Last week, it was animals that made an impact on Heartland. That was certainly the case again on Sunday, though a human dropped by and made a splash too.

“New Kid in Town” was as much about a horse named Hellion as it was a cocky cowboy who was a bit of a hellion himself. Clay McMurtry (played by Eric Gustafsson) is Casey’s nephew, and got under both Jade and Tim’s skin for the same reason: he’s insufferably arrogant. That, of course, led to lots of back and forth dialogue between all three. I’m a big fan of Jade (Madison Cheeatow) because she injects feistiness to storylines and that was certainly the case with Ken Craw’s script; an ultimate showdown between Jade and Clay took place to see who could stay on recovering bronco host Hellion the longest.

Clay stayed on longer, but it was obvious Hellion was bucking a lot harder when Jade was riding, so let’s give her the victory, shall we? Speaking of victories, it was a big one for Tim when he and Casey finally faced each other after months apart. The two made peace with their differences and sealed it with a kiss. I’m glad they’re reunited, but I hope that doesn’t dull the abrasive Tim I enjoy so much, especially when he’s needling Jack.

Jack, meanwhile, had his hands full helping Amy bring Hellion back to his bucking days after rehabbing from back surgery. They successfully pulled it off and I was happy to see Jack off his feet, on a horse and riding again.

Finally, Ty and Amy are prepping for parenthood. She built herself a super-cute changing table, unaware Ty was struggling with a decision. After seeing a trophy hunter standing over the carcass of a Gobi bear, he and Bob plotted a trip to Mongolia to help protect them. But Ty, recognizing the importance of staying with his wife, chose to stay put. The last we saw, Bob was off … and I can’t help but wonder if Georgie may decide Mongolia is on her bucket list. She sure looked like she was thinking about it.

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

Images courtesy of CBC.

I don’t like to see Amy stressed out, but that’s the way life’s been for her in these first two episodes of Heartland in Season 10. Last week, things were looking grim for Minnie when she delivered two foals, putting her health in danger. This week, she suffered from colic, necessitating emergency surgery and all hands on deck at Heartland to feed the foals, named Theo and Boone, until Minnie was well enough to return.

In fact, Heartland‘s animal co-stars almost outshone the human ones, as the horses and Bubbles the Goldfish 1 and 2 commanded plenty of screen time during “You Just Know,” written by Mark Haroun. There was an ever-so-brief moment when Ty and Amy were considering baby names until Jack called to say Minnie wasn’t doing so well. Her health, and those of the foals, hung over Amy all episode until the three horses were reunited. I can’t help but think Amy is seeing herself when she looks at Minnie, and that’s causing her angst.

Katie, Tim and Jack all learned a valuable lesson about life and death on the ranch thanks to two goldfish named Bubbles. Tim bought the shiny dude for Katie, and quickly incurred criticism from Jack.

“What kind of world do we live in where a man can’t buy a goldfish for his granddaughter?” Tim wondered. He found out just what kind of world when Bubbles expired. Katie may have said her new pet was sleeping, but we all knew better. The storyline led to some very funny moments between Tim and Jack, first when the former tried to avoid letting the latter discover he’d replaced the dead fish with another one, and then both stammering while telling Katie the original Bubbles was deceased. Their worry was for nought; Katie wanted to flush Bubbles 1.0 like she did the dead ones at school.

The hot and cold between Lou and Mitch reached a fever temperature out on the trail when they shared a passionate kiss … and then went stone cold when she announced she was headed to New York City for Maggie meetings, effectively putting anything they might have together on ice.

Meanwhile, Georgie may have made a new enemy in Sam. It’s one thing for Georgie to want Olivia put in her place, but there was no way she’d stand for Sam’s plot to unseat Olivia via injury. It was a classy move to stand up to Sam, but I worry that decision is going to haunt her later this season. As for her “Most Memorable Moment” essay topic? I give it an A+.

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

Images courtesy of CBC.

I can’t believe it’s been seven months since Heartland signed off. And yet here we are, discussing the Season 10 return episode, “There Will be Changes.”

When we last left the folks at Heartland ranch, Lou had rebuffed Peter’s desire to get back together, Adam and Georgie were officially a couple, and Casey and Tim were on a break.

Sunday’s episode began with Amy having a bad dream and Ty waking her up. Amy turned away from the camera as she sat up, effectively hiding her belly and holding off on how much time has passed since the Season 9 finale. We also discovered Georgie had bought a horse, Tim was in a mood (and has been for some time) and Lou refused to wave to Jack and Mitch as she drove by the paddock.

What the heck has been going on at Heartland? It wasn’t until Adam announced it was he and Georgie’s anniversary—over five minutes in—that it was revealed three months had gone by between the Season 9 finale and Sunday night. The episode title didn’t lie: there have been a lot of changes since then. The biggest? Minnie the horse was having twins. In a brilliant bit of a head fake by showrunner Heather Conkie, it was the newest addition to the dude ranch that’s having two babies and not Amy. I admit, I totally fell for it, though I did wonder why Ty and Amy would rely on a DVD to find out what was going on with their baby.

To Tim that meant a worst-case scenario—the loss of one or both foals—but Ty had a more confident outlook. Amy, meanwhile, took the news hard and ran off to the barn. Clearly, it’s finally dawning on her how the coming human addition is going to affect everyone’s lives forever. That revelation went a long way to explaining why Amy was having those dreams about Spartan. Being pregnant means she can’t ride client horses or her favourite equine buddy; she worries she’ll “lose” the connection she has with Spartan. By episode end, the birth of Minnie’s foals had brightened Amy’s outlook and that only improved when Jack and Tim presented she and Ty with the cradle that’s been in the Bartlett family since … well, forever.

Meanwhile, Lou got some pretty amazing news; some New York City investors want to open a Maggie’s in Brooklyn. However, the one-off restaurant could very well cause her to choose between life on the ranch or in The Big Apple.

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

Images courtesy of CBC.