Season 15 finds Heartland characters moving on, living life to the fullest after grief and loss

‘This season coming up really focused on that growth and moving forward and being able to see that light at the end of the tunnel,’ Marshall says.

Author of the article:  Eric Volmers

In the Season 15 opener on Heartland, Amy (Amber Marshall) and Lyndy (played by twins Ruby and Emmanuella Spencer) ride to the stream. Courtesy, Heartland Season 15.

PHOTO BY PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID BROWN /David Brown

Earlier this month, actress Amber Marshall met a woman who may be the world’s biggest Heartland fan.

This designation is not handed out lightly. Now entering its 15th season, CBC’s Sunday night mainstay airs in 119 countries around the world and is the longest-running hour-long drama in the history of Canadian television. It has no shortage of devotees.

Marshall met the woman a few weeks back while grocery shopping. She was from France and, like many, her life had been upended by the pandemic. She was at an all-time low, so decided on a drastic change in her life. She would seek out and move to the place that brought her the most peace, which happened to be the fictional town of Hudson and foothills of the Rockies that are featured in the TV series she had been watching religiously for 15 years. It was a world that made her happy.

“The first thing that came to mind was Heartland,” says Marshall, who has played Amy Fleming on the show since it debuted in 2007. “She said, ‘I’m going go there. I’m going to move there.’ And she did. She picked everything up, left everything behind and moved to Alberta because Heartland makes her happy. It’s phenomenal to me. She hardly speaks any English. So she was telling me this in a very broken story. But she said it was very scary to move somewhere where you don’t speak the language, you don’t know anyone. But she said it always gave her peace knowing that this is where Heartland was.

“To me, it still blows my mind. But I hear stories like this all the time. To know that people can see this and it brings them happiness, it brings them contentment and that’s where they want to live even if they have that language barrier, even if they don’t know anyone. They know that is what they want in their life.”

Heartland has long been a tonic for troubled times, a peaceful distraction no matter what else was happening in the world. For 15 years, fans have spent their Sunday evenings watching the motherless Fleming sisters Amy and Lou (played by Marshall and Michelle Morgan) come of age on a ranch run by their gruff but kindly grandfather Jack Bartlett (Shaun Johnston). Central to the plot was the romance between Amy and Ty Borden, the stable boy turned veterinarian played by Graham Wardle. The relationship had its gentle ups and downs, but by Season 13 he had become a loving husband and father of a young daughter.

So Heartland faced its biggest dilemma yet when Wardle decided to leave the show, a jarring blow for a series that had more or less kept a stable cast and crew for most of its existence. The writers and producers settled on what would become the show’s most devastating twist, which was to have Ty drop dead as the series entered its 14th season.

Marshall, who is an active presence on social media and likes to interact with fans, knew this narrative would be shocking. But even she was taken aback by the response.

“I didn’t realize how deeply that story would impact people,” Marshall says. “I’m talking about people who would write me and say, ‘I haven’t slept for a week straight. I’ve been crying myself to sleep.’ In my mind, I’m thinking, ‘This is a story. The person who plays that character is alive and well, there’s nothing wrong with that person.’ But it’s so real to a lot of people and they’ve lived with that character for 14 years. So that was a traumatic loss, especially at a time when so many people were down — COVID has really taken a lot of happiness out of everyday things. So a lot of people were at a low spot and then when this happened, it was such a traumatic experience.”

Producers and writers were determined not to downplay the loss. Much of Season 14 revolved around the characters coming to terms with their grief. In Season 15, which debuts Oct. 17 on CBC, Ty has not been forgotten by his family and friends, but most of the characters are determined to enter a period of renewal and live life to the fullest. Grandpa Jack, tired of hearing he is too old to run a ranch, decides to ramp up his operations. Tim Fleming, the occasionally self-serving father of Amy and Lou, will apparently drop a bombshell early in the season. Amy, meanwhile, must come to terms with being a single mother of a four-year-old daughter. She will also begin mentoring some new characters.

“This season coming up really focused on that growth and moving forward and being able to see that light at the end of the tunnel,” Marshall says. “The character of Ty will never be forgotten. He was such a big part of the show, he was such a big part of Amy’s life and the Heartland family. But tragic events happen in our lives and what Season 15 is, for me and my character, is being there for those you love and those that are in your life.”

Season 14 was not an easy shoot, and not just because of the themes of loss and grief. It was also shot during the pandemic in Calgary, Longview, High River and Millarville. Shooting under restrictions is draining and added an extra layer of stress to a season that was already unusually dark in its themes, Marshall says.

Filming Season 15, which began in June, was also difficult. For the first time, there were significant changes in the film’s crew due to the busyness of the Alberta film industry. Marshall says there was an 83% turnover, which in some cases meant saying goodbye to workers who had been with the show since the beginning.

Still, like many fans, Marshall has found a home with Heartland. She has never been one of those actresses who uses her hiatuses to pursue other roles. When not filming, she prefers a quiet life with her husband on their ranch in rural Alberta.

“I’m just so lucky that the show found me and correlates with everything I love to do in my life,” Marshall says. “When it’s not filming, I just want to hang out on my ranch with my animals and husband and just wake up every morning and do chores. I do all the same things my character does onscreen. To me, that’s what life is about. It’s not about chasing anything. It’s about finding contentment in exactly what you’re doing in day-to-day life.”