Discussing Season 8: The Cover/Sneak Peek

     And I'm back! (Warning if you don't want to see anything for Season 8 stop reading now.)

    Hello Hearties and welcome to this Wednesday's blog post! I hope you all had an absolutely wonderful Christmas!

    Now....A lot has happened in the Heartiverse since Christmas, hasn't it? We've gotten two promos, an on location video, a clip from Season 8, AND an interview by ET for Season 8!!! Wow. That's a lot.

    And of course you may be wondering how much of this have I seen. Well, the answer to that would be....very little. Lol! I have not watched the promos, the on location video, or read the interview. BUT I have seen the clip! (The audience gasps in disbelief!)

    Funny story about that. It all began Christmas night....

    I saved the Christmas Special to my device and had planned on taking a look at what Hallmark decided to show. I knew I wouldn't be watching any trailers, but I'd figured if a 1-2 minute clip was shown and it didn't spoil much I'd give it a watch. After all I knew I was going to blog about the new Season 8 cover, and figured I could combine the two.

    So I start up the Christmas Special to take a look. Erin Krakow starts talking, behind the scenes clips start playing as she explains all that will be shown. And then....Then she starts explaining how a never before seen clip will be shown....and a clip starts playing while she's saying that...and it's a clip of Lucas and Elizabeth. And I immediately turned it off. Lol!

    Fast forward to Sunday I finally found out from a friend that the "sneak peek clip" was actually not about Elizabeth and Lucas. I suppose Hallmark was just still playing little clips from the promos or something. And so I went and watched the clip online, and now am here to discuss it with you! 

    And that's my story.😊

    Now, before I talk about this clip (Which really didn't spoil much at all. Go figure. Lol!) let me first talk about Season 8's cover! So when I first found out the cover had been revealed, I may have acted like a little six year old girl who'd just unwrapped a Barbie Dream House on Christmas morning. Yes, I screamed and squealed, acting crazy in front of all my friends. But hey! I was really, like, really excited and had been waiting to see the cover for awhile. Therefore I justify my actions!😂

    Moving on.....Everyone take a good look at the cover and we will begin!

    Now there are two versions of this cover, as there usually is. A vertical one and a horizontal one, the later I posted above. So there are two points I want to touch on. Overall design, and characters.

Overall Design

 

    So it appears the theme this season is this watercolor effect. Not only is it surrounding the poster, but it's also being used in the promos. (No I did not watch them! I saw this while looking for the sneak peek clip. Don't judge me!😉) 

    Any who, I kind of like it. It gives the season a very different and exciting vibe. I do believe I like it more in the promos than on the cover. I mean the water color around the bottom of the cover is kind of neat, but I don't like it as much behind Elizabeth, Lucas, and Nathan.

    That being said this Season has a really exciting feeling to it! All the promotional stuff I've seen just makes it feel so neat, and so fun! (And makes me need it now. Lol!)

    There are a few things that aren't perfect about this cover. More the vertical one than the horizontal. I believe the characters could have been better placed, as well as sized, but I'm not going to nit-pick here.

Characters

    Moving on we have the meat of the poster, and that would be the characters. Or more specifically the characters who made it. And oh boy, did a lot of them make it! Eleven to be exact.

    So starting off we of course have a return of the infamous triangle. Elizabeth is front and center, with Nathan on the left and Lucas on the right. (Although they're reverse for Elizabeth. Lol!) This is not surprising as this triangle is a huge reason people are so excited for the new season. At least it is for me. :)

    The thing I want to mention quick is Lucas and Nathan's placement. In the Season 6 cover Lucas was on the right and Nathan was on the left. Then came Season 7 and they swapped places, Lucas moving to the left, and Nathan to the right. Now we've come full circle and they've switched back again. I honestly have no idea if this means anything at all.

    At first (For Season 7) I related Lucas being on the left to Jack as he was on the left in every single cover. So I thought that could be a good sign. (To be honest I'm willing to take anything as a sign Lucas will be picked. Lol!) So now that he's switched back I needed something to prove that means he still has a chance, right? 

    So I did a bit of digging and remembered a Hallmark movie (With a love triangle) where the man the leading woman picks is positioned on the right. The movie is called, Dater's Handbook, and features Meghan Markle, and Kristoffer Polaha. 

 

    Am I grasping at straws? Absolutely! But I thought I'd mention it. :)

    The next thing I want to mention is all the other characters who made the cover. Of course we have the usual. Bill is right in the front, and Heaven forbid the Coulters ever being left out. Then we have Faith and Carson all the way to the right, who are right next to Hope Valley's newest arrival Joseph Canfield. 

    I am so excited to find out what his story is and to just see Viv Leacock in Hope Valley! I know I haven't talked about the Canfields very much on my blog, but the truth is I just know so little about them due to me avoiding spoilers. But it just makes their story even more exciting for me as I get to find out with all the other Hope Valley members! And the fact that the kids are Viv Leacock's actual kids, is so sweet and adorable!

    We then come to Henry Gowen!!! Hold up one minute! Gowen actually made a season cover? Wow! That is a first! It makes me wonder why he did. Does he get a really big storyline this season? Or perhaps the people at Hallmark decided it was finally time he have a spot on the cover. I don't know, but I'm really excited to find out what's in store for him this season!

    Now I have one more character to talk about, but first I just have to say this. Like, HAVE to. Where on earth is Little Jack?!? That little boy is Elizabeth's life! Not to mention he's just adorable. He was on the cover for last season, so why, oh why, isn't he on this season's cover? Now there could be factors to this decision that I am unaware of that made the designers commit this terrible crime. Perhaps there just wasn't enough room with all the other characters? Either way I had to point this out.

    Anyway, we then come to the final character....(Drum roll please...) Fiona! Yes, this woman has once again made it to the season cover. And I don't know if she should have. Now I know that she is a favorite among lots of Hearties, but the truth is I just fail to see how her storylines of the past warrant her appearance on the cover.

    She's still a pretty new character and so far hasn't had incredibly big storylines. Jesse and Clara have had bigger roles than she has, and yet they have never made it to a cover. The only thing that would give her the stamp of approval to be there (For me personally) is if she indeed is intended for the guy Elizabeth rejects. That would give her quite the plotline and really make her character rise from her current side-character position. I just don't know yet what is going to become of her. Perhaps this will be her biggest season ever. It seems very possible with her current situation, as well as the triangle going on.

   Now there is still the argument that Fiona deserves better then being the rejected guy's second best, which I absolutely agree with. I guess we'll have to wait and see what the writers have in store for her.

 

The Sneak Peek

 

    And now let us move on to the little sneak peek we got for Season 8! I wasn't really sure what would be shown when Hallmark announced a "never before seen clip" would be shown Christmas Day. I figured it would be a 1-2 minute clip, possibly from the first episode. However I had no idea what clip would be shown.

    Would it be something concerning the triangle? Would it introduce the new characters, the Canfields? I really didn't know. Until now. And....it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the triangle. 

    This worked out quite nicely for me, but at the same time I feel like it really wasn't what Hearties were hoping for. It was exciting, but really didn't leave me to speculate much. (I guess that's what promos are for. Lol!)

    However it did answer a question that Hearties have been asking since pretty early on when Season 8 started filming.

 

    The clip starts with Elizabeth leaping onto Newton who was standing outside of the Mercantile and chasing after Robert who was on a runaway Sergeant. He's bumping all over as the horse runs down the road out of control.

    We then see Joseph Canfield sitting in a car, where it appears Jesse has just helped fix the car, and Joseph thanks him gratefully for his help. 

    Robert goes flying past them, followed by Elizabeth close behind him. She manages to grab Sergeant's reins and brings them both to a stop.

    After apologizing we learn that Robert....has never ridden a horse before. (Gasp!) Apparently he wanted to sit in the saddle, gave Sergeant a kick (Which Elizabeth tells him not to demonstrate. Lol!) and the horse started running. 

    But on the bright side Elizabeth won't have to take Sergent for a ride later. :)

    They then head back to town, passing Jesse and Joseph on their way. Joseph then comments, "Lively little town you have here."

    Jesse then smirks and replies, "We try."

    And the scene ends.

 

    My thoughts? First off, again while it was an exciting scene....it really was just a random scene that spoiled next to nothing. But that's okay! 

    Secondly.....How on earth does Robert not know how to ride a horse?!? He lives in a time and place where horse ridding was not only standard but necessary. AND he wanted to become a Mountie! On the bright side I do think this makes for a good teacher/student plotline. Sometimes the stories with the HV kids don't interest me as much as the adult storylines do, but this one sounds fun! 

    And finally, the mystery over that BTS pic with Erin sitting on Newton is solved. I'm sure a lot of you remember this picture....

 

    I had discussed it months ago, and wasn't really sure what to make of it. Now I finally know what was happening. Elizabeth was racing off to save Robert, and it may or may not have anything to do with the triangle. I mean, sure. This may spark a conversation between Elizabeth and Nathan. After all we don't even know if she got his permission before she jumped on the horse. (Gasp!)

    But in the end I really can't say if this means anything one way or the other when it comes to the triangle.

    And there we have it! Just a few thoughts on some Season 8 goodies! 

    So FYI I'm not going to be posting anything New Year's Day. (Sorry everyone!) But I plan to be back next week with my usual two blog posts! (Including the next chapter of my fan fiction, which I can't wait for you to read!)

    I'd also like to thank everyone for their absolutely wonderful support this past year! I'm so grateful for how God has blessed me through this blog, and brought such sweet people into my life because of it! You guys are such a blessing to me, and brighten my day with your kind and thoughtful comments! Thank you so, so much, and know I truly appreciate you!

    Thank you so much for reading! Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below or on my Twitter page! (But please no spoilers. :) God Bless and I wish you a happy New Year!💗