Kids say the darnedest things, don’t they? And in the case of Katie, it was a doozy.

“Divorce!” she piped up during the most awkward family dinner on Heartland in, like, forever. Thus the main focus of Sunday’s newest episode, “Faking It,” dealt with the effect of Lou and Peter’s separation becoming pubic knowledge. And while some handled the it pretty much like I thought they would—Tim made a bad situation worse by blaming it all on Peter—Jack stepped up and did the thing he does best: make those hurting feel better. The most touching scene of the night was clearly when he hugged a weeping Georgie and told her everything would be all right. Clearly it won’t—any child of divorced parents will tell you that—but it isn’t the end of the world either.

Kudos to Heartland‘s writers for having Georgie ask some pointed questions of her parents and not fall into any trite, lines other TV shows have already over-used. By the time Georgie climbed up on her horse and did her extreme riding tricks she was able to concentrate and nail a spot on the team. Take that, Olivia!

Meanwhile, Jesse—who has been pretty quiet all season long—unleashed his master plan on Ty and Caleb. After luring Caleb into a partnership, Jesse called in the loan and made ready to not only re-claim his family’s land but drive Amy out of business. Ty, of course, handled it badly and will likely have some assault charges added as insult to injury. Maybe Ty and Amy will be married in jail?

Notes and quotes

• “You’ll still be a family. You’ll just look a little different is all.” Jack makes the best of a bad situation.
• When is Tim going to learn that his first assumptions are always wrong? Reggie = Regina, dude.
• I know everyone will adjust, but seeing Peter portrayed as the enemy was tough to watch.

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

With only a few more episodes to go, Heartland fans were torn over whether Peter and Lou’s marriage really is on the rocks and several readers weighed in on this week’s He Said/She Said column regarding how “Canadian” Canadian TV shows should be.

I don’t want them to separate because of the girls but I think Peter has been kind of selfish throughout their relationship (not that Lou hasn’t made her share of mistakes) I’d like to see a bit more character growth on the show though. Seems like every character is stuck in their own ways. Especially Tim and Lou.—Amber

I personally wouldn’t want Lou and Peter to separate, but I have to agree it would be interesting to see how the writers wold have it happen. I think they will end up being together but it’s sure going to be a rough[er!] ride. I don’t know how they would do it. As for the vow renewal, maybe it’s kind of selfish but I wouldn’t like to see them “steal” Amy and Ty’s moment hahaha! This was an amazing episode. Got me in tears! The show just keeps getting better and better!—Luiza

I always liked Peter, and do hope that he and Lou can work things out. (Plus, I’ve loved Peter’s interactions with Georgie, and Katie seems to miss him when he’s not around.) It’s not as if Heartland hasn’t had the theme of divorce lurking in the background; Tim and Marion divorced. Lisa is a divorcée (Dan Hartfield was her first husband). Most notably, Caleb Odell and Ashley Stanton split not long after they got married. This would be the first time one of “the family” came undone front and centre (and not as a matter of ancient family history).

But I like what you’ve posited: If Lou and Peter can get their act together, it sure would be nice to see them renew their vows when Amy and Ty make their vows (though I think there would be some in the Amy/Ty camp who would want it to be *their* day, and their day alone).—TheRealTC

Wow, Diane. You said things perfectly. To me, setting is important. I look at my favourite 20 current shows (Downton Abbey, Orphan Black, Call the Midwife, Outlander, Nashville, Parenthood, Vikings, The Originals, The 100, Empire, Revenge, Finding Carter, Chasing Life, Grey’s Anatomy, Hard Rock Medical, Hart of Dixie, Orange is the New Black, Longmire, Arrow and Mohawk Girls) and only two–Orphan Black and Finding Carter–don’t have defined settings. However, neither seem to go out of their way to hide their setting; they just don’t clarify it.

What I have a problem with when it comes to several Canadian shows is that they seem to go out of their way to hide their Canadianness or they take on an American identity. That aggravates me more than anything else. Americans have enough stories if their own being told on television and we shouldn’t be telling more for them. We have our own stories to tell and our setting isn’t a negative. I go to a lot of U.S. TV sites and I never hear a complaint from Americans if there’s something Canadian in a show. The same goes for British dramas and the British accents: Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Broadchurch and The Fall all get great ratings in the States yet U.S. networks keep trying to remake them as Americanized stories.—Alicia

Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? greg@tv-eh.com or head to @tv_eh.