Hallmark’s When Calls The Heart has had a long and storied run on the channel and has even survived a major death on the series along with the loss of Lori Loughlin. Since then, the show’s biggest storyline has revolved around Elizabeth being in the middle of a love triangle. Only not all fans are pleased about how long this particular plot has gone on.
There are lots of posts from fans of When Calls The Heart expressing dislike for the love triangle between Elizabeth, Nathan and Lucas. And when I say lots, I mean showrunner Brian Bird has been dealing with some comments from fans about Elizabeth’s recent decision to go on an unchaperoned trip with Lucas or how long it’s really taken for the character to make her choice.
In general, Brian Bird – who is often active on social media -- told one fan “it’s a marathon, not a sprint” before explaining to some of the angsty Hearties that they are a small minority of the viewership. He shared his thoughts on Twitter, noting:
Well, not sure how one Heartie can speak for a majority of the 3 million #Hearties watching tonight... but there have always been lots of twists and turns in #HopeValley... so I advise you to stayed tuned.
To his point, a fair amount of fans commented with positive feelings for When Calls The Heart, which is currently airing its seventh season on Hallmark Channel. But there are other issues people are taking with the direction of the show, including comments about factual inaccuracies.
This is the type of stuff I assume most showrunners on a historical drama deal with, but Brian Bird addressed concerns about Elizabeth and Lucas’ recent jaunt as well.
Look, I don’t know what percent of Hearties are panicking about this stuff, but I can remember one episode of When Calls The Heart when Elizabeth traveled from Hope Valley to her parents’ home, which was beautiful and filled with tons of historic detail… plus an asphalt driveway. Asphalt was around in the early 20th century, so who am I to say it’s not possible they had an asphalt driveway? Suffice to say, the wonderful thing about When Calls The Heart is not its attention to period detail.
What When Calls The Heart does do well is love stories and I also think it’s worth reminding the fans that Elizabeth’s meet cute and subsequent love story with Jack Thornton (Daniel Lissing) played out over the course of five seasons. People were perfectly happy the romance took that long before its tragic end.
Meanwhile, Lucas and Nathan have only been around for two seasons since then. So, according to Brian Bird, expect some twists and likely some more time before Elizabeth reaches her ultimate conclusion.
Meanwhile, if you are a Heartie who isn’t happy about the direction of When Calls The Heart, Hallmark is also airing the engaging When Hope Calls on Sunday nights, so you can always jump ship for the other series. However, Hopies really doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.
