Hiatus Begins...

[youngeratheart.livejournal.com]

Fun times are gone?

No, not at all.

Let's start some activities.

Comment with the best/worst moments of the season:

Best Romance
Best Family Moment
Favorite Horse


Those are just suggestions. Add as many comments or thoughts as you've got. Talk about what you'd like to see in season five or in the books.

Let's be creative! :)

Comments

[youngeratheart.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree on Caleb and Ashley. I really liked them in this season.

I doubt they'll let go of the deadbeat dad or half-brother, unfortunately. I didn't like what they did with Lou this season.

Well, many things are different in the books versus the show. For example, Ty was never on probation. He did drop out of school, but that was to take care of his family, and his family did not like him working with horses. He worked with Marion before she died.

Lou never broke up with Scott. They got married and eventually had a daughter, but that happened in the last couple books. There was no dude ranch. No Peter. No Dubai.

There was no Caleb in the books, no Chase. Ashley was always fairly snobbish and unreasonable, being vulnerable only for a little while, and she went back to being cruel to Amy almost immediately.

Soraya wanted to be an actress in the books, was more dreamier and less level-headed. She didn't own her own horse so she came over to ride the ones at Heartland all the time.

Ben Stillman was around for a lot longer. He was less stuck up, and he started using Heartland's methods with his horse. He was pretty good friends with Amy and Ty at the end.

Tim Fleming wasn't around as much in the books. He had abandoned them, and when they finally managed to get in touch with him, he was remarried and living in Australia with a new family. He did give Amy a show jumper and was disappointed when she sold him, but Heartland mattered more to her.

Lisa Stillman was never as big in the books and never dated Jack.

There was no Mallory in the books.

Mrs. Bell died in the first book, and Heartland took Sugarfoot in.

I could go on with differences, but those are some of the more major ones.

[pigtailedgirl.livejournal.com]

I adored Caleb and Ashley this season. Especially the final part with her going off to school and his support and eventual following. I'm going to miss them so much if they don't come back.

I think my favorite family moment was uh between Lou and Tim over Tim's horsetraining girlfriend. That was one good smackdown by Lou. But I feel this stuff was weaker this season.

My favorite horse: The two sleigh pulling horses that followed Sugarfoot around.

I have to admit by the finale I was really disappointed in this season. Except for Ashley and Caleb, every character was starting to grate because of what I felt was writer manufactured drama.

I mean Amy and Chase and Ty and the on and off. That really bothered me that Amy, both with her job and her romance, couldn't seem to clue in and gain confidence. She let Chase manipulate her and she blamed Ty over their relationship while she continued to interact with Chase even though he treated her badly. She seemed so unconfident in her work, needing constant boosting and a whole ep, where her mother guides her.

Lou and Peter's on and off fights and angst. That and I hate baby drama, and Lou's pregnancy had the pat TV drama end.

Tim's on and off waffling over his family vs. himself. What an ass he was in the final eps.

Jack and Mallory. I really feel like Mallory was not treated fairly by the family and especially Jack. They excluded her from the family round-up, the poor girl gets kidnapped, and instead of concern she is blamed. They put the chores on her but seemed to be driving her out of the going ons in the home. She was right to walk away and gain perspective but the show and Jack guilted her back by making her bad at her job and using Copper.

It was bad writing this year. The same drama issue ep. after ep. Lou is unhappy over Peter and Dubai. Amy wants Chase wants Ty. Jack wants farm help. Even Caleb and Ashley. Will the mother break them up this ep.? either expand out over multiple episodes and not have it resolved by nights end(NOT what I'd like mind you) or build your plots so the character's aren't turning the same emotional circles every ep.

[youngeratheart.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I really liked Caleb and Ashley this season. Actually, like you, they were almost the only ones I could stand by the end. I was rather sick of everyone else. Well, and I still liked Jack.

I've never been a big fan of will-they-won't-they, which the first couple seasons had enough of that with Ty and Amy so that when the on and off thing happened, I was pretty disgusted. It seems worse to me that they obviously still care for each other, but they're just being... stupid. The reason they broke up was stupid, too. Every time Chase was around I was frustrated with Amy and with Soraya. Amy did lack her usual confidence this season, and a lot of the choices she made she would never have done before. She never let anyone bully her into training horses against her instincts before.

Lou and Peter... I hated that from the beginning, so I wasn't happy watching it continue, especially into a baby. I was actually hoping in the first bit, when Lou was so upset over Dubai, that she would leave him.

Tim is a character I never really liked on the series, and I didn't find his actions all that surprising. I wish he'd been written more like the Tim in the books. He was occasionally insensitive, like when he gave Amy and Lou a horse to share that Lou couldn't ride, but he still wasn't so annoying that I disliked seeing him.

I was rather sick of Mallory's attitude before this season. Her Jake versus Badger thing had made me almost hate her, and so when she had an attitude this season, justified or not, I was happy Jack came down on her. I wish someone had done it before.

I would like to see the show break free again from the same tired subjects and circles and find more and new stories. Take the focus back to the horses. The books usually had one horse as a focus, and the story came naturally around that. I want to see that again.

[pigtailedgirl.livejournal.com]

My goodness, I completely agree about the will they/won't they aspect. I had come to get alittle use to it, which was perhaps why I was forgiving of Mallory after the Jake vs. Badger drama ended. That was also last season and she finally made a choice and stuck to it. I just wasn't expecting it from Ty and Amy again, and in this way that keep going over and over the smae emotions with Amy.

I also felt really bad for Soraya. I wanted to see her working Lou's Ranch, not being stuck as a used friend/girlfriend.

I'm completely agreeing with you on Lou and Peter. I like with Amy and Tim and exploring her family role. That said, she's my least favorite character. She's very self-focused.

Tim's very different in the books? That's interesting.

I'd definitely like more horse training/ranch life stories too.

[youngeratheart.livejournal.com]

I do like that Mallory made a decision and stuck to it when it came down to Jake vs. Badger. That I did appreciate and did make me like her character a lot more, but she's always grated on me a little just because she was... I'm not sure what they thought they needed her character for (she's not in the books. At all.) except for the younger audience, I suppose, and characters her age, especially girls, are written to annoying stereotype. I don't know that Mallory always fit it, and she does contribute to the family and story in meaningful ways at times, but I think my initial reaction colored her character for me throughout the series, and when she started acting like one of my spoiled younger sisters--That's it! That's why I can't stand Mallory half the time, because she acts a lot like my sister who, in her lovely teenage rebellion, stole my car and I got told that was my fault. So I have a hard time dealing with Mallory's flaws and a hard time forgiving her for them.

I had thought the Ty/Amy will-they-won't-they was over, and I'm sick of seeing it. I still like them together, still believe they were meant to be together (especially the book versions of them) but the show is pushing me towards hating the idea.

Soraya was badly used this season, and I had enjoyed in the past where she was more than just Amy's tag along friend following Ben around (which she does to an almost annoying degree in the books). I felt bad for her.

I was just rewatching Rising from the Ashes, and I was reminded of how much I liked Lou and Scott together. Lou is self-focused, and I think she actually got worse while dating Peter, especially around the wedding. Lou in the books wasn't as bad. She and Amy still had misunderstandings, but she was very dedicated to Heartland, and her heart was there just as much as Amy's was, even if she was the practical business one.

I do really recommend checking out the books. Over the summer, the comm will be discussing many of the book based episodes, but just in general, they're a good read and I find the differences fascinating.

I live in an area that is fairly rural with farm communities, and they're shrinking more and more. The lifestyle is becoming extinct, and that's something they could cover on the show instead of doing the same family drama that everyone does.

[pigtailedgirl.livejournal.com]

I think I like Mallory so much because while Amy and Lou aren't that old, they run with the ranch life like adults and sorta have the direction they are going figured out. So Mallory can give me a glimpse of growing up when you are still immature and how Jack interacts and raises people in his grandad way. I love Jack's doting.

Totally understand why you'd be turned off her though from your personal story. Eep.

I think Ty and Amy could be better focused by exploring the drama through their jobs and still lingering social divide, not fears about other romances.

Yes, Lou got worse when she became about her and Peter. I too wish she'd have dumped him early this season.

I'd love to check out the books but I'm not sure I want to buy them. I was a young adult series buyer in my youth and ended up with too much that I outgrew. I'll be browsing libraries when I get the chance.

[youngeratheart.livejournal.com]

Mallory does have that. Amy kind of got forced to grow up before she was ready, and there are times when that is clear, and others not so much. I do enjoy most of Jack and Mallory's interaction, though.

Yeah, it was not a situation I would wish on anyone, and whenever I see someone acting like her... *sigh*

The demands of Ty's schooling and the fact that Amy could have but didn't go to vet school could make for some very interesting drama on its own. It doesn't have to be about their romance, and that decision would put a strain on them.

It would have been better, I think, if she had.

I got into the books in my last year of high school/first year of college, so I'd argue that they're not ones that get outgrown, but I understand not wanting to get something that you wouldn't use. If you can get them from the library, then definitely do that. :)