For reasons I can’t explain, I find myself marathoning some random show, often, but not exclusively, an import. There was a time when this was something I could look forward to in order to fill my need for TV during the summer hiatus, but with the number of summer shows on TV now, that is no longer an excuse. Some random shows I can credit to this marathoning include: Farscape, Wild Fire, The West Wing, Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me, and Arrested Development.
My newest random discovery is Heartland from Canada. Like with ABC Family’s Wild Fire, this series is set on a horse ranch and helps rehabilitate a problem child who comes to stay on the farm as a ranch hand. But where Wild Fire was focused on wild child Kris, Heartland‘s central character is heart of gold Amy, who becomes something of a local legend for her horse whispering skills. While normally I gravitate towards the more rebellious characters on these types of shows, I find myself connecting to Amy. Although she is presented as the girl who can do no wrong, her passion often leads her to do dangerous, reckless things in order to stand up for what she believes in. So far, Amy has broken into people’s barns, faced down people with guns, stood up to a royal prince, and more. And that’s not counting the many daredevil stunts and risks she has taken while riding and training horses. Amy is the type of character that on most shows would get irritating, but the writers have found a way to balance her do-gooderness with other appealing qualities.
The series starts with a family tragedy?Amy and her mother sneak into a barn on a stormy night to rescue an abused horse, only to skid off the road. Amy’s mother is killed in the accident, bringing home her older sister Lou, who has worked hard to get out of their ranch town. To add to the chaos, their long absent father walks back into their life (eventually bringing with him an illegitimate child, some annoying girlfriends, and a host of get-rich-quick schemes).
One of the show’s strength is in how believable Amy is as “Miracle Girl” (a nickname she acquires after a YouTube video of her calming a horse that is stuck in some barbed wire goes viral). Amy truly seems to have a connection with horses. There is nothing that feels forced about it. (This is probably as much a credit to the crew as the actress, but she really sells it.) The actress who plays her, Amber Marshall, grew up around animals and was a veterinary assistant, so she knows her way around animals. She even lives on a farm ranch, like her character, and has horses that she cares for. In season 7 (SPOILER ALERT), an accident causes Amy to doubt herself and react fearfully around the horses. This is not a unique storyline for TV, but seeing it happen to a character who is so firmly grounded in a life built around riding, saving, and helping horses, this was such a compelling tragedy. More shows could learn from the way the series establishes character struggles as well as the best way to handle “case of the week” stories without getting boring or repetitive.
The even greater strength of the series is when it deals with the family issues. Though the Fleming family has been through a lot?abandonment, accidents, alcoholism, to name a few?the family bands together when it matters most. The love and support is palpable (even when you want to give Tim, Amy and Lou’s selfish father, a nice hard kick). The addition of Georgie, runaway/foster-child/adopted-daughter, was a particularly solid decision in the show’s sixth season. It added a new dimension to the family, created some new types of issues for the family to deal with, and introduced a surprisingly strong young actress in the process. Where many shows struggle when adding new children to the mix, Heartland found a way to make this happen seamlessly.
The series has been renewed for an eighth season, so if you, like me, want something a little less complicated than most of today’s TV fare and are in the mood to binge, Heartland might be just the thing for you. (The first five seasons are even on Netflix!)
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