Tim is back! And with big news. Yes, Amy and Ty began the first serious steps  toward their wedding day with the touching discovery of Marion’s old wedding dress and Georgie and Steven’s relationship is blossoming thanks to a case of chicken pox, but the most memorable moments for me during “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” were the scenes between Tim and Jade.

Jade is quickly evolving into one of my new favourite characters on Heartland. Maybe it’s her spunk, or the way she gets under Lou’s skin, but her evolution from rich brat into bona fide cowgirl has been pretty impressive. Yes, I knew that Jade would have some raw talent in the saddle even before she climbed up there (with no help from Caleb), but I still got a charge out of her impressing Tim and shaming the boys a bit. Tim, meanwhile, learned quickly that his tough approach to teaching wasn’t winning anyone over. In fact, it was driving his students away from him.

I admit that I yelled, “No!” when I realized that Jade was going to ride the bronco, and I was relieved when she wasn’t hurt from the fall. (This is Heartland, and broken limbs occur almost as frequently as broken hearts.) Luckily, she’ll be back for the next set of classes along with at least three more kids that are interested in learning the rope from Tim.

Raise your hand if you knew that Wade was working two jobs to pay for Lily’s rehab. Yeah, me too. It’s a well-worn trope, but it was still an effective way of teaching Ty that people can change, even a former gambler like Wade, who has left his mistakes in the rearview mirror in order to make a better life for Lily. It was a bold—but expected—move for Ty to give Wade money to help pay for his mother’s rehab, though I noticed he didn’t give it all away.

He’s got to leave some for the wedding day that’s fast approaching.

Notes and quotes

• Thanks to Lisa, I now know the difference between embossed and debossed.
• “You are like a wedding planning lioness ready to pounce.” I’ve missed Jack’s quips.
• I love watching Katie in family scenes, like last night when she was poking her food at dinner.
• Things got a little dusty on my couch when Amy revealed yellow and blue were her mom’s favourite colours.

Heartland airs Sundays at 7 p.m. on CBC.

“Broken Heartland” certainly lived up to its episode title, as the growing tension between Lou and Peter finally reached an explosive head. Heartland is never afraid to shy away from the drama in it’s family drama description, but even I was a little shocked by how loud their argument was following an increasingly cringeworthy family lunch.

As with most fights between couples, a re-hash of previous mistakes were dragged out into the open: Peter’s failure in Dubai and him insisting on working in Vancouver, Lou buying a house and getting a specialist for Katie without his consent. As Lou rightly pointed out, they’d both made errors. But suggesting he had someone on the side in Van-city seemed like a bit of a stretch, especially for Heartland. How many die-hard fans would be devastated if Peter and Lou’s marriage ended in divorce because he was messing around? Still, it could happen. As an aside, I agreed with Peter when he retorted that he and Lou couldn’t even get enough privacy to have a fight. Although, with all of that land around them, perhaps going out into a nearby field would have been a good idea.

By episode’s end, Lou was jetting to Vancouver to talk to Peter about the state of their marriage. I’m hoping Heartland‘s writers simply have him be happily surprised by her arrival rather than have a nasty shock awaiting Lou when she lands. (Of course, Heartland is on hiatus next week, so we’ll have to wait.)

Like Lou and Peter, Amy and Ty were finding it tough to score some alone time too. The pair were headed off to Montana for a couple of days but had that dashed when an impromptu horse ride resulted in the truck stolen by a hitchhiker. (WHY would Ty put the keys in the sun visor???? He’s got pockets!!! Why would they leave their cell phones in the truck?? What if something had happened??) Luckily for them, Brooke the hitchhiker didn’t get far; they caught up to her when the truck suffered a flat front tire. But rather than report Brooke to the police, they gave her a ride, and it was on that trip—and hearing of Brooke’s relationship struggles with her mom—that Ty realized that, off the wagon or not, his own mother deserved to be invited to he and Amy’s wedding.

Ty’s decision was a mature one, and I was impressed he came to it. I still think that he and Amy are going to elope—maybe with Brooke singing to them under that tree—but offering an olive branch to his mom was still nice.

Notes and quotes

• I think Katie’s got the right idea; a cupcake tree would be awesome
• “Your daughter thinks you live in an airplane.” I know this was supposed to be serious, but I laughed out loud at Lou’s line
• “I’m never gonna live this down!” Luckily for Ty, Tim likely won’t find out about Brooke stealing the truck
• Georgie and Jade provided much-needed levity on Sunday, first at the vet clinic and then when Georgie finally asked Steven to the Sadie Hawkins dance
• Where’s Tim?!?

Heartland airs Sundays at 7 p.m. on CBC.