Hallmark

When Calls the Heart Recaps: “Heart of a Mountie” and “Surprise”

By Rueben | May 8, 2019

As the world knows, the college admissions scandal derailed the career of When Calls the Heart star Lori Loughlin and caused an almost two month delay in the 6th season of the much beloved Hallmark Channel family-friendly drama.

While the show had to scramble to “re-do” the remaining episodes, it returned with a two-night event on May 5 and May 6, explaining the departure of Loughlin’s character – Hope Valley mayor and café owner Abigail Stanton and her adopted son Cody – in the opening sequence of the revamped episode entitled “Heart of a Mountie”.

Elizabeth, writing more about her life in Hope Valley, spoke in voiceover, sharing that Abigail received urgent news that her mother had fallen severely ill, making it necessary for Abigail and Cody to go East to tend to her. Not knowing how long they would be gone, the residents of Hope Valley wished Abigail and her family well, but had to move on with their daily lives.

The residents of the town were also introduced to the new Mountie – Nathan Grant – but not in the best of way. When Jesse got upset with Lucas about Clara still working at the saloon, Nathan – dressed in civilian clothes – attempted to stop the fight only to catch Jesse’s punch that was meant for Lucas. This incident, of course, prompted Bill to toss both Jesse and the Mountie into the jail only to learn Nathan’s identity.

Needless to say, the town was a little unsure of the new man in serge, and his lack of civility toward the townspeople didn’t really help. He’s a man of few words and that was learned first-hand by Lee, who joined the Mountie on a hunt for the lumber mill’s missing payroll that was stolen from the stagecoach. As Nathan and Bill investigated the case, they quickly determined that one of the female passengers on the stagecoach and the stagecoach driver were the actual culprits.

Also in this episode, Lee was dealing with his wife Rosemary’s obsession with the new telephone she had installed in their home against his wishes; Elizabeth teaching her students how to debate without losing respect for each other – although students Emily and Anna didn’t quite follow the rules; and Faith and Carson desperately trying to keep their newly budding courtship secret from the whole town.

As the next episode entitled “Surprise” opened, Jesse was digging a well on his property when a ground tremor spread through the town, startling many of the residents, and causing a surprising flow of oil in that very short well. Unfortunately, after getting an expert to take a look at the oil, it was revealed to Jesse that it would cost thousands of dollars to determine where the oil might actually be located on his property. In the end, Henry – with the secret backing of saloon owner Lucas – bought Jesse’s property and planned to dig for oil.

Also in this episode, new Mountie Nathan was joined by his young niece Allie, who turned out to be quite the handful. She skipped her first day of school, and then caused a bit of trouble in the school yard, taking money and other items from her fellow classmates thanks to a card trick she learned from Lucas.

And, despite trying to keep their burgeoning relationship secret, Carson kissing Faith right in the middle of town, which surprised many of the womenfolk for its boldness but not because they didn’t all know about them as a couple because as Elizabeth shared with Rosemary during the Ladies Night, “Faith and Carson are terrible liars.”

What are your thoughts on the explanation about Abigail’s departure from Hope Valley? Do you like the addition of little Allie? How do you feel about Faith’s and Carson’s relationship? What do you think Henry is doing? Is he slipping back to his former ways? Please share your thoughts on the episode in our comments section below.