Heartland Season 17 Episode 9 Recap

We’re almost at the end of season 17, which means that this episode was setting up the show’s finale while also wrapping up some things from the previous episodes.

From Amy and Nathan’s friendship to Heartland Beef troubles and Shane’s wedding prep, a lot was going on at the ranch in this episode.

Want to know more? Then keep on reading this recap of Heartland season 17 episode 9!

Back to the basics

The episode began with Amy meeting Nathan on a ride to exercise Shadon. He was testing out Powder, a beautiful white horse that he recently got retrained with the hopes of putting him to work.

It started out fine with Amy and Nathan riding their horses side by side, but as they were slowing down, Powder got spooked and took off. Amy barely caught up, but she did manage to circle Powder around, and the horse calmed down.

Something was clearly not right with the white beauty, and Amy had the suspicion that it might be the methods Nathan’s trainer used on Powder to get him back in shape after the horse had been standing in a field for a few years.

So, Amy offered to help Nathan with Powder, figuring that the horse might need Amy’s gentler touch instead of the harsh, old-school methods that the other trainer had used.

Accepting Amy’s offer, Nathan showed up at Heartland later that day, and the two started working. Amy even talked Nathan into helping her since it is Nathan’s horse, and he knows what he’s doing.

First order of business was to build Powder’s confidence back up because the horse really didn’t like gearing down, and quick stops were kind of needed if Nathan were to use Powder as a cattle horse.

Amy switched Powder’s bit and got back to basics by practicing doing one-rein stops, and Powder was progressing nicely, albeit slowly. And then, when Nathan showed up, Amy got him to work with Powder to show the horse that he can trust Nathan.

And even though Nathan had trouble going as slow as Amy wanted him to go when it came to Powder’s training, and they were also interrupted by Chloe and her love for the beautiful hose, which resulted in Nathan agreeing that she could ride Powder at her wedding to Shane, by the end of the episode Powder was good to go.

Nathan even tested the horse’s quick reflexes. And he and Amy ended up taking Powder out for a ride in the field.

But although that ride didn’t end on the best of terms for Amy and Nathan, it had nothing to do with Powder.

It was really nice to see not only Amy and Nathan working together and Amy genuinely enjoying working with someone who knows quite a lot about horses but also how Amy stood up for herself when Jack was miffed about Amy working with their competitor’s horse.

Like Amy said, working with horses is her business, and she had nothing to do with the beef between the two cattle businesses. And, since she also didn’t have any wish to get involved with Heartland Beef, she didn’t see anything wrong with her working with her friend Nathan’s horse.

And Amy’s right, why shouldn’t she help Nathan’s horse just because he was Heartland Beef’s competitor?

Past loves and heartbreaks

So, as you might have guessed from the previous section, training Powder was not the only storyline on Heartland season 17 episode 9 that involved Nathan Pryce. We also saw some developments in Nathan and Amy’s friendship that, sadly, didn’t end on such a good note at the end of the episode.

Looks like Amy and Nathan’s rides together have been continuing since the first one Nathan asked Amy on in episode 1707 because, in this episode, we saw more of them, as well as some fun banter between Amy and Nathan. But their final ride together after Powder was doing better was the one I wanted to talk about here.

Nathan took Amy to a beautiful spot overlooking the land. He even got Amy to climb a tree, claiming that the view was even better from up there.

So, they put one foot in front of the other, got up there, and settled in, looking at the even more stunning view that the higher vantage point offered.

And while admiring the view, they also got to talking.

First, they talked about how climbing trees reminds them of being a kid, carefree, and without a worry in the world. Which led Nathan to ask Amy why she always has Lyndy with her after Amy admitted that Lyndy helps her see the world through a child’s eyes, too, sometimes.

Amy, of course, had to explain that Ty passed away a few years back, and then Nathan quipped about Amy being a hopeless romantic after she talked about how inspiring it was to see Shane and Chloe’s hope for the future.

It seemed like Amy and Nathan had a really good time together – they talked, they laughed, they bantered. But when they finally managed to get off the tree, falling halfway down and laughing their asses off after, mind you, Amy noticed the initials NP and TW carved into the same tree they just climbed.

When she asked Nathan if that was his high school sweetheart, he got really quiet. Amy tried to defuse the situation by telling him that it was none of her business, but it didn’t quite seem to work.

Nathan was pensive on their way back from the tree, so it was a pleasant surprise that he did decided to explain the initials before they parted when Amy asked him if everything was all right. What was less pleasant was the way that conversation ended.

So, Nathan’s view on love isn’t the best, to say the least. And after everything his ex-wife put him through, it’s kind of understandable. However, his implication that Amy’s relationship with Ty ended in heartbreak was uncalled for and downright hurtful. It’s not like Amy and Ty planned to end their relationship, they were doing better than ever before faith had other plans.

At least Nathan seemed embarrassed and sorry for how that came out, but it didn’t quite make it better. And Nathan’s comments seemed to really hurt Amy because, at the end of the episode, she found herself at the swing that Ty built her, looking a little lost.

Read next: Heartland season 17 episode 10 recap

By the looks of the description of the next episode (that you can find at the end of this article), Nathan will try to make amends with Amy. But will Amy want to continue their friendship after everything that Nathan said is the real question.

I really can’t tell how this will shake out. I have a suspicion that either this will push Nathan or Amy’s relationship in a more romantic direction, or they will go back to being just neighbors, not friends.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments! 

The future of Heartland Beef

Ever since the season began, we’ve seen Jack and Tim’s beef business struggling for survival. First, it was the grazing land that they had to negotiate with Nathan Pryce, and then there was the competition that was putting Heartland Beef in danger.

And it wasn’t just the competition from Pryce Family Beef that Tim and Jack had to deal with. It was also the competition that Crown Shoppers was posing to Garland Foods, the grocery store chain that exclusively sold Heartland Beef.

As we found out in the previous episode, Garland Foods was scrambling to figure out how to increase sales so they could keep up with the loss of clients they were experiencing due to the lure of low prices at Crown Shoppers. And one of their ideas was to start selling Heartland Beef branded canned goods.

However, none of the Heartland Beef team members, aka Jack, Tim, or Lou, who joined the family business at the end of episode 1708, thought that was a good idea. It was way off-brand for Heartland Beef, so in this episode, we saw them finally nail down Fred Garland and tell him that the canned Heartland Beef stew idea was a no-go.

Fred, of course, understood where they were coming from, yet he also seemed a little too distracted to actually hear what Lou and Jack were saying during their first meeting (since Tim was off helping Shane with his wedding prep, but more on that in the next section). But at least he agreed to another meeting during which Lou would pitch ideas on how to boost sales without jeopardizing the Heartland Beef brand.

So, Lou got to work and came up with some really good ideas, including a Heartland cookbook that would be sold at Garland Foods stores and that would feature recipes using Heartland Beef meat, as well as a way to educate people on the health benefits and environmental benefits of Heartland Beef’s ranching process.

But after the pitch was over and Fred was done complimenting Lou on her impressive pitch, he got all weird when Tim asked Fred about their exclusivity deal (Heartland Beef staying as the only beef that’s sold at Garland Foods stores). And Fred ended up basically running out of the ranch house’s living room as soon as he could without assuring Lou, Jack and Tim that Heartland Beef had a future with Garland Foods.

Lou, Tim, and Jack took note of Fred’s strange behavior. But their first instinct was that Nathan Pryce was at fault – he must have given Fred an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Yet, when Jack tried calling Fred later to press him about what was really going on, and Fred didn’t answer, didn’t even so much as text Jack back, Jack started getting the feeling that something else was going on. And Jack also suspected that they might have more to worry about than just Heartland Beef’s exclusivity deal.

What none of them did predict, however, was the e-mail that Lou got at the end of the episode.

The email, which wasn’t even from Fred himself but from Garland Foods’ corporate office, making it an even bigger blow, said that instead of just not renewing Heartland Beef’s exclusivity contract, they are dropping Heartland Beef from Garland Foods altogether.

What does this mean for Jack and Tim’s cattle business? Probably nothing good. I just hope that in the next episode, we will have some form of resolution to this.

After all, it will be the season finale, and I so don’t want the show to keep us hanging when it comes to the survival of the family business until next season, especially when the next season isn’t even guaranteed yet.

I mean, the promo for the final episode of the season (that you can see at the end of the article) does show Lou, Tim and Jack going to the Garland Foods offices, so we will, at the very least, find out why Fred was acting so shifty in this episode. But will that visit also result in a new contract for Heartland Beef, I guess we will just have to watch and find out!

Wedding prep

Ever since Lou and Amy offered Shane and Chloe to have their wedding at the dude ranch in episode 1704, I’ve been waiting for the wedding craze to start. And on Heartland season 17 episode 9, it was finally here.

It all started with the arrival of the bride and groom, yet they weren’t the only ones who showed up at Heartland early. Shane’s mom, Miranda, was with them, too. And to say it was a surprise to Tim was an understatement.

Tim was not expecting to see his ex so soon, alone, I might add, since her husband Paul got called away for work at the last minute. But Miranda had decided to tag along with Shane and Chloe to help them with wedding prep.

So it was awkward all around.

But Tim didn’t quite have time to dwell on it because as soon as he and Chloe were settled, Shane asked his dad if he could help him build a gazebo for the wedding. Apparently, Chloe’s grandparents used to have a gazebo in their backyard where she would play pretend wedding, so now that it was time for her real wedding, she wanted to get married in a gazebo for real.

Tim had no option but to agree, despite the fact that the wedding was in a few days. However, it was Miranda’s reaction to Shane and Chloe’s request that was weird.

After Tim agreed to help Shane with the gazebo, Miranda said something about smooth-talking lawyers at work, which left Shane looking confused and Chloe looking a little upset. That was the first indication that Miranda might not be here just to help the kids with their wedding.

And it was proved later when Miranda told Tim that she thinks that Shane is making a really big mistake.

While Tim was in the middle of building the gazebo, Miranda came up to him and told Tim about Shane and Chloe’s plans to move to London, as in London, England.

Shane obviously hadn’t told his dad this yet, so Miranda explained how Chloe had gotten a job offer at a big firm in London, and, after the wedding and the honeymoon, Shane and Chloe were packing up their stuff and heading across the pond.

It came as a shock to Tim, and he obviously didn’t want to be that far from his son, but he was willing to accept their decision to move if that’s what they wanted.

Miranda, however, was not happy about Tim being so nonchalant about it.

She was really worried that Shane is sacrificing his own happiness for Chloe since when they move, he will have to quit his current job and find a new one in England. So, she eventually talked a very reluctant Tim into asking Shane about it by appealing to his guild about not being there for Shane all those years.

I think Tim’s first instinct to stay out of it was the right one, after all, Chloe and Shane had to make that decision on their own. However, under Miranda’s influence, he did ask Shane about the move, and Shane was not happy about it.

Shane tried explaining to his dad that it was an amazing opportunity and that he was excited about their new adventure, but Tim kept going on about him and Miranda not wanting Shane to sacrifice his future. And it was obviously the wrong thing to say because Shane liked it even less when he heard that Tim and Miranda were colluding on this behind his back.

The conversation ended with Tim telling Shane to ask Lou about her and Peter’s time in Dubai before he went off to the meeting with Fred Garland. And it didn’t help when Shane overheard his mom telling Tim about sometimes having to give their kid tough love, especially when they thought that the kid is making a big mistake.

But I guess some of it still got Shane thinking, and he did go and talk to Lou about her time in Dubai with Peter.

Although Lou admitted that it wasn’t the best time for her and Peter, she also told her brother that it doesn’t mean that Chloe and he will have an awful time in London. After all, they are a different couple in completely different circumstances. And Lou also advised Shane to go for it if that is what both he and Chloe want because you never know, London might be their adventure of a lifetime.

That seemed to calm Shane down, and at the end of the episode, we saw him stand up to his parents and tell them to stop trying to make him second-guess their move to London. Shane also told Miranda and Tim to stop judging the choices he and Chloe are making and butt out of it since all he needs from his parents is trust and support, not judgment.

I hope that by the time the wedding actually arrives, Miranda and Tim will have fixed the rift between them and their son because I would hate for this to affect the wedding.

However, Shane is not the only one to whom they need to apologize since Chloe looked really upset when she found out that Tim and Miranda have been trying to talk Shane out of going to London. So, a simple apology might not be enough.

I just hope that this won’t end in a canceled wedding or, worse, in Shane and Chloe splitting up.

I mean, I think it won’t, but the next episode’s description does mention an accident that puts the wedding in jeopardy, and the promo clip shows the gazebo on fire. So, let’s hope that that fire won’t put an end to Chloe and Shane’s bright future.

Private moment

As I mentioned at the end of last week’s recap, I had a feeling that in this episode, Jack and Jessica would be at odds with each other over the picture that Jessica had displayed at her gallery’s opening – the one of Jack standing at the family cemetery, touching a gravestone. And I was right! 

At dinner, after Miranda complimented Jessica’s photography, Jack bit out a comment about Jessica being a master of the candid shot and that you can never know when her camera might be pointed at you.

Nobody understood where that comment came from, but Jessica had a suspicion. So, after dinner, when Jack and Jessica were doing the dishes, she asked him about it, and Jack admitted that he didn’t like that she took that photo of Jack at the graveyard.

At first, Jessica couldn’t understand why. In her mind, it beautifully represented the fact that everybody hurts, even rugged cowboys and that mourning is human. But Jack explained that he didn’t like it because he felt like it was a private moment between Jack and his late wife, Lyndy, which is why he wanted Jessica to take it down.

Jessica, seeing that she won’t be able to change Jack’s mind, agreed. However, it was easier said than done since that photo had already sold.

So, Jessica was at her wits’ end and hoped that Jack would understand that her hands were tied. Yet, as Jessica was about to tell Jack that she couldn’t take the photo down because it was already sold, Jack apologized to her for being so short with her the previous night and told Jessica about how the day of the photo had been his anniversary with Lyndy. Not only that, but Jack also told Jessica about how he talked to Lyndy that day, and since he felt like Lyndy might be listening, he didn’t want to share that moment with anyone, as it would feel like an intrusion. And he ended his little speech by thanking Jessica for taking down the photo.

That left Jessica feeling extra guilty for displaying that photo without Jack’s permission, so she couldn’t even bring herself to tell Jack about not being able to take down the photo.

Once Jessica finally did get up the courage to tell Jack that the photo had sold and that she couldn’t get in back since the customer really loved it, Jack didn’t look happy. But Jessica swore not to make any more prints and destroy the negative, so Jack thanked her for trying and left with a comment about how weird it is that some stranger now owns a photo of that moment between Jack and Lyndy.

And it looked like that last comment from Jack was the push that led Jessica to do everything she could to get the photo back after all.

She ended up paying double the price to the customer who bought the photo and handed it back to Jack.

Jack, of course, was happy that the photo wasn’t with some stranger anymore. But what’s more important is that he apologized to Jessica about how he acted about this whole photo thing, and they made up with a hug.

I have to admit, it was super interesting to see this storyline between Jessica and Jack. They are two characters that don’t usually interact that much, so to see them at odds with each other and then finally making up was great.

I mean, not the fighting part, obviously, but the heartfelt moments that this situation elicited were pretty great. And it also shed some light on how Jessica and Jack view the world and how, despite their differences, they are still family no matter what.

Last thoughts on Heartland season 17 episode 9

Finally, I wanted to mention what Katie and Lou were up to in this episode.

Although we didn’t see that much of an interaction between the two in this episode, after the heart-to-heart in the previous one, it seemed that the relationship between the mother and the daughter was better than ever.

Lou complimented Katie on her positive spirit and thanked Katie for trying to help the awkwardness at dinner the previous night, while Katie complimented her mom on the work she was doing for the cattle business.

But when Katie told Lou that she’s going out to watch Brandon and Ellie do some epic jumps on the bike course they had built together, Lou got to thinking about Katie’s passion for dirt biking.

So, at the end of the episode, Lou surprised her daughter with a brand-new dirt bike.

And later, we saw Katie ride off to meet her friends with a smile on her face.

This made me so happy! Although Katie didn’t seem to mind that much the fact that she couldn’t join her friends on the course when she was talking to her mom, when Katie was actually back on the bike again, she looked so free and content. So, I’m glad Lou got over her fears of Katie getting hurt and gave her daughter a new bike so Katie could enjoy her hobby once more.

Oh, and I also wanted to mention the cute moment when Chloe and Shane asked Jack to be the officiant at their wedding.

Despite the rest of the big family dinner after Shane, Chloe and Miranda arrived being super awkward, that moment was truly heartfelt, and I can’t wait to see Jack marry Shane and Chloe in the next episode!

Promo for Heartland season 17 episode 10

And here is the promo for the Heartland season 17 finale episode:

Heartland season 17 episode 10, called “Just The Beginning,” will see an accident putting Shane’s wedding in jeopardy. While Heartland Beef faces an uncertain future, Nathan will be trying to make amends with Amy while helping his traumatized horse, and Katie will be discovering a new side of herself.