Recent Memory: When Calls the Heart Season 9 Episode Review

    Oh wow. 

    Hey Hearties, and welcome to this rather late episode review. Sorry for the delay. But I'm here now and my oh my do I have something to say. SO MUCH happened in this week's episode! So much it's enough to make your head spin. I'm just going to say this upfront but... This is a longer post. Lol! But I really enjoyed just how much was going on, and... Eeeeek! So much LucaBeth goodness! (Happy sigh...) Really it was one of the better episodes of the season.

    And with that I'm just going to dive right in.

Side Note: And the Bill and Molly romance lives on! (Secretly in Molly's sweet heart.💗)

Nathan & Mei

    Come on, Nathan! Why didn’t you run after her? ;) Yes, yes she had to go to Chicago and you do have a child to care for, but… I really want you to ride after her and say something. Give her a hug. Tell her to hurry back. Kiss her on an impulse. 😊

    Once again I really did enjoy Nathan’s storylines this episode. Despite my not being a fan of Mei, I really love watching Nathan with her. I can just see how much he cares for her and it’s so sweet and romantic. And when he learned that she was leaving I could see the pain in his eyes. She has come to be a friend and an important person in his life. And no matter what Nathan may tell people, I know he has feelings for her. Feelings that may run deeper than what he’s willing to admit. But never fear Nathan. Mei is on the cover for this season so she has to come back. She has to! (More on her in a sec.)

    But other than Nathan’s romantic storyline… Wow! He was epic during that chase scene! First it was funny how confused he was when Bill told him that Lucas had sold the saloon and left. He knows Lucas better than that, even if he dislikes the man. But then Bill let him in on the plan, and he joined in the scheme to catch Wyman. And wow. Riding a horse while shooting at a guy AND reloading, but Nathan was a boss. You da Mountie! Lol! That was very neat the way he’d fling the gun around to reload. Very cool. And in the end he caught the bad guy. 

    But… is he now going to have to arrest Lucas? GASP! More on that later, but I have to say it was funny when Nathan made the comment that he thinks it's ironic that he’s sticking up for Lucas. Lol! Hey, just because they’re not on the best of terms, doesn’t mean he’s going to let that cloud his judgement. A true hero of justice.

    Moving on to Mei, I actually liked her more this episode. She still isn’t my favorite but something about her this time around sat a little better with me. The poor woman just can’t escape this horrible Geoffrey dude. She also definitely has feelings for Nathan. She couldn’t even bring herself to say goodbye to him, or even just tell him that she had to leave. I think she would have loved nothing more than if Nathan could have accompanied her to Chicago, and been at her side every step of the way. But in a very selfless act she told him to stay as he has Allie to care for. One of her last statements to Nathan was sweet, and that being that her only regret was not letting Nathan catch her when she first came to town. Nice touch, WCTH writers. Nice touch. I find it kind of odd that she’s leaving though. I would have thought Nathan would pursue her more now that he has the full story and that Geoffrey had left. Why the writers are making her leave, I really don’t know. But I do know that characters don’t make it on the season cover for no reason. And out of the four characters that did, Mei was one of them. 

    The writers have made her and Nathan bond too much to just get rid of her. Who knows? Maybe she was in the preview for next week’s episode and just don’t know it because I didn’t watch it. I guess time will tell.

Faith

    Stop right there, Faith Carter! Step away from the Mountie and nobody gets hurt. (Physically and emotionally. 😂) Seriously though... stay away from Nathan.

    Oh guys... why? Why! Before Faith's feelings toward Nathan were never fully known. Were the looks because she likes him, or because she was worried about him spending time with Mei? Well, now we know, and not just because of what Molly said. When Faith offered to help Nathan get late night ice cream, she was literally flashing her heart on her sleeve in bright red. The girl has feelings for Nathan. And if she ends up with him, I am going to freak.

    But honestly I don't think that's going to happen. Just because Mei left this episode doesn't mean she's gone for good or that she was in Hope Valley just to help Nathan open his heart to love again. Like I mentioned earlier, Mei made it to the cover, and with the looks her and Nathan have been giving each other I think she'll be back. Sadly, for Faith this doesn't bode well. But... I have to ask. If she isn't ready for marriage, why is she almost pursuing Nathan? It doesn't really make sense. If she doesn't want to get married just yet, why get into another relationship? She could end up just having another redo of her and Carson or even her and Peter from Season 3. I think she should just stick to growing her practice, and maybe put dating on hold for a bit.

The Coulters

    Oh yes. Nobody could hear Lee and Rosemary gabbing on and on about Bill’s plan to fool Wyman, and Lucas being over at Elizabeth’s all while they’re eating in the saloon Wyman just bought. Nah… Nobody heard them. It’s the miracle of television. :D

    I did enjoy the Coulters this episode in the sense that they were doing something new and interesting. Rosemary was going to pamper Elizabeth, and brought up this Arthur dude, revealing that he’s coming to town, and Lee’s secret good deed… well… it’s no longer a secret. I’m going to cover that topic in a minute, but right now I have a confession to make.

    Lee and Rosemary’s plotlines this season have… kind of… stunk. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It’s not that I haven’t enjoyed some of the things that have happened with them this season. Rosemary has gotten some of that spunk and bubbliness back that she was sorely lacking in Season 8, and is finally content with her life again. And Lee has been working a brand new job along side his wife, and even being a writer for the newspaper. I also enjoyed seeing him work at the café for once. It’s just… I feel like there needed to be more to their storylines.

    All season long they’ve been having the same conversations over and over again, and often their scenes are long, and boring while being shown again and again. Lee complaining about Mike being mayor, while Rosemary convinces him to be kind to Mike. Lee writing bold articles, and Rosemary flip-flopping on her opinion of his writing. And now Rosemary has been going on about this Arthur dude for awhile now, and now finally he’s apparently going to make an appearance. It just feels to me like the writers didn’t have much for them to do so they’ve dragged everything out all season long. Or they have something big and fun for the end of the season, so they’ve had to slowly build things up, and find things to pass the time for the couple.

    Am I being harsh? Yes. Honestly, I really have enjoyed some of their scenes and plotlines this season, and I absolutely love just how sweet and in love they are this season. It’s been so refreshing. I just feel that if the writers aren’t going to continue their plotline of wanting a family, that they really need to spice up this newspaper plotline. The problem is I am way more interested in the plotline of them wanting children than I am in them running the newspaper. The writers have just really dropped the fact that they want children, and I don’t know why. I know the majority of Hearties want to see them as parents, whether they have a child of their own or adopt one. Why have they decided to drop that plotline? Now there could be a bunch of things I can’t see going on that would keep the writers from pursuing that story. I don’t know, so I can’t judge.

    Basically… I’m just not 100% pleased with the Coulters’ storylines this season. I definitely have enjoyed watching them this season. Just… not all the time. ;)

Joseph & Cooper

    Oh dear... The cat is out of the bag, and Joseph is mad. And I don't blame him. Here he thought that things were finally going right, and that he hadn't been denied something because of the color of his skin. But now he knows that it was only because of Lee that he and Minnie got the loan. 

    Now I understand why he'd be upset. He wishes that Lee would have just come and asked him if covering the loan would be okay. There were also a hundred and one things pointing to this ending badly. Now Joseph feels hurt and betrayed by his friend. But... despite all of this... I think Joseph knows deep down inside that Lee was only trying to be his friend. Lee was appalled by the banker's reaction, and more than anything just wanted to help his friend. It doesn't take away the disappointment of the situation, but knowing Lee did what he did out of kindness makes it better.

    Moving onto the preacher's son, we finally got some answers. Cooper sees God as just a big boss there to push him around. He doesn't see God as the loving Father that He is or the solid foundation he can rest on in the good and bad times. Now he is just a boy, so he has a lot of learning to do. Life to live, and experiences to go through. But in the end, Cooper will just have to come to his own decision. Make his own choice whether he trusts in God or not. I'm curious if a situation will arise that will make Cooper want to trust in God. Something out of this "little boss'" control. I guess we'll see.

Fiona, Mike, & Bill

    And finally Fiona has made it back to town. And boy does she have stories to share. Henry is just exploding at these investors. I can only imagine just how positively sick the thought of the mine reopening is making him. He is doing everything in his power to keep that from happening, but… I don’t think having three men drag you out of a meeting is incredibly helpful. That’s all we really know about Henry for now, but I do know he’s going to be in the next episode, so we’ll probably learn more then.

    As for Fiona… oh boy. Apparently this Arthur fellow is actually an investor in the oil company! Who would have thunk it? I don't know what this will mean for anyone in Hope Valley really, but if Fiona is anxious about it, I can only assume that nothing good will come of his visit.   

    Moving onto Mike... He doesn't want to be mayor anymore? Oh no! But he was doing such a nice job of it. I'm thinking the pressure is just a bit too much for the poor guy, or maybe Lee's articles got to him. Or maybe both. Maybe he didn't know how hard this job would be, or maybe he's just lacking self confidence. Or maybe... maybe he's just simply realized that he likes working for the oil company better. I'm not sure. but his wanting to resign raises some big questions. Will he actually do it? Who will take his place? Will Lee actually become mayor after all or will Bill? All I know, is that Mike has a horrible poker face. Lol! Did you see that smile he gave while leaving? Imagine if Spurlock had caught him? :D Oh, poor sweet Mike. 

    And finally we come to Bill… wow. I’m surprised he isn’t parading around and bragging to everyone about what a great actor he is. Lol! Now to me obviously I know he’s acting, but I wonder if Wyman caught onto him at all. I mean, all Bill has ever done is cause problems for Wyman. Why would Bill all of a sudden do a 180 now? But in the end Bill got the result he wanted. Or sort of. He didn’t foresee those ledgers or Lucas being framed for illegal stuff. I think Bill knows that something isn't right, and does trust that Lucas was trying to do right. He just doesn't know where those ledgers came from. But I know Bill and he is not going to stop until he figures this all out. I do have to wonder... What happened to his health condition? Perhaps the next episode will pick up on that.

    But in the end I have to ask… What if all of this is exactly what Wyman wanted? (I sound like Ethan Hunt from Mission Impossible now. Lol!)

Lucas & Elizabeth

    I think Shirley Temple's words perfectly sum up LucaBeth's storyline this episode. Oh my goodness.

    I mean... wow! So much happened! So much is going on! So many wonderful and romantic moments graced our screens! Guys, I absolutely and 100% enjoyed not only just how much LucaBeth we got but all the cute, sweet, romantic, and deeper scenes we got. For so long the majority of their scenes have been very sweet and lighthearted, allowing us to just enjoy seeing them happy and in love. But as a result their conversations lacked depth at times. Thankfully this episode gave me all the above. Honestly there is a lot to cover so I'm splitting this section into two topics: Romance and the trouble with Wyman.

LucaBeth's Romance

    Ahh... the romance. The sweet family moments. The scandal. Lol! Sure Lucas... The only possible way this plan would work is if you stayed at Elizabeth's house... all night long. :D Honestly if this wasn't Hope Valley that would be quite the scandal, even though he just stayed on the couch all night. But... since this is Hope Valley... I absolutely loved it. Lol! First off, Elizabeth actually had a birthday! This is the show's ninth season and she's only just having a birthday? Sadly, however, the man she loves had to be in danger on her special day, but in the end I think it made her day all the more special as he stayed over at her house.

    Guys, there are so many sweet little things that happened in this episode. I loved the romance between Lucas and Elizabeth, and we were just spoiled rotten with all the sweet family moments with Little Jack. It's so cute watching them sit at the dinner table together, and laugh and play. It was so fun that Little Jack actually asked if Lucas could see in his room for the night. Lol! And it was very sweet that Lucas put together a way for him and Jack to wish Elizabeth a happy birthday. Wasn't it just cute that Lucas called her "mama." :) The whole thing where Lucas and Little Jack call each other "buddy" is just a really sweet and fun thing that the writers have added, and it just makes me smile. Lucas has fit in perfectly in both Elizabeth and Jack's world, and now it's like he was never not a part of their lives. I think his past has played a very big part in making him the man he is today. 

    I mean... How insanely cold was Helen Bouchard?!? Poor Lucas! Sometimes it sounds like he didn't even have a mother. He had to read Mother Goose to himself, and once he'd gone to bed he was expected to "keep himself busy until the morning." 😢 The poor guy! And no Lucas, that is not fine. Yet the silver lining in all of this is that Lucas has a very deep appreciation for the true meaning of family and even community. His lack of family as a child has made his greatest dream just to have a family of his own, and now that he has that (Or almost anyway. ;) he's just showering Elizabeth and Little Jack with all the love he was never shown. They are his world, and as he sweetly and romantically put it, the life he always wanted. And he absolutely loves being with them, playing with Little Jack, and loving on Elizabeth. And it's just beautiful. As was Little Jack coming down the next morning and jumping on a sleeping Lucas. Lol! So good! And Lucas' response was perfect. I actually think he maybe enjoyed it. ;) (But again... what a scandal! Lucas saw Elizabeth in her jammies! Lol!)

The Trouble With Wyman Walden

    As to the action, mystery, and danger side of their storyline… Oh boy. Things got crazy fast, and quite honestly… I’m still a little confused. But I’m going to do my best to break things down for you. However first I have to say I am relieved. Not only did Lucas come clean to Elizabeth about what he was doing with Walden, and the mine, but Elizabeth took things incredibly well. Yes, she was upset. Yes she was worried, but unlike Season 2 Elizabeth she didn’t let her fear take over and explode at Lucas. She didn’t get mad and refuse to speak to him, and have a full out argument. She loves Lucas too much, and they both handled things very maturely. That was my fear this season. I was afraid that Tinker would make way too much tension come between the love birds, and drive me crazy. But things went the complete opposite way. This whole thing actually brought them closer together, and it was so nice to see.

    Now onto the confusing parts. I don’t know about you, but a lot of the things that happened didn’t make complete sense to me. I think there was a lack of explanation on all the different things that Bill, Wyman, and Lucas did and how they were able to do them. So for convenience sake I’m just going to list everything in order.

    So, Lucas wanted to catch Wyman. He knows Wyman is a bad dude and wants him gone. He says that he was trying to let Wyman run a grift or swindle on him. He was trying to operate a sting so he could get Wyman arrested by his contact Jeanette at the treasury department. (Finally we know who that woman is.)

    But his friend Jeanette has gone silent and so he called the whole thing off. Sadly for him Wyman is now coming after him full force and demanding that Lucas sell the saloon to him. This then prompted Lucas to tell Elizabeth the whole story, and then Bill. Bill then came up with his own scheme. Bill pretends to want power, money, and full control of Hope Valley. He tells Wyman that he can get him the saloon for nothing using forfeiture case law. The definition for forfeiture is: The involuntary relinquishment of money or property without compensation as a consequence of a breach or nonperformance of some legal obligation or the commission of a crime. How this is even possible for Bill to do is what confuses me. Is he pretending that Lucas did something criminal or did Wyman already tell Bill about those ledgers he claimed Lucas had? This would give Bill something to use to get the saloon and make the situation believable. Nothing else would really make sense, but I think the writers didn’t do a good job explaining everything. 

    Anyhow, Lucas gave up the saloon, and then pretended to leave town. Wyman then tried to get into Lucas’ office, but the door was locked. Bill offered to help, but Wyman said it could wait until the morning. Bill then says that he wants Lucas’ share of the oil company and that Wyman has to come up a lot of money for Bill in return for the saloon. Wyman then drives in the next morning with a big bag of cash, and Bill pulls a gun on him. He now says that he has grounds to arrest Wyman, even though he took pains to get the saloon “inside the law.” This prompts Wyman to pull his gun, which can now be traced to the murder in Brookfield. And finally to end the whole thing Wyman apparently told Bill that Lucas wasn't in fact working with him, but with some people from Louisiana and that Lucas has kept ledgers of all these illegal activities in his office. And of course Nathan finds some ledgers in Lucas' office just where Wyman said they were.

    Shoof! Is your head spinning yet? I know mine is! After all of this I am left somewhat confused as to how all this came about and how certain things could even happen. In the end I think it was just a lack of explanation on the writers’ behalf, letting us know how, when, and why each thing took place. 

    But after talking everything over with a friend, this is the conclusion I’ve come to. Lucas wanted to catch Wyman in an illegal act, so he pretended to be in on some illegal stuff, creating a sting to catch him. Wyman possibly told this to Bill, and Bill maybe used this to get the saloon away from Lucas. In return Bill wanted compensation from Wyman so he could buy out Lucas’ share of the oil company. Wyman brought the money, Bill arrested him, and Wyman told Bill about the ledgers in Lucas’ office. Which I believe Wyman planted there to frame Lucas. Does this make sense? Please, please let me know your thoughts on this in the comments below and let me know if I missed something. Again I really think there was just a lack of explanation in this episode that would have helped all this make much more sense, and made things a lot easier for me to explain. Lol!

    But in the end I think one big question remains… Is Lucas going to be arrested? And on top of that… Is Wyman going to try and silence Lucas? I’m so curious to find out what happens in next week’s episode!

    So all in all... Sheesh! What a crazy, fast paced episode! I loved how much was going on, the action, the drama, and obviously I loved the wonderful LucaBeth scenes! We were spoiled with all we got this time honestly. :D And I can't wait until I get even more.

    Thank you so much for reading this long post. So much happened in this episode, so there was a lot to talk about. Feel free to tell me your thoughts in the comment section below or on my Twitter page! (Just please no spoilers. :) Have an amazing weekend! God Bless!

    P.S. Sale alert! Today is the last day you can get 15% OFF ANYTHING in the shop! Feel free to take a look! https://heart-and-family-mercantile.myspreadshop.com/