Stream It Or Skip It: ‘When Calls The Heart’ Season 11 on The Hallmark Channel Is Sticking To Its Formula As A Cozy, Family Values-Filled Soap Opera

When Calls The Heart is a flagship series for the Hallmark Channel and has been for over ten years. With the premiere of the show’s 11th season, does the show’s quality and the characters’ storylines still hold up?

WHEN CALLS THE HEART (SEASON 11): STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: It’s election night. Lucas Bouchard (Chris McNally) walks out of his campaign headquarters after having just been elected Governor. If this scene feels familiar, it’s because it’s how season ten ended, but now we actually see what happened to Lucas – as he steps off a curb, he calls out to someone, asking “What are you doing here?” and gunshots ring out. The next thing we see is Sheriff Bill (Jack Wagner) racing toward Elizabeth (Erin Krakow) and “Mountie” Nathan (Kevin McGarry) to tell them, “It’s Lucas! He’s been shot.”

The Gist: Elizabeth rushed to Lucas’s bedside at the hospital where there was serious concern that he may not survive the two gunshot wounds he sustained, but after the opening credits roll, it’s now four months later and he has managed a miraculous recovery.

Nathan has been on the road investigating who shot Lucas, who has no memory of that night, and soon everyone reads in the paper that the perpetrator, Clayton Pike, was finally arrested. But Bill drags it out of Nathan that he doesn’t think they’ve caught their man. Even though Pike is in jail, Bill thinks that the shady businessman Bernhardt Montague is actually behind the attempted murder, and Nathan agrees. This gives reporter Rosemary (Pascale Hutton) ample opportunity to meddle her way into the story, trying to find new information to break so she can nose her way into any new scoops to publish in the local paper.

With Lucas living in Capital City now and embracing life as Governor, Elizabeth can’t help but move on herself. Though she seems like she’s still wondering where things could go with Nathan, she keeps dropping hints to Rosemary that she’s ready to move on to the next phase of her life. While Elizabeth seems unsure what that means for her romantic life, she definitely knows one way to shake things up: with a dramatic new haircut.

The citizens of Hope Valley gather around their radios to hear Lucas make a special address; he is announcing a new initiative to develop a hotel and resort in Hope Valley. (He received a parcel of land from Leland Coulter to do so.) Lucas announces that his office will be accepting proposals from private investors who might want to pitch their ideas for the resort. With the whole town abuzz over what this could mean for them, the season is set up for plenty of excitement and drama over who will develop the land and what’s going to happen in Hope Valley. As the moon rises over the town, everyone sits outside to watch the planets aligning next to the moon for a beautifully illuminated night sky.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? When Calls The Heart is like an early 20th century period drama version Sweet Magnolias, Virgin River, or Heart of Dixie, featuring strong female leads rounded out by a charming ensemble of townsfolk and tons of soapy, and occasionally life-altering, moments.

Our Take: When Calls The Heart is one of those soap operas where, despite the characters facing incredibly adversity and even tragedy, it remains non-threatening and easy to digest at every turn. As is the, uh, hallmark, of most Hallmark shows and movies, even though we’re presented with characters who are flawed or have hurdles to jump, they remain committed to being pleasant but determined, strong in the face of adversity and vulnerability. It’s aspirational more than realistic: of course this is not the way real people behave, at least not all the time, but it makes you wish there were real towns like Hope Valley where you could find such decent people. There’s nothing a beautiful moon in the sky can’t fix, that sort of thing.

This season, things have been shaken up, with Lucas having moved to become Governor, and Elizabeth trying to find herself, although, thus far, it doesn’t feel like all that much has changed for her, since she doesn’t seem to know how quickly things with Nathan should be moving. But new chapters in some other characters lives are definitely being written right away: Faith (Andrea Brooks) is devastated when Fiona decides not to move back to Hope Valley, but just as she’s wallowing in the emptiness left by the loss of her friend, an elderly patient asks her to care for her granddaughter, Lily. Instant mom! And with Nathan and Bill still sniffing out who could have shot Lucas, there’s a mystery element to grab onto this season, too. When Calls The Heart is the opposite of prestige TV, with its relatively low stakes and characters that are more broad archetypes than real people, but you can’t deny that it’s addictive, especially eleven seasons in, to see where else the show can go and where it may end up.

Parting Shot: As Rosemary, Leland, Elizabeth and Nathan sit outside at dusk, they watch the rare occurrence as Venus and Jupiter align in the sky next to a sparkly crescent moon. “It’s so beautiful,” Elizabeth remarks, looking up. “Yeah, it is,” Nathan replies looking right at her. Ooooooh.

Memorable Dialogue: “Lately, I’ve just been feeling. there’s a change in the air… and inside me,” Elizabeth tells Rosemary. She’s decided to give herself a makeover, starting with a new haircut but… she’s considering a life makeover, too.

Our Call: STREAM IT! I can’t help but compare When Calls The Heart to Grey’s Anatomy, which just kicked off its 20th season. With regard to both shows, they’re not quite the same as when they first premiered, but both have been successful at firmly establishing their main character and the world that revolves around her. As WCTH‘s devoted fans watch Elizabeth Thornton move into the next phase of her life, the investment we’ve already made in her continues to pay off.

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.