Blurred Lines- Becoming "We"

Do WCTH characters really Change or are they Revealed?

I’m so sorry it’s been over a month since I posted! We moved at the end of January and I fully intended to keep writing, but that was probably not very realistic in retrospect. You know how that goes, I hope.

That doesn’t mean I haven’t been watching and enjoying each week, even taking notes and thinking about our favorite show though! So I’m just going to try and pick up where I left off and see how things go. Grab your favorite drink or snack and let’s dive in. This is the paragraph from my last blog…

If you’ve read my blog for a while, you might know that I wave my Nerd Flag proud and high. I love to research and look from different angles when I write. Last weekend I was in New York City taking my middle daughter back to school. She loves Musical Theater (in college nearby to pursue this passion) and introduced me to this amazing bookshop just for Drama enthusiasts. There was a whole section in this delightful store with books on how to write drama– for the stage or screenplays. I found and bought an amazing book on crafting writing for TV. I thought it would give me new ideas for blogging about “When Calls the Heart”. I’m only halfway through and it’s blown my mind. I find myself wondering a lot– is this true for my favorite show?

In one section, the author, Alex Epstein, specifically calls out the major difference between movies and books in his opinion.

• In Movies, characters do change, because the plot (action) is the movie.

• In TV Series, the characters don’t change. The characters are the show.

I stopped reading for I don’t know how long. I wrote it down. I thought about it. Was it true? Do TV characters NOT change? It really got me thinking.

A month ago, we’d just watched S12E3. A new younger character had just ridden onto set, flipped his hair back. Later he broke out into dance in the saloon while working, getting Allie all twitter pated. Earl Wyatt is back in town years later and claims he’s no longer a bully. But Opal isn’t so sure about that. It’s a question for the ages—do bad boys or bullies ever really change?

And then there was the return of Edwin this season too. None of the Hope Valley Men seemed to buy it when Lucas defensively stated that Edwin has “changed”… so then the Governor adds “slightly” as Lee snorts his disbelief.

In both of these cases, with Wyatt and Edwin, how will we know if they are changed? Well, we have to keep watching of course, looking for evidence to confirm or deny it. (If you’re not listening to the Suspenders Unbuttoned podcast, I’d highly recommend it, especially the one where they interview Jaeda Miller who plays Allie. They were talking about how her relationship with Edwin has always been a little… argumentative. They don’t often see eye to eye. And how even though she’s older now, Allie is still the same girl at heart— the point of today’s post.)

So why don’t TV characters change? The book contends that if the characters truly change, then the template of the show is altered, which could ruin it.

The author backed this up by saying the audience wants consistency in their characters over episodes and seasons. They want to know the character they are getting every single time they tune in to watch. They don’t want them to change.

And if you do change them, then viewers will be confused, if not outright angry. They might even take to social media to tell everyone who will listen how extremely dissatisfied they are. Not that we’ve ever seen #Hearties do this :)

Here’s where I kept getting stuck– how often have I (and others) talked about character development or growth? I’m always looking for it, finding it, pointing it out and applauding it.

But doesn’t character development and growth mean CHANGE? Isn’t the goal in the show (and life) to become better versions of themselves? Don’t characters have to change for us to want to keep watching? There had to be something I was missing.

A little later in the book, the author goes on to add this crucial thought: In TV shows, characters (or “character” my addition) are more REVEALED.

OK, this makes sense to me. And it’s worth stressing that situations around them can change, their thinking can even change– but that’s not the same as their character or their core motivations changing. I think that’s what stays the same. And those basic selves or internal drivers are what create most of the real conflict in a TV series. Where a movie’s plot might be more driven by what’s happening externally with some internal conflict.

I think I have a great storyline and callback to use as our examples. Let’s test it out and see if our lead TV characters on When Calls the Heart change over time.

Let me set the scene. Elizabeth and Nathan are trying to sneak into the Mountie office for a little alone time, but Oliver pops up with his report, interrupting them then leaving. Rude. Nathan starts to look it over and is shocked by the quality of the written answers. Elizabeth is her nosy, I mean, curious self and looks over his shoulder. She agrees that Oliver is really behind, but doesn’t want Nathan to fail him for it. Instead, she offers to help him. A grateful Nathan says “This is more of a job for a Teacher than a Mountie.” Picture him passing the baton.

But when Oliver shows up at the schoolhouse the next morning, Elizabeth says “we” were wondering if you’d like some help with your writing skills. A united front. This is important! She’s tying herself to Nathan in this— like it’s a joint mission. She asks Oliver some more questions about where he went to school. Later, Elizabeth follows up with a friend she knew worked there and confirms Oliver was lying. There’s more to the story. She finds him in the library later and it all comes tumbling out. He’s never had anyone he could trust before. Elizabeth assures him that “Whatever it is, I’m sure we can figure it out– together.”

Oliver, however, even after a short time knows Nathan– who he is at his core. So he resigns saying it was an honor to work for him. Oliver doesn’t want him to have to lie too. He knows that isn’t who Nathan is. Sure enough, when Elizabeth shows up with a year-long plan to catch Ollie up, Nathan is definitely stuck on the fact that Oliver lied on his application. It “crosses a line”. He can’t get past it even though Elizabeth says there’s more to it. That the young cadet is ready to put in the work and make it right. That should count for something. They keep saying to each other, “You don’t understand” and “Ethically”-- but they’re landing in totally different spots on how all this has to be resolved.

Let’s stop here for a second and flash back to another time when Elizabeth and Nathan disagreed on how something should be handled. Remember when Nathan’s father came to town? He said he wanted a second chance– to get to know his granddaughter. But Nathan didn’t believe it was all on the up and up. He found it hard to trust him, especially when there’s been a robbery and he’s the main suspect. But he came around with Elizabeth’s encouragement. She had an iconic line, “People can change, Nathan.” And he said back, “So you keep saying.”

I recall thinking to myself that Nathan has “grown”, that we’ve seen a lot of character development. But after reading this book and watching this season, I wonder if it’s more like a revelation and not so black and white different.

*Nathan is a Mountie through and through. He picked this career path because he believes in honor and duty, doing the right thing no matter the cost.

*Elizabeth is a Teacher through and through. She came to Hope Valley because it was the only place she could get a position. She picked this career path because she believed every child could and should learn. She doesn’t give up.

Several seasons later– none of this has changed for either of them at their core.

BUT the lines have blurred. They’ve become more of a “we”. Finding ways to live out their passion and purpose— together. Side by side. As a team.

They (along with friends like Bill and Rosemary) help each other find ways to stay true to who they are while also helping others, even if there are challenges.

So after Nathan comes to apologize to Elizabeth, raising his hand (so cute) to be called on in the back of the schoolhouse, the conversation shifted to “What are we going to do?” Their shared purpose… just like it was many moons ago with Allie. It became “We’re not going to give up on him.”

I think that’s why I loved that little bit of truth telling mixed in last week at the house party with the dancing and drinks. For all the made up things and trying to get their stories “straight”– that one heart stopping line about how Danny (aka Nathan) started “counting” that they (he and Diana/Elizabeth) were really together was when she was kind to someone he cared about deeply (Allie). That’s when he started to fall in love with her. Mic drop.

I remember hearing in an interview that Kevin said originally he was told to play Nathan as hard to read, more silent and stoic. Mr. No Talk, Mr. Do. And as more is revealed about him over time, we can see lots of reasons why Nathan’s character might have held himself back, especially emotionally from Elizabeth. So it’s not really a change but a revelation. A revealing of what was underneath.

That early version of his character isn’t in conflict or changed from the lighter one we see on the screen now. Both can be true. Because the core of him– “It’s my duty to take care of Jack’s widow and child” and now “It’s my duty to make my cadet a Mountie” hasn’t changed. Just like Elizabeth’s passion to teach and reach each child hasn’t waned. See her latest Project Based Learning initiative and getting an autobiography in Braille about Helen Keller so she doesn’t feel so alone. So that part of their chemistry and dynamic is unchanged– they both want to help people but there are built in differences on how they achieve that. There will always be a push and a pull. But it keeps things interesting.

A little help here— can any of you think of a time when Jack and Elizabeth became a “we” with a student or a cadet? I’m feeling like this is new. I know he supported her— built the set, built a school… But I could be forgetting.

I think this is a stroke of genius by the writers. Because we know from other interviews that Nathan’s character was created with Allie from the beginning to help him cross paths naturally with the teacher. Bringing in Oliver feels like a different version of this same tactic and I am here for it. Especially as Allie and Oliver share more and more, going on adventures together and sharing things they don’t tell others. What is the little birthday gift he had for her??

The ending of S12E3 was epic. We have to talk about it. I don’t use that word lightly either. It was the best ending for an episode with a main thread of secrets and sneaking around– maybe ever. (Another plug for Suspenders Unbuttoned– go listen to their amazing interview with Alysse Leite-Rogers, the director of this block of episodes, and her vision for all this.) I love that they were whispering in that barn together, finally finding a way to be alone, far from everyone else and the interruptions. And that we couldn’t hear their conversation as they rode double on Newton into the sunset, laughing and flirting in the field. We could see everything they were saying with their hearts. No words necessary.

And that too is the perfect example of what I think the author about crafting TV writing was saying about the difference between a movie and a TV show. Rarely would we have that kind of incredible scene, all those different shots blended together seamlessly, for that length of time in a movie. Everything must move the plot forward. It must have action! There’s not enough time to watch a relationship years in the making bloom. But in When Calls The Heart, after more than 6 seasons building, developing and revealing this relationship, it’s these glimpses where we almost feel like we’re spying on our favorite characters, that keep us coming back for more. We have a front row seat to the magic.

We feel part of their world, part of the Hope Valley community. We’ve spent so much time together, watching, tweeting, waiting in anticipation for the next episode or the announcement of the show being renewed and a new season. (I’m so Keen on Season 13! Any day now….)

In fact, it was shared this week on X that “Parrot Analytics found that the audience for When Calls The Heart is 22.6 times the demand of the average TV series in the United States the last 30 days.” If that wasn’t jaw dropping enough, it goes on to share that only “2.7% of ALL shows in the market have this level of demand.” That proves just how special this show and fandom is– but it’s not surprising to us #Hearties. There’s a reason we are so passionate about all this.

In When Calls the Heart, the characters are the show. We love the cast that embody them too. The action on our screens reveals who they are and who they most want to be. That’s why Elizabeth says to Nathan when she’s sick and worried about Allie feeling heartbroken by Wyatt’s rejection– “Love isn’t imagining who that person is. It’s knowing who they are and letting them know you.” And isn’t it a gift after more than 127 aired episodes to know these characters?

Sure, there’s been some evolution and variations over the decade plus it’s been aired with several different show runners and some cast leaving.

But I honestly think Season 12 in a lot of ways is a Homecoming season. It’s back to the original heartbeat of the show– what the show is at its core. What it does best and different than any other show out there as the stats above and the others shared each week show. It might be the Golden Era, but it’s almost like the younger generations are helping to highlight “the secret sauce” elements that keep us craving this show and coming back for more. What it’s consistently delivered week after week on Sunday evenings.

As always, chatting with you all about the show is my favorite part. Any of this resonate with you? Hope you’re doing well! Leave me a note and it will help pass the time until a brand new episode. I think this one is going to be action packed!