When Hope Calls: A Country Christmas

    Happy New Year Hearties! Wow! 2021 is over and we're now in 2022! Time just flies, doesn't it? I hope you all are doing well, had an amazing Christmas and a very happy new year!

    I am finally back from my holiday break, and am here incredibly late to post my review for the WHC's Christmas Special! But before I get to that I have to address something. Oh yes... I'm talking about all those WCTH spoilers. Lol! Yes, I have seen SOME of them. SOME. I've seen most of the headlines, and know a couple of exciting (And sad) things are coming our way. I will write a separate post discussing what I know. (So, please wait until that post to comment. :)

    Anyhow, getting back to WHC, I have to congratulate the showrunner, Alfonso. Somehow he has done it again. I don't know how, or what he does, but he somehow manages to bring this special touch to a show. One that leaves everyone feeling joyful, and happy. He did it in WCTH and now he's done it for WHC. The special didn't leave us with a cliff hanger, or anything dramatic. However it did fill plot holes, let us know what had happened since we last saw WHC, and gave us some Christmas joy.

    Shall we begin?

Plot -Holes Filled

    Oh Holy Night! Grace and Chuck are... are... married!?! And... living in London!?! While I for one am very glad Grace and Chuck's absence was covered... Really? London? First of all I am shocked Grace and Chuck actually got married. This is TV. People don't just get married without a whole lot of struggle and delay. The second thing is... I find it very unbelievable that Grace and Chuck would even want to live in London. Grace had the opportunity to leave before to a big city, and she turned it down to stay with her sister. And Chuck is just a cowboy plain and simple. Won't Chuck miss the country? Won't Grace miss her long lost sister who she barely got to know? AND... won't all the fans who loved Team Chase be incredibly upset that they didn't get to see their wedding!?!

    Again... It's just sort of unbelievable to me. But with all that being said I am so glad the writers let us know where they are and what they're doing.

Abigail's Return and Little Roy

    Abigail Stanton is back everyone!!! And... I hope she stays! Guys, oh she was so good! It was like WCTH's Season 1 Abigail had come back, and I loved it! I've mentioned before how Abigail slowly lost points with me as WCTH went on. I didn't like her as mayor, and the new business side of her. I liked her as sweet, motherly Abigail, and that is exactly what she was in WHC S2. She was great, and everyone's best friend. Her little quips about Lillian and Gabe's romance, relating them to Jack and Elizabeth, were absolutely gold and made me laugh outright! And... Eeeeeeeeeeek!!!! She's still writing Henry Gowen!!! Oh, my heart! They have to be reunited! Like HAVE TO BE!!! It's the cutest thing, and I am now convinced that Henry and Abigail are meant to be, and there is no one else for either of them. Of course I have no idea how this would happen now with them being divided on two different channels. But I'm going to keep hoping! If Abigail stays on WHC, perhaps Henry could come for a visit? (Please, please, please GAC!!!)

    Also... Oh my goodness, did Cody grow up or what? He's so tall, and his voice is so deep! Wow! But it was fun to see him and Abigail together again.

    We then come to Little Roy. My first impression of him was... he really needs a hair cut. Lol! But his story was quite sad, and his efforts to actually run away really threw Lillian for a loop. But in the end he was just a scared little boy who wanted to embrace love, family, and hope but was to afraid to let his guard down. But as always Lillian and her kids showered him with love, and he found a brand new family and home. One of my favorite parts of his story was when he finally got that pony. So sweet and heart warming!

Mr. Stewart is Santa!

    Ronnie is Santa! Lol! Those poor kids. So sweet and innocent. Each one had a special toy they wanted to receive, but... Miss Lillian has to keep reminding them that sometimes Santa has a budget. :D Then when they catch Ronnie, his sleigh full of stuff, and all those reindeer... They naturally connect the dots and assume he must be Santa. Now at the beginning he was the complete opposite. Constantly hounding that reporter, and then taking as much stuff as he could from Ben. And then of course there was that car he wanted SO bad. But honestly... who could blame him? Wow, was that a car! That was honestly really neat to see, and I hope it comes back at some point.

    But in the end... Wow. Ronnie is a great big old softy, with a conscience that overpowered his greed. He was blown away by Lillian's children all asking for a gift for Roy and not themselves. And in the end... he bought each and every child the toy they wanted with his car money. Bless his big old heart!

Romance Is Blossoming

 

    Oh wow. I'm not sure if Hearties or Hopefuls thought we'd see a kiss for #TeamGillian that fast. But... YAY! Gabe and Lillian are a couple! I know that Season 1 of WHC left us on a cliffhanger, and people were torn about who Lillian should end up with. Gabe or Sam. But it appears GAC Family took the easy route (And quite possibly the smart route) and decided that they would completely end the triangle that had begun. POOF! Just completely did away with it like it never existed and made Sam act like he never even liked Lillian. It was... weird considering how S1 ended but... who am I to complain? I got the pairing I wanted from the start, and that was the lovely Lillian and brave Mountie Gabe.

    Gabe was so sweet, and nervous when it came to dealing with his feelings for Lillian. And Lillian just wanted to deny there was anything more than friendship between her and the Mountie. But you know what? They both had the perfect person to help them. A true veteran when it comes to helping a young woman and a Mountie figure out their feelings for each other. Yes, I'm talking about Abigail. Lol!

    In the end we got some sweet moments between Gabe and Lillian throughout the special, but obviously my favorite was that kiss in Gabe's office. Gabe's reaction to her sudden kiss was so good! Lol! It was honestly surprising that they already kissed, as I'm used to Hallmark's incredibly slow and built up romantic climaxes. Now we'll go into the rest of S2 with the two of them already as a couple.:)

    Another thing I didn't see coming, like, at all was the weird pairing of nurse Maggie and Sam. (Stomps feet like a six year old) That's the wrong pairing! I wanted Maggie with Joe! ;) Honestly I thought that's what S1 was pointing at with all the time Maggie and Joe were spending together. And Sam was really... not a part of this Christmas special. He kind of just... walked around carrying stuff, and got stuff done. Anyhow, if you're wondering about how I feel about this potential new pairing... meh. 

    I was really set on Maggie and Joe, and I've seen so very, very little of Maggie and Sam that I can't quite give an opinion just yet. Well, not a solid one anyway. I mean I can whine a little more about how I didn't want them together, and don't like what I've seen so far but... that would be sort of childish, right? Lol! I'll just have to wait and see how things go.

    P.S. I don't have a section for Joe but his whole "incident" with the cinnamon... Hilarious!!! Lol! So, so good!

    I also want to add here a quick note about Maggie. We got some more details on her past, and who knew? She was a travel writer! And yet... despite her old friend (Who may have wanted to be more than "just friends" eventually) giving her the chance of a lifetime to be a travel writer again... she said no. She's learned the secret that all people do once they step foot in Brookfield. The thing that everyone told her writer friend... People in Brookfield have each others backs. They care for and support each other. And that is priceless.

Tess

    Okay, so Tess is officially the Grinch, and has somehow gotten worse since Season 1. Alright, alright... I have to admit I understand why she got... grumpy. Her only son has left her to marry Lillian's sister (Of all people) and is now living in London. This is her first Christmas without her son. So naturally she's going to be upset, angry, and trying to drown herself in her work. Unfortunately... that means she also started drowning all her ranch hands in work as well... at Christmas time. Yick! Bravo to Lucy for quitting with Hank! Tess was being completely unfair, and as a result she lost two of her best hands. But of course in the end she saw reason and not only gave everyone off for the holiday, but went and hired Lucy and Hank back.

    (Quick note: Am I the only one who thinks Lucy and Hank may become a couple?)

    It was also interesting though getting to see the flashbacks of her and Chuck from back when he was a little boy. It gives us a better idea of what their mother/son relationship was like, and helps us understand Tess more. But in the end all was well as Chuck sent his "Mama Bear" a telegram wishing her a merry Christmas bringing Tess to tears. Her son truly loves her and even though he miles away, he would never forget her.

 

Jack Is Back!!!

    Oh, my goodness gracious! Wow, was it something seeing Daniel Lissing back in that red serge. So nostalgic, so sad, yet so sweet. Dan had made mention before how his scene would give Jack a proper goodbye, and support Elizabeth's storyline, and it certainly did that. It was tear-jerking, it was heartfelt, and gave Jack a proper and solid goodbye. (And for everyone who guessed it right, congrats as he was indeed seen in a dream.)

    He said all the things that needed to be said. He showed us Hearties that he is happy with Elizabeth moving on with her life. Now I know that some Hearties believed that Jack was talking about her and Nathan when he said this due to the timeline of this Christmas Special and WCTH. However, I do have to respectfully disagree here, as I believe this all lines up to take place after Elizabeth picked Lucas. Some of the same people work on WCTH and WHC, and I don't think they would work backwards from where WCTH ended.

    WCTH Season 8 ended with Hope Valley headed into cold weather, as the new school year had begun and characters started wearing heavier coats. Now WHC began in winter, and I believe this show follows the timeline of WCTH, so I think it would only make sense that this Christmas Special took place in the winter of 1918. And on top of it all Daniel stated that his scene would "support" Elizabeth's storyline, which currently involves her dating Lucas. And so I believe this all means that this Christmas Special took place after Elizabeth made her choice, and that Jack was supporting her current storyline of "moving on" with Lucas.

    Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now. Lol! Anyhow, Jack also mentioned how proud he is of Elizabeth's mothering of Little Jack and how proud he is of his son. (Sniff!) Excuse me while I go cry. He actually mentioned his son!!! He knows Little Jack exists and that he is a father! Oh my heart!

    And finally... along with being happy and proud of his loved ones he gave Abigail one final message for Elizabeth. He told Abigail to tell Elizabeth that true love never dies. And cue the tissues. I am now incredibly curious if Elizabeth is going to receive a letter from Abigail in WCTH Season 9 telling her all these things, possibly at a very critical time in her life. Maybe when she needed to hear it most.

    But all in all... Man, it was good to see Jack again. 

    So overall, this Christmas Special was sweet, and such a pleasant addition to my Christmas season. It let us know what's happened since we were last in Brookfield and gave us a story filled with love, family, Christmas. Something wonderful Alfonso seems to do (The showrunner for WHC) is make a show that leaves everyone with this happy feeling after watching it. Or at least that's what this Christmas Special did for me. :)

    And that's all for this post! Thank you so much for reading! Feel free to leave your thoughts below or on my Twitter page! Have a wonderful day! God Bless!