When Calls the Heart needs to move on from this heartbreaking romance

When a TV show becomes a tumbleweed, of course, we’re going to relive its best bits. But When Calls the Heart, fans need to let one dead romance go for good.

Okay, that opening sentence reads pretty harshly. Compared to most of its competition, there’s next to nothing happening in When Calls the Heart other than that most humdrum minor drama. If we’re lucky, some people dance, get excited about a coin, or read comic books for the first time. 

This is why I was so taken aback by what everyone else thinks is a binge-worthy TV show. To my surprise, it’s soaring. Ratings are up two million an episode, and there’s already talk of Season 13 when we’ve not even finished 12. Hope Valley clearly won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, but there is a downside.

If you’re a film and TV journo, you’re typically thrown into stories with absolute chaos and never-ending lore, meaning I’ll internally scream anytime I’m near Marvel or Star Wars. Even when I became Dexerto’s (self-proclaimed) Queen of Hallmark, The Way Home’s endless pond time travel had my head spinning.

There’s something beautiful in simplicity, but when we’ve not got much narrative meat to gnaw off the bone, we start looking back. Namely, we reminisce over storylines we wish never ended, and that’s led to Hearties making some unhealthy habits that need to be stopped. 

When Calls the Heart broke Lucas and Elizabeth up ages ago

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In any classic romcom, or Whatsapp group chat, there’s one rule  – don’t text your ex. Don’t stalk them online, don’t even think about them. The relationship has gone, and the past is best left in the past… so why can’t When Calls the Heart fans understand the same thing?

Of course, I’m talking about Lucas and Elizabeth, Hope Valley’s hottest couple from Seasons 8-10. It took Elizabeth a while to get back on the dating horse after Jack’s death in Season 5, but the payoff was worth it. As two of the town’s biggest public figures, putting them together as a power couple made total sense.

They were madly in love for a time, and they had oodles of chemistry. But it all came crashing down in the Season 10 finale when Elizabeth dumped Lucas. Why? What they wanted in life was too different, with Lucas prioritizing his career. Elizabeth wasn’t having any of it, so that was that.

In the two seasons since, the ex-couple has had opposite journeys. Elizabeth is madly in love with Mountie Nathan, while Lucas lost everything he had worked for and got shot by his ex-girlfriend masquerading as a gangster. You win some, you lose some! Regardless, there’s now a lot of distance between now and their former love.

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Yet, if you scour Reddit, the fandom cannot let go of their favorite couple. As one fan states, “Elizabeth and Nathan will never be a satisfactory relationship to watch. Her relationship with Lucas was absolutely perfect. Nathan is awkward and how did she turn off her feelings for Lucas so quickly and Lucas to her? I don’t like it. I feel like the show has lost its sparkle.”

I get it, but… come on, guys. If Elizabeth was your actual mate, you wouldn’t endlessly go over her failed love life like it was a Bible passage. Whether you think it’s the right decision or not, her heart is now with Nathan. Every choice she’s made has turned her into the woman we love, so why wouldn’t we trust in her gut?

There’s another exciting case of “trusting the process” playing out, too – Lucas’ new relationship. While he gets his national park plans off the ground in Capital City, new face Edie is set for an enemies-to-lovers pipeline. There’s clear tension between the two, and it’s unfolding gorgeously slowly.

My message to the Hearties? When Calls the Heart Season 12 has decided where it wants to go, so get over it. Lucas and Elizabeth’s love can be re-binged on Hallmark+, which is where it belongs.

When Calls the Heart Season 12 is airing weekly on the Hallmark channel. Catch up with its episode release schedule, how to watch outside of the US, and the best Hallmark movies of all time.