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Review: Wolf pups and soul searching on Heartland

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.

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Comments and queries for the week of Oct. 24

Who is the actress playing Morgan Finn, a.k.a. the guy Rebecca was flirting with on Strange Empire? I’m 99 per cent sure she is an actress, but it’s driving me crazy because I can’t place her or confirm it. The worst part is the character is currently not showing up on the the show’s IMDb cast list. If you who who she is, which show she’s from (I feel she’s from a CTV or Global series), please share.–Sarah

Good eye Sarah. That’s Joanne Boland playing Morgan Finn on Strange Empire. According to her IMDB page, Boland’s resumé includes roles on Copper, Lost Girl, Flashpoint, Haven and Being Erica.

If they divide Ty and Amy again and not have them marry, our household will not support Heartland.–Valerie

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Review: Saving Hope kisses today goodbye

Although it’s easy to bring religion into a hospital show, given the constant talk of life and death, not many series are able to handle the topic we’re supposedly not supposed to talk about with respect and grace for all parties (that’s religious AND agnostic). Perhaps it’s because such bigger picture discussions are embedded in the moral fabric of Saving Hope, but this show seems to handle the issue in a way that’s more creative than cloying.

Such was certainly the case with “Joel 2:31,” the fall finale (or at least last episode for quite some time) of Saving Hope’s third season. Although religion was touched upon via the title, as well as two major characters, directly, it wasn’t made to be the ultimate issue of the episode, but more a gateway to discussions and revelations of sorts.

First and foremost, we saw Elisa, a young woman hoping to be a minister, go through the motions of trying to reconcile her beliefs about life and her, well, beliefs, alongside the current reality. While she felt she shouldn’t be pregnant–morally and physically–considering that she was still a virgin despite being a newlywed, she had doctors telling her she most definitely was. Then, she had to deal with believing that what was inside her wasn’t actually a baby, but a “monster” of some sort (nice twist that the religious “good girl” wasn’t lying about her sexuality, right?).

Elisa (a very engaged Kendra Leigh Timmons of Wingin’ It fame) was not actually pregnant, but in fact, had bizarre tumour called a teratoma (don’t look it up, man), which made her act irrationally. Thus, the belief there was a monstrosity of sorts inside of her (how Rosemary’s Baby of her) and later, the lack of remembering she just got married. The most horrifying moment, though, was when Alex, Joel and Co. cracked open her insides and found this entity, which looked like the strangely organized remains of a overly-grown fetus. A part of me thought about Andrea Martin in My Big Fat Greek Wedding talking about the twin that lived in her neck lump during that scene and wanted to laugh. But most of me was just totally grossed out and worried that the food baby I amassed earlier had nothing to do with all the fajitas I had.

But I digress! Saving Hope is really starting to get the Strange Case of the Week formula down pat, finding interesting ways to wrap intriguing disorders or diseases around bigger issues like, as mentioned before, religion. This tumour living in this girl, for example, served as a perfect statement on the fears we carry around with us–about ourselves, about others, about our beliefs, about others’ beliefs in us–until they eat away at our insides. In a way, Alex is suffering a similar fate to Elisa, holding her insecurities about her feelings for Joel in her belly even as there are signs–literal signs saying “Joel 2:31”!–telling her to act on them. And that other patient featured this week, the girl with the “internal decapitation” (that’s a thing and it’s terrifying), was carrying around her grief and guilt left over from the death of her twin, and as a result, nearly forcing herself to cross over to the so-called other side prematurely.

The good news is, all of our ladies made the moves they needed to make to keep, well, moving.  Say what you want to say about Joel and Alex as endgame, but man, that final moment, with them clearly wrapped up in the heat of pre-passion smoochies, was super hot thanks to Durance and Gilles’ game faces and exactly what–I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s true–the doctor ordered. After one too many fake-outs, it’s time for some make-outs, even if they aren’t between the two on your chosen “team” (sorry, Charlie and Alex fans!) Everyone deserves a little somethin’ somethin’ at the end of a heavy day–hey, there was talk of the apocalypse!–like this one. But this group is especially deserving, since it looks like everyone’s future is looking grim come the second half of the season.

Judging by the preview shown at the end of the episode, we’re going to see more trouble ahead for Alex and her hand, but also we’re going to see poor Shahir suffer a possible heart attack during surgery. Say what?

Just when we were starting to regain our hope for Hope after Gavin’s departure, another key part of Hope Zion’s mass of excellent side characters is at risk of being forcibly removed. Here’s hoping that guy that looked like Jesus is working some magic right now, even if it just means maintaining his beard so he can bring us some needed comic relief in the near future.

More Hope-ful thoughts:

  • “Eat cheese and rob a bank” are your two Last Days activities, Alex? Atta girl.
  • Where does one get that sexy top–bra? tank?–that Erica Durance was wearing in that last scene? Asking for a friend…
  • Zach too was carrying around some baggage, but not about his love life or religion, but his connection with his son. Kudos to Benjamin Ayres for pulling off both cynical (with aforementioned Jesus man) and sentimental (with Zach’s son) in such a short period of time.
  • More Maggie and Joel comedic interaction, please!

 

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Review: Audrey returns to Haven

When we last left the fine folks of Haven–in last week’s “The Old Switcheroo”–Gloria and Dwight had switched bodies, as had Nathan and Duke and Dave and Vince; a situation that had everyone reeling. Nathan had just found out about Duke and Audrey smooching in Colorado, and was rightly POed. Problem was, the man responsible for the Trouble was on the run.

“The Old Switcheroo Too” picked up with Duke and Nathan (still “all Freaky Friday” as Duke/Nathan said) realizing that Mara had been playing the two by acting like Audrey had fought her way to the surface. That cagey chick. Again, I’m thrilled that the producers decided to lighten things up with this Trouble. It’s allowed all of the cast involved in the story to flex some comedic muscles. And while the Dwight/Gloria switch is the best ever, Nathan and Duke have been pretty fun too.

“Your whole body is numb!” Duke marvelled, slapping Nathan’s face repeatedly. “Yeah? I didn’t realize you went … commando,” Nathan grimly observed. (I’d love to know how many takes that scene took to film.) More seriously, though, Duke was getting ready to explode and needed to expel an old Trouble. The two came up with a novel idea: release a reincarnation Trouble that would bring Audrey out of Mara. It was at this point I got a little confused. Not with the idea, but the fact that I sometimes lose track of who’s really speaking. Regardless, the plan sounded good to me.

And the boys were right: Mara had been acting like Audrey as a ploy to escape. Problem was, Nathan was too weak to unleash the Trouble and things looked like they were headed back to same-old, same-old. When Duke said, “I’m sorry that we can’t all find TRUE LOVE like you, Nathan,” I almost slapped my forehead. If Nathan has to jump through this many hoops for true love, maybe he should give it up.

Vince and Dave attempted to right everything down in North Carolina, but the thinny was making it hard for them to reunite the Doohan brothers and reverse the Trouble. After a few tense seconds they managed to save each other from entering the portal and resolved never to go near it again. I have to assume that at some point a thinny will end up sucking in Dave. His “other side” and adoption background is revving up to be one heck of an intriguing story and I’m glad Haven‘s creative team have decided to give the Teagues’ some quality airtime. I was particularly excited about Dave/Vince’s vision of a man running through the forest and carving “Croatoan” into a tree before being touched by an unidentified hand that released black smoke from his eyes.

The Doohan brothers’ reunion reversed the body swap Trouble, opening the door for Duke to release a reincarnation Trouble to rid Audrey of Mara for the last time. Did it work? After a massive flash and sound blast, the answer came in the form of a nekkid Audrey arriving at The Gull. (As if Emily Rose didn’t have enough on her plate, twisting her face and adjusting her voice to play Mara, now it looks like she’ll be going full-Orphan Black by physically playing the two women.)

Meanwhile, the revelation that Dwight’s sister was killed when her Trouble activated in Cincinnati opens the door for his storyline to expand. That’s good news. Like Vince, Dave and Gloria, learning more about Dwight and the supporting citizens of Haven just adds to the show’s appeal.

Haven airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Showcase.

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Review: Another Doyle drops by the Republic

Do things really happen in threes? Let’s hope not when it comes to CBC’s previously happy couples of primetime. Just three days after Ty and Amy called it quits on Heartland, Leslie was breaking up with Jake on Republic of Doyle. Here’s hoping William and Julia get married in two weeks as planned on Murdoch Mysteries.

Still dealing with the after-effects of being kidnapped by Blake Brogan, Leslie said she needed a break from Jake to figure out who she was. I’m thinking “copper” shouldn’t be one of them: she went way overboard arrested that low-level drug dealer. Still, by the end of the  episode Leslie had stripped down to sexy pjs and was wooing Jake, so maybe she’s going to be OK after all. But I suspect not. After all, she did pop some pills–and then denied taking any kind of medication–to the psychologist the RNC had assigned to her.

Unfortunately, the other major lady in his life was walking away. Jake was dismissed by Sloan, who he finally located after she was nabbed by Vick Saul. Turns out Vick was robbed by Sloan too, and was holding her for ransom. Vick demanded Jake get everything the police had on him before he would let Sloan go. Jake did, leading to an emotional moment in the GTO (that girl is still by his side) resulting in tears by both and Sloan saying goodbye to her father.

Meanwhile another Doyle–Shawn, last seen on Fargo–reprised his RoD role as Carl Maher, and brought some fun to “No Rest for the Convicted” (directed by actor Mark O’Brien). It was Carl who came up with the bail money to get Jake out of prison and the cash windfall came with a price: Carl wanted Jake to look into the woman he’d given $800,000 of his money to invest and hadn’t heard anything from in days. What appeared to be a quick case of Carl being a little slow in the smarts department turned into a case involving poisonings and Ponzi schemes. There were several great comic moments between Des and Carl, the best of which led to the destruction of the Doyle surveillance van; here’s hoping Carl is back before the series finale.

Notable quotes 

  • “I’ll watch Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Des. You do what you have to do.”–Malachy
  • “Don’t gets all sooky baby about it!”–Carl
  • “I’m really looking forward to getting some sleep in a room not full of 300 hairy-arsed men.”–Jake

Republic of Doyle airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC.

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