Heartland Season 16 Episode 9 Recap

On this week’s Heartland episode, we saw sudden guests visit the ranch, culminating in an eventful overnight trail ride filled with deep conversations and relationship woes. At the same time, Lou was busy organizing a luncheon for the flood volunteers which did not go to plan.

Want to know more about what happened? Then keep on reading this recap of Heartland season 16 episode 9!

A change of scenery

Early in the episode, we saw Jessica worrying about her new photography gig because the designer she’s supposed to shoot the campaign for, Grayson Bolt, is creatively blocked and therefore weeks behind on his new collection.

So, thinking that a change of scenery might help Grayson, Jessica invited him to Heartland to take a breather and get inspired again. And Grayson was more than happy to accept, taking the first flight out from New York.

Grayson was excited to be in the country and meet the Miracle Girl herself. So the two quickly got to talking and Amy told Grayson that a long ride usually helps her clear her head.

Hearing this, Grayson’s mind was made up and he asked Jessica if they could go on an overnight trail ride since that might be just the thing to get his creative groove back.

Tim and Jessica got Amy and Jack to agree to come along as well. And the next morning the group set off for a long trail ride that promised to give Grayson the authentic cowboy experience – a long ride, cold beans around a campfire, and sleeping under the stars.

Ulterior motives

But Grayson wasn’t the only one who arrived at the ranch to get some fresh air and a new perspective – Jessica’s ex-turned-friend Ezra, who’s an investor in Grayson’s new label, tagged along, too.

So, when it came time to agree to go on the overnight trail ride, Ezra was very reluctant about it. However, since Grayson and Jessica were going, he had to as well.

All throughout the trail ride, Ezra did not look happy to be there. So much so that one might wonder why Ezra agreed to come along in the first place. And it all became clear that evening after they set up camp.

The first signs were already there when Ezra started talking to Jessica about how she misses New York and that Heartland was meant to only be a temporary escape.

And then Grayson told Tim that the only reason Ezra is here let alone camping with them is so he could try to win Jessica back. After all, Jessica is the one who broke off their relationship when she and Ezra dated, and Ezra still holds a torch for her.

So, while eating baked beans by the campfire Tim couldn’t take it anymore and started talking about how he knows that the reason Ezra is here is to see Jessica. Naturally, Jessica got upset about how jealous Tim was acting and stormed off.

Only this time Tim had a good reason to feel jealous. Because later that night, after Jessica apologized to Ezra about Tim not being able to wrap his head around them being just friends, Ezra finally admitted to Jessica that Tim’s right after all.

Ezra had hoped that the space Jessica put between herself and New York will erase his feelings for her, however, the opposite happened. He’s still in love with Jessica and wants her back.

This revelation shocked Jessica. But even though Tim was ready to deal with Ezra, Jessica kept Tim from punching Ezra in the face and told her husband that she will handle it.

And she did by telling Ezra that either he accepts that Jessica is married to Tim now and that Heartland is exactly where she needs to be or their friendship is over.

Tim was proud of his wife for standing up for herself and their marriage and told her that he didn’t doubt their relationship for one second.

So, for now, Jessica and Ezra’s friendship was over. However, Jessica ended the episode by still believing that their friendship could be saved – it’s just up to Ezra to make the first move.

With this whole Ezra thing, it really felt like a chapter of Jessica’s life ended. And although it’s always sad when a friendship comes to a close, not all people are meant to be in our lives forever. If that’s how it is with Jessica and Ezra, so be it because by losing Ezra she gained a new, bigger family that loves Jessica for who she is.

Looking for inspiration

What about Grayson, you ask? Did he end up finding the inspiration he was looking for to finish his collection?

Well, despite the few hiccups that happened during the trail ride, Grayson seemed to thoroughly enjoy it and therefore get the creative reset he needed to continue working on his designs.

The inspiration started slow, with Grayson noticing the flower motive that was pressed into the leather of his saddle and trying to sketch by the campfire.

But the real breakthroughs happened after Grayson talked to Amy about how everybody wants him to be the next Ralph Lauren but he wants to go another direction.

Grayson admitted that the new collection is slow-going because he’s trying to reinvent himself and that’s a slow and painful process. But he also reminded Amy that they need to trust the process because although progress might be slow, it’s still possible.

So, the next morning Grayson sketched away while Amy was working with Vegas nearby and it seemed like Grayson had gotten his muse back.

In the short time that Grayson was at the ranch, he and Amy seemed to form a tight friendship. Therefore during their goodbyes, Grayson promised to make Lyndy the dress that he sketched while watching Amy work. As well as thanked Amy for the conversation they had by the campfire.

And with a reassurance to Jessica that people will like her work no matter where she lives and a promise to come back to the ranch so Jack can teach him how to rope, Grayson was gone.

Will we see Grayson again this season or in the future?

I sure hope so because I loved his character and the side he brought out of everybody. And it would be cool to actually see Jessica shoot his new collection once it’s finished.

Retraining

Heartland season 16 episode 9 began with Amy riding Vegas, a new client horse, and weaving him through an obstacle course. And things looked to be going surprisingly well given that Vegas is a trained bronc whose owner wants to turn him into a trail horse because Vegas stopped bucking.

However, Jack was not convinced that that was a good idea, so he doubted if Amy should even try retraining Vegas. And he certainly wasn’t happy when Amy decided to take Vegas on the overnight trail ride for Grayson.

Amy’s argument was that Vegas will stay an inexperienced trail horse unless she puts some miles on him and actually takes him out on a longer trail ride. Which was understandable but Jack was still skeptical. So, from the minute they rode out of the ranch Jack seemed to not trust Vegas and therefore not trust Amy by proxy.

And it didn’t help that Grayson accidentally got on Vegas instead of his trail horse after they stopped for a bit and got bucked off because Grayson had tightened the back cinch too tight.

Of course, Amy saw the incident as a simple mistake because she recognized the potential in Vegas. Yet Jack didn’t see it that way, therefore when he and Amy went to retrieve Vegas, he made his feelings known.

That’s when Amy realized that Jack’s dislike towards Amy training Vegas wasn’t what Jack was actually upset about.

Jack had overheard Amy leaving a voice message for Finn Cotter the previous evening about the invoices he needs to send to the Youth Centre which she ended by saying that she’s been thinking about him. And since Jack doesn’t like Finn’s grandfather Al, he automatically assumed the worst about Finn as well and therefore doesn’t want Amy to get involved with him.

So, the two had a big argument.

Amy tried to reason with Jack about Finn not being his grandfather. However, given what Jack knows of Al, he couldn’t accept that and wanted to keep Amy from getting hurt by trying to keep Amy and Finn apart.

So, the episode ended with there still being some serious tension between Amy and Jack. Even after Grayson and Amy talked about how Jack might just be talking from experience. Because in her heart Amy knew that Finn’s a good guy and that Jack is wrong about him.

It’s really hard to see Jack and Amy at odds with each other because usually, they’re very much in tune with one another.

READ NEXT: Recap of Heartland season 16 episode 10

However, just like in life, conflict happens even in the closest of relationships. I just hope that we will see a resolution to this disagreement in the next episode or two.

A failed surprise

While the rest of the family was on the overnight trail ride, Lou was hosting a thank-you lunch at Maggie’s for the flood volunteers. But setting everything up for the luncheon did not go to plan.

Lou wanted to surprise Rick by making Rick the guest of honor of the thank you lunch. After all, as we saw in episode 1605, Rick stepped up during the flood crisis and managed everything beautifully during Lou’s absence.

However, it was hard to keep it a surprise from Rick.

He is Lou’s CAO (chief administrative officer) and therefore usually helps Lou with events like this. So, when Lou was keeping Rick in the dark about a lot of specifics of the event, taking a meeting with Agritech, a company that Rick’s been personally in talks with for them to sponsor one of their charity initiatives, and sending Rick on seemingly foolish errands, Rick knew that something was up.

He thought that Lou has lost confidence in his abilities. And it didn’t help that when Rick confided in Katie and Parker about Lou acting weird around him, they suggested that Lou might be jealous about Rick stealing her spotlight.

Therefore, Rick took it upon himself to do everything he can to remind Lou that what’s important to her is still important to him as well. And that included setting everything up for the luncheon by himself.

But when Lou arrived at Maggie’s the morning of the lunch only to dismiss all of Rick’s hard work by sending him out to get some coffee, Rick feared the worst. In Rick’s mind, he had been downgraded to Lou’s errand boy. And the fact that Maggie’s had plenty of extra coffee only seemingly confirmed Rick’s suspicion.

So, when Lou started the luncheon by thanking everybody for their generosity from multiple local businesses to Katie and Parker but didn’t even mention Rick and announced that she (not Rick) was the one who got Agritech to sponsor the Hudson emergency and refuge fund, Rick had enough and stormed out.

Lou was confused about Rick’s actions so she excused herself and went after Rick. Which is when Rick confronted Lou about what’s going on and Lou was forced to reveal that it was all because she wanted to surprise Rick.

Rick was obviously surprised but also touched by how much Lou cares. Especially after the speech Lou gave to honor Rick.

So, the next day Rick apologized to Lou for being overdramatic. And in turn, Lou apologized to Rick for making him feel unappreciated not just that weekend but for a long time now.

The two made up and Lou presented Rick with a framed cutout of the Hudson Times front page that featured Rick.

It really feels like this season has been a rocky road for Lou and Rick when it comes to both their professional relationship and their friendship. But I hope that now that they have been honest with one another, they can both grow and form an even more solid bond.

Fitting in

Finally, the last storyline that played out during Heartland season 16 episode 9 on top of everything else that was going on, showed a hurdle in the friendship between Katie and Parker.

At the start of the episode, we saw Parker being more glued to her phone than usual. So, when Katie finally asked what’s up, Parker told her friend that Sabrina LaFleur aka the coolest girl in Hudson High had texted her.

Parker suspected that Sabrina might want to join the social justice committee. However, Katie had a different idea about what Sabrina might want – Katie thought that Sabrina might want to invite Parker to her end-of-the-summer pool party that was happening that weekend.

Either way, the girls were excited about the possibilities and thought that maybe this means that their upcoming school year will be different.

But when Katie saw on Parker’s phone that Sabrina had finally texted back yet Parked lied to Katie about it, Katie knew that something’s not right.

At first, Katie kept quiet about it. But after Parker told Rick that he’s his own person, not Lou’s sidekick, and that he should just be honest with Lou about how he feels, Katie couldn’t stand it anymore and asked Parker about why she lied about Sabrina’s text.

That’s when Parker told Katie that Sabrina had texted Parker just to get Katie’s number and invite Katie to the party. As it turned out, Sabrina had also told Parker that she can only invite Katie because there’s room for only one guest. And to add insult to injury, Parker had to act like a secretary to Katie by passing along Katie’s number to Sabrina.

That, understandably, upset Parker. And she also knew how much Katie wanted to go to Sabrina’s party and therefore thought that Katie will abandon her and go to the party alone.

But obviously, Parker underestimated Katie, because after finding out that Sabrina only invited Katie, Katie opted not to go to the party at all.

So on the day of the party, Parker when to Heartland to talk to Katie and the two hashed it out.

When you look at how quickly Katie and Parker resolved the issue between them, it really seems that the two teens have one of the healthiest relationships on the show. Which is amazing and I can’t wait to see how their friendship develops further now that school is about to start back up.

Last thoughts on Heartland season 16 episode 9

It was so sweet to see Amy accompany Katie to the school bus at the end of the episode.

It’s Lyndy’s first day of school which marks the start of another chapter in not just Lyndy’s life but also in Amy’s.

Lyndy is growing up fast, so it will be interesting to see how Amy will cope with all the challenges that will come with that in the future.

Promo for Heartland season 16 episode 10

And here’s the promo for the next episode:

Titled “Lurking in the Shadows” and airing on December 4th, the episode will see Amy and Lou go on a road trip to stop a Miracle Girl imposter and Amy will also consider visiting Finn during their trip. While Tim will put on a rodeo school showcase to get more students and sponsors only for a series of mysterious events to threaten the event.