RECAP: When Calls the Heart “Believing”

The season premiere of the fifth season of the Hallmark Channel family-friendly series When Calls the Heart aired on Sunday night, bringing all of the characters in Hope Valley back to the small screen.

The episode’s primary focus was centered around believing; believing in second chances, believing in petty gossip, believing in your family and believing in those to whom you love the most.

As the episode opened, Abigail and Bill were setting off to Cape Fullerton to participate in the court case against Henry Gowen, who was being brought before a judge in regards to his misappropriation of funds. It was no real surprise that Abigail was to be a character witness for Gowen while Bill was there to be a witness for the prosecution. As odd as it may seem, Abigail has always seen the good in Gowen while Bill clearly has not. Despite his belief in Gowen’s guilt and his belief that the presiding judge would agree, a surprising decision was made. Gowen was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years; but the judge gave him a second chance, allowing him time served and putting him on parole.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth was surprised by the unexpected visit of her sister Julie, who made the announcement that she wishes to become a teacher and wanted to be Elizabeth’s apprentice. Throughout the episode it was clear that teaching was probably not the best choice for Julie until Elizabeth gave her the opportunity at the end of the episode to take over the reading of her favorite book to the school children and believing in her sister’s true desire to become a teacher.

Elsewhere, Clara was not only dealing with her unsettling feelings about her wedding anniversary; she was married to Abigail’s son Peter, who perished in the coal mining accident many years prior in the then called Coal Valley; but also her uncertainty about her relationship with Jesse. So much so that she asked him for a “break.” A break that she may come to regret especially in light of the town gossip that Julie – who had only been in Hope Valley for a few days – was coming between the two. This was not the case, as Julie was merely helping Jesse figure out a way to win back Clara’s affection.

After numerous townspeople came to the clinic to see Carson about stomach pains, he learned of a tonic salesman who had been selling his “secret” recipe. A recipe that Carson and his nurse Faith came to believe contained arsenic. Carson took the law (so to speak) into his own hands, taking the salesman’s horses and wagon. Lee – acting as interim Sheriff while Bill was in Cape Fullerton – placed both the salesman and Carson in the town jail with the hope that they would work out their differences. They were actually able to come to an agreement [a little too easily, but not surprising given the family-friendly nature of the show], dumping out the salesman’s “secret” recipe.

The one “thing” missing from Sunday night’s episode was, of course, Jack, who obviously returned to the Northern Territory after his brief return visit for Christmas. But given the clips that were shown at the end of the premiere episode it is clear that Jack will return – at some point – to Hope Valley, allowing him and Elizabeth to finally be able to move forward with their long awaited wedding.

What did you think of the season premiere? What did you like best about? Was there anything you didn’t like? Please share your thoughts in our comments section below.

The next episode of When Calls the Heart will air on the Hallmark Channel on Sunday, February 25 at 9/8c.