thing to her, and very few people have ever read it. Jack was Elizabeth inspiration, and he completely encouraged her dream. He went out and bought her a typewriter, he read her stories, (After eventually convincing her to let him) offered his opinion on them, (Which wasn't taken the best) and when they weren't published Jack penned them all down in a wonderful book, and even drew some illustrations for it.

    Moving onto Lucas we see sort of the same thing. Lucas inspired Elizabeth to once again reach for her dream of being published. He was granted the special privilege of reading her short stories (Once again after some convincing) gave his opinion on them (Which did not go over well) and worked so hard to make her dream come true, which it did. He really made her dream his own, as he was just as excited or maybe even more so then she was.

    I also thought I'd point out here the fact that both Jack and Lucas have given Elizabeth a book as a gift. Oh, the parallels just keep adding up! :)

Cliffhanger to Cliffhanger

    The final parallel I'm going to discuss is the insane cliffhanger from Season 2 compared to Season 7. First off both of them were jaw dropping, scream at your TV worthy. Lol! Secondly both of them had to do with a love triangle. (Season 7's was just more uncertain and intense!) Let's break them down, shall we? (See what I did there? Lol!)

    So Season 2 ends with Jack and Elizabeth finally, FINALLY telling each other how they feel, and having that romantic kiss in the mine. It also ended the supposed "triangle" between Jack and Charles. (Although it wasn't nearly as "triangly" as the one between Elizabeth, Lucas, and Nathan in my opinion.) Anyhow Jack goes out, buys a ring, gets all dressed up, and goes to the church to propose to his girl. He feels like his and Elizabeth's relationship is in the bag. But what does he find when he gets there? No one else then his competition Charles down on one knee doing the exact thing he came there to do. Jack's face says it all. He's crushed. Then POOF! Season over. (Slaps hand to forehead)

    And what did we see in Season 7's finale? Lucas and Elizabeth had just had a romantic dinner the night before. Lucas felt like everything was falling into place and that things were going great. Then something happens, he steps outside to take a look, and what does he see but Elizabeth flying into his rival's arms. Once again his face said it all. He was so confused, and hurt.

    Now granted this is not the exact same situation. Charles obviously never stood a chance, but just watching Lucas' reaction definitely reminds me of Jack's shocked face at the end of Season 2. 

Foreshadowing

    Now even Team Nathan can't deny the significance of certain scenes or at least the potential they could have on this whole triangle. We have gotten quite a few "big moments" with Lucas and Elizabeth that could foreshadow them as a couple in the future.

Unconditional Love

    First we have when Lucas told Elizabeth that she deserves nothing less than unconditional love. I just watched that scene recently and the thing that stuck out to me is the fact that Lucas kind of took over the scene. Elizabeth first asked Nathan for help spreading the word about the chickenpox outbreak, but then Lucas came and said he'd help. Nathan then left, and the scene turned into this sweet and heartfelt scene with Lucas and Elizabeth. And to top the whole thing off he asked about Little Jack's heath. Mic drop, and score! He didn't have to say anything about her son but, what was the first thing he asked her when they were left to themselves? "How's Little Jack doing?" Well, don't you get a gold metal, Mr. Bouchard!

Hopeful Romantic

    Then of course we have Lucas saying "Love certainly is special," and how he's a hopeful romantic. But its not only the dialogue here but what he does. Another Team Lucas fan pointed out that Lee helped Rosemary with her coat, (The happily married couple) then Jesse helped Clara with her coat, (The soon to be married couple) and then Lucas helps Elizabeth with her coat. (The potential couple.) This totally elevates the whole scene and truly makes it a potential foreshadowing moment.

Dates/Not Dates

    I've already gone into a lot of detail about the highly foreshadowing moment in Union City and the "If this were a date," scenarios. (Click the blue for links for the posts if you'd like to read about those scenes in more detail.) But I have to mention them here as well. I mean the guy basically called Elizabeth his soulmate, and said he'd be patient with her, waiting as long as it took to win her heart. And of course we have this beauty of a line,

     "But she loved him. I think she just wanted to be sure." It just oozes with foreshadowing!

    And there was the big moment when Lucas said that "If this were a date, I would take your jacket" and within a few seconds she's unbuttoning her jacket and handing it to him. Elizabeth isn't unaware. She saw the whole dinner set before her, and knew that Lucas wanted to actually date her. And she didn't leave or call him out on it. In fact she enjoyed it.

    I guess the point here is that we have gotten multiple times where something hinted at a potential future for them, and showed what Lucas' intentions are. He's interested, maybe already in love with her, and wants to continue pursuing her. The question is, why give the Hearties all of these romantic moments if they mean nothing? Why not have given more of them to Elizabeth and Nathan if he's the end game? I know I would be saying that if I was on Team Nathan. I mean, let's be honest, one of the main reasons most Hearties watch this show is for the romance. Why wouldn't we have gotten more with Nathan and Elizabeth if he's to be the one?

    The last thing to point out is the fact that Lucas and Elizabeth have discussed romantic love multiple times throughout Season 7 while I can't remember her and Nathan talking about it once. A good sign if you ask me!

    And not to mention that "spicy scene" as Eva Bourne called it in the library when Elizabeth couldn't find the door. Why all of a sudden did she feel the need to get out of the library that fast after being that close to Lucas? She was obviously uncomfortable, and to top it off she gave him the "lip stare." (Oooo!) I'm planning on doing a separate post detailing that scene but Elizabeth's response was totally worth mentioning here.

Chemistry

    Now this is totally subject to each person's opinion, but Elizabeth and Lucas have got chemistry. They have this sweet, playful, and romantic attitude and manner when their around each other. Not to mention have you seen the smiles they give each other, sometimes when one of them isn't even looking?

    Lucas looks at Elizabeth like a lovesick school boy, and frankly it's adorable! He just looks so dang love struck and like he's falling so hard for her. And Elizabeth gives such sweet and excited smiles when she's around Lucas. Both of them just make the other a better person and so happy. (Happy sigh... :)

    Now you Team Lucas fans already know all of this. But the other thing here is that certainly the writers are not ignorant of this chemistry. They purposely picked Chris due to his audition and chemistry with Erin. Not to mention there is the whole thing where he got to audition as both guys. (Hmmm... Interesting...)

Who Elizabeth Really Chose

    This has been the gigantic and main debate going on between the Hearties ever since Season 7 ended. After watching it I'm sure a lot of Hearties thought that things were finally sealed, and that Elizabeth had made her choice. I mean, after all Elizabeth did just run and throw herself into Nathan's arms in the middle of the street for all to see. (Including poor Lucas... :(

    What adds to this whole situation is a statement our very own Papa Bird made back around July of 2019 in an interview with Tony Rossi. (Here's the link: https://thechristophersblog.org/2019/07/24/when-calls-the-hearts-brian-bird-on-adoption-mercy-and-meaningful-storytelling/ ) He said,

"We thought that (the love triangle) would be a fun way to keep everybody incredibly invested in the show, and that’s going to resolve itself. That love triangle is going to resolve itself in season seven. I’m not going to tell you how, but I can tell you at least that much.”

    Well, the first statement certainly was true! Fans have become SUPER invested in who Elizabeth will pick. (As for the fun part, it's different for each person. :)

    However the fact that he says that the love triangle was to be resolved in Season 7 is very interesting. Now for some Hearties that means that Nathan has won, which is totally understandable. He got that "hug heard around the world" after all. However, just because he did get that hug doesn't mean he won. Well in my book anyway.

    Brian's statement was simply the fact that the triangle would be resolved, not that we would know who Elizabeth picked. This leaves the door wide open for Lucas. The way it seems to be is either Elizabeth picked Nathan during the hug, or Lucas during their "date/ non-date" the night before. Which one? Sigh....I really don't know...

    But things have really been looking up for Lucas the more I see the clues leading to them. I now really think he has a chance and may actually be the "winner" here.

  

    Well, there we have it! A very long list of reasons Lucas really could be the one Elizabeth chooses! Now to answer the question in the title of this post. Does Lucas have a chance? Yes! In my opinion, yes he absolutely does! The reason I think that? It's a combination of the things I just stated in this post. Different clues and facts that just seem to be leading to them. Nathan just hasn't done as much as Lucas in my opinion. Does that mean Elizabeth wont pick the Mountie? Absolutely not. I'm just saying... I don't think that this triangle has been settled by that hug.

    A great big thank you to everyone who helped me with this post! I couldn't have done this without you, and a special thanks to @heartiehallmark for that great outline she gave me! I may have to do another post sometime in the future on all the reasons why Elizabeth should choose Lucas and all his wonderful qualities!

    Thank you all so much for reading this very long post! Feel free to comment below or on my Twitter page anything I may have forgotten or missed! God Bless!