Summer Rewatch Episode Discussion: Rising from the Ashes

[youngeratheart.livejournal.com]

Sorry not to post this sooner. I'm not feeling very well today, and I should like to crawl back into bed.

I'll probably be doing my own rewatch tomorrow, but just to get this started, the discussion post!

Comments

[youngeratheart.livejournal.com]

I really did like how this episode gave more depth to Jack, showing just how much Heartland mattered to him, how it was in his blood.

The way the community pulled together to help Heartland is just... amazing. I find myself almost crying when I see that part where they drive up and everyone is working on the barn.

I miss seeing Soraya's mom around. She added something to the show that's missing now.

The ongoing debate over whether Jack was going to have to sell Heartland and what he'd been giving up if he did, the promise he'd be breaking and the way it would have destroyed him is very compelling, the reason I wanted to go over this episode again. I remember thinking, not just this time when I watched it, but also last time, that it could very well have been the season finale, or perhaps the debate over selling it or Lou moving to get a job to support Heartland could have gone on longer.

From the moment Tim was on screen, I disliked him. I kind of wince every time I see him because something is bound to go wrong when he's around.

Amy did look very nice for the dance. I liked the way that she and Ty worked together throughout the episode, something I very much miss seeing.

I know I always thought the future of Heartland was Amy and Ty, but that was my opinion from the first book.

Thoughts on the Episode

[rainpaintwrites.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed this one - because it focused on the main Heartland characters, the ones that I actually care about. I don't really care about Ben, Soraya (can't say that I understand why she and Amy are even friends in the show), Ashley, etc.

This is the only episode I've seen with Ben, but he irritated me. I mean, in the first book, he's pretty annoying, but he softens a lot throughout the series. I got the impression from this episode that he's been at Heartland for at least a little while, but he's still quite obnoxious.

I'd read the comments about the episode first, so I knew what to expect when Amy, Lou, and Jack were driving back from the hospital, but it was still lovely to /see/ everyone working to rebuild the barn.

The moment where Ty's fixing pasta - it kind of made me laugh the way that he said it - past-uh. I guess that's how you'd say it with a slight Canadian accident.

Anyway, that scene, the dance, Scott's vet reunion dinner, and Grandpa's going to the hospital told me that this episode was at least slightly drawn from "One Day You'll Know." That was always my favorite of the Heartland books, partly because I think that it was fantastically well-written for a book intended for middle-schoolers. The way that every single one of the mini-plots came together by the end - I was very impressed. I wonder what the episode would have been like if it had drawn even further from the book.(But it would have to stick /very/ closely to the book to please me!)

Jack's flashbacks were...interesting, but I think I would have liked them better if they were subtler. I never thought that Jack would sell the land to Val - he's too principled and stubborn and loyal for that.