While Hannah Swensen is no newcomer at Hallmark, the newer post-Murder She Baked iteration is. There have been two movies starring Alison Sweeney and Hannah Swensen newcomer Victor Webster, each sweeter than the last. While there’s no news about a third movie yet, Sweeney recently teased a “slow build” with us that has me thinking good news will be coming down the pipeline.
CinemaBlend’s own Riley Utley spoke with Alison Sweeney about Hannah Swensen: A Sprinkle of Deceit. When she asked the actress about Chad and Hannah’s “slow build” relationship, Ms. Sweeney confirmed we’re going to “wait a little while” for more progression.
You're going to wait a little while, but I think you're going to get a lot more of those little moments between them along the way, and hopefully, you know, we can really stretch it out and make it worth your while.
Unlike a lot of movies hitting the Hallmark schedule, the murder mysteries the cabler puts out out do have a tendency to be a little more slow burn. I suppose that’s what happens when you have a murder to solve on top of any meet cutes and romantic progression. The romance ultimately can take a backseat in favor of the more lurid murder content. Yet there's one reason Ms. Sweeney's comments actually make me excited despite the promise it could be a while before Hannah and Chad move forward.
Sprinkle Of Deceit’s Ending Does Set Up For More Hannah Swensen Films
In a typical no news might actually be good news situation, the fact Alison Sweeney is straight up saying the movies are not pushing the romantic component super hard right now indicates they do plan to push the romance at a later date. Yes, this likely means there is more to come in the Hannah Swensen mysteries. And that is for sure a reason for fans to celebrate.
At the end of the 2024 TV schedule's Sprinkle of Deceit --and spoilers! -- Chad and Hannah don't end up together... yet. However, we do get to see them exchange phone numbers. In addition, Hannah's mom (played by the lovely Barbara Niven) invites Chad to an event, which sets him up to hang out with Hannah outside of the context of solving a murder. So, they're taking baby steps, but there's obviously a while to go before anything like courtship happens.
Sweeney touched on this with her interview with CinemaBlend, noting she loves how Chad is so out on Hannah's sweets and all the other oddball stuff they are setting up to make them an opposites attract sort of deal down the line.
Like I wanted it to be a slow build. I wanted the audience to fall in love with, I know they already love Victor, but I wanted them to fall in love with the character, Chad, and see where Chad and Hannah [go]. I didn't want to, like, rush into anything. .... They still have different agendas. They still have different goals. They need to in solving the case, and so they're still at odds a bit.
After Cameron Mathison left the series, there really was an opportunity to retool and start something new, and I hope this new dynamic will continue to be explored with more movies.
While we don't know when the next Hannah Swensen mystery will be coming down the pipeline, Hallmark does have a slew of upcoming Christmas movies coming our way soon, and Alison Sweeney has another romance coming down the pipeline with This Time Each Year.
