Is Lucas Actually in Danger? WCTH Season 10 Finale Tried to Make Us Worry, Failed
Few people were concerned about Lucas' fate because of how boring and uninspired the season finale cliffhanger was.
This past Sunday saw the conclusion of the tenth season of When Calls the Heart, Hallmark's romantic period drama set on the Canadian frontier in the early 20th century. What was once a fascinating love story has transformed into a confusing jumble of irritating plot twists and cliffhangers. Don't get us wrong: the show continues to deliver compelling storylines, but regrettably, Season 10 focused more on the supporting characters rather than Elizabeth and her suitors.
Fans were outraged by Elizabeth's decision to end her engagement to Lucas, even though it looked like it was shaping up to be a perfect happy ending (despite the fact that she ends up with the Mountie in Janette Oke's book). However, nothing angered viewers more than the attempt to end the season on a cliffhanger about Lucas' well-being. It merely demonstrated once again that you can't appease the fans with lazy writing.
Final Cliffhanger…
The final episode of Season 10 concluded with Lucas, having won the gubernatorial election in the capital, stepping out to greet the cheering crowd, only to have a nearby car suddenly switch on its headlights. We already sensed that the scriptwriters were attempting to generate some suspense by making us worry about what would happen to him next. But in reality, many of us probably didn't feel anything special at that moment.
The subsequent scene sees Elizabeth and Nathan on the verge of confessing their feelings to each other, only to have a breathless Bill ride in on his horse and tell him to follow him immediately because something might have happened to Lucas.
…Failes To Generate Hype
The attempt to create suspense falls flat because nothing is said about the terrible thing that might have happened to Lucas. He didn't get shot in Capitol City; he didn't get run over by that car whose headlights came on so suddenly. All that happened was that Lucas saw someone in the car, and all the subsequent commotion in Hope Valley only served to remind us that Lucas was still on the show (even though Elizabeth had essentially driven him out of town).
New showrunner Lindsay Sturman confirmed that it was indeed supposed to have been a cliffhanger.
'He's a huge part of Hope Valley and always will be. But there's definitely a cliffhanger and a few mysteries packed in there.'
But she then went and diffused it the very next moment by saying that Lucas was definitely returning to the show in Season 11, instantly dispelling the supposed mystery that so few people were invested in, to begin with. Perhaps it's high time showrunners learned that lazy cliffhangers can no longer generate hype and resuscitate weak ratings.
Source: ET.