Sunday’s latest episode of Heartland covered the theme of quitting through several storylines while setting up what could be some pretty dramatic scenes as this season draws to a close.

“Riders on the Storm” saw the return of Georgie’s brother, Jeff, to Heartland where he made an immediate impression on Jade, even if part of the reason he was visiting was the result of a little white lie. I understand Jeff wanting to put blame on his boss rather than admit he quit because he didn’t like the new guy in charge. Thanks to Tim, Jeff got his confidence back and prepared to return to his job and prove he could handle more responsibility.

Quitting seemed to be in the cards for Scott’s nephew, Emmett, too. The latter was feeling the pressure of trying to live up to the former’s status as an award-winning relay horse racer and seemed to have an easy out because his horse kept bolting. Once Amy had solved that problem with a set of blinders, Emmett had to come clean to Scott about his feelings. I appreciate Heartland‘s writers for—for the most part, anyway—having characters admit to their true feelings within the same episode rather than drawing it out for weeks on end.

Speaking of quitting, Ty’s mom was still in rehab attempting to kick her addiction to alcohol and didn’t want her son visiting because she was ashamed she fell off the wagon. Ty took two steps back with regard to his maturity by responding badly to her request before coming to the conclusion that supporting his mother was more important than worrying about whether or not she wanted him there. He wanted to attend Family Day, so he was going.

I knew that, by the end of Sunday’s storylines, Tim and Jack would work out their differences—and hurt feelings—to emerge as equals in the rodeo school. Jack simply has too much experience for Tim to ignore what he has to say. I did love the back-and-forth jibes about age and inexperience on the road to a solution though, as well as the heart-to-heart where Tim revealed he’s been in a bad mood because Miranda is preparing to get married. Will Tim and Casey make it a dual wedding with Ty and Amy by season’s end or will he dump her and ask for Miranda’s hand? We’ll see.

Notes and quotes

• “I’m not interested in training the next generation of weekend cowboys.” Jack has some of the best lines, doesn’t he?
• “When was that guy’s last rodeo? When they were bucking dinosaurs?” Nice comeback, Tim.
• As a die-hard Blackstone fan, it was great to see co-stars Nathaniel Arcand and Justin Rain on Heartland.
• Does anyone else have a horrible feeling that Lou is coming back to Heartland by herself?

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

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.