S13E2 Rise Up

So many WCTH characters rose to the challenge last week

(Photo credit to Hallmark Channel)

12 pages. That’s how many pages of notes I took on S13E2 “Up in Smoke”. In contrast, I took just 8 pages on the premiere the week before and it was also packed with characters and community moments! This is more like the number of pages I take in the penultimate and final episode of a season. It was jam- packed with action and emotion. That’s a lot to cover in one blog. Too much!

So I’m going with a Top 10 list of things I’m still thinking about and would love to discuss more. Be sure to comment below so we can talk all about it!

MOMENT #1– When the boys, Joseph and Nathan, realize they’re trapped, pinned in by the fire on both sides, it looks like there’s no way out. But Nathan yells, “Follow me, down this way.” Joseph protests, “That’s into the heart of the fire!” Nathan insists, “Just trust me!” And so Joseph does, telling Cooper, “OK, Hold on…” Later he says that Nathan is cool in a crisis. Pun intended.

REFLECTING– You don’t develop that kind of trust overnight. You have to override every instinct, especially with your child behind you. I’m thinking of that trip when Joseph and Nathan bonded while the girls went fishing, singing on the way home. Who would you trust this much?

MOMENT #2– Lucas realizing Edie has slept in the office they now share, rather than take a hotel room away from a family. She admits she’s not quite ready to face the fact that she has lost everything. Lucas’ look as he clasps her hand over his heart where she was putting back one of Ernie’s gold eagle coins that he kept for luck, says, “Maybe you didn’t lose everything.”

REFLECTING: Last episode, Lee is telling Lucas to decide what he wants, to stop waffling and then tell her. Edie rushed off to free her animals alone. When Lucas realizes this, he rushes to help. When the moment comes, there’s no doubt. That action came easier than the words.

MOMENT #3– Rosemary with her clipboard in the street, making sure everyone is accounted for before they evacuate town. She hasn’t even had time to pack for herself. But Elizabeth brought their wedding photo. And Rosemary checked that Faith was packing Little Jack’s insulin. In the middle of everything, they think of each other. It’s what they do. And we love it.

REFLECTING: Don’t we all want that? A ride or die friend that knows us well enough to predict what we will need most in a hard moment. That even in all the crazy, we’re on their mind. It’s so special. I do wonder how Abigail will fit into this dynamic when she returns in Season 14. Before Rosemary and Elizabeth were this close, Abigail was often her confidant. I’m excited to find out!

MOMENT #4– Starts with innocent Little Jack holding Minnie’s hand and saying she doesn’t need to be scared. And that sweet mama leans down and promises to try. Later on, after Cooper is returned safely, Elizabeth asks her to help provide food for the evacuees and offers to reimburse her. But Minnie says she got her boy back, she doesn’t need anything else.

REFLECTING: Minnie is always generous, but especially today when she feels like God answered her prayers.The lights go out and Elizabeth’s focus shifts back to her own boy. She rushes to the clinic to reassure herself that his life-saving medicine is still safe. Luckily, not only Faith, but Nathan and Rosemary are in this with her; she’s not alone in his diagnosis and care.

MOMENT #5– Lucas not only reassures evacuees that he’s there to help with whatever they need, but makes the children laugh by pulling coins from behind their ears. Not just Edie, but Elizabeth and Rosemary are watching, smiling. The teacher wonders if it’s “too frivolous” to ask Lucas to put on a magic show for all the children? Rosemary knows it’s the perfect time.

REFLECTING: As adults, do we think that play is just for kids? I can definitely be too serious and caught up in my to do lists, feeling guilty if I stop to have fun at times. But laughter and joy are as necessary as the warm blankets and sandwiches being passed out. Maybe more so when things are dark and hard. What has the power to make you laugh even on the worst day?

MOMENT #6– Gwen’s arrival behind Nathan on his horse, wanting her dad. A mountie’s promise to find him. Her not cracking a smile while Lucas performs. Not wanting to leave in case her dad comes and can’t find her. Precious Goldie was the one to break through and bring out the first smile from Gwen. How do Elizabeth and Rosemary get her to rest with one of them?

REFLECTING: They realize that Gwen needs a significant role to play– she needs to move from waiting to helping. So Rosemary says they are looking for a babysitter to help with Goldie, but that person needs to be staying at their home. And that’s the key– Gwen is willing if they need the help. They need her, not the other way around. It’s an invitation to be a part of something.

MOMENT #7– Oliver’s courage. Not just in facing off with the big selfish guy who wants to hoard canned food for himself, pushing both Ned and Bill, who try to stop him. Allie brings him popcorn since he missed the magic show while working. She says Oli saved her life and admits she might not have been able to find her way out, based on how awkward she was the day before.

REFLECTING: Oliver doesn’t just get his first arrest, he puts himself out there. He jumps up before she’s out the door to admit that all he could think about riding up to find her was that he didn’t say what he really wanted to when he had the chance. That he’d really missed Allie. And she responds in kind. Scary moments can push us to say what we need to say most. Now.

MOMENT #8– Elizabeth brings Nathan more than just a sandwich in his office. She gets up close to say, “This is home, right here.” He asks if she knows how much he loves her? She seems to be looking for a little reassurance after the ordeal, “Remind me?” He shares that sometimes he can’t sleep because he’s so happy. Elizabeth goes on to share that she realized through all this that Hope Valley isn’t the buildings (cafe, mercantile, saloon), it’s the people. It was comedic genius (and all too relatable) that he falls asleep while she’s deeply sharing.

REFLECTING: I mentally went through my own house and realized there were only a few things that felt truly priceless. The rest like Elizabeth, I’d be willing to let go, IF I still had my family. They are my home, wherever that is. I think this is a strong theme throughout their relationship– it’s the people that make a home and are worth staying for (many seasons ago) or following.

MOMENT #9– I didn’t really catch the significance of this until the rewatch. And it could upset some. Elizabeth’s unpacking the suitcase from when she thought they were evacuating and her home might be lost in the fire. There’s the baseball glove Nathan gave Little Jack from when he was a boy and the home run ball from the game the children played to cheer him up when so sick. And there’s a picture of the four of them– the Thornton’s and the Grant’s– that she lovingly puts back on the end table where it belongs, in her house, untouched, this time, by tragedy.

REFLECTING: What I noticed (and wondered about this week before I had time to re-watch) was Jack’s picture in his Mountie uniform still on the same piece of furniture on the other end. We’re drawn to look at it when the power returns, Elizabeth gets ready to journal, and the lamp right above it turns back on. So she left it behind. It’s the past and she took her future instead.

MOMENT #10– This leads directly into Elizabeth’s journaling and brings even more clarity. She talks specifically about how she lost Jack and “it felt like things would never be the same again.” She also mentions, more recently, Little Jack’s diagnosis and how big it felt to overcome. Elizabeth is writing from a place of all she’s learned the hard way. Here’s some of the lines that struck me the most in the whole episode. How many times did we see characters looking up at the fire and the smoke?

“But at some point you have to look up, take in the new landscape, and begin to accept that it changed forever, and that something beautiful can still rise from the ashes.”

She can honestly say to Maisy that it’s a blessing there are no fatalities. She’s not trying to minimize the pain of losing half the town’s homes. But they are all alive. And she’s lived through losing someone dear once and almost losing Little Jack very recently. It’s not a platitude.

REFLECTING: I’ve always loved the idea of phoenixes and what can rise from ashes. I even enjoyed Edie’s “grim” joke about maybe the ash on the blankets they were folding earlier were from her ranch and Elizabeth’s easy acceptance of this snarky humor in the face of such sadness. She gets it. I liked that the show and the actors didn’t gloss over the hard parts. The pain afterwards after you’ve done everything you could. Counting up all that was lost.

So maybe I’m sneaking in a Moment #11 (it was all just too good), but back in the beginning Lee was so disheartened after he, Henry and Mike tried to use the fire pump to stop the fire. Rosemary tries to reassure him, “I’m sure you did everything you could.” He can barely get out, “Sweetheart, it’s gone.”

All of it– Goldie’s National Park. Her playhouse. Dreams on the cusp of being a reality. The park was supposed to open the next day. There were printed flyers for the Playhouse. Think about it, the visitor’s center that was supposed to welcome people to the brand new park is now being used to help welcome evacuees. There is no park anymore. The winds had changed indeed.

Near the end of the episode, we see Rosemary sitting holding the playbill and crying alone. She finally has time to process. To grieve. Yes, even though the children are safe, this hurts. They were so close to these plans coming to fruition for so many to enjoy. Yes, their town was spared. But still– such loss. So I’m with Elizabeth, “We will rebuild, but first we will have to mourn.”

Lee looks on helplessly from the stairs as Rosie, his precious the-show-must-go-on wife, cries. Earlier he dumped all the advertisements for the playhouse at the bar of the saloon in the trash, but went back to scoop just one out, carefully folded it and tucked it in his vest close to his heart. So he gets it. Lee feels it too. No wonder he calls a late meeting with Lucas, Nathan and Bill.

And of course he’s angry. We are seeing a different side of him. A man pushed to his limits– for his family, for his town, for his neighbors. Lee wants answers. In fact, he’s demanding them. “How does a National Park burn down the night before it opens? Do any of you actually think this is a coincidence?” He says he will not rest until that man (AJ McGinty) is behind bars.

I can’t wait to see how Episode 3 builds on the first two. The pacing, the storytelling and the plots are compelling. These are characters we not only root for, but relate to. What was your top moment from Episode 2, “Up in Smoke”? Was there a part that stuck out to you or was maybe even hard to watch because of your own experiences, in the past or even right now? I’d love to have you share below and I’ll reply back. The conversations are my favorite part! –Cara