Drama
Andor
The critically acclaimed Star Wars series ‘Andor’ is back. For fans, it is a return to form. For families, the show is still potentially a ride through an asteroid belt.
As a little girl, all Lillian wanted was a family. She was just 7 when she went to live in an orphanage with her younger sister, Grace. But then the sisters were separated.
Lillian was eventually adopted by a loving family. Grace, however, kept getting shifted from one orphanage to another, and she soon lost hope she’d ever have a family again.
But Lillian wasn’t one to give up hope. Years later, she managed to track down Grace and bring her home. Not to the home where they’d been born, mind you, but to Brookfield, the small town where Lillian was raised by her adoptive family.
In fact, the reunited sisters have now opened an orphanage in Brookfield. Together, Lillian and Grace make sure every child who comes into their care knows that he or she is loved and wanted. And they even try to find missing family members, so the children can be reunited with loved ones.
The townsfolk of Brookfield—hesitant at first to welcome so many unknown children into their midst—have now embraced Lillian and Grace, willing to lend a hand and to support the sisters in any way they can.
So when the sisters’ long-lost aunt, Nora, shows up at the start of Season 2, she’s welcomed into the fold as well.
When Hope Calls, a spinoff of the Hallmark Channel’s When Calls the Heart, first aired on Hallmark+ in 2019. But now, after a 5-year hiatus, the newest season can be found on Great American Pure Flix.
Like most shows streaming on these two platforms, When Hope Calls is a wholesome, sweet period piece. The town of Brookfield certainly has its challenges: Much of the first season involved tracking down a bank robber. But overall, its citizens are warm, lovely people willing to roll up their sleeves and put in the hard work necessary to keep their town functioning.
Danger occasionally looms in Brookfield, like when the previously mentioned bank robber shoots at some Mounties (the local police force) or when part of the town catches fire. From time to time, we hear some tearjerking tales from the orphans in Lillian and Grace’s care. The sisters share some of their own past hardships, too. And occasionally, romantic plotlines entangle, causing their own dramatic twists.
But while romance abounds, it isn’t scandalous. We never see more than an embrace or kiss. Characters wear the modest garb of the early 1900s. And there’s no harsh language (though you might hear the rare “darn”).
Indeed, When Hope Calls brings a certain hopeful element to the greater TV landscape, offering families a show that elicits warm, happy feelings without relying upon tawdry content.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Lillian and Grace work to find acceptance in Brookfield, where they’ve just opened an orphanage. They prove their mettle when the town faces a disaster.
We hear some stories of how children became orphans. Several townsfolk suspect the children might be unruly and ill-behaved. (Though they later recant those opinions.) Grace struggles to adjust to her new surroundings, but Lillian is encouraging and patient with her. Many people are polite and act kindly.
There’s some bad blood between certain residents, and they act distrustful of each other. A woman is accused of stealing. Grace lies during a negotiation, and although the other woman knows she’s not telling the truth, she likes Grace’s gumption. Some people act suspiciously, implying past misdeeds.
We hear that Lillian’s adoptive father may have been responsible for another person’s death. A Mountie indicates that he was previously injured by a bank robber.
The town rallies together to put out a fire. Lillian runs into a burning building to save a man. She’s injured in the process, but someone else saves her, too. Grace does her own part by taking all the town’s children to the orphanage, away from the blaze. The next day, she and Lillian offer food to the weary townsfolk.
Grace and the children all pray during the fire. A man says he named his horse after a Greek god.
People drink what appear to be alcoholic beverages at a party.
Lillian is shocked but elated to learn she and Grace have an aunt, Nora. Meanwhile, local nurse Maggie’s parents try to convince her to return home with them to England.
A Mountie leaps off a balcony and saves a child from getting hit by a car. Later, a nurse examines his knee, since he’s limping, and she finds multiple scars from past injuries. Several people are scared by news of a wolf pack.
A flashback shows a couple kissing. A man and woman awkwardly hug. The woman later tells her parents they’re just friends but also says that she had once hoped that their relationship would become something more. We hear Lillian’s grandparents stopped talking to her mother because they disapproved of her father. A woman’s parents meddle in her love life.
Townsfolk are generally kind and polite, but they gossip a lot. A man acts suspiciously around the new constable, fearing that he’ll be arrested for stealing a Mountie’s hat 10 years before. Instead, the constable asks him to be an informant. We hear some tales about how children were orphaned.
We learn that Grace is married now and expecting her first child in London, where she’s been put on bed rest; Lillian plans to visit her there. Lillian also expresses worry for Gabriel, the love of her life, who is away on assignment for the Canadian Mounties. A mother is similarly worried about her adult son, who is in another country.
Lillian says an orphan lost her eyesight after her parents died, and another woman says she prays for the child’s sight to be restored. Lillian reads a story about a family who prayed for a miracle after a shipwreck, and we hear that they received one. Some people say they believe in miracles, while others don’t. A man says he’ll move heaven and Earth to return to a loved one. Nora tells Lillian that she knows Lillian’s mother is looking down on her from heaven, proud of all that Lillian has become.
We hear one use of “darn.”
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
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