It is not a shotgun but a rifle that Mitch is unable to fire here. He freezes even when Jack’s life is in danger? That whole Zack theme just didn’t “ring true”. The psychology doesn’t even begin to make sense. Because Zack shot himself to get out of the war Mitch can’t fire a gun?

Mitch couldn’t be harder to figure out, and Lou should steer clear. She had a great guy with Peter, who seems to have learned his lesson now. She should repair her marriage, in my humble opinion.

The episodes of this season are more balanced across the major characters, which is a very good thing. Except for Ty, of course. We apparently reached the point in the season when Ty gets written out for a while. His “mission” to save Mongolian bears - I can’t even say it with a straight face. That leaves Amy looking a little “unreal” and out of focus. She is beginning to feel like a single mom, and she hasn’t even given birth. Amy was always the show’s anchor, but she’s becoming marginalized in some way. Let’s face it: her relationship is not so sweet and calm. It should be generating more drama.

She looks to be at about 20-24 weeks. That puts us into May if I’m tracking the season right. She should be due in September, but we can’t guess what episode that would mean.

She’s really missing Ty more and more but rationalizing it away. To be honest I’ve been hoping that this theme means some real drama down the road. You can’t have Amy Fleming become bland and boring. But really, I doubt it is going anywhere. Too bad.

The chemistry between Peter and Georgie continues to amaze. I loved the scene where she explained about Adam because it was such an authentic connection between father and daughter. It also served to show Peter in his best light, wiser and more settled on what is important in life.

All impulsive Georgie still can’t think her way out of problems. Sheriff Jim says, “And this is the best plan you could come up with?” But I guess that’s par for 14-year-olds.

The argument between Lou and Amy was the best scene in the episode. It felt completely authentic and filled with raw passion on both sides. It made the episode for me.

Maybe it is because there are so many “first time” directors this season, but I’m not loving the storytelling style. Heartland has always had a bit of a frenetic directing-style, jumping to another story thread every 60 seconds. This is regrettable. There are seldom scenes that “take their time”, communicating with a look more than dialogue. All the great scenes from the past that I always remember had that slow, “moment in time” stillness.

Let’s hope they’re not gone forever. -Bill Sims, 20 Sep 2016

Many Heartlanders were astonished by the turn Ty’s story has taken, fueled entirely by Amy’s loving “willingness to let go”. Our friend Katie was shocked that Heather took the story in this direction.

“Even if they had complications they would deal with any problems together, but no, Heather has to turn Ty into some crazed eco-warrior and send him off on some quest in Mongolia leaving his wife, a very pregnant Amy behind to fend for herself.
…
I’ve whole-heartily agreed with what Tim said.” [see full text here]

Yep, for the first time I was 100% with Tim. If you step back from it, just on the face of it this is an outrageous turn of the plot for Ty. He will miss this experience with Amy, return home completely broke (still unable to buy a truck), and have to repair his relationship with Amy and the extended family.

“I just don’t see Ty doing this to Amy, even if she told him to go, he’d stay and be with Amy. He’d be there when she went to sleep at night and he’d be there when she woke up in the morning. He’d rub her feet; even shave her legs when she got too big to do it for herself. No matter what, Ty would always be there for Amy. That’s why this whole ‘trip’ just doesn’t 'play’ for me.”

This is an excellent point I have not seen elsewhere. This move is out-of-character for Ty Borden. There was a time when he was better at leaving than staying, but 10 years have burned that out of him. I would really think he would put Amy and his burgeoning family first before “saving the world”. (I can’t believe we are even discussing this!)

To be honest, the only things I know about Mongolia I got from the movie “The Way Back” (great movie), in which World War II prisoners escape the Russian slave prisons in Siberia and hike the thousands of miles south through Mongolia without anything to keep themselves alive. What they encounter is the most astonishing wasteland on Earth, like Siberia in the north and like the Arabian desert in the south. There are almost NO natives and zero bears along the way.

Which raises the real-world, practical consideration. I’m not sure an ARMY of veterinarians could save some tiny population of bears in this remote part of China. To what? Patch up all the bullet-holes?

If the Chinese government allows the hunting of this endangered species, then that is the heart of the problem and your attack has to be through world opinion. (Since it IS the Chinese government, the greatest butchers of homo sapiens in world history, it is unlikely they would ever genuinely care about a few bears). But if they could come to see the issue as cheap propaganda, you wouldn’t need any vets without borders.

“I am so angry at Heather Conkie. It seems to me she hates TAMY or more to the point Ty. The only way she seems to write TAMY is to have them constantly break up and then make up (always separating them).”

Here I disagree with you, Katie. I don’t think Heather “hates” Tamy, or that she is necessarily breaking them up anymore. It is more likely that she is dealing, the best she can, with the senior cast wanting changes. Michelle and Graham evidently want much more free time during the production season. This whole Mongolian story idea may have been Graham’s, since he apparently actually got to go there to do some filming.

Heather is doing the best she can, even though it leads to story threads that are a little out-of-character for both Lou and Ty. Amber says her current contact goes for two more seasons (if there are any). I wonder if she had the freedom to re-negotiate, wouldn’t she be actually pregnant right now in real life. Heartland has been “golden chains” for her for a long time.

The other thing you’re not giving credit for, Katie, is the insanely appropriateness of the song Amy sings, from Amy’s point of view. When to hold on and when to let go is something she is guided by her love to know, and it is clearly an expression of her unconditional support for Ty, as she feels she has always received from him. This is a legitimate and beautiful theme, and the song (by Heather & Shaun) just hits it out of the ball-park.

Now, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t take that back in the same breath. “Self-sacrificers” like Amy can be enamored with the image and romanticism of their sacrifice and not consider the practical responsibilities of all concerned. A choice can seem “romantic and idealistic” but in reality lead to self-destructive consequences for the very one you want to support. In a way this is similar to the end of Season Three, where Ty has stars in his eyes about the idea of “road trip” and can’t even HEAR Amy say they should go together…

Leave that there and see where Heartland takes it. -Bill Sims, 29 Oct 2016

Funny thing is so much time passes before we get to hear Amber sing again that I’m always FLOORED by the quality of her voice. My first thought is this is a woman of extraordinary talents. If she hadn’t become known as an actor, she surely would have had a music career.

Heartland has always used her singing to great effect, and this episode was no exception. The song and the singing were just perfect to set the right tone for the ending to this episode. I also appreciated that she took the lead over Shaun; usually it is the other way around.

I once wrote Amber a letter pleading with her to produce a CD of her singing. The best response I could get was “Maybe…” She admitted that every year Shaun Johnston suggests that they do a Heartland CD. It would have to be enormously popular.

Scott Lepp, we are deeply grateful for the full version of “When To Let Go”, but I’m not going to let go of this idea. Hasn’t anyone at the production office ever thought about a music CD? I know as I sit here that it would be much in demand. -Bill Sims, 24 Oct 2016

The first glimpse of the baby bump in 1003 (when Amy is raking the horse stalls) must have been what Amber called “the cotton pillow” (“Amber On the Timeline”, 17 Oct 2016), and looked inappropriately big and phony. [see]

But then at the end of that episode when they are looking at the mobile and the baby’s crib, she has just a slight pot belly and they must have sorted out the correct prosthetic device.

By our calculations in 1001 she is about 14 weeks and has a flat tummy. In 1003 according to Amber she is “a little beyond 4 months”, so say 16-18 weeks, and has a slight bump.

In First View of 1004 when Amy is getting out of the truck because of “motion sickness”, if you watch, there are moments where you can see she is further along than in 1003. She has a more substantial bump now.

One thing that complicates this for the props dept. is Amy insists on NOT wearing maternity tops, but T-Shirts (!), often with the T-Shirt pulled out of her pants, but pulled back up in front to show off her buckle. I would suppose the directors watch this intently to make sure T-Shirts don’t rise and reveal prosthetic padding.

I would guess that in 1004 she is going to be at about 18-20 weeks, and we must be into May on the timeline. -Bill Sims, 23 Oct 2016

(1) I puzzled over this episode’s title for a minute. “You just know” was Amy’s answer to Georgie about how you know you’re in love. But here in the Mitch & Lou story Lou struggles to know her own heart. The relevant piece of advice comes as Mitch recalls his father. “He said that he figured I already knew what I wanted, I just had to find the strength to do it.”

Last episode we didn’t see that much of Lou struggling with the decision to go to NYC. Since then she has re-ignited her jealousy over Mitch, and that puts her in a momentary quandary. But I never felt the outcome was much in doubt.

(2) Minnie, the horse, struggles to be well enough to nurse her twin foals and Amy sets up a 24-hour schedule for bottle-feeding. It makes Amy remember “Beyond Hell’s Half Mile” [504] when baby Katie was keeping everyone awake all night, and Amy fell asleep in Ty’s trailer lying against his chest [Unforgettable “Awww” moment]. But this whole business put me more in mind of “Growing Pains” [306], when Amy & Ty had to make a schedule to bottle-feed the orphan foal. The issue in that episode was that they had very different ideas about raising a child, but had never talked about it. Hope that doesn’t portend a future conflict.

(3) As I said “These were the two most interesting Georgie themes I can recall. She dominated the episode, but I was pleased with the result.” [here]

If it ever seemed to some readers that I was “Georgie-bashing” on this blog, I want to correct that impression. I have frequently said I always admired Georgie, even when she was irritating. The spirit to survive all she has been through makes her a fine addition to this family.

As irony would have it, Georgie really shines this season. I wasn’t really surprised when she stood up to the weasel, Sam, although it does take unusual “moral clarity” for a 14 year-old to see through the manipulations of an older role model.

But the “Adopted Family Picks You” resolution to the essay assignment took me completely by surprise and hit just the right note [No dry eyes here]. This is the kind of sentimentalism we have come to expect from Heartland, and it usually works uncommonly well.

This is possibly the best Georgie-centered episode in 5 seasons, and we can hope it signals a turning point this season to more mature stories for her.

I do have to point out, Heartland writers, that with just the smallest tweak, the “You Just Know” theme could have extended to Georgie’s stories and served to unify the episode a little more. For we don’t really see Georgie wrestle with herself in deciding what is the right thing to do, and she never seems to lack “the strength to do it”. With just a tweak the story could have been richer, more fulfilling if she had searched for the inner strength to do the right thing.

Just a thought. Slight missed opportunity, but overall an excellent episode in what promises to be an excellent season of Heartland. -Bill Sims, 14 Oct 2016

Bill, I think I may have figured it out. For five full seasons we watched Amy and Ty, in turmoil, develop a strong bond and relationship. Season 6 rolls around and “keep it fresh” jumps to the forefront. So in order to appease the long time viewers the writers make sure that Georgie and Amy have balanced “A” visibility. Still not sure what that means but nevertheless here’s my take on it.

Forget “A” lines or scenes. Go to story-lines [threads]. It turns out that screen-time is a good proxy for the relative emphasis different stories get within an episode. And there should be a close correlation between time-on-screen and the number of lines a character gets.

Let’s use 609 & 610 as the example. Mid season cliffhangers.  Amy and Ty finally get engaged, Georgie is thrown into turmoil over Jack being turned down as her permanent foster parent.  Now here is the break down: 44 minutes each episode (per Netflix) total of 88 minutes. Exclude the “Previously on Heartland” and the standard intro music where they list the characters, etc. So we knock out 1 min 15 seconds. The story-lines in 609 were 65% Georgie, 15% Amy & Ty, 20% house burning etc. [Estimated] Leave some leeway for combined scenes where Amy and Georgie share the screen. Now remember this is the episode where Ty does it right and achieves a “magical” proposal. Even an old guy like me can see that. But it was engulfed with the story-line of Georgie and the fostering situation.

Moving on to 610, the “let’s solve the cliff hanger” episode. Again the story-line is Georgie with Amy & Ty taking a back seat. True, Amy was given more depth in this one and the troubles with Phoenix, but I considered that when I weighed the percentages for this episode. The story-line development for this episode was 60% Georgie, 15% Amy, 10% Amy & Ty and 15% for everything else.

This is based on Netflix time frames, using the elapsed time on the Netflix screen.  I could be off slightly and still the time devoted to Georgie’s stories dominated the episodes. So this is where I feel Scott Lepp and Heather Conkie are missing our complaints. It is not how many “A” lines or scenarios one character has vs. another. It is the fact the most of the story time in Seasons 6 and 7 developed around Georgie and the turmoil she caused. Season 8 did fall back to Amy, I agree, but Season 9 again leaned heavily towards Georgie.

And the intro to Season 10 did throw some of the balance back to Amy but not a significant amount. It did seem to somewhat balance more in her favor for now. Let’s see what 1002 brings to the table.

Again I emphasize that this is based on simply comparing the different story threads and the time they are given. That is what I watch when I view any program or movie. Heartland always has multiple developing story-lines in any episode and those that are given more screen-time, seem more important.

In Seasons 1 thru 5 there were always multiple stories in each episode but they always pointed to different characters. (Tim is doing this, Lou is doing that, Amy & Ty are wrapped up in this spat or make-up scenario; but all were pointing in different directions).

But “Keeping it fresh” seems to always lead back to Georgie. -John Aiple, 10 Oct 2016

Good point, John. Having just watched “You Just Know” [1002] I’m struck with the thought that it does make a difference what the stories are. These were the two most interesting Georgie themes I can recall. She dominated the episode, but I was pleased with the result.

Back last year when we were watching a 13 year-old misbehave, talk back to adults and fail to be disciplined, I frequently had the thought that the writers may have over-estimated our taste for such stuff, regardless of screen-time. For example, I’d rather watch a whole episode of Katie & Bubbles before I’d watch any more of Lou & Mitch’s “lack of chemistry”.

But in any case when other story-threads get more screen-time, the Amy & Ty story feels undeveloped, a little washed-out, too much wasted potential. We saw a lot of that last season. -Bill Sims, 10 Oct 2016

Bill, I just watched another three episodes of season 9 of Heartland the other night on UPtv and by the end of the night I was so depressed. The deeper it gets into season 9 the less we see of Amy & Ty and the more Georgie takes center stage. -Katie, 22 Sep 2016 [see full text here]

Thanks Katie. I don’t know… Scott tells us that those who complain about the “Georgie show” are flatly wrong. “Georgie was greatly elevated in Season 9 but Amy was still the primary focus and received more ‘A’ storylines than Georgie. That’s just a fact.“ -[via Tumblr]

If Scott says so, then I believe him. My guess is that "A” stories are the most prominent in terms of drama, number of lines, scenes or time. “B” stories are a little more secondary, and so on. I once considered measuring the actual screen time for each character in Season 9 but found my energy for that had disappeared into the same black hole as my intent to write letters to the producers.

I too felt depressed. The term is “ennui”. At the end of the season I literally had trouble reminding myself why I cared so much about Heartland. For a while it was really disturbing, but then I found I began to anticipate Season 10 and I could move on.

In the end I can only ask if Amy was the primary focus of Season 9, how is it that so many people are convinced that CANNOT be the case?

But beating that dead horse won’t win us any races. -Bill Sims, 05 Oct 2016

“The only one important is Heartland-time.” -Notes on Heartland 1001 There Will Be Changes

“You’ll probably refer back to this line a few times before it’s all said and done :)” -Scott Lepp, mslepp

Interesting, Scott. I take it this means there will be other “time shifts” in the rest of the season. Heartland-time may become a challenge to keep track of.

Perhaps some of the problems I discussed can be solved by compressing time between episodes. Thus, we could jump ahead by months from one episode to the next, and Amy could be closer to delivery. Or even beyond it…

Never been done before but no rule against it. And no way to predict it…

As I said at the end of “The Shifting Sands of Time”, I wouldn’t mind if the story leaped ahead in time to the point where “Amy’s child [is] a toddler, or even speaking already.” [see here]

When Heather is Master of Time & Space, then why not? Hit the highlights… -Bill Sims, 04 Oct 2016

They’ve monkeyed with the time-line so much that it can’t fully make sense, but overall there are some nice surprises here (along with some confusion). Some relevant considerations are:

(1) We know precisely when the first episode starts because Adam (the nerd) has computed that it is exactly three months from New Year’s Eve. That makes it March 24 (Heartland-time).
(2) Yet it is obviously spring time. There is not a hint of snow, or even nippy weather. Although Alberta had a fairly mild winter, I remember production photos (in May!) of snow piled high.
(3) Further, if Amy was two weeks along when she told Ty on New Year’s Eve, then she reached 12 weeks on March 10. Of course, there is wiggle room about that two weeks; she could have been further along. But the point is, Tim says her 12 week ultrasound is coming up, and that’s just wrong. She has to be past 12 weeks.
(4) I do think a pregnant mare about to foal (twins!) would be showing in a number of ways. It would be obvious. And I have to continue to ask, if Amy is past 12 weeks, wouldn’t she also be showing something? Yet Amy’s tummy, hips and thighs are as slender as ever. Really?

However, if they stick to the time-progression they’ve already started, Heartland-time began on March 24 and will proceed to October 27 (May 9-Dec 5 production-time). Amy will deliver in Block 8 (episodes 15 or 16), close to September 22, her due date in Heartland-time (assuming the two weeks).

I know the time scales can be confusing. There’s Heartland-time, the time inside the episode. Then there is production-time, May 9-Dec 5. And finally Broadcast-time, October 2016 to March 2017. The only one important is Heartland-time.

Since this brings Amy’s delivery close to the end of the season, we can wonder if:

(1) that leaves us a couple of episodes to enjoy the baby, and for Amy to be bound to the infant, and
(2) will most of the season for Amy involve the slow (and potentially boring) progression of her pregnancy. (She finally admits she won’t be able to ride, AT ALL) We are into new territory here. They will have to come up with something to make Amy’s story-lines interesting. We’ll see…

But there is considerable time-travel within this episode. The writer wants to “tease” us with our confusion over whether the characters are talking about Amy’s or Minnie’s ultrasound? Is Amy going to have twins? Is something wrong with Amy’s ultrasound?

The mechanism of the “tease” is to watch the first sequence of “Today” but cutting off at a critical moment (allowing us to draw the wrong conclusion) when Amy looks at an ultrasound and asks, “Are there two of them?” Then we see “Yesterday”, giving a little more information. Then we re-watch “Today… again”, repeating exactly the steps that made us wonder if Amy was having twins, but adding the critical line at the end, “Minnie’s having twins”. (The question still lingers about Amy until the very end when they look at HER ultrasound)

Then Minnie, the horse who had “a bit of a hay-belly” but was actually carrying twin foals (!), proceeds to deliver. And finally Amy admits that things will change and goes in for her own ultrasound, weeks late by my count but it is probably OK since there is virtually nothing to see in the first trimester. (John points out that they must have done the ultrasound at the animal clinic since an OBGYN would have shown it to them immediately) So, the contradiction is that Minnie’s ultrasound showed she was about to deliver (supposedly) but Amy’s ultrasound would have shown virtually nothing, much less a glimpse of “our baby”.

This all might be too clever by half. I suspect the younger ones will be baffled and the older will be saying, “Wait… what?” But since I complained about boring episodes last season, I’m going to give this one 5 Stars for the attempt. I enjoyed it, and I did NOT feel like Georgie’s problems dominated the other story-threads. (I’m saying this in case I have to remind myself later in the season)

Back on more familiar ground, the episode deals primarily with Amy’s predictable reluctance to admit things will change, Georgie’s predictable hot-headedness, Lou’s desire to manage everyone else’s life while she makes her own life unmanageable, and Tim’s being an aggressive jerk.

Except for my frequent confusion the first time through, it was a fine start for the Tenth season. -Bill Sims, 03 Oct 2016