Lucas' Poker Face?

I have so many questions about S11, so here's a look back at S6E1-5 for clues!

I wonder what’s really going on with Lucas. Our resident Mystery Man is back in town! He’s a self-described “gambling man” used to keeping his cards close to his chest. Every time Lucas is asked if he remembers anything about being shot at the end of S10, I find myself watching his face closely. Does he really not remember or is he covering for someone? We’ve had that in the past, haven’t we?

Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could pull up a chair at the Cafe or in the Saloon and just talk with these characters? I’ve been rewatching some specific episodes. But not just any old episodes. No, I’ve been focused on the ones that seem to represent big shifts in the storylines and show. Because that’s where I think we are now in S11 (I’ll show anything recent in italics so they pop).

One of the biggest hot spots for this that I’ve found so far is in between S6E1- E5. So much happens! New people join (and Abigail even leaves). Follow along with me to check out some of the main threads and my questions. It’s broken up into 4 different smaller sections since it’s a long trip down memory lane.

FIONA & LUCAS

S6E1– It seems fitting to talk about Fiona first. Fiona came in like the force she was– bringing new notions and making progress like the telephone possible. I think she signaled big changes when she stepped off that coach. And she had the next newcomer’s number from day one too.

S6E2– A true mystery man arrives in town in a three piece suit. He’s behind a newspaper at the cafe listening in to others like Flo and Molly wondering about the outsider who bought the saloon. Lucas tells Abigail he’s always looking for business opportunities. Nearby Henry also sits with a paper, checking out the stocks. I tend to focus so much on cute meets between possible romantic couples that I totally missed the significance of these two men sharing the same space right then. Like calls to like. Let’s put a pin in that– back to these guys later. 

When Lucas first meets Fiona, he talks about his ability to read people. But even though the self-proclaimed “gambling man” likes to keep his cards close to his chest, Fiona can tell that when she mentions being from San Francisco something is off. He seems to deny he’s ever been there, which makes the mystery crate that arrives with a postmark from there suspicious.

Not only that, but while acting as the telephone operator, Fiona overhears Lucas talking to a woman in “impeccable” French. She finds it curious enough to report it to Bill, who’s acting as sheriff then and of course she also took down the number it came from in Cape Fullerton. 

Bill said early on in these episodes that something about Lucas didn’t sit right with him. I don’t think it’s a coincidence Nathan said something similar recently in S11 about the case surrounding who shot Lucas, even though it was closed when someone conveniently confesses. 

So with Fiona’s tip on something shady going on, Bill makes Lucas open the mystery crate. But all he finds is fish for the Grand Opening of the saloon. Lucas dryly tells Bill that “spying isn’t very sporting”. Bill pushes back that he has every right to be cautious about the flashy new guy from nowhere that comes into town and acts like he owns the place. Lucas clarifies, “Not the town, just the saloon.” And ironically in Ep 2 of S11, we learn that Lucas is actually going to need to sell that too since it’s a conflict of interest now that he’s the Governor. 

But Bill and Fiona were right- something fishy is going on. Later, while townsfolk are dining on free food and drink, Lucas slips off to the back and opens that same crate again. This time he lifts out the false bottom, revealing a safe full of money. It’s worth noting, Lucas figured out that Fiona was the one that turned Bill onto him, realizing she also speaks French fluently. I love that Fiona doesn’t seem embarrassed at all that she ratted Lucas out. She shrugs at him.“You must admit you stir up a lot of questions without providing many answers.” I’m beginning to think that we are going to find this is still true.

As more is uncovered, I wonder if Lucas’ reply back to Fiona then, is important as we try to figure out what’s really going on. Lucas said, “In my experience, life isn’t about knowing the right answers. It’s about asking the right questions.” So I wonder what are the questions we should be asking as we head further into S11?

We might not have Fiona to help keep Lucas in line anymore, but do you remember the other person Lucas lied to and told he didn’t speak French? Rosemary! And we’ve already seen our fiesty friend putting on her investigative reporter hat wanting to get to the truth, just like Bill (and Nathan). In fact, from the previews for Ep 3 this Sunday, even though Bill was sitting next to Elizabeth and relieved when Lucas woke up after being shot, he’s back to questioning and testing out the statements provided for the official investigation. In the short clip, we see Bill doing his due diligence by timing things related to the shooting with a stopwatch and concluding harshly “Someone is lying”.

ELIZABETH & TIMMY

Stay with me– but I think there’s something else important going on that seems at first glance unrelated to all this. But it struck me rewatching that this is long for a teacher/kid story and it stretches out over the same two episodes as Lucas is preparing for the Grand Opening and the town tries to adjust and accept him.

Elizabeth as the schoolteacher has a two episode storyline with Timmy. It starts when she is teaching the class all about Privateers. The interesting comment she makes is that they have “special permission because of the people they have allegiance to and serve to do bad deeds.” Hmm. What does this have to do with anything? Well, it clearly catches Robert's imagination, so he and Cody start pretending to be pirates during recess. Somehow a younger, quieter Timmy ends up off to the side, just splashing at their feet from a bucket of water down below. He’s asking them to please let him on the boat too. But Robert says they need more waves for their high seas, so he carries on splashing with a sigh. 

Timmy doesn’t give up though. Next, he brings a real spyglass, a gift from his grandfather, to school to impress the others. He uses this to get the older boys to “let him on board” and to be a real part of the fun play. Everything is going great until the spyglass goes missing and the others blow it all off, leaving him to search for it alone. Elizabeth finds him there and reminds him that friendship is a two way street. And that if those boys are his real friends, then they should be there looking with him. When Timmy plucks up the courage to tell Robert all this, the older boy not only apologizes, but later shows up with the whole class. Organizing the other kids to help look, saying they will find it… together. 

NATHAN & ALLIE

If we skip ahead to add another related layer, we can look at S6 Episodes 4-5 when not only the new Mountie, but later his niece, arrives. Nathan drops Allie off for her first day of school with Mrs. Thornton, but as soon as his back is turned, she runs away. Later she’s exploring this new town on her own and goes into the Saloon to hide from her uncle walking nearby. Really, Lucas and Allie have had a great dynamic since the beginning. Allie admits that she’s not at school, because she’s not very good at making friends. Lucas shares that he too was a loner. And then Lucas does a cool card trick as an example of what she could try. He claims the best way to make friends is to AMAZE them.

I could be totally completely off here, but the timing of all this is suspect when I rewatch. These storylines with the kids work on their own, sure. But what if Lucas isn’t so different from Timmy and Allie? What if the Grand Opening (and big gestures to come) are still an attempt to shock and awe people- to provide something special so they let you join them? What if deep down you doubt that friendship works both ways? And you somehow have to earn it or secure it yourself, staying one step ahead? Lucas definitely has a pattern of keeping secrets and trying to fix things on his own. And that’s not the Hope Valley way.

There’s this great moment when Timmy is frozen in place, looking all around as classmates spread out all around him, looking for his treasure. It’s like he’s in awe that this is real, that they’re doing this for him. It kinda reminds me of the controversial ending of S11E2 last week. I thought Lucas almost seemed to be looking around a little bit amazed, turned sideways with his cane on the step, as so many town people gathered around, singing and excited that he was home. 

HENRY & ABIGAIL

The only other character on the show that seems to have more layers than Lucas is Henry. One of the most powerful scenes at the end of S10 finds Henry looking across the street at what used to be Abigail’s cafe. He shared with Elizabeth about how he climbed out of the shadow of the mountain, leaving the shack he grew up behind to become a self made, successful man. Now, he regretted the cost and what he did to get there. And Henry is the one who approaches Lucas back in S6 after Jesse found a little oil on his land to see if he will be an investor in his new oil business. Listen to their conversation then:

Henry: What is it about poker that you find so appealing?

Lucas: The stakes, the excitement, the pay out.

Henry: I know of another game with a bigger risk, but much higher reward. I know how to play the game if you’re interested.

It’s a new chapter for them both when Lucas goes in with him, not once, but twice over the years. And doesn’t Lucas essentially bluff Henry out of jail too when things looked hopeless? What a pair they make. I think they might need a Team Name like Bill and Nathan. And now in S11, we see Lucas reaching out to Henry again to see if he wants to join his political team. A switch in roles and a new game. But so far, Henry seems to have other plans and he passes. I wonder if they have to do with Abigail or where he’s been the last few weeks (since the S10 cliffhanger when we saw him pulling up to A.Stanton’s mailbox and her front door opening)? 

Did you catch what Henry told Abigail about friends back in the beginning of S6 (because the Elizabeth/Timmy storyline plus Allie coming to town is also about friends), right before she left the show? Henry said, “Friends reveal themselves. I don’t look for friends. I look for opportunities.” Abigail thoughtfully asked, “And you see one in Lucas?” I think about the recent conference call with Lucas in Hope Valley last week in Episode 2. Several of the townsfolk have concerns and are fired up. But then they suddenly seem fine just getting their marching orders from Lucas and falling in line with his plans. I wonder if this will continue through S11 or if some of their concerns will be valid, then they will speak up? 

Also, think about what Lucas says to Abigail around the same time, “I was told Hope Valley was different. Today proved they were right.” I wonder who told him that? Might it be Jeanette– with press pictures for E4 just released? She is as striking, stylish and set apart as Fiona was in the beginning. Lucas’ first phone call he told her that she was right about Hope Valley. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that she and Lucas connected not just in S6, but also in S9. I had forgotten about another phone call until I went hunting where Lucas is speaking in French to her. He specifically mentions Wyman Walden in his conversation and to gain WW trust, he needs more time. And now that Jeanette’s back in person in S11? There is a lot of history there and I can’t wait to hear more. 

LUCAS, NATHAN & ELIZABETH

The questions trip over themselves in my mind– Why is Lucas’ back in Hope Valley? Is it just to recover and to get the resort going? Or is he hiding out like in S6? Does he have more than one motive? I’m wondering if we learn more this week on how safe he and everyone else really is. I’ve seen the promotional pictures with Nathan and Elizabeth looking worried in a couple different settings. What will Nathan’s role in all this be? Is Hargreaves possibly in someone’s pocket like Lucas worried about with Amos Dixon back in the day? Is that why he wouldn’t reopen the case when Nathan asked?

Nathan and Elizabeth have gotten mixed up with Lucas’ schemes both times in S6 and S9. Elizabeth is even taken hostage because Amos Dixon wants revenge on Lucas for helping Jeanette. Luckily, Nathan shows up and between the three of them, the shots fired go up into the ceiling and no one is hurt. And again in S9 there is collateral damage when Lucas tries to handle things alone and false evidence pointing the finger at him is planted in his office. Rosemary even writes about it in the paper causing a rift between her and Elizabeth until they make up. The evidence was planted by the same guy that hit and hurt Nathan with his car and the only way he will testify is if he’s not charged with that too. Nathan lets the criminal off the hook so that Lucas is exonerated. Like Elizabeth said back in S6, Lucas' intentions always seem to be good. But the way he goes about things seems to have a high cost. I’m wondering what it will be this time. Will Lucas finally trust Nathan, Bill and really the town enough to be honest? 

I was thinking about the Kenny Rogers song “the Gambler”. I think Lucas has shown he knows “when to hold ‘em and when to run”. But does Lucas ever fold? I can hardly wait for this mystery to continue to play out over the next few months. Whodunnit is one of my favorite genres so having more of all this, along with the historical drama and romance, I’m loving it!

YOUR TURN TO TALK: What questions are swirling in your mind? What did I miss? Do you have any suspects for the shooting? What was their motivation? Are they working with someone else? How will this all be resolved?