Part 2: Is this Elizabeth's Journey

or an Ensemble show? Is it possible to be both with a large cast?

This is the continuation of the post from yesterday. Feel free to go back and read if you didn’t see it.

I was trying to research Ensemble Shows and I realized that in many ways it’s hard to compare WCTH to anything else. And it’s Hallmark, historical fiction based on a Christian Book series, not one of the prime alphabet channels.

I wondering if a good, very loose comparison might be Grey’s Anatomy? Go with me a minute. I watched the first few seasons and it followed Meredith’s journey along with the other interns she got very close to, along the other doctors in the hospital and the patients, their families, etc. So there were many storylines, but hers was always primary. And that actress, Ellen Pompei, ended up being an Executive Producer too, right? Plus it’s been going so many seasons that they’ve had some serious changes in casting as well as a few that have remained.

If we get back to basics, we as fans have been following Elizabeth’s journey moving to this wonderful town and becoming part of the community. But a lot has changed in the years since just like on Grey’s, hasn’t it?

I made a list of WCTH Characters that left the show between S5 and now. I came up with 7. (Please let me know if you thought of characters I missed! I’m happy to update later.) Jack, Frank, Abigail, Cody, Carson, Jesse & Clara.

Then I made a list of new Characters that have joined us in S6 until now. I came up with 14 more regulars and have storylines: Little Jack, Nathan, Allie, Lucas, Fiona, Minnie, Joseph, Angela, Cooper, Mei, Edwin, Goldie, Lilly, & Toby.

We have lost 7 regular characters over the last half of the show or so, but we’ve more than replaced them– we added another 7— with 14 joining. That seems like a big deal to me. The show is still the same amount of minutes long.

I’m not complaining about the incredible actors we’ve gained. The diversity and the talent. I’m just stating the obvious that it must be challenging to find storylines that give screen time to so many– especially since we still have those characters that have been with us since the early days too like: Elizabeth, Henry, Bill, Rosemary, Lee, Faith, Ned, Flo & Molly. Anyone I left out?

Hear me, I think the Show runners and Writers have done an amazing job trying to work it all out. I can’t imagine how they keep up with it all. And contracts have screen time requirements, right? So they obviously need to get creative and overlap some storylines. How in the world do they keep track and give everyone a chance to shine? I’m trying to picture that writing room and the walls….

I’m going to let my freak flag fly and share that I took all this a step further and busted out my black creative board, cards and pins. It helps me do some of my best thinking! The tally marks are the number of scenes for that storyline.

I went back to my “scene notes” by episode for Season 11 and decided to focus on just the main storylines. I had a theory on what writers would have to do in spots with such a talented and deep cast. Wanted to see what it would look like.

I came up with some main characters or “categories” to track and compare. I looked at it 2 different ways (I have a different digital version) and came up with similar results. I tried to do my research before sharing with anyone. 

By far (and few will be surprised by this based on teams and history) the 2 storylines that have gotten the most scenes to develop them in S11 are: 

1. Nathan and Elizabeth

2. Lucas as Governor with the resort. 

Nathan and Elizabeth have about 53 scenes in the past 8 episodes and Lucas as the Governor (injured, healing and working toward his Grand Vision) has 45. 

It’s definitely not true (like I mentioned in Part One posted yesterday that some think Mike and Mei should be the leading couple) as the Mike & Mei romance comparatively has just 18 scenes (about ⅓ of N and E). Partly that is because they had no screen time in either Ep 7 or 8. More on this later. 

Faith and Lilly (one of my favorite storylines this season) have gotten 16 scenes together and similar to the M&M romance, they also had 2 episodes (5 and 6) where they were absent from our screens.

This is what I was wondering about and I feel like this just proves my point. There’s such a wide cast and so many stories to tell. There just isn’t enough room in 12 (42 min) episodes once a year if you’re trying to give everyone or even most an arc that goes through the whole thing. The writers have to get creative and sometimes that means skipping a story or two for a few episodes. (NOTE: Those are the gaps you see on the pictures. That storyline or characters aren’t shown.)

I gave the School its own category (I’m a teacher and love that these scenes are back) and it had 20 education-related ones. ⅓ of the scenes were from Episode 5 alone with Mr. Higgins in town. And wisely as the season only heats up from here with only 4 episodes left, Elizabeth and the school children are “off for the summer” so that leaves more time to escalate and resolve these other storylines. See… getting creative.

If I had to pick just one word for the whole season based on what I’ve seen and tracked so far, it would be “Family”. All the different forms of it. The joy and the work. The laughter and the pain. Family that is by blood and family that is chosen. And “family” sums up the other 4 categories or characters I followed. 

It’s not surprising that Elizabeth as the leading lady and Little Jack as her son, plus I included her journal here, have 29 scenes together as the writers focus a lot on her feelings and what happens at her house too.

But the Coulter’s next door also get a lot of well deserved screen time. I included a few things here– Rosie and Lee as a couple, time with Goldie and Lee becoming mayor so they have 30 scenes altogether.

And the Canfield’s also had some wonderful storylines this season, especially how the younger siblings wanted to reunite their dad with estranged brother. They had a total of 32 scenes as a couple, just the kids or family with ⅓ of them coming in Episode 8. See the pattern? 

Not leaving out Nathan and Allie– they have a good number of scenes with just them so far at 15. I wonder how that would compare to the number of seasons they had together back in S8 or 9. Anyone know?

Also based on press release photos for Episode 10 in 2 weeks, I’m thinking I may need to add a category that includes all 4 of them as shown on Little Jack’s Birthday Card for Nathan. What a great problem to have! I never would have believed it a few years ago. 

Another epiphany I had was that now that we are ⅔ of the way through S11 is that the Lucas folks really should be celebrating. He’s had some incredible scenes and lines. A lot of screen time. And he’s owning it— rocking it. According to interviews, there’s even more drama for him to come. 

And we can’t forgot to include the other Main Category– the crime fighting duo I didn’t know I needed– Bill and Rosemary. I was surprised that their scenes added up to around 27– similar to our main families. Interesting.

Then I realized that Bill and Rosemary’s investigation really also involves Lucas as Governor– so you could add those two together! Wow. He’s more than getting his fair share of time. I’ve enjoyed this new pairing a lot and so I haven’t really minded until I saw all these scenes and put them together.

BUT I’m hoping there’s a really big pay off in these last 4 episodes with both Lucas as Governor and Rosie, Bill (and even Nathan) since all this has gotten so much attention or I don’t think it will have been worth all this honestly. I think that’s fair to say even though I get they were trying to keep all sides happy.

WRAPPING THIS UP

I’m so beyond grateful to be watching WCTH again and I am enjoying it. I’m hoping this blog doesn’t come off as if I’m not. But I don’t have to watch blindly. If there were any TPTB or WCTH folks from the “creative trust” reading, I’d love for them to know I’m a huge fan. Or I wouldn’t spend so much time thinking, researching, watching, writing and commenting about this show. 

But I can feel when there’s too much trying to get packed in. It’s not about the quality. I shudder to think what amazing material is on the cutting room floor that will never see the light of the day. It’s all good. To me though it’s clear there’s a good problem– too many talented people and too many Hope Valley stories to tell. I love any and all Ned, Flo, Molly and Robert scenes. I miss them, even though I know they may have had more central storylines in other seasons. 

I love every actor on the show and the role they play. I know a ton of thought goes into all this. But I’m wondering after this announcement of not only a Season 12 (wahoo!), but that WCTH is on the Variety Top 100 Most Watched Shows for 2023-2024 (and the only scripted basic cable one to make the list), if it’s not being too greedy to wonder about creative ways to handle such a large, incredible cast in the future since we have one?

SOLUTIONS

Rudy on the Radio mentioned small mini-scenes released mid week, possibly with characters we haven’t seen as much of. I know this is not a high budget show and they make use of every dollar, but how could we as your fan base help to get more episodes or longer ones? Or maybe a different kind of special so more could get showcased? Brian and I both were thinking some episodes devoted to specific characters rather than trying to pull so many storylines through the whole season. I really do get there are reasons. But we can feel the tension too.

I know the goal is to leave us wanting more. Yet it also has to feel satisfying after the end of each episode. (And it has for most for me.) I get though some of the comments I see online after investigating deeper. There’s some truth to what is being said. It’s hard when there are gaps for a few weeks in some of our favorite stories because of time constraints (and I’m sure for a whole host of other reasons). Maybe they’re already thinking about some of these things for the future? I really do trust this team and these writers. 

And I’m hoping to have another blog this weekend that’s a little more romantic than analytical. Stay tuned!

TIME FOR YOU TO TALK: What do you think of the big ensemble cast? Do you have other creative solutions? I’m all ears!