NOTE: This post contains major spoilers for season 11 of When Calls the Heart. Read at your own risk!
Hello, Hearties! With season 11 of When Calls the Heart done and season 12 debuting in 2025, there won’t be any new episodes of the show to look forward to each week for quite a while. However, you can always rewatch old episodes to get your Hope Valley fix in between seasons.
Just in case you need a little refresh, here are the big highlights from each episode of season 11. You can also read my (extremely) detailed recaps for each episode, which are linked at the bottom of each episode’s summary and at the bottom of this post. Without further ado, let’s recap the recaps!
"When Stars Align"
(Season 11, Episode 1)
- After being shot in season 10’s finale, Lucas goes through surgery and faces a long recovery. After a four-month time jump, he is finally ready to get to work as the territory’s new governor.
- Nathan was assigned to a special investigative team to find the person who shot Lucas. A man named Clayton Pike confessed to the crime, but there are doubts as to whether he was really the shooter.
- A patient suffers a heart attack, leaving Faith to care for her granddaughter while she’s in the hospital.
- Elizabeth debuts a new look, seemingly representing the changes in her life.
"Tomorrow Never Knows"
(Season 11, Episode 2)
- Lucas must divest his interest in the Queen of Hearts. Lee and Rosemary decide to purchase the saloon, keeping Mike Hickam as manager.
- Henry is back in town after visiting Abigail Stanton.
- After a bit of miscommunication leads Nathan to believe that there will be a surprise party for his birthday, Elizabeth and Allie rush to plan a party for him at the saloon.
- Governor Lucas Bouchard arrives back in Hope Valley at the end of the episode, and Nathan and Elizabeth don’t exactly seem pleased by his surprise appearance.
"Steps Forward"
(Season 11, Episode 3)
- Bill and Rosemary continue to investigate Lucas’ shooting, unconvinced that the entire story is being told.
- Elizabeth and her students attend a press session for the new resort at Lucas’ request.
- Lucas learns that the base of the mountain where the resort is to be built, along with the access road, is still owned by Benson Hills.
- A daycare is established in Hope Valley.
"Along Came a Spider"
(Season 11, Episode 4)
- Nathan and Elizabeth organize Hope Valley’s Easter egg hunt, sharing a moment while hiding the eggs.
- Mike and Lee meet with the Mayor of Benson Hills who happens to be Mike’s sister, Maisie.
- Lucas’ “old friend from New Orleans”, Jeanette Aucoin, arrives in Hope Valley. Jeanette tells Elizabeth that she was engaged to Lucas at one point as well, a little fact Lucas never told her during their relationship.
- Angela and Cooper write a letter to their Uncle Jacob, who their dad has not spoken to in years and years.
"Stronger Together"
(Season 11, Episode 5)
- The leadership of Hope Valley, including new Mayor Lee Coulter, and Benson Hills decide to merge the two towns together, with hopes of solving the issue of access to the resort property.
- Lucas remembers grabbing the gun before it went off on the night of the shooting, but he still can’t remember the shooter’s face.
- Lucas speaks to Elizabeth, clarifying that he and Jeanette were never actually engaged. Nathan spots the two chatting in the street, which makes him jealous. He acts coldly toward Elizabeth for the rest of the day.
- Nathan pulls Elizabeth aside to apologize for his attitude toward her, telling her he had seen her with Lucas. Elizabeth assures him that they are just friends. Nathan asks if they too are just friends, or are they something more? Elizabeth answers his question at the end of the episode, saying friends don’t look at friends like that.
"Believe"
(Season 11, Episode 6)
- Lee dives into his mayoral duties, meeting with the townspeople of Hope Valley.
- Rosemary finds a connection between Bernhardt Montague and Clayton Pike- Pike worked for Montague’s company for a short time.
- Elizabeth deals with a figure from her past- Mr. Higgins. Higgins is now the territorial school superintendent and is back in Hope Valley to prey on Elizabeth again. With help from Nathan, she confronts Higgins and stops him from negatively wielding his power over teachers any longer.
- Lucas and Henry struggle to find bidders on the new resort.
"Facing the Music"
(Season 11, Episode 7)
- Tom Thornton, the younger brother of Elizabeth’s late husband, visits Hope Valley for the first time since Jack’s death. Elizabeth is delighted to see him and to introduce him to his nephew, Little Jack.
- Tom is selling sheet music and scouting choirs for a man named Mr. Sweeney. After some pleading from Hope Valley residents, Tom allows the town’s choir to audition for a festival taking place in Salt Lake City. Mr. Sweeney approves the choir for the competition, but the fees are hefty. Something is fishy here!
- It turns out that Mr. Sweeney is a con man. Unbeknownst to Tom, Sweeney has taken all of the money from the local choirs and disappeared. Feeling guilty, Tom considers leaving town but decides to stay and fix his mistakes.
- Rosemary and Bill speak to Clayton Pike’s mother who insists her son did not shoot Lucas despite his confession.
- The only bidders on the resort are Jeanette Aucoin’s group of investors and Bernhardt Montague, neither of which are appealing to Lucas. With the impending closing of the Benson Hills Oil Company, Lucas feels pressure to make this resort happen.
"Brother's Keeper"
(Season 11, Episode 8)
- Hope Valley holds its own choir festival in order to repay the money that Mr. Sweeney stole. They manage to raise about 2/3 of the money, and Lucas donates the rest from the Governor’s Cultural Fund.
- Joseph’s brother visits Hope Valley, and the two eventually make up after being estranged for years.
- Thanks to Nathan, Clayton Pike is spending one night in Hope Valley’s jail. Rosemary, Bill, and Lucas all try to get info out of him about who hired him to take the fall for the shooting. However, Pike is clearly terrified of the person behind all this and refuses to speak about him. He only warns them to stay out of the entire thing, as the mystery man may come after them too.
- Although it is not a done deal yet, Lucas has decided to accept Montague’s bid on the resort project.
"Truth Be Told"
(Season 11, Episode 9)
- Nathan invites Elizabeth on a picnic date, which they never actually get to go on in this episode- oh well!
- Allie and Nathan disagree as to whether she should meet her birth father, who is in prison. At the end of the episode, Allie calls the prison to arrange a meeting with her father without Nathan knowing.
- Bernhardt Montague returns to Hope Valley to discuss his bid on the resort with Lucas, and he receives a less-than-warm welcome from the townspeople of Hope Valley.
- Rosemary, feeling that citizens deserve to know the truth, publishes a piece in The Valley Voice about Montague’s bid. Despite the town’s displeasure with the bid, Montague still agrees to seal the deal with Lucas.
- Later, Montague is attacked and badly beaten by an unknown attacker outside the stables. The incident scares him so much that he withdraws his bid and leaves town.
"What Goes Around"
(Season 11, Episode 10)
- Allie makes a solo trip to Granville Prison to visit her father, but he refuses to see her. After figuring out where she’s headed, Elizabeth and Nathan rush to find her and bring her home.
- Rosemary and Bill are back to square one in their investigation of Lucas’ shooting. The shooter clearly wasn’t Montague, so who was it?
- Lucas is seemingly starting to crack under the pressure of the resort. At a time of particular frustration, he begins to remember exactly what happened the night of the shooting. Jeanette Aucoin was there, but she wasn’t the one who shot him. Casimir Shaw, a notorious rum runner, shot him after Lucas grabbed for his gun.
- Lucas confronts Jeanette and she admits that Shaw is the one behind her bid on the resort, but insists that he has forced her into her role in this. Shaw saw the resort as an opportunity to launder money.
- Now having this information, Lucas decides to call off the resort completely. He sends Jeanette out of town, telling her to get away and hide from Shaw.
"Run to You"
(Season 11, Episode 11)
- Rosemary’s arch-nemesis, Randall Rockwell, arrives in town to work with her on an exposé in The Valley Voice. The two figure out that Randall’s source for all of his reporting on this case was none other than Jeanette Aucoin.
- Shaw and Jeanette take Rosemary and Elizabeth hostage in the saloon, but it seems that Jeanette is the one giving the orders.
- Rosemary and Lucas come to the same conclusion at the same time- Casimir Shaw does not exist because Jeanette Aucoin is Shaw.
- Lucas, Nathan, and Bill create a plan to save Elizabeth and Rosemary, and stop Jeanette. Jeanette and her lackey end up in custody, and everyone else is safe.
- Given Dora Watson’s health, Faith will be caring for Lily permanently.
- Mike proposes to Mei, and she accepts.
- Elizabeth and Nathan confess their love to one another (finally!).
Read the entire Season 11, Episode 11 recap. I highly suggest you read the whole thing. This episode was jam-packed!
"Anything for Love"
(Season 11, Episode 12)
- Lee comes up with a different way to use the resort land- to turn it into a national park. Lucas decides that he must return to Capital City to be able to do his job as governor, and asks Lee to join him to help with the national park project.
- Mike and Mei get married in Hope Valley’s church with everyone they love watching. A reception follows at the saloon, complete with decorations and a beautiful cake made by Minnie.
- Elizabeth and Nathan tell Little Jack and Allie they are now a couple. They go on a family picnic and attend Mike and Mei’s wedding together.
- As the episode ends, Mountie Superintendent Hargraves walks up to Elizabeth and Nathan. Nathan assumes he’s in Hope Valley to speak with him, but Hargraves actually needs to speak with Elizabeth… about her late husband.
That's all for season 11 of When Calls the Heart (the short version)!
What do you think about that cliffhanger? When Calls the Heart showrunner Lindsay Sturman has confirmed that Jack Thornton (played by Daniel Lissing) will NOT be returning to the show. So, it seems that any theories about Jack being alive after 5 years aren’t going to play out in season 12.
Given that info, what do you think Hargraves wants to talk to Elizabeth about? Let me know down below.
I highly encourage you to read all the recaps and/or rewatch season 11 before diving into the new season! There are plenty of details and more minor storylines throughout the season that might give important context moving forward. You can read all of my season 11 recaps below:
- When Calls the Heart Premiere Recap (Season 11, Episode 1)
- When Calls the Heart Season 11 Episode 2 Recap
- When Calls the Heart Season 11 Episode 3 Recap
- When Calls the Heart Season 11 Episode 4 Recap
- When Calls the Heart Season 11 Episode 5 Recap
- When Calls the Heart Season 11 Episode 6 Recap
- When Calls the Heart Season 11 Episode 7 Recap
- When Calls the Heart Season 11 Episode 8 Recap
- When Calls the Heart Season 11 Episode 9 Recap
- When Calls the Heart Season 11 Episode 10 Recap
- When Calls the Heart Season 11 Episode 11 Recap
- When Calls the Heart Season 11 Episode 12 Recap
