‘When Calls the Heart’ Bosses on Season 11 Wedding, Lucas, Elizabeth, Plus Lori Loughlin Return

Meredith Jacobs October 26, 2023, 3:48 pm

Chris McNally in When Calls The Heart — Crown Media

Hearties, we know that When Calls the Heart Season 10 ended only a couple weeks ago, but if you’re like us, you want to know as much as you can now about what’s coming next for Elizabeth (Erin Krakow), Lucas (Chris McNally), Nathan (Kevin McGarry), Henry (Martin Cummins)… and maybe even Abigail (Lori Loughlin)?! Plus, there are wedding bells in the air.

Season 10 ended on an ominous not for Lucas. He was elected governor, but as he stepped out of this office in Capital City, someone flashed headlights at him. Then, Bill (Jack Wagner) tracked down Elizabeth and Nathan and told them, “It’s Lucas. I need you both now.” That, of course, has fans worried about Lucas’ future, though it has since been confirmed that he’ll have a big role in Season 11.

Showrunner Lindsay Sturman and co-creator Brian Bird joined the Heart to Hearties podcast to talk about the finale and also addressed McNally’s character’s fate. “Doing the cliffhanger was to set [Lucas] up for more stories,” Sturman explained. “Also so viewers know he’s coming back because he’s obviously such a huge part of the show, and you wouldn’t want to think, oh, he’s in Capital City and he’s not coming back. The multiple Lucas cliffhangers were to put the pieces on the board so we know something’s coming.”

Added (and teased!) Bird, “Some very good things, too, because I’ve read ahead.”

That means we can breathe a sigh of relief that Lucas won’t be dying as a result of whatever that cliffhanger means. We can’t help but still think that he’s been injured or something has happened to him, especially since at one point during the podcast, Bird says that Lucas is “in trouble.”

It did appear that When Calls the Heart might be pivoting back to Elizabeth and Nathan — or revisiting the love triangle — with the end of her and Lucas in Season 10. However, both Bird and Sturman stress that there were no plans to return to the love triangle in Season 10 and that instead, in these recent episodes, Elizabeth and Nathan “had gotten past the awkwardness between them and were becoming friends,” according to the co-creator. “Now, whether there’s a future for Elizabeth and Nathan, that’s to come, potentially.” For both, the season was also about her figuring things out about herself and revisiting her unresolved grief. The Season 10 finale even saw her visiting her late husband’s grave.

The other surprise of the When Calls the Heart Season 10 finale was Henry showing up at Abigail’s door. We didn’t see her, but could we in Season 11? “This is a tricky question,” Bird acknowledged. “What I can say is that there are good conversations happening. We can’t guarantee anything, but there are good conversations happening around this topic.”

'When Calls the Heart': Should Elizabeth Choose Lucas or Nathan in Season 11? (POLL)

He added that Loughlin, who was written out of the Hallmark Channel series in Season 6 amidst the college admission scam for which she served two months in prison, “has assured us that she’s found some peace and she’s made it through her and her husband’s ordeal and she’s in a much better place than she was. Our attitude always has been, as the producing team around the writing team around When Calls the Heart, that what better place for second chances than Hope Valley? So in theory, it should work, right? But again, can’t fully promise it, but we’re working on it.”

Someone who will “definitely” be in Season 11 is Cummins, Sturman promised, for any fans worried he could be the next to leave.

As for what else is coming up next season, Bird teased a wedding, but added, “I’m not going to say what it is or who’s getting married.” With how much love there is in the air in Hope Valley, it could be anyone!

When Calls the Heart, Season 11, TBA, Hallmark Channel