The Hope Valley: 1874 Premiere Featured Fierce Females on the Frontier

Critic’s Rating: 4.6 / 5.0

4.6

Hope Valley:1874 is a breath of fresh air.

I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie, so this series combined much of that show’s nostalgia with the themes viewers have come to love in When Calls the Heart.

It helped that Michael Landon Jr. was versed in both, so I was excited for this prequel.

(Jeff Weddell/ Hallmark Media)

The scenery was breathtaking as Rebecca Clarke (Bethany Joy Lenz) and her daughter, Sarah, travelled along the frontier in search of a better life.

I loved the endless plains, beautiful animals, and ranchers and prospectors trying to survive.

Rebecca and Sarah’s Mother-Daughter Relationship Was the Heart of the Series

Rebecca Clarke and her daughter, Sarah (Mila Morgan), stole our hearts from the minute they crossed the frontier.

These two were obviously a team, as Sarah seemed like a fearless, sweet child. She believed her mother could do anything, and she behaved like her mini-me.

(Jeff Weddell/ Hallmark Media)

They’d been on their own for months, which was why Rebecca was terrified when her horse was spooked by the dynamite and took off with her daughter in the wagon.

It wasn’t quite the adventure they planned, but nothing stopped those two. They could conquer anything together.

In many ways, it seemed like Sarah was too grown up. She was more concerned about keeping her mother’s secret and helping to fix up the boarding house than making new friends.

While I appreciated Sarah and Rebecca’s close bond, I also wanted to see Sarah be allowed to be a child, and the frontier would allow her to interact with animals and children.

I suspect that was part of the reason Rebecca decided to stay rather than run to Union City.

(Jeff Weddell/ Hallmark Media)

She liked the people, especially the McCabe family, who had two children around Sarah’s age and who were eager to be friends.

Hope Valley:1874 Specialized in Fierce, Independent Females

Rebecca Clarke was the epitome of grit and determination, and it’s been a long time since we’ve had a series led by so many strong females.

I loved that she and her daughter tried to fix a wagon wheel on their own. There were no damsels in distress.

While the series hinted that Rebecca was running from something, her main goal was to start again and provide a safe environment for her daughter.

She longed to survive, and she seemed wary of strangers, except for Hattie, with whom she built an instant friendship.

(Jeff Weddell/ Hallmark Media)

Hattie Quinn (Jill Hennessy) was a force to be reckoned with, and it was easy to see why she and Rebecca connected instantly.

Hattie ran the trading post and drove a tough bargain, forcing Tom to pay her a monthly fee if he wanted her to stop selling dynamite.

She needed to survive and wanted to teach her daughter, Olivia, those skills.

Like Rebecca, Hattie had recently lost her husband and knew how that loss knocked the wind out of you. 

She understood that many dreams were often broken, so she admired Rebecca’s strength and determination to fix up that run-down boarding house.

These were women with something to prove, so they didn’t fail. They had only just met, but they felt an instant kinship, and I can’t wait to see their friendship grow deeper.

(Jeff Weddell/ Hallmark Media)

We haven’t seen that much of Peggy McCabe or Olivia Quinn (Roan Curtis) yet, except for supporting other women in the background.

We’ll learn more about their dreams and how they strive to make a difference in the community as the series progresses.

While Rebecca and Hattie led Hope Valley:1874, all of the women had rich backgrounds.

Tom Moore Was a Good, Decent Man, But He Was Stubborn

There was something good and decent about Tom Moore, even if he irritated Rebecca. She had her walls up, since she and Sarah were running from something back home, and they seemed cautious about getting too close to anyone.

While Tom admired their independence, he refused to let them sleep outside in the rain while their wagon was being fixed.

(Jeff Weddell/ Hallmark Media)

However, he was careful to remain a gentleman and never made advances towards Rebecca.

Tom wanted to provide a safety net while she formulated a new plan without judging her for buying a boardinghouse without seeing it. He figured she must have been desperate and wanted her to have time to catch her breath.

 Even when Tom sounded stubborn, it was difficult for Rebecca to stay angry because he made Sarah feel comfortable, whether through his understanding tone or by teaching her how to milk a calf.

Sarah looked like she belonged on the frontier, and Rebecca knew she owed Tom for making her little girl smile again.

The frontier resembled a chance for new beginnings, but Rebecca needed Tom to understand her point of view.

(Hallmark+/Screenshot)

He only saw the prospectors as pests who buzzed in and out of town trying to make it rich, while she saw them as a way to make money at her new boardinghouse.

Times were changing, and you could tell Tom respected Rebecca’s grit and determination, but could she stand up against a town set in their ways?

We Got a Taste of When Calls the Heart When Ned Yost Was Born

Survival on the frontier was hard, and sometimes all you had was each other, which was both heartwarming and uncomfortable to watch.

It was heartbreaking to watch Lars and Rachel Yost sell jewelry to buy food. I loved that Hattie ran the trading post and threw in provisions along with the money to keep the expectant mother healthy.

While people had issues with one another, most of the time, they took care of one another.

(Jeff Weddell/ Hallmark Media)

We’ve discussed how we don’t often see births on television anymore. Well, Hope Valley: 1874 featured a birth in the middle of gold country with no doctors.

Rebecca Clarke, a doctor’s wife, was the best they had, and she had to walk Rachel through the birth while Hattie assisted.

Back then, nervous fathers waited outside the tent until they heard a live infant cry, so Lars panicked until then.

But it was a beautiful moment when they held baby Ned and declared he would do great things, which we’ve seen on When Calls the Heart.

Will the New Mounties Restore Order, or Bring More Conflict?

Constable Alexander Vaughn (Lachlan Quarmby) was the new Mountie assigned to keeping peace between the gold prospectors and the ranchers.

(Hallmark+/Screenshot)

He had his work cut out for them because many of the ranchers and prospectors were used to handling their own disputes, especially if the ranch had been in the family for years.

Some of the prospectors seemed annoying, especially Doyle (Ryan Robbins) and his insistence that he’d someday own all the land and be able to pan for gold wherever he wanted.

However, they had just as much right to survival, and that’s where the problem lay. Neither side would budge, and the dynamite and fighting scared the women and children.

I had never seen dynamite used to separate gold from hard rock, so it was a fun fact, albeit loud.

(Jeff Weddell/ Hallmark Media)

But Constable Vaughn was new in town, and neither side really respected him. To make matters worse, Rebecca feared having a cop too close.

Would having him nearby fix things, or would he only create more problems?

So Hearties, what were your thoughts on Hope Valley: 1874? Were you excited to watch the fierce females? Do you think Rebecca and Tom could be a pairing? 

Did you enjoy seeing the birth of Ned Yost?

Let us know in the comments.

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