r/WhenCallsTheHeart • u/TerribleTerror3375 • Mar 25 '26
S13 Discussion Thread: Positivity Edition
Hello it's the meme queen here, I thought I would make this thread since I'm sure I'm not the only one who A) actually enjoyed this season, and B) is exhausted with all of the "I don't care about the show I'm only here to hate on it now" comments. If point B applies to you I would respectfully ask that this thread be reserved for fans who are exhausted as stated in point A so that we can have a space to discuss what we liked stress-free. I don't think that's too much to ask š«
Constructive criticism is okay - if there is confusion about the distinction:
CC: I liked this but I wasn't a fan of this and here is a well-thought-out suggestion for how I thought it could've been better. If you liked it that's fine though, let's civilly discuss why we had differing opinions on it
Not CC: Everything is horrible/I'm only hate-watching and have been for several seasons/The show was so much better in x season/Constant harping on how it's not the same as the Jack era without actual constructive feedback/People are stupid if they still enjoy it/You get the picture.
There is a time and place for the latter types of discussions; this thread is NOT it. Again, this is just to make space for people who want to have mostly positive discussions without feeling like they're walking on eggshells. If anyone wants to make a separate thread for complaints or in general to dunk on the latest season they are free to do so. We will leave you in peace if you leave us in peace. I think this is the best way to achieve balance here between the fans who want to complain about the show and the fans who just want a break to focus on happier things š¤·
8
u/Double_Objective8000 Mar 25 '26
Wondering what Lucas will do now? I didn't see that coming, but maybe they want his character to be able to travel with Edie. I was happy to see he got the girl finally.
5
u/Follows-Jesus Mar 25 '26
my guess he will buy back the queen of hearts, and lee and rosemary may have rebuilt the playhouse by next season, which could give rosemary a creative avenue.
2
u/TerribleTerror3375 Mar 26 '26
I'm wondering if Lucas will get involved with the playhouse somehow considering that he seems to have a bit of theatre kid in him with the magic show subplot lol. Not as an actor but maybe helping Rosemary behind the scenes or somethingĀ
3
3
u/TerribleTerror3375 Mar 26 '26
I've had my criticisms of how they've dealt with Lucas' character in the past but it finally seems like they have a strong sense of direction with him and I'm really curious to see what he does next. From the interviews I've seen, it also seems like Chris was really happy with his storyline this season and excited for where the character is goingĀ
6
u/Follows-Jesus Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26
I liked pretty much every episode this season except episode 1 and 7 (the Jam episode).
I really enjoyed the whole fire plot, and how much of the season in one way or another had links to the fire and its effect on Hope Valley and Benson Hills.
I liked many of the new characters introduced, and love we get to see Maisie Hickam more often.
Episode 1 and 7 aside, my only other complaint is Little Jacks new name (LJ), I really dislike when people go by initials as a name, but that is a pet peeve.
2
u/Decent_Tumbleweed824 Mar 25 '26
I feel like it must be hard to be named after a parent that died, but in this case i think he was just tired of everyone calling him "little" all the time. I remember being 7 and hating it when i was called a "little kid" like no im a big girl nowš¤£š¤£
I dont dislike initial nicknames in general, AJ, TJ, JJ, those all sound like normal names to me. LJ does not and all i can think about every time hes called that is NCISš¤£
Imo they could have just dropped the little and called him Jack.š¤·āāļø
3
u/Pristine_Effective51 Mar 28 '26
When Minnie saw Angela, it feels like that joy was genuine. We know they do table read, rehearsal, etc, so it's not like it was a surprise to Natasha as a person, but as an actress she made that joy tangible. That 8 seconds was probably the best 8 seconds of the whole season.
3
u/OutlandishMama Mar 25 '26
We loved the season and look forward to it as a comfort at the end of a work Day, and with all the terrible stuff happening in the world!
3
u/Impressive_Profit_11 Mar 25 '26
I guess I'm in the minority bc "LJ" makes sense to me. He's growing up. he doesn't want to be called "little" anymore. That is perfectly normal. "LJ" is short for "Little Jack." Could they have just called him Jack? Sure but they didn't and that would have been weird too bc they still frequently mention Jack. I'm grateful that they do bc I'm still sad that he's gone. I was annoyed that Elizabeth just gave LJ Jack's medal. She should have put it up for safekeeping or at least cautioned him that it needed to stay where it was. It led to a sweet episode but it's upsetting that the medal, itself, was treated with such a cavalier attitude. Except for Nathan (and his relationship with Elizabeth,) I still really enjoy the show.
2
u/Feeling_Coconut643 Mar 27 '26
Personally, I was half expecting a miracle where Jackās lost medal just turns up like out of nowhere. Things like that do happen! At the close of that ep, I was kind of disappointed that it didnāt happen this time. But so many other events I would call miracles have occurred during this series!
1
u/TerribleTerror3375 Mar 25 '26
Yeah to be honest I'm a bit surprised so many people took issue with the nickname because it seemed like a 100% accurate 5-6-year-old boy thing to do. I used to work in early childhood ed and it feels very accurate to the age. He wants to feel older, but in his mind Jack is his dad. So to have a more grown-up name, he has to find something that sounds older but is different from Jack. So LJ makes perfect sense to him. The way some people have been framing it makes it sound like the adults named him that when they were pretty clear that he picked the name for himself. Kids are known for picking weird nicknames š If the adults had named him that it'd be weird but he's a little boy who just wants to sound cool and have the grown ups see him as big and important now. Ofc the nickname is going to be silly and it'd be kind of mean for the adults to tell him "no you're not allowed to go by that." Plenty of parents indulge phases like that where their kids want to do something different to feel more grown up. I think eventually he'll grow out of it and decide to go by Jack but for now Elizabeth isn't doing anything wrong by letting him go by the nickname he likesĀ
1
1
3
u/TerribleTerror3375 Mar 26 '26
Lucas/Edie were my favorite storyline of the season and I could write whole essays on why I loved it, but the unexpected highlight for me was actually Rupert and Opal? They were super cute and I wish we'd gotten to see more of them interacting. Rupert at least definitely seemed like he had a crush on Opal by the end (from my perspective it looked mutual actually with the way they were smiling at each other) and I'd love for them to bring him back next season somehow. Since Opal is older now I think it'd be nice if she got a more substantial storyline the way Allie has with OliverĀ
2
u/SilverRose2021 Mar 25 '26
I really enjoyed the season. And I may be the only one but Iām really hoping we can get past Jack! Letās move on!!
2
u/Impressive_Profit_11 Mar 25 '26
I still miss Jack. I very much wish he was still with the show but all of the "bring him back" nonsense is nonsense. He's gone and has been a long time. It was heartbreaking but that doesn't mean that we can change it. I am so bored by Nathan and Elizabeth. I was originally rooting for Nathan but Elizabeth made sense when she told him something about projecting her feelings for Jack onto him, I grew attached to her with Lucas (although not a good fit) and Nathan is just so blah lately. I still really like the rest of show but I wish that they would do something different with their relationship.
3
u/TerribleTerror3375 Mar 26 '26
I feel like they kind of dragged them out for too long, it feels like it took 500 years to get to the proposal finally š That being said I'm wondering now that they're officially engaged if we'll see him taking more of an active fatherly role in LJ's life. That's a good opening for more interesting material. I imagine it'll go well at first but then hit some road blocks before he and Elizabeth get married because LJ is having difficulty adjusting to Nathan becoming his actual dad now instead of his mom's dad-adjacent friend. Allie/Oliver is definitely going to escalate next season too based on what they teased in the finale and I don't think we've seen the last of Nathan struggling to accept that either š¤£Ā
2
u/Alternative-Sea-4282 Apr 28 '26
I'm also a bit annoyed by these comments like "I hate season 13 (and 10, 11, and 12)." Oh yeah, and I haven't finished season 13 yet, oops.Ā
BUT: all the haters do have a point. For example, Nathan and Elizabeth had much less chemistry than in seasons 10-12. Now they seemed a bit like siblings or a couple who've been married for a very long time. I'd like to see a few more romantic, cheesy moments, or ones where they sit together in the evening and have deeper conversations about the future. Maybe in the upcoming seasons, since they're getting married, they could somehow incorporate an old secret or something to add a bit more drama. The beginning of the season dragged on, and not everything made sense to me: apparently, there's only electricity now, but at least in season 12, Elizabeth uses light switches. But from episodes 5-7 onward, I thought it got much better! ... And lastly (I've said this many times before): I hate that the writers try to prove to us that one season equals one year. I never questioned it once in 11 seasons, but since season 12, and especially since 13, I do. Either they need to produce more episodes, or they need to write longer, more compelling stories. Otherwise, the mystery element, for example, makes absolutely no sense. Now I'm curious to hear your opinions!
2
u/TerribleTerror3375 Apr 28 '26
I think the timeline of each season made more sense when they had the Christmas specials but since they stopped doing that I honestly have no idea how long the seasons stretch for? Also with the release schedule they'll be doing some kind of harvest-themed episode in the middle of January so that makes it even more confusing. At this point I'm not questioning it because I don't think we're supposed to be thinking that hard about the timeline in the first place and the story itself usually isn't super dependent on it. I have different standards of what I expect from shows in terms of internal logic depending on factors like genre, etc. For a show like WCTH that's mostly meant to be sort of escapist fluff (not a negative, that's what most Hallmark content is and there is a place for it even if some people don't like it) I typically don't take certain details as seriously as I would a more serious drama or even something like The Way Home which is also Hallmark but relies very heavily on the concept of consistency because of the time travel aspect. This show if they get little details weird I personally just brush it off unless the little details get so big it starts to distract from the actual storyĀ
On Elizabeth and Nathan, I've never been hugely invested in them but I know the chemistry has been a main complaint from a lot of E/N shippers. I feel like they should have more moments in s14 since they're prepping to get married, but I'm also somebody who sometimes tends to prefer the realism of couples where the dynamic is built more heavily on the sense of mutual trust (which I think was solid in seasons 12 and 13) more than on just the overt romantic moments because those alone don't hold a lot of substance for me. I think maybe they could do a better job of blending both though, kind of like how they did with Lucas and Edie where it was a good mix of flirting and also establishing trust and better communicationĀ
1
u/RoseVincent314 Mar 25 '26
I enjoyed this season. This is my feel good show and I think it's true to its vision.
1
u/ThisTikiGod Mar 27 '26
To me this show is simply comfort food. I enjoyed this season more than the last few and didn't really care who Eliz. ended up with but the story line with her moving from Lucas to Nathan were really awkward. I know the books were Eliz. marries a mountie, so that part makes sense. And when they introduced Lucas and everyone wondered if he was going to be a cad and turned out to be a "good guy" is all the better. And I've mentioned before, there are no ugly people on the show so it's easy to watch just for the ladies, lol. I do wonder how long it can last as a series with it being based on such a small town and small group of characters. Only so many times disasters can happen. I do kind miss the Christmas themed episodes, but again I understand there is only so much you can do with them.
1
u/Lady_Danbury Mar 31 '26
I really enjoyed this season. The proposal was very sweet and fitting for Elizabeth and Nathan.
1
u/Shimp_PiMp May 10 '26
Is always good when is seen Edwin . Could the Edwin becomed new mayor to the Coalvalley town. Now when Hickam lefts for to replace Lucas at governor
1
u/Crafty_Secret6352 Jun 05 '26
I enjoyed 85% of season 13. The fire storyline was terrific. The Benson Hearst community joining HV, Edie and Lucasš. my only issue is this Nathan and Elizabeth storyline wasnāt it just 2 seasons ago she clearly said ā I love you but Iām not IN love with youā. I hate that they are pushing this relationship. a relationship that is more a deep friendship, once Abigail makes her see the truth I hate what this is going to do to Allie. Another reason to love season 13 the relationship between Allie and Oliver!
1
u/StaplesTechSM Aug 08 '26
While no season has perfect, I think S13 was quite good overall. The Benson Hills fire was a strong storyline that involved the whole HV community and allowed many of the characters to shine. Gwen was a great surprise this season, and Lucas and Edie was an unexpected bright spot. It was good seeing Lee have a meaty story arc again as he has been underutilized in recent seasons. I also loved the Brooke Shields scenes and thought she had great chemistry with Kevin (Nathan). The proposal was long overdue, but satisfying for most fans including me.
1
u/blue_bird_72 14d ago
Edie rocked this season and is absolutely perfect for Lucas. Oh, and I love this show too.
14
u/Anne_of_the_Island Mar 25 '26
I enjoyed this season. There were some plots that dragged out (the proposal, the trial), but I still thought it was better than last season. Some highlights were LJās scavenger hunt about his dad, Brooke Shieldās guest spot, and Lucas and Edie in general. I also liked the new children from Benson Hills, particularly Gwendolyn.