What a difference a week makes. Last Sunday night Jade had basically alienated herself on Heartland after holding a party at the dude ranch, and this week she and Georgie were starring in their own buddy comedy.
Not that it was easy. Things are never easy at Heartland. But thanks to some mighty big patience on the part of Jack, Jade turned her snark into smiles. Learning that Jade was upset with her mother for going to Toronto and finding a new man went a long way to making me understand why the teen was being so hard to get along with. And why she was holding both horses and humans at arm’s length. Credit Georgie with cracking Jade’s hard shell via a mixture of compassion and stubbornness. And give Dash the horse some credit too; if it hadn’t have been for him Jade may not have bonded with the Heartland crew. Putting Georgie in the position of “boss” over Jade was a pretty brilliant idea by Jack: it forced Georgie to test her own patience–something she’s had a short supply of with Amy lately–and delegate tasks too.
Meanwhile, Ty further evolved as a character–and a man–by taking on the poachers. I had a feeling that Bob wasn’t the laid-back stoner we’d been introduced to. The fact he took money from the poachers and then looked the other way when they slaughtered bears for their gall bladders got me hot under the collar too, so I was totally behind Ty’s high-flying tackle of that one dude. Amy may not be happy with the direction Ty is going in his life but I’m think it’s a fascinating story angle. Reporting Bob to Wildlife and Game was a bold move and apologizing to Scott was a mature one. And I’m happy that Ty is back working with Scott again; their partnership is just too good to ignore.
Alas, Amy and Ty’s partnership is still fizzling. The most awkward scene of the night was at the end, when Amy and Ty passed each other on the road. After a few stilted lines of dialogue, Ty looked off into the distance and rebuffed Amy’s “I miss you” with a dimissive “take care of yourself.” Ouch.
Heartland airs Sundays at 7 p.m. on CBC.
