Heartland Season 16 Episode 2 Recap

The new season of Heartland is in full swing.

This Sunday we got another exciting episode: Amy and Logan dealt with a troublesome horse and an even more difficult owner, Katie was figuring out her place in the world, and Lou helped Rick in a big way.

Want to know more? Then keep on reading this recap of Heartland season 16 episode 2!

Accusations

At the end of Heartland episode 1601, we saw Amy agree to work with Moondance, Peyton Westfield’s prize-winning jumping horse that Amy and Lyndy helped wrangle after the truck that was transporting the horse blew a tire and went off the road.

Now that Amy limited her time at the Youth Center, Amy could focus on client horses once again. But helping Moondance definitely wasn’t easy.

For one, Logan was not happy to see Amy work with Peyton. After all, last season (in episode 1503) Peyton’s mom did accuse Logan and his friends of being responsible for the string of robberies that were plaguing Hudson.

Logan’s name was cleared, of course, but Paula never did apologize to Logan or any of the other kids, so Logan couldn’t understand how Amy could work with the Westfields after all that.

It got so bad that Logan even accused Amy of capitalizing on her Miracle Girl fame and doing it just for the big paycheck.

Luckily, Katie set him straight, telling Logan that Amy had a gift and she just wanted to use it. And although it took a while, Logan eventually got over his own insecurities (more on that later), apologized to Amy, and saw why Amy needed to work with Moondance.

And secondly, the fact that Peyton’s own actions were the cause of why Moondance was acting the way he was, definitely didn’t help the situation either.

Too spoiled

After watching Peyton interact with Moondance and working with the horse herself, Amy had a feeling as to what was going on with the animal.

Peyton suggested that the cause for Moondance’s misbehavior was that the trainers at Westfield Stables were using cruel techniques on Moondance. Yet, when Amy went to Westfield herself to question Moondance’s trainer Gerald, her initial suspicions were confirmed.

It wasn’t that someone was hurting Moondance or even that the accident had messed the horse up, it was more so that Peyton was coddling Moondance too much. She was already indulging the horse’s every whim previously but after the accident, Peyton really spoiled Moondance to the point that the horse had become aggressive and dangerous.

And since nobody at Westfield Stables dared to speak up to the owner’s daughter for fear of losing their jobs, it was up to Amy to tell Peyton that she’s spoiling Moondance too much.

That, of course, got Amy fired. After all, Peyton is not used to hearing that she’s doing something wrong. But Amy didn’t give up on Moondance.

She talked to Gerald again when he and two other staff members came to Heartland Ranch to pick up Moondance, and convinced him to give her the security camera footage of Moondance’s aggressive behavior. Because Peyton couldn’t argue with solid proof.

Although Gerald couldn’t promise anything, in the end, he came through for Amy.

The footage clearly showed that Moondance had no respect and if things were to continue the way they were, Moondance will eventually seriously injure someone or worse. 

Unfortunately, Paula was there when Amy confronted Peyton about it and definitely wasn’t happy to see Amy not only accusing her daughter of wrongdoing but also realizing that one of her staff members handed the footage to Amy. So a threat of a lawsuit against Amy and job loss for Gerald later, Amy left Westfield without a solution.

Luckily, the security video footage and Logan’s words to Paula about throwing blame around seemed to work on Peyton. Because later that day Peyton showed up at Heartland asking Amy to work with Moondance again.

Peyton realized how dangerous Moondance’s behavior was becoming. So, she even agreed to Amy’s conditions just so Amy would work with the horse again.

What were the conditions, you ask?

Well, for one Peyton had to make sure that Gerald doesn’t get fired.

And secondly, Amy asked Peyton to get her mom to publicly apologize to the kids at the Youth Center. But even Peyton knew that that was a long shot, so Logan suggested that a generous donation would work even better.

READ NEXT: Heartland season 16 episode 3 Recap

So, when that was sorted, Amy continued to work with Peyton and Moondance, quickly making progress once Peyton stopped giving the horse treats every time he became difficult.

Change is scary

Speaking of Logan, as I mentioned earlier, Logan was dealing with his own problems in Heartland season 16 episode 2.

First, Logan blew up at Amy about her work with Peyton and her not working at the Youth Centre anymore. Then he started talking about not taking his chemistry final and therefore not graduating and not being able to not only go to college but also work at the Youth Centre and with Amy. And lastly, Logan was even rude to Katie when she tried to make him see that he’s wasting his talents.

But it wasn’t really about Amy or Katie or even the Westfields. Logan was just freaked out about all the changes that were happening in his life.

He was about to graduate high school which meant that soon his life might look completely different. And the fact that Amy wasn’t working at the Youth Centre that much anymore also didn’t help. After all, Logan looked up to Amy and even admitted that he wanted to be like her.

Luckily, Amy reassured Logan that just because she wasn’t at the Youth Centre that much anymore didn’t mean that she was abandoning Logan. She just wanted to focus on what she loves doing – working with client horses. And that she still wanted Logan to help her with that.

Couple that with the talk Logan overheard Amy and Lyndy have about change being scary but also necessary and even exciting (read it below) and with getting a little bit of closure by Peyton promising to get her mom to donate to the Youth Center, and Logan got his life back on track.

He apologized to Katie, got to studying for his chem final, and ended up passing it.  Meaning that Logan is going to graduate after all and, hopefully, go to college next fall.

Graduation jitters

But Logan wasn’t the only one wary of change. After all, another member of the Heartland family was about to graduate.

Lyndy was nearing her kindergarten graduation and having a hard time dealing with all the changes that would bring. She even threw her graduation outfit in the garbage. Luckily, her teacher Miss Clarissa saw that, fished the little cap and gown out of the trash, and handed them over to Jack who came to pick Lyndy up from kindergarten.

When Amy tried talking with Lyndy about it, the little girl insisted that that was just an accident and that everything was okay. However, it wasn’t and it showed.

Especially, when Lyndy got too attached to the calf Jack and Katie found while out on a ride that had been rejected by its mother and that they had to take care of while Jack found the little guy a new mom.

Because, when Lyndy heard Jack call his old friend Stumpy to ask him if Jack could bring the orphan calf over the next day so that it could bond with Stumpy’s jersey cow, Lyndy dragged the calf into her room in hopes of hiding it from Jack.

So, after Katie discovered the calf in Lyndy’s room, Amy knew she had to have a serious talk with her daughter.

Amy explained to Lyndy that although it might be hard and scary to say goodbye to kindergarten, change can also be good and exciting.

So, at the end of the episode, we saw Lyndy graduate with Amy, Jack, Lou, and Katie cheering her on, propelling Lyndy Borden into the next phase of her life.

Finding my place

If you saw any of the teasers that Heartland released on social media ahead of the season 16 premiere, then you probably already saw clips of Katie sitting by the pond and reading from a journal.

Well, in this episode we finally saw what was all that about.

At the start of the episode, we saw Katie helping Jack check on the calves because Lou told Katie it was either that or her spending the day at Lou’d office since Lou thought that Katie was spending too much time in her room and on her phone.

That’s when they found the orphan calf that Lyndy got so attached to. But when they settled the calf in the barn and they were feeding it, Katie admitted to Jack that she didn’t feel like she belonged both in Vancouver where she was frequently visiting her dad and at the ranch.

Jack, of course, was shocked at Katie’s revelation so he started suggesting Katie take up a hobby like roping or jumping. But Katie shot that idea down because rodeo really wasn’t her scene and she didn’t want to follow in Georgie’s footsteps either.

That made Jack realize his mistake and later he told Katie that she doesn’t have to have an interest in rodeo or jumping or anything. Katie, of course, started to say that if she did love any of those things she would fit in better at the ranch. However, her great-grandfather had something to say about that.

All this talk about Katie reminding Jack of his first wife Lyndy got Katie interested in learning more about who her great-grandmother was.

She found a couple of boxes of Lyndy’s old stuff stashed away in a closet. But that really didn’t help her much.

However, when Jack saw the boxes on Katie’s table the two got to talking about GG Lyndy some more.

And after Katie told Jack that she would like to know more about Lyndy and what she was like, he decided to find Lyndy’s old journals. After all, her journals might be a tad bit more inspiring to Katie than old clothes.

Katie was ecstatic about getting to actually read Lyndy’s words. So, at the end of the episode, Katie seemed a little more settled and secure about her place at the ranch and we got to hear some of Lyndy’s unrecorded lyrics.

You’re going to be a dad

Lastly, Lou’s storyline in Heartland season 16 episode 2 was a continuation of the one she had in the previous episode.

In the season 16 premiere, we saw Lou worry about Rick quitting his job only to reveal that he and his partner Carl are thinking about adopting a baby.

While at the start of this episode, we saw Rick anxiously asking Lou for a coffee. Lou was confused and a little amused by Rick’s erratic behavior (pacing around nervously, using words like stupendous and so on) but went along with it.

So, while having coffee at Maggie’s, after a bit of a rough start Rick finally worked up the nerve to ask Lou to be his personal reference for the adoption.

He admitted that Lou is the person he’s close to. Plus Lou already has gone through this process with Georgie and she’s also the Mayor therefore Rick figured she’d be perfect for it.

Lou of course felt, not only honored but also very touched. And when the day of the interview with the social worker came, she took it very seriously.

Some might say even too seriously. So much so that she ended up putting her foot in it during the interview and started rambling about how committed to his job Rick is only realizing that the social worker might have interpreted that as Rick being a workaholic after the interview was almost over.

Rick was already on the edge about the interview, so when he asked Lou how it went and Lou eventually admitted that she talked herself into a bit of a corner, it didn’t help with Rick’s nerves.

Therefore, not wanting to screw up Rick’s chance of having a kid, Lou chased down the social worker to explain what she meant about Rick being dedicated to his job.

But there was no need. After Lou’s passionate speech about the idea of a work-life balance being a myth and Rick and Carl making the most of the hand they’ve been dealt, the social worker told Lou that she had already approved Rick and Carl’s application.

So it was official, Rick’s having a kid.

Although it was good news, that also made Rick even more worried because he didn’t know how how to be a parent. Fortunately, Lou was there to assure her friend that even if he doesn’t feel ready, he will still do great.

And the two shared a tender moment of realization that Rick’s going to, indeed, be a dad.

I can’t wait to see what that looks like and what that brings to Rick’s character. Also, Fingers crossed that we will meet Rick’s partner Carl this season!

Last thoughts on Heartland season 16 episode 2

I really wasn’t sure about the storyline about Katie not feeling like she belongs at the Ranch but it turned into this beautiful reminiscence about Jack’s late wife Lyndy that also allowed us to learn more about her. Which I absolutely loved! And Lyndy’s beautiful words that Katie read during the episode were just icing on the cake.

And did you notice how Logan was looking at Katie? Telling her that she’s not ordinary, she’s anything but, that she’s a nerd but in a good way and all that…

Do I sense a romance coming their way? I definitely think Logan and Katie would make a great couple but there is an age difference between the two. So, really, who knows, maybe those were just friendly vibes I picked up on. What do you think?

Promo for Heartland season 16 episode 3

And here is the promo for the next episode:

Titled “On the Ropes” the next Heartland episode will see Amy and Caleb work with one of Sam’s rescue horses in hopes to turn it into a roping horse. Also, Tim and Jack will disagree on what to do about Blue, the horse Jack got from Stumpy and worked with back in episode 1509. And Katie and Logan will go river rafting which might be too much of an adventure for the two teens to handle.