S1E8: Out of the Darkness (2007)
Gallant Prince was a racehorse at the top of his game before he was injured in a barn fire that started under mysterious circumstances and which also injured his trainer, Ryan Bailey. Under a cloud of allegations, Ryan is fired and becomes despondent. Prince, who has become aggressive, is brought to Heartland as a last resort.
For the first time, Mallory notices and confronts Jack about possible romantic tension between Jack and Lisa Stillman, the famous breeder. Dan Hartfield, Lisa Stillman’s ex-husband and presently the owner of Brookland Stables, where Prince was bred and trained, and the rival operation to Lisa’s Fairfield Stables brings Prince to Heartland with videos of his past races. Prince is at imminent risk of being turned down because he is seen as too dangerous and damaged nearly beyond repair as the episode begins, but Amy’s profound compassion wins over even the stern Grandpa Jack, who agrees to have Prince brought for examination.
Mallory, opinionated as ever, believes it is now her mission to coach Jack and Lisa into a relationship and seeks Ty’s counsel for advice on how best to accomplish this. Late at night, Tim calls Amy trying to set up a meeting to rekindle the lost bond between father and daughter, though the fact that by his own admission, Tim had been “sidetracked” in this endeavor may be proof of the immaturity Jack sees in Tim.
The press has caught wind of the fact that Prince is being treated at Heartland, so now, in addition to feeling the pressure from trying to re-form a relationship with her father, Amy knows her work might very well be scrutinized by the media in a way that could make or break her budding career. Amy attempts to find a way to contact Ryan, Prince’s trainer before the accident that cost both of them their careers. But at least initially, every point of contact Amy tries rebuffs her, ostensibly for legal reasons, placing potential legal jeopardy over the well-being of an animal in desperate need of treatment, a clear violation of Amy’s sense of ethics and justice.
Lisa invites Jack to accompany her to a sale in this episode. The turn of events that follows creates one of the truly iconic moments of the entire series. Having observed that her car is much more valuable than his truck, Jack reasons that if he drives her to the sale, the sellers will not be inclined to only offer the horses at a higher price, and this may induce a bargain. However, along the way, the truck gives out, having had engine trouble in the recent past. Lisa is initially bewildered and upset by this occurrence, almost reading it as a cosmic meddling in the sale which he orchestrated because she believes he did not want to go to the sale. However, the two of them make the best of the situation, and although they missed the sale, they are stopped in a conveniently Scenic location. Lisa had packed a few sandwiches to be eaten after the sale was complete, but since neither of them ever made it to the sale because of the trucks problems, the two of them decide to eat the sandwiches by the side of the road in an impromptu picnic which fans will surely remember as their first date.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, I have gotten into the habit of eating quite a lot of sandwiches made with cold cuts, and every time the cold cuts available are turkey breast and Swiss cheese, I always remember this episode, since that was exactly the combination of cold cuts in the sandwiches in the date episode.
Amy finds Ryan, who initially believes she is a reporter, so he refuses to meet with her, though he relents when he learns she is not press. Amy tries hard to get through to Ryan, because she understands as a detective working in the mind of her horses, that sometimes, the best way to get through to a horse, is to get through to a human whom that horse knows well.
Returning to the truck after meeting with Ryan and his wife Beverly, Amy and Ty take another important step in their relationship: the first deliberate, prolonged, emotional physical contact between the two of them, alone, as Ty consoles Amy who has found Ryan so difficult to reach because of his own traumas, let alone Prince’s. The first time a person cries in front of someone else, let alone a potential romantic partner, is an extreme moment of vulnerability. Amy and Ty’s relationship is built for and by these moments of vulnerability between them; this is how they grow, and it is here, in these moments, that they are their strongest. We are led to believe there might be an event we have been waiting for for several episodes between them—their first kiss—but Amy pulls away before it can happen. The moment will come soon, but not quite yet.
After Ryan and Beverly are visited by Amy, Ryan finally comes to Heartland and sees Prince for the first time since the fateful accident which gravely injured them both. Then, it is Amy’s turn to show a rare lack of effort in rebuilding the relationship with her father.
Dan comes to Heartland, and he finds Ryan working with Prince, with the horse having shown an incredible improvement since the beginning of the episode, in fact, because Amy was right that reconnecting with Ryan would be beneficial for them both. Dan, however, is incensed by the act that the person whom he blames for the horse’s state is allowed near him, so Jack and Lisa unite in Ryan and Amy’s defense. This is the second time—and it is far from the last—that Jack and Lisa will join forces to vouch for Amy and her methods of rehabilitation of both horse and rider or trainer. At the end of Prince’s time at Heartland, as he is being prepared to be loaded back into the Brookland trailer, he appears to regress to where he was when he arrived when anyone but Ryan—including the first person Amy contacted trying to find Ryan, who reveals himself as the real culprit behind the fire—comes anywhere near Prince. Ryan is vindicated, Prince is rehabilitated, and Amy rides out to reconnect with her father. Amy’s agreement to reconnect with her father shows her endless empathy and capacity to forgive is extended not only to horses, but to people as well.
For the first time, Mallory notices and confronts Jack about possible romantic tension between Jack and Lisa Stillman, the famous breeder. Dan Hartfield, Lisa Stillman’s ex-husband and presently the owner of Brookland Stables, where Prince was bred and trained, and the rival operation to Lisa’s Fairfield Stables brings Prince to Heartland with videos of his past races. Prince is at imminent risk of being turned down because he is seen as too dangerous and damaged nearly beyond repair as the episode begins, but Amy’s profound compassion wins over even the stern Grandpa Jack, who agrees to have Prince brought for examination.
Mallory, opinionated as ever, believes it is now her mission to coach Jack and Lisa into a relationship and seeks Ty’s counsel for advice on how best to accomplish this. Late at night, Tim calls Amy trying to set up a meeting to rekindle the lost bond between father and daughter, though the fact that by his own admission, Tim had been “sidetracked” in this endeavor may be proof of the immaturity Jack sees in Tim.
The press has caught wind of the fact that Prince is being treated at Heartland, so now, in addition to feeling the pressure from trying to re-form a relationship with her father, Amy knows her work might very well be scrutinized by the media in a way that could make or break her budding career. Amy attempts to find a way to contact Ryan, Prince’s trainer before the accident that cost both of them their careers. But at least initially, every point of contact Amy tries rebuffs her, ostensibly for legal reasons, placing potential legal jeopardy over the well-being of an animal in desperate need of treatment, a clear violation of Amy’s sense of ethics and justice.
Lisa invites Jack to accompany her to a sale in this episode. The turn of events that follows creates one of the truly iconic moments of the entire series. Having observed that her car is much more valuable than his truck, Jack reasons that if he drives her to the sale, the sellers will not be inclined to only offer the horses at a higher price, and this may induce a bargain. However, along the way, the truck gives out, having had engine trouble in the recent past. Lisa is initially bewildered and upset by this occurrence, almost reading it as a cosmic meddling in the sale which he orchestrated because she believes he did not want to go to the sale. However, the two of them make the best of the situation, and although they missed the sale, they are stopped in a conveniently Scenic location. Lisa had packed a few sandwiches to be eaten after the sale was complete, but since neither of them ever made it to the sale because of the trucks problems, the two of them decide to eat the sandwiches by the side of the road in an impromptu picnic which fans will surely remember as their first date.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, I have gotten into the habit of eating quite a lot of sandwiches made with cold cuts, and every time the cold cuts available are turkey breast and Swiss cheese, I always remember this episode, since that was exactly the combination of cold cuts in the sandwiches in the date episode.
Amy finds Ryan, who initially believes she is a reporter, so he refuses to meet with her, though he relents when he learns she is not press. Amy tries hard to get through to Ryan, because she understands as a detective working in the mind of her horses, that sometimes, the best way to get through to a horse, is to get through to a human whom that horse knows well.
Returning to the truck after meeting with Ryan and his wife Beverly, Amy and Ty take another important step in their relationship: the first deliberate, prolonged, emotional physical contact between the two of them, alone, as Ty consoles Amy who has found Ryan so difficult to reach because of his own traumas, let alone Prince’s. The first time a person cries in front of someone else, let alone a potential romantic partner, is an extreme moment of vulnerability. Amy and Ty’s relationship is built for and by these moments of vulnerability between them; this is how they grow, and it is here, in these moments, that they are their strongest. We are led to believe there might be an event we have been waiting for for several episodes between them—their first kiss—but Amy pulls away before it can happen. The moment will come soon, but not quite yet.
After Ryan and Beverly are visited by Amy, Ryan finally comes to Heartland and sees Prince for the first time since the fateful accident which gravely injured them both. Then, it is Amy’s turn to show a rare lack of effort in rebuilding the relationship with her father.
Dan comes to Heartland, and he finds Ryan working with Prince, with the horse having shown an incredible improvement since the beginning of the episode, in fact, because Amy was right that reconnecting with Ryan would be beneficial for them both. Dan, however, is incensed by the act that the person whom he blames for the horse’s state is allowed near him, so Jack and Lisa unite in Ryan and Amy’s defense. This is the second time—and it is far from the last—that Jack and Lisa will join forces to vouch for Amy and her methods of rehabilitation of both horse and rider or trainer. At the end of Prince’s time at Heartland, as he is being prepared to be loaded back into the Brookland trailer, he appears to regress to where he was when he arrived when anyone but Ryan—including the first person Amy contacted trying to find Ryan, who reveals himself as the real culprit behind the fire—comes anywhere near Prince. Ryan is vindicated, Prince is rehabilitated, and Amy rides out to reconnect with her father. Amy’s agreement to reconnect with her father shows her endless empathy and capacity to forgive is extended not only to horses, but to people as well.
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