Heartland Catch UP: Season 17 Episode 10 “Just the Beginning”

***WARNING THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS SPOILERS***

In this episode: An accident puts Shane’s wedding in jeopardy; Nathan tries to make amends with Amy while helping his traumatized horse; Heartland Beef faces an uncertain future; Katie finds a new side of herself.

The Season 17 finale kicks with beautiful scenic shots of Jack looking over the horizon. Tim interrupts the peaceful moment to tell him that they have a long drive ahead of them and they don’t want to be late for their meeting with Garland Foods. Jack, who notices a rolling cloud, remarks that it’s a “bad omen.” Tim tells him to quit the “doom and gloom” talk. He’s confident Fred (and Garland Foods) will “listen to reason” and can’t possibly be serious about dropping Heartland Beef.

At the Dude Ranch, Amy gives Chloe a last-minute lesson with Powder as Shane puts some finishing touches on the gazebo. When Shane asks Chloe if they need so many lights decorating the gazebo, Chloe confidently answers that “it’s going to be really magical.” He asks her about the mic, stating that since they won’t have that many guests coming anyway, everyone should be able to hear without it. Chloe states that she thinks they should have one, just in case. After a few beats, Chloe reconsiders the lights & asks Shane to take one of the strings down. Shane agrees to take them down after he checks in with his job. Chloe, confused, says that she thought he gave his notice already. Shane says he was planning on doing it after their honeymoon. Satisfied, Chloe advises him not to put it off for much longer, since they will be leaving for London in a few weeks.

Nate comes by to pick up Powder from Amy – the atmosphere around these too is back to being a little steely – they seem to have lost the progress they made ever since Nate made those comments about Amy & Ty in the last episode. Amy lets him know that Chloe, who is currently taking a break, wants to do another rehearsal. Nate agrees to wait and tells Amy that he owes her an apology.

Moments later: Amy looks behind her towards the gazebo and sees clouds of smoke building around the gazebo & Powder can be heard frantically neighing in the distance. The gazebo is on fire! Nate & Amy spring into action: Nate rushes inside to grab a fire extinguisher while Amy cuts Powder from the gazebo post he was tied to. Amy struggles to gain control of Powder who runs away, clearly traumatized by the flames. At this point the gazebo has been totally destroyed by the fire.

With the fire extinguished, Amy goes off to look for Powder with Nate following behind. Seeing her custom dream gazebo in ruins, Chloe asks Shane if he thinks he might have accidentally overloaded the extension cord. Irritated, Shane cuts back that if he did, it was only because she wanted all of those lights and the sound system. Miranda cuts in & tells the young couple that the fire wasn’t anyone’s fault, it was simply a case of bad luck.

Jack, Lou & Tim are in the city for their meeting with Garland. At the receptionist desk, the receptionist informs them that Fred is no longer available, even though Fred himself confirmed the appointment with Lou the day before. Impatient, Tim walks past the front desk to find Fred himself. Unsure of what to do, Lou & Jack trail him. When they reach Fred’s office, they find Iris McClane, the new CEO of Garland Foods. They briefly introduce themselves before security escorts Iris’ “uninvited guests” out. Outside, Tim says that he doesn’t get it – Fred was always going on about how Garland is family-owned & run. Lou, after searching business news on her phone, says not anymore: the board fired him earlier that morning. They resign themselves to going back home to the ranch.

While they’re out looking for Powder, Nate tries to apologize to Amy again. She asks him if he really believes that all relationships are doomed. Nate explains that he just doesn’t think that “we’re only meant to be with one person our entire lives.” When Amy asks him if marriage and kids are out of the question for him, Nate replies that he doesn’t see himself taking another trip down the aisle because it just isn’t for him; all he needs to be happy is a few acres of land and some cattle (and Molly, of course).

Amy spots Powder & they ride up to retrieve him. Despite their attempts to approach cautiously, Powder still seems agitated. Nate, sensing Powder’s nerves, says that he doesn’t want to put him in a trailer in his current state, so Amy volunteers to take Powder back to the ranch herself.

Miranda wanders into the loft looking for Tim, where she runs into Jessica. Jessica informs her that Tim is in Calgary for his meeting but invites her to sit and wait. Miranda politely declines & tells her she’d better go. On her way out, Miranda sees a beautiful photo of Jessica & Tim looking romantic & cozy by a fire and remarks that Jessica ” really got the better version” of Tim. She shares that when she met Tim, he not only had potential, but also a lot of demons that she thought she could fix. She goes on to say that it took her a long time to figure out that “you can’t really mold someone into the person you want them to be.” Jessica shares that she’s tried to fix her fair share of men over the years, and eventually realized the only person she could fix was herself.

While they’re out riding dirt bikes, Katie asks Ellie what it’s like to jump. Ellie tells her that “it’s a total rush of adrenaline, and then it’s freedom, the best feeling in the world.” Katie declares that she’d like to try. Ellie, surprised, says that she didn’t think Katie would be into taking a risk like that. Katie admits that she’s changed her mind & wants to feel that adrenaline rush herself.

Tim, back from his meeting, inspects the gazebo & states that he doesn’t think they’ll be able to rebuild it in time for the wedding so they should have the ceremony at the end of the dock. When Amy returns, Chloe runs over to ask her about Powder’s status. Amy lets her know that, even though he’s not injured, the fire really upset Powder & he might not be ridable in time for the wedding. She assures Chloe that she will do everything she can to calm him back down.

Chloe, now realizing that her perfect country wedding might not be happening after all, emotionally asks Shane why he had to take his work call – if he had been paying attention, none of this would have happened. Shane, taken aback, tells Chloe that, up until that point, he spent the entire day doing what Chloe wanted, and he just needed to step away for a couple minutes to focus on his job. Additionally, he says, for her information, the call he had to step away to take was with the partners at his firm, who wanted to offer him a promotion, but he wanted to discuss it with her first. Chloe says that there is nothing to discuss since they will be moving to London soon. Shane reveals that he isn’t so sure if he wants that anymore. Chloe says that in that case, maybe they should cancel the whole wedding & storms off.

Back to Katie & Ellie: Katie hasn’t made any jumps on her bike yet, and Ellie, being supportive, says that maybe Katie should just accept the fact that she isn’t the “hard core” type, which is totally okay.

Later, Tim comes to comfort Shane on the dock: he tells Shane that there are pre-fabricated gazebos that they can have brought in time for the wedding. If there is a wedding, Shane cynically replies. Tim tells Shane to be honest with Chloe about moving to London. Shane states that he has been honest, but things changed. Tim, understanding, tells him that it’s normal for circumstances (and minds) to change, but he shouldn’t let it ruin his relationship: there is always common ground. Shane thanks his dad for building the gazebo for him and Chloe and shares that he had fun building it with him. Tim agrees that it was fun, and cheekily tells him that next time they’ll build something less flammable.

Amy comes to check on Powder, who is being brushed down by Nate in the barn. Nate reports that Powder seems much calmer now & might be okay for the wedding. Amy updates him and tells him that there might not be a wedding because Chloe & Shane “aren’t exactly in a great place tight now.” When Amy expects him to say “I told you so,” Nate tells her that just because his marriage ended badly doesn’t mean that he’d wish that on anyone else. Before Amy goes off to get Lyndy ready for dinner, Nate asks her if she could go back to the day she met Ty with the knowledge of how things would end up, would she still do it all again. Amy confidently replies that she would “in a heartbeat.”

Later, Jack confronts Nate, who is on his way home after tending to Powder. Jack asks Nate if it was his plan all along to have Garland Foods drop Heartland Beef & run them out of business. Nate replies that he knows Jack considers him “the enemy,” but he’d rather be a friendly competitor. When Jack replies that he thinks the competition is over because Pryce is the clear winner, Nate isn’t so sure; Jack doesn’t seem like the type of guy who gives up without a fight.

It’s Lisa’s birthday! Everyone (except Shane, Chloe and Miranda) is gathered around the dinner table to wish her a happy birthday. Tim remarks that maybe there was something to that bad omen Jack saw in the sky earlier. Despite the heavy mood, Jack tries to get a conversation started about something other than burned-down gazebos. Tim plays along & asks if Jack has hired the guys they need to move the herd. Jack, who wants to hear about something other than work, offers to open a bottle of wine they’d been saving for a special occasion. Lisa asks him to wait on that since no one at the table is in a particularly celebratory mood. Jack apologizes and promises to make up for the lackluster party. Lisa tells him that their small post-dinner celebration was more than enough, but she does have one birthday request – that they all do a cattle drive as a family, like old times.

The next morning, bright & early, Lisa’s birthday wish is fulfilled! The whole gang is out driving the herd. Jessica asks her cowboy, Tim, how he’s doing. Tim tells her that he’s doing fine, but they might lose their cattle business & Shane’s wedding has literally gone up in smoke! Jessica, seeing the silver lining, raises to him that he has his son back in his life; Shane isn’t having his wedding at Heartland because of a gazebo, he’s having it there because of Tim – last year they were practically strangers. Amy & Lou ride over to tell Tim that they will be doing whatever they can to get the wedding back on track, with Amy dedicating herself to Powder & Lou sprucing up the dude ranch. Tim thanks them both & says that Shane is really going to appreciate that his big sisters are in his corner the whole way.

After the drive, Jack gathers everyone as he says a few words: first, he thanks Lisa for the idea to do the cattle drive as a family. It’s a good reminder of what really matters, and it’s not the cattle or the land. What matters, he says, is family being there for one another through the good times and bad. He goes on to say that they will figure out a way to get heartland Beef back on track, with or without Garland Foods. He declares that “the Bartlett, Fleming-Morris clan can never give up. We fight.” Later, Jessica takes a few snaps of the ladies. Lou, who might have just hatched an idea, asks her to send over a few of the shots.

At the dude ranch, Chloe looks over the ashes of the gazebo. Shane walks over to apologize for causing it to burn down. She tells him it’s not his fault – they would have needed their own nuclear power plant for all the things she was demanding – and asks him to forgive her for turning into a “bridezilla.” Shane asks her to forgive him for changing his mind about London: he really did go when they initially made that decision together, but then things started to fall into place at his firm. Chloe says that she’s proud of him & of course he must accept that promotion: London only makes sense if the both of them are excited about it and she doesn’t want to go if it means Shane would have to take a step backwards in his career. When he asks her about her job, Chloe reveals that she turned down a great job offer in Philadelphia last week, but called that morning to see if the position was still open and they are now negotiating terms. Looks like these two were able to find common ground after all!

Katie, energized by Jack’s speech, attempts a jump again. She falls but gets right back up & says she wants to go again. Impressed, Ellie says that she might have been wrong about Katie – she’s more of a risk taker after all!

Amy, also feeling freshly confident, is back to working with Powder. Nate, inspired by Amy’s determination, looks to be giving it his all as well. After trying for a while, Amy tells Nate that she thought he was getting better, but Powder might not be ready for the wedding in time. Nate, surprisingly optimistic, tells her they must keep trying. Amy jokes that, if she didn’t know any better, she’d think that Nate’s a hopeless romantic.

Lou, Tim and Jack are back in the city to meet with Garland. In their presentation to Iris & team, they point out that Heartland is a special place: it’s been in their family for six generations and their story is only beginning. They show a photo of the ladies of the Bartlett-Fleming-Morris clan from the cattle drive to illustrate that women are the future of their operation. Right as they are about to launch into a proposal of their new marketing strategy, Iris cuts them off and thanks them for their time. On their way out, Lou tells Iris that Heartland Beef does not need Garland Foods – they might act as if they hold all the cards, but they’re only as good as the product on their shelves. Their product is organic and responsibly raised in harmony with the environment, and generations of customers have responded to the quality of their beef & will for generations to come. If they don’t want to be a part of that story, then that’s their loss.

Back to Amy & Nate: it seems they’ve run out of time. Amy asks him if he’d like to try again, and Nate replies that he should let Powder rest. Amy goes to break the news to the rest of the family.

Amy & Lou arrive at the dude ranch to help Shane, Chloe, Miranda and Tim set up for the wedding. She apologizes and lets Chloe know that Powder won’t be ready in time for the wedding, but there is some good news: she has an idea for an alternate location for the wedding. They walk to Amy’s favorite spot with the swing; it’s where she and Ty were going to build their home. Not only does it hold a lot of good memories, but it’s also one of the most beautiful parts of the ranch. Chloe obviously loves it, saying it’s so much better than the gazebo. Shane also approves & says it’s the perfect place for a new beginning.

It’s the next morning, which also happens to be wedding day! From her window, Amy spots Nate up early working with Powder. It looks like Nate has been busy. She goes over to see their progress and is impressed. Nate declares that Powder is back on track! He says that Amy can walk Chloe down the aisle on him just like she planned. Amy doesn’t think that’s such a good idea because she’d want to work with Powder a bit more before she felt comfortable with Chloe riding on him at the wedding. When Nate insists that he can feel Powder is ready, Amy says that she agrees, but Powder trusts him more & he’s the only one who could safely lead Chloe down the aisle. Nate replies that if Amy wanted to invite him to the wedding, she could’ve just asked. It looks like Powder (and Nate) is back in the wedding!

Tim goes to the dude ranch to help Shane get ready. Tim tells Shane how proud of him he is and how much it means to him to be there for his wedding day. Shane thanks him, and says, even though he and Chloe decided against groomsmen and bridesmaids, he wants his dad there beside him. Tim emotionally accepts, deeply honored to be his son’s best man.

It’s almost time to begin! Most of the guests have arrived & Chloe is enroute. Lou & Amy tell a very nervous Shane that he’s going to be great. Amy reminisces about when they were younger & she taught him how to ride a horse. Shane says that he always felt brave as a kid when he wore the belt buckle that Amy gave him & reveals that he’s currently wearing it for his special day. Tim walks over to Miranda, who thanks him for talking to Shane about London. Tim replies that the reason Shane turned out to be such a fine young man is all because of her. She introduces him to Paul, her husband.

Now for the wedding! Be sure to watch the episode to see the gorgeous ceremony.

The next day, Nate, Amy and Lyndy go on a morning cattle drive. Amy thanks him for making Chloe & Shane happy, and remarks to him that he disappeared after the wedding. Nate explains that he didn’t want to get in the way because it seemed like a family-only affair. Lyndy invites Nate to go cloud gazing with them later.

Katie invites Lou to watch her complete a jump on her dirtbike. When Lou says that she thought Katie didn’t do jumps, Katie tells her that she doesn’t (yet). She goes on to explain that even though she chickened out before, she knows that her mom is always there in her corner. Lou tells her that she doesn’t have to prove anything, but Katie insists that she does – The Bartlett-Fleming-Morris clan doesn’t give up! With her mom looking on, Katie successfully completes the jump!

Jack and Lisa are on a ride together. They look out over the horizon & Lisa asks Jack if he sees any bad omens. Jack replies, “not a one.” The future looks bright.

In the final scene of the season, Amy, Lyndy, Nate and Molly lay in the grass, gazing at the clouds. They sure do make a cute little family.

Wow! What a finale! Another satisfying season finale: everyone seems to have settled in a good place (for now). Katie is blossoming into a beautiful, confident young woman; Lou has finally found her place as she takes control of Heartland Beef’s business operations; Jack & Tim continue to lead with grace; and while we aren’t totally sure where Nate & Amy stand romantically, he has certainly proven himself as a friend to the family, not a foe. Season 18 can’t come fast enough!