#kvanbooven

[heartlandians]

kvanbooven said: They suck at keeping secretes on this show lol _____________________

Makes it all the more fun for us, haha! 

[hopevalley]

@kvanbooven said:  Good! Excited for all to come and I look forward to that and any writing you decide to do. I am also looking forward to wedding March 6 and I think I saw somewhere it was the last one. Also the mystery movies coming out in August I’m excited for as well

Thanks! I’m glad I won’t be the only one here watching WM6! And I’m glad it’s the last one; it sounds silly because as a consumer of content we kind of want the things we like to go on forever, but it ends up never being worth it when the reason it goes on forever is more about the money it’s making than the fact that there’s more story to tell. I think ending it here is a good, reasonable finale for the movie series and it’ll be nice to unwind and enjoy that.

I haven’t looked up anything about the mystery movies but maybe I’ll check them out this year! :D

[hopevalley]

So I finally finished your podcast (had to listen to some of each day because ya know work and all) and I really enjoyed it. The only problem is that only 4 hrs showed up on my drop box when I downloaded like you said so either I did it wrong or something g is wrong. Anyway I thought it was very insightful and fun to listen to. I definitely laughed out loud a few times.

Sorry I didn't reply sooner. I'm not sure why only 4 hours showed... I'm sure you didn't do it wrong or anything. Glad you enjoyed what you did get to hear, though. :)

[hopevalley]

@kvanbooven said:  I would have been very interested in the story you provide here and what they were probably trying to show but didn’t come out that way. I don’t think I would have ever or will ever be an E and L fan, but at least this story would not only have been interesting to me to see her deal with what Nathan was making her feel, but also would have made the end wayyy more tolerable because the story actually led us there and we weren’t conned into thinking Nathan had a chance. I also enjoy you explained why he was the “reason” cuz it wasn’t really explained and I couldn’t really think of what makes him the “reason.”

I’m of the opinion that one of the best things you can do as a storyteller is Sell Your Story, and by that I mean...sell it by putting together the kind of story your audience is likely to be interested in. People don’t have to love or even relate to the characters fully, but they sure as hell should be interested in the story you’re telling! I think that gets more and more important the larger your cast grows... Most people watch for the “main characters” (that’s the natural way of things) but the side characters still take up a lot of time combined...so when they are on screen (or on the page), that time needs to matter. In the case of WCtH, the last thing you want is for Jesse to appear and your audience immediately goes, “Meh...” and scrolls Reddit on their phone instead of actually engaging in the story.

(For the sake of ratings/etc, it doesn’t really matter if the audience is Actively watching (or passively doing it) for television, but as a storyteller you’d still always prefer your audience actively be engaging in your creation.)

For this reason, maybe I wouldn’t be great at writing, say, Season 9 of WCtH (I’d almost always opt to tell a good/engaging story over things that would specifically boost ratings or manipulate viewer excitement)(aside: I hated the manipulative promotion material this season), but I know what I’m about, and I’m about good stories, preferably centered on good/interesting characters.

The story we got in S8 was almost eclipsed by the promotional material and the social media hype, and that’s really unfortunate. I’ve never been a big Elizabeth fan, but I think if I had been sold that the triangle would resolve early this season, I would have had a lot of respect for Hallmark making that call, and would have been really engaged in Elizabeth figuring things out for herself (instead of what we got, which was like...Elizabeth playing Pong in her head on loop for an hour every week).

The reason for something happening should always be “the story led us here” and not “the writers chose this but failed to guide the audience to it so much as they told them it was happening Because Reasons.” Like I said, I’m pretty sure there was a story there, and there was lead-up to it, but boy did they fumble the pass.

Also, glad my explanation of Nathan as Elizabeth’s “reason” makes sense to you. I wish they had really leaned into using him as a transitional person for her to process her grief and fear. Elizabeth could have been SO SO interesting in that role if it had been focused on more than any romance, because not only did Jack die, but before that even happened she saw Jack process the death of his buddy Doug...and she saw Doug’s mother in the midst of her grief. (I wish she had reached out to the woman via letter or something...maybe she would have been at Jack’s funeral... man, it’d be so good.) That’s a lot to think about.

[whencallstheheart]

Alright so I have a question. I’ve only watched live from S6 till now but after both S6 and S7 they always said “stick around for a special announcement after the finale” which we always knew was the announcement of renewal. However, they haven’t said that this time around so I guess we will have to wait for the S9 announcement. But i guess my question is have they always renewed the show in that manner (right after the current season finale) or has there been other ways? I’ve only watched for 2 seasons and they have done the same for both so I was wondering.

I believe it’s only been recently that it’s been announced right after the episode with a video message aired on the channel.  We had to wait with earlier seasons but not that long.  They don’t necessarily tease it beforehand either if I remember correctly.  We might not know there’s something coming until the episode is airing if they’re trying to make it a surprise.  Not that it should surprise anyone because obviously the show is going to be around for a while.

Here’s when previous renewals were announced:

Season 2: May 5th

Season 3: July 28th

Season 4: April 15th

Season 5: April 25th

Season 6: March 21st

Season 7: April 13th

Season 8: April 26th

[hopevalley]

@kvanbooven said:  Me and you seem to be the only ones who still care about Abigail and Frank man. They were my fave

If I ever get around to going back to rewatch the older seasons again I’ll probably talk about them more. I really enjoyed their relationship and what it brought to the town. Especially at the beginning, they managed to be really cute, and it was nice to see the relationship fade to a comfortable middle ground where there weren’t many internal conflicts and they were allowed to just...be together without constant drama or any hidden lurking feelings. And man, I think what really sold it to me was that Frank was honest at a point in their relationship where he didn’t have to be—when Caroline came to take Cody and Becky back, and Abigail ranted to Frank about it (the SUPER good line about how she was tired of being tested by God), but he said, “Is it really so bad that their aunt cares about them enough to want to take them in?”

Like AAAA, the writers didn’t have to go there but they did. I also just loved that Frank brought faith to the town and he felt like a country pastor, hanging out with the other guys at the saloon and getting hustled at darts by Abigail, but still very much a considerate person who had a lot of good things to say and yet didn’t force his beliefs on other people who didn’t already agree with them. I enjoyed that Abigail and he played on the faith theme so well together without it feeling overbearing.

(This is why Joseph is the only good replacement for Frank as a character. He has the same vibe and I dig it.)

@trash-god also likes the ship, so I need to rope her into doing an art/writing collab with me... 

I already threatened to write a novelization (of sorts) of the series, but only if she’d illustrate every chapter... Maybe she’ll take me up on that this summer. ;P

[whencallstheheart]

Peter Deluise (or however you spell it) just confirmed in Twitter that the spurlock in this rapids is related to the one from S1. So idk what that means for the storyline but interesting.

Yeah, very interesting.  I can’t really think of a reason why they’d need to bring up something from season 1 that was resolved and long forgotten but we’ll see.  

This is something that just popped into my head.  Kind of crazy, but S1 Spurlock was living in a cabin, right?  Maybe it’s the same cabin and there’s something they’re searching for there that he left behind.  Like maybe he buried something.  I have no idea.  Also, they have the same name so that really confuses me.  This guy seems too young to be the other one’s dad but how else would it be explained?  They’re not the George Foreman family.  Is he even still in jail?  Are they supposed to be the same person?  

I wonder if this will get resolved in the finale or if whatever this plot is and the Wyman stuff will carry over.

[hopevalley]

@kvanbooven said:  The Flo thing got me too! I like this episode a lot but I am also interested to see all these dangling plot lines resolved the final episodes. Normally I would be nervous cuz it’s just too much going on for one episode but the fact that the finale is 6 min longer makes me feel a bit better. As for the first scene, I really liked it. You and I usually agree on when the Nathan scenes are too cringe and just not him, but I felt like this scene was awkward enough to where it was realistic for their place they are at rn. Especially since this time Nathan isn’t the one initiating, as for the most part it’s Elizabeth, but hey everyone has different opinions. 

However there were some continuity issues I think, but I could be wrong. Have they ever mentioned Joseph working for Lucas? Or when Henry got control of the company back? Or that the Canfields were moving? The last thing I heard on that was there was an offer but they declined or something. Also, wasn’t the first article about the Canfields about him buying the gas station? I guess we do have one episode left but still. Again, I could be wrong and these issues were solved with lines I just didn’t catch or don’t remember from previous episodes, but overall good episode and next weeks the finale omg!

Hi again! I’m glad you liked the Flo thing, too. :D The episode was good, though in hindsight when I’m writing the write-ups I think some of the excitement has had time to fade and I’m viewing it more as a critic than a casual viewer, so I tend to be harsher on the story than I am the night I view the episode.

I agree that the six extra minutes in the finale are good and will probably take a lot of pressure off of the episode. It doesn’t sound like a lot at a glance, but six minutes on this show is at least one full (quite long) scene, so it could be very impactful!

At the very least, they did tie up the Rosemary plotline, and I think there isn’t too much yet to cover on some of the others—if they choose to tie them up. I’m sure Faith and Carson’s issue will be resolved in the finale, and the triangle nonsense, of course, but they may choose to leave the factory + school problems for next season. I’d probably be okay with that; it would give the triangle more room to breathe at least!

Oh, I won’t pretend I didn’t enjoy the first scene. It was cute! It was also tonal whiplash from the last episode and in fact...most of the season. You do make a good point that it was nice to see Elizabeth initiating something, though. I get the feeling she likes being the one to initiate (maybe because it gives her a bit more control over the situation and she prefers that?). I feel like the scene was cringey because it felt like it came out of nowhere and wasn’t properly built up to. If she’d had an episode or two where her relationship with Nathan had evened out a bit/calmed down, I could see where this type of scene could take place and feel very natural. Sure, it would still be awkward (she’s not With Nathan, after all), but it wouldn’t give anyone whiplash.

I think Joseph worked for the railroad as a driver? I don’t remember him agreeing to work with Lucas, but maybe he worked for Lucas as well? Henry had control of the company the second he came back to work is my guess, but it was never explicitly mentioned as being “in effect.” The Canfields moving did come out of nowhere; they never even really acted like they were going to accept the offer, and certainly never said so outright, though iirc they seemed open to the idea if the offer was good enough?

Joseph wanted to buy the gas station but while he was thinking about it, it sold to someone else. Shortly after this is when he agreed to become the new pastor, and I think we were meant to believe he took that as a Sign that he was meant to pastor again, but there was never a proper lead-up to that, either.

I’m ready for the finale next week! I hope everyone is right and it does end on a satisfying note. Fingers crossed!!!