The premiere of Heartland season 14 is finally here and what an episode it was!
It’s safe to say that it was an emotional gut punch to all of us. Yet, I think that the way this episode was handled was real and beautiful. And I hope that it’s an indicator of an amazing new chapter of Heartland.
Want to know what exactly happened in this episode? Then keep on reading this Heartland season 14 episode 1 recap!
Warning, SPOILERS AHEAD so read at your own discretion!
We lost him
Losing someone is never easy. But losing someone suddenly and unexpectedly is even harder. Yet, that’s what Amy and the rest of the family were dealing with during Heartland season 14 episode 1.
The episode began right where season 13 left off with Amy working with the colt that she was trying to halter-break at the end of last season and eventually succeeding in joining him up with the little help of Spartan. But just as she was walking towards the house after asking Ty to put Spartan back in his pen, Ty collapsed.
Jack and Amy rushed towards Ty but unfortunately, he was gone. The doctors explained to Amy that after his surgery Ty had developed something called a deep vein thrombosis and that there wasn’t anything they could do. Ty had passed.
We then jump a year ahead and find Amy still reeling from the loss of her husband. Riding out to their half-built house every day and not working with clients anymore. Which had Jack and Tim worried.
And rightfully so! They were’s sure that Amy is dealing with the loss of Ty well or, really, at all, since she hadn’t even decided what to do with the house they were building in the year that has passed since Ty’s death.
Tim, of course, in his usual fashion asked Amy about it constantly, pressuring her to make a decision about the house and asking when she will start working with client horses again. But, luckily, Jack has a gentler touch than Tim and had something else in mind that might help Amy.
He invited Amy for a stay at his old fishing cabin to hopefully help her deal with Ty’s loss and decide whether to go through the memorial she had planned for Ty that weekend or not.
Moving forward
After some encouragement from Lisa, Amy decided to take Jack up on his offer, and the duo headed to Jack’s fishing cabin. And while the place still reminded Amy of Ty, especially of the time a snowstorm stranded them there in season 2 episode 18, it also finally allowed Amy to deal with her feelings of losing Ty.
Because while up at the cabin Jack and Amy had a much-needed heart-to-heart about losing the people they love.
And Amy admitted that she thinks that it’s her fault that Ty’s not with them anymore since the morning Ty died he had said that he feels weird yet Amy didn’t push him to go back to the hospital.
Luckily, Jack was there to comfort her and to tell her that it wasn’t her fault. In fact, it was because of Ty that Amy was alive and was able to be a mom to Lyndy. So, it felt like Amy was finally opening up and talking about what she felt.
The next morning they found a herd of wild horses that was trapped by fallen trees. And while working to free the wildies Amy broke down and seemingly let herself feel the loss of Ty.
It was an incredibly sad yet also very cathartic and healing moment for Amy after which she pulled herself together and they freed the horses. And unbeknownst to them among the herd was also Casper, Ghost’s son, with his own little family. It helped Amy realize that life goes on and helped her have the strength she needed to decide to have the one-year memorial for Ty.
In the end, Amy, Lyndy, Jack, Lisa, Tim, Lou, Katie, Georgie, and Caleb rode out to the hill overlooking Heartland, shared memories of Ty, and scattered his ashes in the wind. Hopefully, marking a new beginning for all of them. One that feels like they are moving forward, not backward.
Going for it
Since it’s been a year since the events of last season, in Heartland season 14 episode 1 we saw Georgie returning home after being away at college. She and Quinn are still going strong. And although she’s still training, she’s not competing anymore.
Quinn even offered to be her coach, however, Georgie declined her offer saying that she doesn’t want to mix her professional life with her personal one. Besides, he’s coaching another girl, Fiona Mackintosh.
Georgie’s family was surprised to hear that she’s not competing anymore. So Amy encouraged her to enter the horse show that’s coming up that weekend, hopefully pushing her to start competing again. And it worked, Georgie decided that she did want to compete in the upcoming show. However, it didn’t go so well.
Despite being confident at the start of her run, during it, Georgie thought she saw Ty walking past the arena so she lost focus and didn’t even complete her run.
You would expect that that spooked Georgie even more and made her stop competing again. However, it actually had the opposite effect, it made her want to work harder. So, after Ty’s memorial, she asked Quinn to be her trainer. And when he asked if Georgie’s sure, she answered affirmatively.
Quinn: “What about our relationship?”
Georgie: “I’m sure it will survive. Besides, you got to be the one to take me to the Olympics.”
So it looks like Georgie’s dream of getting to the Olympics is alive again. I can’t wait to see her and Quinn working together to get there!
“I love being Mayor, I love being Mayor”
The last bigger storyline for this episode was all about how Lou was handling being Hudson’s new Mayor. And although a year had passed since her election, it seemed that she was still struggling with the responsibility that her new position brought.
I mean, being Mayor while also trying to be a good mom to her daughters and a good big sister to a grieving Amy couldn’t be easy. At least she had her Chief Administrative Officer Rick to help her with the mayoral stuff. Granted, he might be more invested in the status of being the CAO of a town’s mayor, in general, no matter who the actual mayor is.
Fortunately, there was a bright spot in Lou’s life in the midst of all the struggles and pain – Mitch. We saw just a short video chat between the two since Lou was in Hudson while Mitch was at Aspen Grove. But during it, Mitch did ask Lou why she wasn’t wearing his ring.
Lou: “Am, I’m not wearing it.”
Lou’s answer was that she didn’t know how Amy would react if she saw a ring on Lou’s finger. So, could it really be that Lou and Mitch are engaged? I sure hope so! After all, why else would Lou be worried about Amy’s reaction if it wasn’t an engagement ring?
I’m just glad to see that Mitch and Lou worked things out since the final episode of last season left them on a bit of an uneven ground. And I’m excited to hear more about their future plans as well as see Lou tackling her mayoral duties.
Lou’s shadow
In my article on what can we expect to see in season 14, I mentioned that this season there are several new actors joining the cast of Heartland. And among them is Ava Tran.
In this episode, we caught the first glimpse at her as Parker protesting the use of pesticides outside Lou’s new office. I’m really intrigued by Ava’s character. So I can’t wait to learn more about Parker and see how she fits into the Heartland world.
Last thoughts on Heartland season 14 episode 1
As hard as it was to find out that Graham Wardle and therefore Ty won’t be a part of Heartland moving forward, I actually really loved this episode.
Ty’s loss was beautifully handled. And, now, after I’ve seen this episode, I think that this season will be amazing because there are so many great stories to explore. Not only when it comes to Amy’s widowhood and Ty’s legacy but also the future of all of the characters – Georgie’s Olympic dreams, Lou’s Mayoral run, you name it. So, I’m really hopeful that the future of Heartland is bright (and long).
READ NEXT: Review of Heartland season 14 episode 2
What did YOU think of the episode? Let me know in the comments below and see you next week with the review of episode 2 of season 14!
My husband and I have been watching Heartland series since May 2020. We are on our second round of watching again because we both so enjoyed it. Reminds us both of our days back in the 90s of working on ranches in Montana. Moving cattle, riding all day, camping, etc. Like some of you, we will not be continuing to watch after season 13 since Graham Wardle has decided to leave the show to pursue other interests. I get the reasoning after being in a show for 14 years. He’s young and wants to ‘move on’. However, I can’t get passed his character not being part of such a great show. I will miss it and all the characters, but I guess it’s time for us to ‘move on’ too.
I will leave it at having watched season 13 and not continue watching the show. The show has started to feel like it was dragging on after Ty and Amy got married, and sure they have horses but there’s way too much people drama. A new kid being added to the ranch every season too? The book series had Ty and Amy break up, and the show kills Ty off. I understand why, but the show has gone on long enough for me. Thanks for some of the heart warming memories, but goodbye.
I have to move on also…the thought of Amy Fleming pursuing another Love Interest in this Series would be out of the question for me…
I did not lose anyone, but my 22 year marriage ended and not as dramatic as Tim’s. It just did. I found this show and I am not sure why, but I would be a liar if I said it did not resonate from time to time. I wipe my eyes more often than I should. I once wanted to move west and live a cowboy life. Our boys are now men and my freedom to go revisit my dreams was forced upon me so take it I will. I am 30 years older now but my dreams are still young. Here is to a different path that was inspired by Heartland.
What a good show, right up until the point Ty is killed off. I will not be watching season 14. Too painful for me because I really identify with how Ty grew up and I have loved watching the Amy and Ty relationship grow. He just died too soon for someone who went through what he has in his young life. I will always wonder how it may have been if Graham would have stayed on. I myself went through a very rough childhood until I enlisted in the Navy. I just do not think this decision was correct. Just my opinion. I will miss this show.
I totally agree with you. I finally found a feel good movie to watch through this covid pandemic.
The show will not be the same.
I hope Lou give Peter another chance. Mitch isn’t around that much anymore but she sure treat him different than the way she treated Peter for not being around. Peter has changed so much, and he at home a lot more than he used to be. I don’t think Mitch really want to married Lou because her and Peter really get along well now.
Hi, I just watched Amber talk about this season of Heartland. I also watched Graham speak to fans in an interview on you tube. I understand the why,I’m not happy about the timing. I am sad that Amber feels a bit let down at Graham’s decision. It’s a real loss and then to have to portray that loss as wife and mother is a double whammy for Amber and she shows understanding and great strength as well as being to express her insight to fans via the YOU Tube interview. It’s amazing to me how a tv series can be so uplifting to people going through real life loss . To David and Hugh, grieving takes a long time to pass . It sometimes comes back when least expected. I can say that because I’ve been through a lot of grieving over my 72 years. Draw on your wonderful memories and love of friends and family to help over the times of pain. It will fade and your loved ones will always be with you especially when you talk about them and the good memories.
I wish every one a peaceful and safe coming year.
Lj.
I think I know the real reason that Graham had to leave. I am not going to say at this time but I am 99% sure of the reason. it makes me mad and sad at the same time. I just wish he would have gave it a little more time but life gets in the away I know but it is hard for me. When I found Heartland I had lost my wife of 45 years November of 2015 then I lost my youngest son march of 2016 4 months later. Heartland brought me out of a very dark place. I was ready to pull the plug on myself because of the pain. I turned on my tv and seen this girl riding a black horse that reminded me of when I first saw my wife. So I stared watching heartland and it saved me. I loved Amy and Ty so much because they were a lot like me and my wife. The thing that hurts the most now is it brought back all of my pain again. I am still going to watch Amy on heartland but I have to take a break for now. I still love heartland please keep it going..
So sorry for your loss. It also opened some old wounds for me. Must say you have us all wondering now about the real reason why Graham left. I pray that only favor and goodness will follow you!
David, I actually discovered Heartland in 2020 during our “lockdown”. I am a widow who found the series awesome and got hooked, even though I am missing some seasons/episodes. My DirecTV carries UPTv which only shows some episodes and some seasons, so I resorted to buying seasons 10-13 so I could sort of catch up. I find/found Heartland lifted me out of my depression of being a widow, and was so much looking forrward to the new season (14), being upset that it was not going to be available here in the US for a long time. When I came to this page and read the review of episode 1 of season 14, I was crushed. Why in hell write Ty out of this amazing saga? Like you, I have a couple of ideas, and they may not be factual, but I think I am probably right. Maybe Graham was getting too close to Amy and felt he needed to remove himself as well as Ty from the scene in order to not cause her harm in her marriage???? Anyway, to my mind, they could have written any one of the other faulty characters, including Lou or Peter or Georgie out and no one would have cared the way we do about losing Ty. I hope you, David, can continue to heal as I will also do. But, I sure will miss Ty and probably Heartland-because by the time it hits US venues, I will be over withdrawal, knowing Ty will no longer be there.
Heartland was Netflix program or series that came at the right time for my family. It bought back the ability to believe in life that it is about family and faith and we got involved in watching the series. Having just experienced first hand last year the loss of family where the very same situation Amy will face in the loss of Ty in raising a child it is faith and family that bind you together to face the grief that raises you above the loss of a loved one. So I can’t wait to see the season unfold as it is the very need we all need and crave as humans in this world
Well done to you All for making this series aptly named Heartland
I cried the whole time I watched it all 3 times but I am happy for Graham to do what his heart tells him and wish him all the luck and love in the world, I will miss seeing him as ty on this show because I have watched all the seasons about 30 times from the beginning . Good luck Graham in what every you do.
The episode was beautifully written, acted. The cast were phenomenal. Amber Marshall and Shaun Johnston’s performances were phenomenal. They made you feel the pain of losing a loved one and then start the healing .Fantastic job everyone on heartland. Graham Wardle will be missed but I fully support him in his new endeavors. I will continue to support and watch heartland for as long as it is filmed.
1-11-2021
I am truly Heartbroken about the death of Ty, but I understand you have to follow your heart so God Bless you Graham in your new Adventure. I hope you find what your looking for ,but I wish you didn’t die in the very first episode it is truly heart breaking and the sadness of Amy losing her best friend her wonderful loving husband and his little Lyndy growing up with no dad. I no it’s only a show but I feel like I have known Amber and Graham for 14 years also I feel like they are part of my family and my friends. I will miss Graham very much but life is out there for him to find what he’s looking.
Having listened to Graham’s podcast I now realise that Graham is very spirital which I don’t fully understand. (must do some research). I do hope he will continue with his acting (DOES any one know?) The series will so miss Graham and so will I. I wish them all well but PLEASE DON’T RUSH AMY INTO A NEW MARRIAGE. Good luck to Graham, I will missing seeing him every week.
Heartland is and always will be a true family show and for all generations. This sessions storyline is as poiniant as all of the previous one’s. It’s true to life.
The writers are hitting all the right targets.
I will be watching for as long as the stories continue to flow.