Could WHEN CALLS THE HEART Bring a Familiar Face Back to Hope Valley?
By Movieguide® Contributor
WHEN CALLS THE HEART’s Season 11 finale cliffhanger has some fans wondering if a familiar face will be returning to Hope Valley. Warning — spoilers ahead!
This season’s finale saw Elizabeth (Erin Krakow) and Nathan (Kevin McGary) finally together and ready to start their future as a couple. However, Superintendent Hargraves from Fort Clay shows up unexpectedly and asks to speak to Elizabeth in private about her “late husband.”
Elizabeth’s late husband, Jack Thornton, was killed in Season 5 in a landslide. Now, some WCTH fans are wondering if he’ll return to the show.
“After the accident, two men were pulled out. One was Jack and the other was the man they thought was Jack,” a fan theorized on Reddit. “Jack, being ever the generous man, traded coats with the other man because of a tear (or some other reason the writers can work out). The faces of the two men were bruised and muddy enough that they used the name on the coats to identify the men. The man they thought was Jack was deceased and Elizabeth was notified. Again, the face had been cut, bruised, scarred enough that it resembled Jack. The other man was sent to a different hospital due to other incidents in the same area to be treated. There he was in a coma for several days (or longer) before waking up with amnesia!”
Another wondered if Thornton’s actor, Daniel Lissing, will return but as a different character — an “identical cousin coming back from war somewhere. Not Jack per se but close enough.”
No matter what happens next season, Krakow promised fans will get answers soon.
“We’re not going to pretend that conversation never happened, so we will come back in Season 12 and address it,” she shared. “Our scripts are still in flux as we’re moving toward filming. I will leave it at that. It’s a juicy enough cliffhanger on its own.”
WHEN CALLS THE HEART showrunner Lindsay Sturman reassured fans about the cliffhanger, telling TV Guide, “It’s not meant to upend everything we’ve built. The show always was about how you come back from loss and as Nathan and Elizabeth settle, this complicates the two of them going to the wedding together and being together. There is history that Elizabeth always has to grapple with.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Season 12 of WHEN CALLS THE HEART:
Hallmark’s WHEN CALLS THE HEART will be back for a twelfth season, and it looks like everyone’s favorite historical drama won’t disappoint.
“I am overjoyed that WHEN CALLS THE HEART is coming back for a 12th season!” Erin Krakow, who plays Elizabeth, said in a statement. “Our fantastic writers, cast, and crew couldn’t be more excited to begin filming this next season! We are proud to tell stories that warm hearts in homes around the world and so grateful to Hallmark for being such champions of that positivity.”
“Having the Hearties’ support over the past decade has been a true testament to what this show is all about: community and love,” she continued. “We cannot wait for our fans to see what Hope Valley has in store!”
A premier date hasn’t been announced yet, but TV Insider estimates a release next year. The Direct added it will likely be in spring or early summer 2025.
All the season’s regulars are expected to make a return, while no new characters have been announced yet.
