Season 12: Looking Ahead (Part 1)
I share your thoughts and mine about the upcoming season of When Calls the Heart!
Hello, Hearties! Now that Season 11 has come and gone, it’s time to talk about Season 12! However, to switch things up a bit, I asked all of you to share your thoughts about Season 12 a few weeks back. Now, I will be anonymously sharing all of the answers that I received, along with a few short thoughts of my own. Thank you to everyone who shared a comment on Facebook or here on the blog! I loved reading everything you had to say, and I know your fellow Hearties will too! Let’s get right into it, shall we?
“1. Family scenes and co-parenting from a hopefully married Nathan and Elizabeth.
2. A difficult and problematic school child who really challenges Elizabeth, not like the ones we've seen before where it's just they are bad at the work or they're afraid of making friends but a really difficult and stubborn child who thinks school is boring. We haven't really seen Elizabeth get properly frustrated by one student repeatedly rather she seems to breezily solve the problems in an episode or two. I'd like to see a bigger challenge.
3. I'd like to see Nathan building closer friendships with the other men and maybe helping with some of their other projects and dreams outside of Mountie business. I really don't want Nathan to be confined to being Elizabeth's love interest only he needs to have separate storylines.
In all the storylines I really hope to see the devices of desire, fear, and disbelief coming into play.”
I love this list, especially the part about Nathan building stronger friendships with the other men in town. I know Nathan and Bill have a great friendship, but I would love to see more for him beyond just Elizabeth. Can we please get more of Nathan and Joseph together in Season 12? That was one of my favorite aspects of Season 10, and I would love to see the friendship blossom and grow. I think it would be a positive direction for BOTH characters.
I LOVE the last part of this comment as well! Desire, fear, and disbelief are strong emotions and motivators that can lead to some great stories!
“It takes a while to grieve and Nathan will continue to help Elizabeth. The blended family will bring healing for all of them.
I would love to see them get married sooner, but I will be happy when it happens…
Lucas needs a smart classy lady. Someone new and not from the past.
Mike and Mei getting closer for sure. They are cute together.
Abigail making a guest appearance
I could go on because there are such good possibilities for everyone.”
You all already know that I love explorations into Elizabeth’s grief over Jack. And while I do believe that she is past it, I also know that grief can return at any given time. Perhaps the return of Hargreaves triggers that grief in Elizabeth, the way an anniversary triggered Clara’s while she was courting Jessie. Maybe this is another chance for Elizabeth and Nathan to lean on and be vulnerable with each other as they navigate the complexity of her grief. It’s not too far-fetched, and I think it would be a great storyline!
I also agree about Lucas’ love interest! She needs to be sassy and independent. I always thought an enemies-to-lovers trope would suit his character so well! Perhaps, he could meet someone in Capital City, and then she comes to Hope Valley? Maybe she’s a city girl, who eventually lets the town work its magic on her. I hope that’s the direction the writers take with Lucas’ character and his love life. It could be SO good!
“1. Fiona returning & possibly having her own love story with Lucas.
2. More school scenes & a young student (possibly with Down syndrome) joining the class that likely challenges Elizabeth. I have a family member with this & would love to see it portrayed on the show. I think the writers would do a fantastic job
3. A promotion for Nathan & possibly a second Mountie being stationed in Hope Valley since the town is growing. If that happens, I vote for Preston Vanderslice to return as Constable Michael Gleason. I think he’d have great chemistry with the cast.
4. A lot of romantic moments & co-parenting with a hopefully married Nathan & Elizabeth as well as family scenes with Allie & Jack.”
5. So many more family moments with the Coulters
6. A family for Faith (hopefully with Tom & Lily)”
I would love to see Faith, Lily and Tom as a sweet little family! Their (interrupted) date was so adorable! Plus, Tom and Faith have both been through a lot and have made a lot of mistakes over the years, so I think they could find a lot of solace and security in each other. I don’t need Faith to have a romance, but I certainly wouldn’t mind, especially since she now has to consider Lily’s well-being before entering into a relationship.
I also would love to see more domestic scenes and storylines for Lee and Rosemary. There has been so much focus on their careers that it can be easy to forget they even have a child. Let’s fix that. I want to see them being a family and facing family issues together. I also think it would be interesting to see Lee travel to Capital City with Lucas while Rosemary stays behind with Goldie. We have not seen the two of them apart since they began courting. Seeing them both dealing with being apart has the potential to be a very touching and meaningful storyline.
“Elizabeth and Nathan are married. Hargreaves is brought to justice. Little Jack starts school”
The Hargreaves storyline has SO much potential! Why does he have it out for Nathan? What really happened at Fort Clay? Was Jack’s death really an accident? Will Hargreaves’ abuse of authority finally be exposed? They are all great questions that would make a great story if answered! I think the Season 12 cliffhanger offers hope that this storyline will be explored in greater depth in Season 12. Ever since Hargreaves was first introduced, he has gone out of his way to make Nathan’s life miserable, even after he seemingly did the right thing in Season 8. Apparently his “conversion” was only a show for his commanding officers. He still has a vendetta against Nathan. It’s time to find out why! Hopefully, a healthy serving of justice is on the menu for Season 12!
We already know Little Jack will be starting school in Season 12, but that does not minimize my excitement! It will be fun to see how he likes being in the classroom. Will he be a good student? Will he be a trouble child? We shall see!
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and hopes for Season 12 Hearties! I loved reading everything you had to say! If you didn’t see your comment here, don’t worry! Part 2 of this post will be coming out soon! So stay tuned!
Interesting thoughts, I love them.
I'm really looking forward to seeing Nathan, Elizabeth, Allie and Jack as a family, hopefully with a new little member to join them.
A challenging child would be interesting to see, I think Elizabeth truly excels in the classroom and it would be great to see how she would cope with and grow from such an experience.
At risk of stereotyping most of the children of my acquaintance with Down Syndrome are joyful, loving, nurturing and also very stubborn and that could be interesting.
In fact lately in my job as a teacher aide I find myself asking WWED.. What Would Elizabeth Do?
Look forward to hearing more thoughts.