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When Calls The Heart - General Discussion


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(edited)

I'm betting we're getting the "Little Women" treatment with Charles and Elizabeth. He'll wind up with her younger sister, the "Amy" type, like Laurie, while Elizabeth and Jack are endgame. Rosemary will probably wind up with Leland, but I like him too much to wish her on him! We could lose Rosemary in the wilds and I wouldn't miss her at all.

Nooooooo!!!! Anything but that!!!

That thought had crossed my mind too, but I don't want it to come true. Charles seems very nice, and the way he immediately understood Elizabeth was going back to Hope Valley and was still finding herself, just makes me wish that he just wants her to be happy and will step aside (romantically speaking). I still want them to be friends though.

I'd much rather have the lil' sis and bro elope like she mentioned (like Lydia did in P&P), and have them work through a rocky start to a marriage.

Anything but the Jo/Laurie treatment!

And yeah, Rosemary's my fave. I hope she gets her theatre someday.

Edited by HoodlumSheep
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I could watch a whole show of Daniel Lissing parading around in his jeans. Too bad they weren't building that church in the summer, he could've taken his shirt off.

 

I was hoping Rosemary and her ombre hair with the beach curls were leaving. At least Mrs Ramsey had appropriate hair.

 

I liked the fake minister better too, the new one is so blah. The little boy Patrick showed way more personality and was a better actor than preacher man. I guess it's just me but I'm finding most of the characters just plain annoying.

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(edited)

Random thoughts:

I liked Jack and Elizabeth's conversations a lot this episode. Very thoughtful and caring. I always liked the playfulness of their relationship, but I felt the writers had been making their conversations in general, and Jack's manner of speaking in particular, too full of teasing lately. Their talks this episode were more consistent with their personalities, and with their romantic feelings for each other.

It was nice that Viola's engagement occurred during Elizabeth's visit. And I think she and Lionel are a good match. And I like Julie, even though she's pretty silly. She and Elizabeth are very close, and that's nice to see. And I'm glad Charles continued to be so nice. Elizabeth's visit home seemed to be very enjoyable in a lot of ways. I think that makes her return to Hope Valley that much more interesting.

It was nice to see they held a party in her honor. She has done an awful lot to embrace them as her community, and it's nice that they see her in the same way.

On a silly note: Did anyone else notice that Lee has a striped cravate and pants that match the stripes of the saloon walls? I just love the men's vests, cravates, and tiepins of this show, including Lee's, but the perfect match to the bar decor really struck me funny.

Edited by jordanpond
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Bill returns to town on an undercover mission. Jack gets himself involved without knowing what the mission is. Rosemary doesn't feel her role in the town is big enough and seeks to have a theatre built. A childhood friend of Elizabeth comes to town on business and hopes it will allow him more time with her. Abigail seeks advice from the new preacher about a close family member of hers.

 

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TV Guide's Description

 

 

Elizabeth doubts her feelings for Jack when a visitor from her hometown comes to Hope Valley. Meanwhile, Abigail is unsure how to assist her daughter-in-law; and Bill probes further into an undercover investigation.

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Whoever is styling this show needs to be fired.  The hair, the modern coats and men's clothing, just ugh!  Jack doesn't even wear his red Mountie coat any more.

 

And I swear I heard Elizabeth tell Clara to Just Be Yourself.  I cringed.  Why even bother pretending it's 1910?   This is bugging me to the point of starting to hate this show.

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Julie and Tom are cute, but their story feels very isolated from the rest of the show. I'm hoping they're better integrated with the rest of the characters as the season goes on.

 

I'm also going to need the Bill/Abigail story to move along. They need to hash out what's up with him and his wife.

 

The Jack/Elizabeth/Charles triangle isn't grating on my nerves like most do. Progress! Looks like

Jack and Elizabeth cool things down next week

, so that should be interesting.

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Since she's supposedly romantically interested in Jack, the way that Elizabeth is acting with Charles is really starting to bug me.  Oh yeah, sure, Charles is "only thinking of your wellfare", Elizabeth.  There's clear flirting there ("I'm fully prepared to work hard to earn that A"---that just sounds super naughty!), so I wish that Elizabeth would either shut it down or tell Jack that she's interested in Charles.  Pick a guy, Elizabeth!  

 

Sawmill guy (Deputy Andy from Eureka) is kind of adorable with Rosemary.  I love the way that he's so amused by her, but he's never condescending.  He seems genuinely happy to spend his time with her, even when she acts quite ridiculous.  Speaking of Rosemary, I felt bad for the actress at the end when she was singing to Sawmill guy.  It looked COLD!

 

Clara's new suitor seems pretty bland, eh.  Also, I wouldn't be upset if Jack Wagner just disappeared.  I'm not fond of his character at all. 

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I cringe every time Bill is on the screen, Jack Wagner is not a good actor with his one expression. And did Jack (the character) walk up with the counterfeit bill and say "A banker" gave this to me? The scriptwriters can't come up with a name for the banker? Maybe "John over at the bank gave this to me". I think that's too much to expect after just hearing the "bait" conversation between Charles and Jack. Oy.

 

Elizabeth: "What kind of danger were you in?"

Jack: "It was mountie business".

 

Jack's response cracked me up even though it was said in all seriousness. Mountie business. I had to rewind several times to hear it again. Daniel Lissing is adorable.

 

Still don't like Rosemary, but I like the way Lee is with her. I LOL'd when Clara lamented that she had no makeup for the ice cream social date. She had a face full of it.

 

Does the Sun ever shine in Hope Valley?

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Unsettling news arrives from Hamilton, and it may fracture Jack and Elizabeth's bond. Elsewhere, Abigail attempts to forgive Bill; and Lee asks Rosemary to assist in the battle against Gowen

 

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Rosemary & Lee were fun in this episode. I enjoyed them tricking Mayor Gowen in that poker game.

 

Elizabeth's family is aggravating. 

 

I will say, I'm enjoying the conflict between Elizabeth and Jack. It strikes me as fairly realistic.

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I like Jack and the nurse, Faith.  I think that the show should explore these two in a relationship because she's cute and I just can't with Elizabeth and her "Charles and I are just friends, but OMG, you talked to a woman and didn't tell me.  How dare you!"

 

Tom, I don't even really like you, but please run as fast as you can from the youngest Thatcher sister before she gets you arrested.  Really, I don't think that it's noble of him to take the blame for the accident.  Like Julie's father would do anything to her that has serious consequences if he found out that she was the one driving.  She would be fine, but Tom?  He'll end up in jail if someone doesn't fess up.

 

I never cared for Rosemary last season, but she's growing on me.  They did a great job casting her love interest/sawmill guy because the dynamic between these two is really working.

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The Thatchers are such a pain. Enough of them. This show shines when it focuses on the regular folk of Hope Valley not the royalty of Hamilton.

How far is Hamilton from Hope Valley? It seems like it takes less than a day to travel between the two, but it must be at least 3 days, right?

For the love of cheese, please try harder to have 1910 hairdos. I just can't anymore with Abigail's straightened blow out.

Don't care at all for the counterfeiting storyline.

Can the nurse move to Hope Valley while Elizabeth stays in Hamilton?

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For the love of cheese, please try harder to have 1910 hairdos. I just can't anymore with Abigail's straightened blow out.

I know, right?  It's getting comical.  I half expect her to be in skinny jeans next week.

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Ridiculous question and I apologize in advance......I see ads/promos for this show constantly and I may start to watch it......but what does the title of this show mean? When Calls the Heart? It just seems so gramatically incorrect to me (sorry again but this bugs me every time I see a commercial for this .........thanks)

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Ridiculous question and I apologize in advance......I see ads/promos for this show constantly and I may start to watch it......but what does the title of this show mean? When Calls the Heart? It just seems so gramatically incorrect to me (sorry again but this bugs me every time I see a commercial for this .........thanks)

 

I have actually wondered about this as well.  A Google search was not particularly helpful, except to tell me that Janette Oke's Canadian West series (this show is based on book one of the series, I guess) features a few books with grammatically ridiculous names (When Calls the Heart, When Comes the Spring, When Breaks the Dawn).   I had thought that maybe the words were lifted from a poem or something, but apparently she's just fond of using strange little word fragments as book titles.  Sorry to be of no help whatsoever!  

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sorry to be of no help whatsoever!

 

 

No  -- you were a definite help -- thanks for searching and boiling it down to the fact that she is probably just fond of using strange little word fragments. Also, I am glad it's not just me !!!  But it still bugs me !  :)

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(edited)

The sight of Charles makes my eyes glaze over. I'm not buying his and Elizabeth's since-childhood connection at all.

 

As someone who once taught, I laughed heartily at Mrs. Blakely's exasperation with the students. 

Edited by Gillian Rosh
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I so loved the first season of this show, but now I'm bored by Gowen, Bill and Elizabeth's family. Can't we just have wacky hijinks involving the families of Hope Valley? No more Hamilton, please.

Where's the show that used to make me cry every week?

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I basically watched this show on fast forward.  It's no fun any more.  I despise the Disneyfied candy-colored look of the town, I mean it's still the same old coal town full of widows, right?  Why are the kids suddenly all spiffed up in pastel shawl-collared cardigans and look like a 1910 J Crew ad?   Why is half the show, or more, set in Hamilton?  Why do the women wear more makeup than I do (and I love my makeup), and have 2015 hairdos?  I just don't care any more and have resorted to hate-watching.  It's probably going to be deleted from my lineup.

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My problem is that just like Cedar Cove, this show has become boring.  Nothing seems to happen, there's no urgency.  I watched this week's episode, and the only comment I had was Really, sawmill guy is going to use a golden railroad spike when completing the last link on the railroad?  That will probably last for ten minutes before someone decides to steal it (apparently this was a real thing, and was something that happened with the Transcontinental Railroad).  The show has decided to focus solely on the romantic relationships and nothing else.  Can't we have some outlaws show up like last season, or actually show men working at the sawmill, or maybe something involving the railway workers?  What about Jack being involved in some Mountie business?  Not sure why the Mounties even need him when all he's been doing this season is traveling back and forth from Hope Valley to Hamilton.  Even Timmy (hypothetical townschild) falling down a well would be more exciting than what we're getting! 

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My mom and I were talking about this the other day -- this season has been little more than a soap opera. A G-rated soap, but still a soap. It's the same with Good Witch, which never should have been made into a series, but stayed with annual movies, in my opinion. Cedar Cove's a soap, but it always has been, so it doesn't bother me as much. Plus, it's a contemporary setting, so I'm not distracted by the anachronistic costume and dialogue choices of WCTH.

 

On a semi-related note, Signed, Sealed, Delivered has been switched from a series (although it was only 10 episodes) to the occasional movie, and I thought neither the Christmas nor most recent movie was as good as the series.

 

Anyway, I had high hopes for WCTH, and the first season didn't disappoint. Too bad this season has been so different. I haven't read any of the books, so I don't know how faithful the TV series is to the book series.

I agree that it has turned into a soap, which is exactly why I have not liked it this season. I've never been a fan of soaps. So disappointing.

 

Interesting that you bring up Signed, Sealed, Delivered. I actually LOVED the original movie that set off that series. Then, the series wasn't quite as good as the first movie, but it was cute and decent. Now, I agree that the movies since haven't been as good as the show.

 

As far as I've heard, WCTH has strayed far from the book series. I think they just started with a similar basic premises and did whatever they wanted from there.

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In the second-season finale, Jack and Elizabeth experience a life-threatening ordeal, which makes them realize what's been keeping them apart. Later, a surprising arrest is made and a proposal takes place.

 

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I couldn't possibly care less about the hairstyles (does not distract me at all, regardless of how inaccurate they are), but I do agree that there's been too much storyline in Hamilton. One episode or even two would have been fine, but they've dragged each trip to Hamilton out way too long. I like the new characters in Hope Valley well enough (saw mill guy whose name I can't remember and the preacher), but I don't really care about Elizabeth's family. And I'm tired of Gowan being a horrible person looming over everything in town at all times. Get him out of Hope Valley already (why haven't they had an election yet? wasn't he just interim mayor?).

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I really hate Bill's wife (ex wife?) Nora and her obnoxious voice, and I was rooting for Abigail to punch her lights out during their confrontation.  I know, that's not very nice.

 

When Jack was at the school house fixing the window, the little girl's imitation of Elizabeth's facial expression cracked me up.  Not sure why all of the other kids in the class were laughing at the young girl since they were sitting behind her and couldn't see her impression, but I thought it was funny.

 

I was pretty disappointed that Lee decided to play games in order to make Rosemary jealous.  I'm surprised that the other woman went along with it...it was a bit cruel.

 

Thank goodness nothing bad happened to Jack's dog, or Elizabeth would have been dead to me.  Dead, I tell you!  The entire time they were conversing in the mine, I was thinking But what about the dog?  What if he gets hit by lightning or the mine collapses on him?!

 

With the concerns that Elizabeth has about Jack's dangerous mountie job, I'm not sure how the two of them can ever end up together.  She freaks out every time that she sees him in a risky situation, so I imagine that if they eventually marry, she'll be on him to quit his job.  

 

Oh, of course Charles proposes and Jack sees it go down.  I was hoping that we were done with Charles, but now I'm wondering if we'll have to put up with him again next season (if the show is renewed, that is).

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There are not many shows that I watch on TV these days. I really wanted to like this show but even though I've watched all the episodes there is something that is off putting for me. I don't care that much for Elizabeth's character. Jack is growing on me. I agree with the other poster. I don't like Nora. She isn't meant to be likeable but I'm thinking the problem is with the actress.

 

After season 1, I saw the original movie with different lead actors and liked it so much better than the series.

 

I fell asleep and missed the end of the show tonight. It is on tape. I'll watch the part I missed and have a feeling I will be fast forwarding through much of it.

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(edited)

I enjoyed this finale. The Jack/Elizabeth stuff was great. I am glad they talked through the anxieties they have about their relationship.

That's why I was supremely annoyed at Charles' proposal. He and the rest of Elizabeth's people in Hamilton irritate me so much. Julie may be rash, but she's right to call out their snobbery.

Assuming the show gets renewed, I am wondering if Rosemarie will find out about Lee's deception.

The whole Abigail/Bill story has been something of a weak point this season. In fact, it feels like Abigail has been in a holding pattern since the mining trial ended - particularly with regard to a love interest. If we get a third season, I hope they move her character beyond this water treading.

Edited by Gillian Rosh
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I liked the Jack and Elizabeth stuff and all of the Hope Valley stuff.  I could do without the Jack Wagner character and the Thatcher family.  I'm hoping that the pastor won't turn out to be a slime ball; I really like him with Abigail.  Rosemary has grown on me and I like her relationship with Lee.

 

I hope we don't have to wait an entire year for another season of this show.  

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If this show is renewed I hope that there aren't more characters and/or locations added.  I guess that they ran out of widow/family stories  in Coal/Hope Valley.

 

My grandmother is from Hamilton and she had always told people that she was from "Toronto" because no one had ever heard of Hamilton.  Now every single character in that show is originally from Hamilton or has family there.  Is Jack from Hamilton or does his brother just live there now?  Abigail's son must have made frequent trips there because he married a woman from there (my mind is blanking out on her name).   Nora and Bill are from Hamilton.  The mayor (once again I can't remember a name) worked there when he knew Nora and Bill.  I'm betting dollars to donuts that the preacher killed a man in Hamilton.  And of course Elizabeth is from Hamilton.  Am I missing anyone?

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(edited)

Although there was a lot I liked about this season, the show feels like it took a big drop in quality from what it was last year. I can't quite put my finger on what it was, but I'll give it a try.

Even though I thought some new members were great additions to the cast and created some opportunities for interesting stories (Lee, Clara),i felt that some existing cast members from season one were greatly underutilized , such as Florence. Also some of the kids who had major roles last year like Gabe and the boy genius, had had their own mini "cliff hangers" from season one that were never addressed. These boys appeared in the first epsiode tossing a ball, but then I don't think we ever saw them again. So it's not like the actors were unavailable. So why drop their stories?

i felt like season one (especially the first 8 to 10 episodes) was very original, unique, and interesting. But beginning with the end of last season, and carryng out through all of this season, they relied too much on unoriginal, stereotyped storylines, and anachcronistic dialogue. Sadly, i thought this was especially true with Elizabeth and Jack. Their relationship, which last year was a real highlight of the show, became rather uninteresting to me this season. I would have been totally fine with this lovely couple proceeding through this season by gradually building their relationship. But not only were the writers determined to create more obstacles for this couple, they did so in a way that seemed to contradict both their individual personaities, and the solid, secure reltionship that they had at the end of season one.

I have no idea if the following is true, but I'll throw this out there. I got the impression that someone in charge decided to offer a whole lot of middle aged and senior men a chance to appear on this show, and spent more attention on writing little side stories for them than for most of fhe key figures from Hope Valley Some of these small parts made sense (the judge from episode one) but an awful lot of time has been devoted to peripheral, middle aged or older men such as the lying witness, the con man with the daughter, Nora Avery's father, some man connected to the railway,etc. It's like they abandoned the core of the Hope Valley characters, and even the essence of what makes "When Calls the Heart" unique in order to give a lot of tangential parts to someone's cronies, and to fall back on boring, unoriginal cliches where fresh and interesting stories used to be.

Edited by jordanpond
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I started re-watching season 1 on Netflix.  It was so much better than the mess that was season 2.   If by some chance there is a third season I hope they go back to the sweet and somewhat realistic show it used to be.  Season 2 was terrible.

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I just discovered this show about a week ago (thank you, Netflix recommendations) and watched it all. It reminds me of a Canadian version of Christy. I do think it's kind of cheesy and clichéd, but I find it entertaining and adorable, nonetheless. It is funny to see the period-appropriate hairstyles suddenly go away towards the end of the first season. Having recently watched other shows in a similar time period (Casualty 1909 and Mr Selfridge), I don't quite get what the hair and makeup people were thinking here.  

 

I do hope the show gets picked up for a third season but cuts out all that Hamilton back and forth. 

 

Any idea where Coal Valley is supposed to be? I looked up Cape Fullerton, and it's in Nunavut on northwestern Hudson Bay, and that seems to be way further away from anyplace you'd find a coal mine than even Hamilton would be. Probably some geographical hand-waving by the writers. 

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Just catching up. So far episode 2. Which peeved me. How did Gowen know that Elizabeth bought all the paint in the store without the shop keeper advising him and why would the shop keeper advise this to Gowen? 

I do love the Jack and Elizabeth banter. 

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Hi, everyone. I only caught the tail-end of a commercial, so I have very little information on this, but there will be a 2-hour "When Calls the Heart" special aired on December 26.

I'm looking forward to this. I hope that with this special, the shown returns to its essence, and focuses on the things that made it so unique and enjoyable in season one.

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A few weeks ago, I made a post in the media thread about the little bit of information I had about tonight's show, which had been called a "2 hour special" in a commercial.

My TV guide is now listing this as the season 3 premiere. Unfortunately, Hallmark sometimes will do this with a series: showing a 2-hour special weeks or a month or two before the regular season starts. They sometimes do only one or two reruns of the special well in advance of the start of the regular season. So people who tune in at the beginning of the regularly scheduled season find that they have missed the season's premiere!

So, I hope that those of you who aren't expecting to see the new season for several weeks/months from now don't end up missing the show.

If you catch it, enjoy!

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I watched a little of this at my inlaws' house - my mother in law watches Hallmark 24/7 - I had never seen it before and it looked like it might have possibilities. But, as others have commented in other threads, the hair, costumes and especially the speech patterns didn't seem to fit the time period that I think it was supposed to be. I even started to wonder if it was really supposed to be set in the present in some weirdly anachronistic small town that time forgot or something. It distracted me to the point I couldn't watch.

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I want to like this show but find the clothing and hair styles distracting because they are too modern and neat.  I've become reconciled to the clothes because the time period appears to be the early 1900's. From stories in my family, people at that time dressed up to go to town. Men and older boys had at least one very nice suit. However, most people dress way too fancy for a small rural town with hair cuts that are don't match the times at all.  The more well-to-do people dress like they work in a big city.  The poor people wear clothes that appear store bought when I think more clothes would have been either home made or not as fashionable and certainly more worn.  Even the poor people appear somewhat affluent.

 

The two orphans were very clean though the girl was sick and they were living in the woods. The girl's hair was a little straggly but the boy's hair was perfectly colored and cut.  With their hair, both Nora and Rosemary seem really out of place. You would think actresses would be more concerned about getting the part right for the times.

 

What happened to the Mountie uniforms?  The color seems too orange.

 

I can get past most of this if the stories improve over last year.  I'm watching the first new episode from last week and it is better so far that last year. I'm liking the humor.  I think I would enjoy their story going forward if Rosemary and the mine owner were married as I enjoyed their story this episode and can imagine their interactions in future stories.

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Hopefully, Season 3 will be better than Season 2. Better--in generating deeper and less silly character development, in formulating more creative story ideas, in erecting proper complex plot arcs, in establishing less boringness, and, ha(!), in utilizing less hair extensions and hair weaves.

...

Edited by BookElitist
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Re: SEASON TWO:

In Season 2 Episode 10, I just looked at the preacher...and looked and looked and...

Jack needs juust a teaspoonful of liveliness. (clearing my throat) I was 'looking' at him, too :-).

Ignoring Elizabeth's creepyish jokerish grins is most annoying.

She was so insipid and dense this season.

And, Elizabeth is unable to see her elitist family's machinations? Really⁉ She's intelligent and old enough to realize her parents' ways.

Oh. My. Gosh❗. Please--Season 3 should wrap up the 'will she, won't she' aspect of the Jack/Elizabeth romance. Within the first 3 episodes, either they are determinedly together or not. No more of this Charles bulls#!t. No more dumb adolescent angst and other juvenile behaviors.

I canNot stand Abigail's hovering.

Puh-leaze stop throwing men at Abigail only to cause her sorrow. Put her in a decent relationship with a hot 'un, a good 'un OR, allow her to happily(!) date. But, allow her some frackin' joy! Those not in their twenties want to have fun and romance, also.

Ben Avery--don't know what's goin' on, but it's time that we found out.

Nora(sigh)--such an irritant. Get rid of her and her incessant whining and stalkerish behavior ( Lady, you left Ben...for TWO YEARS❗).

During Season 1, I absolutely wanted Rosemary to vacate the premises. However, I enjoyed her in Season 2. She's was energetic and humorous. If not for her, Season 2 would have been more of a dud than it already was. Since I mentioned Rosemary, I might as well discuss Rosemary AND Lee. I like Lee. He and Rosemary 'work'. I saw no problem in Lee conspiring WITH Molly to nudge Rosemary. I didn't think the role-playing cruel and it was never injurious. Rosemary was indicating serious interest in Lee. Then when he wanted to expand and deepen their relationship, Rosemary, strangely, flaked out. Lee became confused, taken aback, and, rightfully, hurt. He's not a youngster. Lee has feelings and plans, too. Decisions, decisions. You're either in or out.

Gowen, Gowen, Gowen. Is there no end to his villainy? Can The Show...not make him more dimensional? It's fine to have someone as an evilish asshole, but varying degrees of that characterization and varying shades of that character must exist.

...

Edited by BookElitist
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The next episode is on Sunday night. Hallmark is moving their shows from Saturday to Sunday at 9pm et. Downton Abbey and other good PBS shows are at same time. Saturday is a much better night for me. Hope the reruns are at good time so l can still watch Hallmark. I can't even record then as I already record something else at 9.

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