Pop Culture Principle

**SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t seen this episode yet, please do not read any further!**

Review by AMANDA PEZET

Here comes the bride, Hearties! When Calls the Heart: My Heart is Yours celebrates friendship, community, and love while preparing for Jack and Elizabeth’s wedding day!

The episode begins three days before Jack and Elizabeth’s wedding. At the café, Jack (Daniel Lissing) and Elizabeth (Erin Krakow) discuss wedding plans with Abigail (Lori Loughlin). Abigail expresses concern that the town still doesn’t have a pastor, with Frank (Mark Humphrey) away in Cape Fullerton. When Elizabeth and Jack worry that there won’t be anyone to officiate at their wedding, Abigail offers to perform the wedding ceremony herself if Frank doesn’t make it back to Hope Valley in time.

Mr. Yost (Hrothgar Mathews) arrives at the jailhouse with a telegram for Jack from Mountie Headquarters. When he shows the telegram to Bill (Jack Wagner) he expresses concern that the information in the telegram may interrupt Jack and Elizabeth’s wedding plans. Bill takes the telegram and assures Mr. Yost that he’ll make sure Jack gets it.
Jack and Elizabeth take a horseback ride to their land. When they dismount their horses, Jack quickly pulls Elizabeth into his arms and sweetly kisses her. He tells Elizabeth that he “[wants] to kiss Miss Elizabeth Thatcher before she becomes Mrs. Jack Thornton,” to which Elizabeth says she “can’t wait.”

At Dottie’s dress shop, Clara (Eva Bourne) and Rosemary (Pascale Hutton) put the finishing touches on Elizabeth’s wedding dress. Jack and Lee (Kavan Smith) arrive to pick up groomsmen suits, and Jack almost sees Elizabeth’s dress. The ladies panic and tell the men that they absolutely cannot see the dress before the wedding. They tell Jack and Lee to come back the next day to pick up the suits. As the men are leaving, Elizabeth shows up for her final fitting. Rosemary tells her that the dress isn’t quite ready for her yet and that she’ll bring it to the schoolhouse in an hour.

Bill tells Abigail that he’s going on a mission to escort a prisoner to Cape Fullerton. Abigail realizes that the mission was supposed to be Jack’s, and Bill tells her that “Jack’s not going to be escorting anyone but Elizabeth down the aisle.” At that moment Jack walks up and asks if he’s interrupting. They assure him that they were just discussing, “boring town business.” As Bill mounts his horse, Jack asks where he’s headed. Bill tells him it’s just more town business and promises to be home in plenty of time for the wedding.

Tom Thornton (Max Lloyd-Jones) surprises his brother Jack by showing up in Hope Valley for the wedding festivities. He tells Jack that their mother informed him about the wedding and that he didn’t want to miss it. Mrs. Thornton is unable to make the trip herself because she was thrown from a horse and injured her back. Tom has matured quite a bit since we last saw him in season two. He arrives driving a fancy Ford car, dressed in a suit and tells Jack that he now represents a tire company.

At the mercantile, the children discuss their job assignments for Miss Thatcher’s wedding. Ruby (Hannah Zirke) is nervous about lighting the candles for the ceremony, so Robert (Jaiven Natt) suggests that she and Cody (Carter Ryan Evancic) rehearse it like they do with school plays. The children all agree that it’s a great idea, and they leave the mercantile.
Bill arrives at the Mountie command post to pick up the prisoner. Bill informs the Mountie at the post that he wants to leave immediately for Cape Fullerton, but as he heads outside with the prisoner, the convict’s partners begin shooting at Bill and the young Mountie. They run back inside the building and Bill attempts to send a telegraph for help, but he immediately realizes that the outlaws have cut the wire.

Fresh off the stagecoach, Julie Thatcher (Charlotte Hegele) comes across Rosemary and asks her how the wedding plans are coming along. Rosemary tells her that there’s so much work to do for the wedding, but that it is “a labor of love”, and at that Rosemary dashes off.
At the café, Elizabeth and Abigail discuss the menu for the wedding reception. Abigail’s menu appears overambitious, and Elizabeth suggests cutting back on the number of side dishes so that Abigail can enjoy the reception. Abigail reluctantly agrees and admits that she is short-handed because Bill left town on Mountie business. Elizabeth asks why Bill, instead of Jack, is doing Mountie business, and Abigail tells her that Bill wants to protect Jack from any possibility of danger so close to their wedding day. Elizabeth is touched by Bill’s act of kindness.

When Julie arrives at Abigail’s, Elizabeth is elated to see her. Julie is impressed with how the entire community has come together in preparation for Jack and Elizabeth’s wedding. When Abigail inquires about Julie and Elizabeth’s mother, Julie tells her that Mrs. Thatcher is in London caring for their sister and her new baby. Elizabeth is sad that her mother and sister are unable to attend her wedding day, but Julie reminds her that their father will be arriving the next day.

Bill finds himself in a standoff with the criminals. While shots are being fired toward the Mountie Post, Bill realizes that he has Jack’s and Elizabeth’s wedding rings in his pocket. Bill knows he must quickly figure a way out of the building so he can get the rings back to Hope Valley in time for the wedding. He then notices a hatch on the floor of the cabin that leads to a cellar exit outdoors. He decides that they will make a run for it as soon as it turns dark.

At the schoolhouse, Julie runs into Tom. She admits that she’s wondered if he’d be there, and she tells him that he looks “different.” He asks, “good different, or bad different?” to which she replies, “dignified different.” He tells her that she looks “happy.” Julie tells him that she’s found her place in the world and has enrolled in art school. She smoothly asks if Tom has brought a date to the wedding and is happy to hear that he has not.

Abigail enlists Dr. Carson (Paul Greene) to help her prepare the meal for the wedding reception. As they are discussing her ambitions for the big day, Frank arrives, with flowers in hand, and Abigail is overjoyed to see him. Frank tells her that there isn’t anything that could keep him from being there for Jack and Elizabeth’s wedding. Abigail tells him how happy everyone is going to be to see him and invites him to join her and Cody for dinner.

At nightfall, Bill, the Mountie, and their prisoner attempt to escape the outpost. The Mountie distracts the outlaws with random gunfire at the treetops while Bill sneaks outside and incapacitates the two men.
Meanwhile, in Hope Valley, Jack and Elizabeth take an evening stroll through town. They discuss their wedding plans, how much they appreciate their friends and community, and how happy they are to have Julie and Tom in town for their big day. Elizabeth asks Jack if he’s seen Bill this evening, and he tells her that he has no idea where Bill has gone. She then tells him that Bill left town to take care of Mountie business for him, to which Jack replies, “that was really nice of him.”

Ruby, Anna (Kadence Kendall Roach), Opal (Ava Grace Cooper), Phillip (Liam Hughes), Cody and Robert sneak into the schoolhouse to rehearse their jobs for the wedding. As Cody lights the final candle, he knocks over the pillars that the lit candles are on and a fire breaks out in the building. The children run out, but they quickly realize that Opal is stuck inside. Jack and Elizabeth’s walk leads them to just outside of the schoolhouse as the building goes up in flames. The children tell Jack that Opal is stuck inside, and he runs into the burning building to save her. The townspeople come running up to help, and Lee leads them in creating a bucket brigade to put out the fire. Elizabeth panics when she realizes that Jack is inside, and Lee must hold on to her to keep her from running in after him. Moments later, Jack emerges from the schoolhouse with a limp Opal in his arms. He hands her over to Dr. Carson and then joins Lee and the rest of the town as they work together to extinguish the flames.

Opal spends the night in the infirmary because of smoke inhalation. She wakes up to Miss Thatcher and Dr. Carson talking. She asks Miss Thatcher if she’s missed the wedding and if she still gets to be the flower girl. Elizabeth tells her that she hasn’t missed a thing and that she needs to rest to get better. Cody and Ruby admit to Elizabeth that it was their fault that the building caught fire. Elizabeth tells them that it was an accident and that she understands that they only wanted the wedding to be perfect.

Rosemary, Lee, Dottie (Erica Carroll), Florence (Loretta Walsh), Mr. Yost, Abigail and Jack meet at the schoolhouse to assess the damages. Elizabeth arrives moments later to find that the building was badly damaged and that her wedding dress was lost in the fire. Jack suggests that they either postpone the wedding or get married outside dressed in the clothes on their back, but Abigail protests and says, “no, we have a day and a night to make everything right.” The others worry that there isn’t enough time to remake a wedding dress and more decorations, but Abigail reminds them that they can do anything they put their minds to if they work together. Dottie offers to donate all the supplies needed to make Elizabeth another dress, and Mr. Yost offers to donate anything they could use from his mercantile. Lee points out that the walls are still intact, so with a little bit of paint and some elbow grease the building can be restored. Elizabeth worries that it’s too much to ask for, and her friends remind her that she’s not asking – they are all volunteering – and they immediately get to work.

Mr. Thatcher (Garwin Sanford) arrives in Hope Valley, and Elizabeth greets him and tells him about the fire. He enters the schoolhouse and sees everyone working hard to restore the building. He’s surprised to find out that everyone is volunteering their time. Jack says they “like to think of it as being neighborly,” to which Mr. Thatcher replies that he’s “not a neighbor, but [he is] family,” and he’d like to help.

While painting, Jack and Lee talk about pre-wedding jitters. Jack admits that he’s “shaking in [his] boots” and Lee assures him that he was a wreck before his wedding to Rosemary, too. He tells him to forget about the ceremony and the guests and just focus on Elizabeth and the fact that this will be the day that they become man and wife forever.
The ladies work together on Elizabeth’s dress while the men put the finishing touches on the schoolhouse. Faith’s attention to detail comes in handy as she perfectly recreates the beadwork from the original dress. When the ladies run out of lace, Rosemary offers to deconstruct her own wedding dress to use the lace for Elizabeth’s dress. Elizabeth worries that it is all too much and offers to wear another gown that she already owns, but the ladies assure her that they specialize in miracles and that it will all be done in time.

In the morning, Mr. Thatcher arrives at Elizabeth’s house to check on her and to bring her a gift from her mother. When Elizabeth admits she’s nervous, he tells her not to be because she is ”marrying a good man” that is “devoted to [her].” Elizabeth admits that she’s waited a long time to hear her father say those words. He gives her a beautiful headband that her mother wore on her own wedding day. Elizabeth places it on her head and looks in the mirror. Her father looks on lovingly and says that he sees so much of her mother in her. Mr. Thatcher appears solemn, and Elizabeth asks, “What is it?” He admits that he thinks of her as his little girl and that it’s hard to see her grown and moving on. Elizabeth assures him that although she’s grown, she’ll always be his little girl.

Elizabeth meets Abigail and Rosemary for tea to receive all the wedded bliss advice she’ll ever need. They tell her that marriage is about love, kindness, devotion and honesty. Rosemary says that she and Lee “always talk about everything that’s on [their] minds; [she does] most of the talking, but Lee is an excellent listener, most of the time.” Abigail assures her that it’s okay if she and Jack don’t always agree on everything and Rosemary chimes in that “it’s okay to make mistakes; Lee makes most of them, but [she] always forgive[s] him because nobody’s perfect.” Elizabeth asks, “Nobody?” to which Rosemary replies, “Even me, occasionally.” Abigail tells her that the most important thing to remember is that “as a married couple, [they’ll] be sharing [their] lives together, which means sharing [her] heart.

At the jailhouse, Jack, dressed in red serge for his wedding, worries that something has happened to Bill. Jack tells Tom that he’s concerned because Bill still hasn’t returned from his Mountie business. Tom assures him that everything will be okay and tells him to just focus on his wedding day. Jack and Tom share a sweet moment in which Tom tells him that their father would be so proud of him because he’s a Mountie and he has found a great woman to share his life with. Jack tells him their father would be proud of him, too. Jack has a moment of panic when it’s time for him to head to the schoolhouse for the ceremony because he remembers that Bill, who is yet to return, has the wedding rings.

Jack arrives at the church and tells Lee about the missing rings. Lee says he has an idea and rushes out of the church. Lee runs to the café and asks Rosemary for her wedding band because he wants to loan their bands to Jack and Elizabeth for the ceremony. Just as Rosemary begins to remove her ring, Bill enters the café with Jack’s and Elizabeth’s rings!
Bill arrives at the perfectly decorated schoolhouse just in time for the ceremony. Elizabeth gives word that she’s ready, and the ceremony begins. The children do their jobs perfectly. Opal and Phillip are the most adorable flower girl and ringbearer Hope Valley has ever seen. Everyone takes their places, and the curtains open to reveal a stunning Elizabeth dressed in a beautiful lace gown. Jack looks on lovingly as his bride walks down the aisle escorted by a very proud Mr. Thatcher. Pastor Frank begins the ceremony quoting I Corinthians and then leads the couple to say their vows.

Jack devotedly says, “Elizabeth, I choose you and no other. Your happiness is the only question I want to spend my life answering. Your heart is the only flame I will endeavor to keep alight. Before you said yes to marrying me, I was already yours in every way. So, I marry you today without hesitation or doubt. I’m committed to you absolutely. I love you with everything that I am, forever.”

Eyes filled with tears, Elizabeth replies “Jack, I never expected to find love when I came to Coal Valley, but somewhere along the way, without even realizing it was happening, you became the most important person in my life. You’re my shoulder to cry on, my favorite to dream with and my greatest surprise. I’d offer you my heart, but the truth is you’ve had it for quite some time now. So instead, let me give you my soul. I love you Jack Thornton. From chalk dust to eternity, I’m yours.”
They exchange rings and pledge to love and honor each other. Frank pronounces them man and wife, and Jack doesn’t even wait for Frank to finish saying he may kiss the bride before he plants a huge kiss on his wife.

The saloon is decorated beautifully for the reception. As the townspeople take turns congratulating the happy couple, Rosemary and Abigail toast to the success of the wedding, Julie invites Tom to her art show in Hamilton, and he expresses interest in going.
Lee announces that it’s time for Best Man and Matron of Honor toasts, and Bill steps up and says, “Jack, you fight the good fight, my friend; you protect the community; you deserve the very best. Luckily you found it in Elizabeth. To the Bride and Groom, may [you] always be as happy as [you] are today.”

Then Abigail says, “I’ve had the great honor of watching this romance blossom into a love story. The sparks were certainly flying when Jack Thornton and Elizabeth Thatcher first laid eyes on each other, but there was no denying that something special was unfolding before my eyes – love. A love that doesn’t come along every day. A love that is undeniable. A love that can’t be broken and that will endure. A love that lifetimes are built upon.”

After toasts are complete, Elizabeth has her first dance with her father. He reminisces about when they used to dance with her feet on top of his; she giggles and tells him that she doesn’t think he wants her to do that now. Jack cuts in to “finally” dance with his wife. Tom and Julie join them on the dance floor, as do Clara and Jesse, Carter and Faith, Frank and Abigail, Lee and Rosemary and the rest of the town. The saloon is filled with so much love.

When Calls the Heart: My Heart is Yours is the perfect combination of romance, drama, suspense and action. A message of loyalty and community resonates throughout the entire episode and inspires the viewer to reach out and be neighborly. The entire cast shines this week as they work as an incredible ensemble to ensure the delivery of the perfect wedding day. The return of Garwin Sanford as Mr. Thatcher is a pleasant surprise. It is beautiful to see his walls come down as he expresses his love for his little girl. The reunion of Tom and Julie is an exciting promise for the future. It is wonderful to see how much these characters have grown and how that lends itself to the potential for a relationship going forward. As only a bride can, Krakow steals the show this week with her phenomenal portrayal of Elizabeth.

The moments she has with her father are especially touching and wonderfully conveyed by Krakow and Sanford. On the other end of the emotional spectrum, the viewer can feel every bit of the anxiety running through Krakow as Elizabeth must be physically restrained from running into a burning building after Jack.
Jack and Elizabeth’s wedding day exceeds expectations. Their vows are so sweet, and Krakow and Lissing deliver them perfectly and with so much love in their eyes for these characters. With their much-anticipated wedding behind them and a promise of a home and children in their future, I look forward to watching their “happily ever after” unfold, as they go forward as Mr. and Mrs. Jack Thornton.

Tune in to the Hallmark Channel next Sunday, March 25th at 9p ET for the next episode of When Calls The Heart!

**All photos Copyright 2018 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Ricardo Hubbs**