Heartland

This has been a tough blog for me to write, especially after reading your joyous reaction to last Sunday's episode (610)... and knowing what's going to transpire over the course of the last eight episodes of this sixth season.

Don't get me wrong. It's not that there's going to be a lack of drama, comedy and fun; these episodes, starting with this Sunday (Episode 611 - Blowing Smoke) are going to be loaded with everything you would want in a Heartland episode.

It's just that episode 610 -- The Road Ahead -- ended with everything either happy or looking oh so promising. Yes, we still haven't resolved the Miranda/Shane issues with Tim (and they'll be back this season, trust me!), but if last Sunday's episode had been the season finale then some fans in Canada would be thrilled.

But it isn't.

It's like watching your favourite team play a perfect game. Whether it's baseball, basketball, football, soccer or hockey, unless that perfect game is the final game of the season, there'll be more games for you to watch, and they may not be as rewarding as that perfect game earlier in the season.

And for some, that's the way it'll be with Heartland. For the remainder of the season we'll have interesting stories, but it won't be all that rosy. We're going to have squabbles, misunderstandings and all out fights. There'll be relatives returning and new owners and problems accompanying both. We'll have joy but we'll also experience tragedy, as I'm sorry to report the series is going to lose one of its horses, and it might not be the first horse you think of.

But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. After all, I did make a New Year's resolution to not give too much away. So with that in mind, let me tell you a little about Episode 611, Blowing Smoke, the 96th episode of the Heartland saga.

Written by Ken Craw and directed by TW Peacocke, this Sunday's episode sees the return of Jeremy Hughes (played by guest star Rhys Ward), who forces Amy to make a tough decision about Phoenix when his horse, Buckingham, sustains a serious injury that threatens his jumping career. Jeremy can be quite manipulative, and his methods are somewhat deceptive, as you're going to learn.

Also in this episode, Ty invites Amy to hang out with his new vet school friends, and the event doesn't go as well as hoped, Peter leaves on another business trip, leaving Lou to deal with Katie, Georgie and their fire insurance claim all on her own. Exhausted and frustrated she vents to Caleb about her marriage and he takes it the wrong way. And Georgie has a crazy idea (of course) which gets the whole family involved.

Mallory (Jessica Amlee) returns and she's still smitten with Jeremy, and she doesn't see the same qualities in the guy that Ty, Amy (and you and I) do.

So that's all I am going to reveal concerning this week's new episode, other than to add that it will be airing at the regular time this Sunday, at 7:00pm (7:30NT) and of course to remind you that there will also be another new episode the following Sunday as well (I did promise 3 new episodes to kick off the new year!).

Speaking of reminding, this Saturday and Sunday Amber Marshall and Graham Wardle (Amy & Ty) will be joining some other stars of CBC shows and making appearances at the Lime Ridge Mall in Hamilton on Saturday, January 12 and at the Sherway Gardens Mall in Etobicoke (Toronto) on Sunday, January 13. It will be a free meet & greet, and if you are in the area I hope you can drop by. Here's a link to all of the details, including what other CBC stars will be on hand and when: http://www.cbc.ca/toronto/community/mt/2012/12/cbc-live-on-the-road.html

And here's a little map as an extra reminder:

Now I 've noticed a lot of comments in here and on Facebook from American Heartland fans who are wondering what's going on. I was wondering as well, and so I found out some answers. In a nutshell...

In the US, GMCtv (http://watchgmctv.com) is the only network authorised to broadcast Heartland and having just played A Heartland Christmas, they are taking a hiatus and then will start up with new (to the US) episodes beginning in March. They will then run episodes through the end of Season 4. Once these have played then Netflix in the US will be able to make these episodes available (sometime after August). Seasons 5 and 6 will play on GMCtv over the next two years.

At the moment GMCtv has exclusive rights to Heartland in the United States. If this changes, I'll let you know.

If you have Comcast you can watch CBC and the current episodes when they air. If you don't, please do not ask how to see Season 5 or the current Season 6 online, because the only authorized website that can stream these episodes is this one that you are now on, and it is geoblocked so you can only access the episodes if you are in Canada. Sorry, but CBC is not allowed to make the series available outside of Canada. It's exactly the same as how US Networks (NBC, ABC, CBS etc.) geoblock their programs so Canadians cannot watch their programs online.

If you absolutely can't wait and you wish to purchase Heartland episodes, Seasons 1 through 5 are available through Amazon.com, and Season 6 will be on sale likely in September.

So that's all I have for you this fine January Thursday. Remember, Canada -- the second of three new Heartland episodes is only 3 days away, this Sunday on CBC Television. I hope you can catch it and then let us know what you think, cause we all love reading your thoughts on the series.

Until next week...

BW

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