S1E12: Nothing Endures (2007)

The episode begins with Amy and Spartan in the jumping ring with her new (read: inexperienced) coach, Ty, and as she finishes going through a course, Val, Ben, and Ashley arrive. The local competition in Hudson and many other local (and indeed professional) shows base their entries on whether someone has enough points to qualify for a prestigious show. This late in the competitive season, Amy is intent on qualifying for the Fall Finale, the local season-ending championship show, but, unless she does very well in one show before then, she will not qualify for the Finale. Ben and Ashley, in direct contrast and opposition to Ty and Amy, do not need the points, since they have done well enough since early enough in the season that even if they don’t enter the show Amy must enter, they’ll still have enough points to go directly to the finale. Throughout the conversations between Ashley and Amy and Val and Jack, the differing economic conditions of Briar Ridge and Heartland have never been clearer.

As Ashley and her mother leave, Ty and Jack see a red truck on their property that doesn’t belong to anyone from Heartland. Pay attention to the red heater that appears just after the opening credit roll sequence. It will become of vital importance in the episode. By chance, Lou and Tim meet at Maggie’s, and as she leaves, Scott looks on, pining over what could’ve been. Now back at the ranch house, the romantic tension between Lou and Scott hits a new high as he reiterates an invitation to his vet school reunion. Clearly, there has been a change in the dynamic between the two Fleming sisters, as now Amy has grown much closer to her sister and now dreads the prospect that Lou might soon return to New York.

Romantic tension between Ty an Amy reaches a new high as he asks her out—to her school dance—as they share a moment alone together in the barn after night check. During that same night check, Spartan seems unusually agitated, and neither can explain why. In Lou’s room, Lou and Amy pick out dressed together for each of their upcoming dates, and Lou makes the first mention of any possible romance budding between Ty and her sister. This may only be a coincidence, but Lou makes passing mention of a powder blue tuxedo, the same color tuxedo Ty will be given by mistaken in advance of his wedding, several seasons from now.

At an afterparty following the dance hosted by Ashley and her family, Ashley and Ben once again clash with Amy and Ty. Meanwhile, late at night as Jack sleeps on the couch, the same red truck driven by Wes seen earlier—also the same truck that had agitated Spartan—arrives at the barn, and Wes exits, aided by the cover of darkness. We then see shots of the two parties, before abruptly cutting to Jack, woken up in the middle of the night by several startled horses. Jack leaves the house just in time to be able to identify Wes, and then, running to the barn, he discovers Wes has committed arson, setting the barn on fire. The two sisters and their dates by this point are all together, at Maggie’s, Hudson’s preferred gathering spot for pretty much any occasion, and, as I’ve said, a symbol of the community of the people of Hudson. The phone rings. Maggie’s ubiquitous smile and cheery voice fade away almost instantly as she realizes the gravity of what she is told, and her fear is telegraphed to her patrons. The very next scene adds to that fear and confusion: all we see at first are blurry police and fire strobe lights. While we don’t hear the wooing of the sirens, the soundtrack mimics that sound. Other than that and the frantic opening and closing of doors, there is complete silence in Hudson at this moment, as everyone runs toward the burning barn. Lou boards the ambulance with her grandfather on a stretcher, and others follow behind in Jack’s truck.

Jack is alive and seems to have escaped the barn fire with minor smoke inhalation and other injuries. Jack’s reaction is a common one, especially from people his age: doubting that young nurses and doctors—like the one put in charge of his case—are actually qualified, simply because they are so young. Beginning with the first hospital stay of the series, wanting to leave as soon as possible becomes a common theme in the series, and Jack’s stay for observation is no exception. Remember this pattern, since later in the series, there will come a hospital stay that ends early, with crucial importance to the furtherance of the plot at that time.

There is a dramatic change about halfway through the episode, after Jack wakes up from his first night back at Heartland after the fire: colors are lighter, it is day and no longer night, and the soundtrack is significantly higher. Even without a modulation from minor to major, higher pitch can still signify growth and optimism.

Mallory arrives as there is still smoke rising from the ashes, and she wants to know how the fire started. This is the point at which the red heater I mentioned earlier becomes important again: Ty points to the heater, which Mallory had used (and lied about, in the aftermath of the fire) the night of the fire, but Mallory did not cause the fire. As Jack exits the ranch house, we see a flashback to when Jack was a little boy, probably no older than Mallory is at this point in the series (Jack is likely around 10-12). Current Jack does not talk to Past Jack, as will be the case in forthcoming flashbacks, and the flashback, which is only visible to Jack and to the audience, ends when Lou comes onto the porch. Meeting with an insurance agent at Maggie’s, Lou discovers the barn was not insured.

It is all too common that this exact scenario—insurance suspending coverage because the owners of a historic agricultural property (remember, Jack is the sixth-generation owner of Heartland) have failed to meet modern building codes—happens in the real world, and the effects for real families are devastating. Val becomes unusually (for this far into the series) protagonistic, offering to help Jack get back on his feet however is necessary. As Val leaves, the flashback returns, and this time includes not only Young Jack but also Samuel Bartlett, Jack’s grandfather, to whom he was very close. This time, it is Mallory who runs into the frame and interrupts the flashback, bringing the show fully back to the present. One of the promises Jack made to Samuel was to never sell the ranch, and to always keep it whole; Jack sees an offer letter from Val to purchase at least some of the ranch, and it is because of this that Jack decides to take no action.

Immediately after deciding to reject Val’s offer, Jack falls to the ground in front of a fireplace with plenty of family history attached to it (more on it when we discuss season 3). Jack returns to the hospital in serious condition. Jack appears to not be conscious as Lou and Tim visit with him in his hospital room, while Ty and Amy stay behind to eat something. Unknown to us or to Lou or Tim, Jack was in fact conscious as the two discuss Tim giving Lou a large sum of money to cover the repairs to the barn, assuming Jack would not hear the conversation. Ty and Amy are called from the hospital at Heartland, and they are given the good news that Jack is ready to go home.

As Ty, Amy, Tim, and Lou pick Jack up from the hospital, the same red truck we have already seen several times passes them. Having identified the truck and the driver as having been at the barn when it burned down, and knowing who the driver is (Wes), they go to the police. Jack’s description of revenge here surely is one of his iconic quotes.

The sun rises as they return to Heartland, and the music has now moved from minor to major, a true signal of the hope and optimism of the future. Stopping the truck under the Heartland entry archway, Jack, Amy, and Lou see the kindness of their  neighbors in full effect, as they have all heard about the lack of insurance and banded together to help them. This is rural life at its best; this is humanity at its best.

In a wonderful twist of dramatic irony (i.e., that we can see why this is going to fail, but the characters themselves cannot), Maggie accidentally badmouths Val while the latter is just on the other side of Jack, as all 3 talk at the ranch while power tools buzz. Informing Val of his promise to his grandfather, Jack then goes to thank his neighbors who have come together in his time of greatest need to help him recover from a tragic crime. As Scott and Lou talk, overlooking the barn, the romantic tension between them is palpable, and there are so many moments when there could be a kiss… but at the last moment, there isn’t. The romantic tension between Ty and Amy is yet again at an all-time high in the first night-check at the rebuilt barn, and as has been the case so many times this season, there was almost a kiss… and we held out hope for that special moment until it was clear it would not happen this episode.

Back in the house, we hear one of only a handful of moments in the whole series when Mallory lashes out in her own defense toward Jack, Ty, or Amy—as they affirm their belief in her, that she did not cause the fire, but only after Wes had been identified as the culprit.

Throwing something at the fireplace, Ty hits a stone assigned to Amy’s grandmother Lyndy, who had passed away before the beginning of the plot. Heartland has a unique tradition wherein anyone who is born, adopted, or marries into the family is given honorary custody of one of the stones that make up the fireplace. Just as the mortar holds the fireplace together, the love of the family holds it together. Ty does not receive a stone now, but he will in due time, in several seasons.