I understand those Heartland fans who are upset that Ty and Amy have broken up yet again. I’ve gotten your emails, and I admit I’m kind of in the same boat. But as actress Amber Marshall explained a couple of weeks ago, Amy is basically starting all over again from the bottom and working herself back up again this season.
That means she and Ty are, yes, taking a break, which led to lots of awkward moments during Sunday’s episode, “Endings and Beginnings.” Those moments came courtesy of Georgie, who kept calling Ty with fake concerns over the orphaned wolf pup in hopes that once he arrived at Heartland the sparks would fly and the lovebirds would get back together again. Instead we were treated to awkwardness.
The most interesting of the characters to me in Sunday’s episode (and the season so far) was Ty. As a relative newbie to the show, I’m fascinated not only by Graham Wardle’s portrayal of him, but the direction the character is going. His business pairing with Caleb and job at the wildlife sanctuary is the mark of a young man trying to figure out his place in the world and what his passions are. Rather than just take the easy road by working for Tim, he has partnered with Caleb on what may be a dubious business venture. But if it does fail, he’ll at least have gained some valuable knowledge into the way the business world works. Or sometimes doesn’t.
Meanwhile, his discovery of the dead black bear mother devoid of her gall bladder unleashed an angry, environmental side of Ty. Enraged at learning the bladders are a hot commodity on the black market, he cut down the poacher’s camera. The hunters, of course, came looking for Ty and beat him up, but I have a feeling that won’t stop Ty from doing what he believes in. Sadly, he also believes that time away from Amy is what he needs to. As he told Jack, he doesn’t want to hold Amy back from the incredible opportunities her gift as a horse trainer (how great was she with Hustle and Flirty?) has afforded her.
But I think Ty wonders if Amy might be holding him back as well.
Other notes
- I want a wolf pup.
- What is it with Jade, Heartland fans? Has she been around for a few seasons? Is she a former friend of Amy’s?
- Jesse Stanton is supposed to get on my nerves, right?
Heartland airs Sundays at 7 p.m. on CBC.
Dear Greg:
Nice review/recap. I especially like your thoughts about Ty and how Wardle portrays him. I agree whole-heartedly. And yes, wolf pups are insanely cute.
Re: Jade Virani… No, she’s no friend of Amy’s. She’s the trouble child of Dr. Tricia Virani; both were introduced in Season 7. Tricia came for riding lessons just as Jack was returning from his Arizona sojourn (following his heart attack at the end of Season 6). Lou pounced on Tricia to become Jack’s new doctor (much to Jack’s annoyance); Tim pounced on her to be his new sweetheart.
Then Jade showed up from her dad’s place in T.O. to complicate things for her divorcee mom. Among some of the early stunts pulled during S7: stealing an ornate belt from a booth run by Maggie’s Diner at a town fair; taking Jack’s truck on a joyride — with Georgie in tow; and hiding Georgie’s 4-H lamb. “Clover”, to get under Georgie’s skin due to a false accusation of theft. (Episode 714 is a must-see.) Hope this helps.
Re: Jesse Stanton… Since we haven’t seen the guy since Season 1 (he was an early boyfriend to Amy) yeah, we’re pretty much supposed to hate him. I think we’re programmed to take an immediate dislike to anyone with the “Stanton” surname, for that matter. His mother Val, and his sister Ashley, have both run afoul of our heroes at one time or another, though they’re not totally irredeemable and horrible characters. Jesse’s just not turning out to be all that like-able, much like his female kin.
Hope you get a chance to catch up on previous seasons. Suggestion: poll Heartland viewers for the top “must watch episodes” from each season as a starting point.
Hey TheRealTC, thank you so much for your feedback on my review and for updating me on Jade. I appreciate you taking the time to give me all of these details; they’ll really help me going forward this season.
Great idea re: asking fans about their fave episode so that I can go back and watch. Thankfully Heartland is on Netflix.
You’re welcome. (Sorry that my first reply was all one big ugly block of text. Apparently paragraph formatting doesn’t keep once you hit “Enter” on this site.)
Not only is Heartland on Netflix, but all the episodes are also available on CBC’s site to viewers in Canada.