[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for When Calls the Heart Season 11 Episode 4 “Along Came a Spider.”]
Lucas (Chris McNally) gets a very unwanted blast from his past, one he’d not exactly been truthful about, when his old “friend,” Jeanette (Cecilia Deacon), comes to Hope Valley on When Calls the Heart.
Sure, they’ve gotten into trouble in the past, but she insists she’s just there representing a group of investors interested in the hotel. Lucas doesn’t buy it and spends the episode trying to get Jeanette to leave and keep her from interacting with anyone, especially his ex-fiancée Elizabeth (Erin Krakow). But Jeanette does make sure to introduce herself to Elizabeth just before she leaves. So how much was Lucas not wanting her around about him knowing her tactics and how much was it him not wanting the reminder of who he was?
“I think it’s definitely both. Lucas knows Jeanette well and does not trust her and I don’t think he fully believes her reasoning for being in Hope Valley,” McNally tells TV Insider as part of our weekly When Calls the Heart aftershow, Heart Beats. “There’s definitely the fact that he is reminded of the life he used to lead in the past, and he’s made great efforts to change his ways and has made quite a bit of progress. And so this blast from the past is inconvenient at best for him.”
Ricardo Hubbs / Hallmark Media
Elizabeth is also a factor because he does still care about her and her feelings, McNally continues. And he doesn’t disagree with her assessment in the episode that part of what led to the end of their relationship is that Lucas puts her on a pedestal.
“He cares for her more than anyone he’s ever met, and I think that one of his faults is placing her on that pedestal and viewing her in that way,” he explains. “That’s not to say that he doesn’t also see her grounded, but I think subconsciously, he does lift her up and envision her there and hence all the grand gestures and trying to do everything in his power in the past, to show her how much he cares for her.”
Right now, Lucas is not exactly content to just be friends with Elizabeth, but “he always puts [her] feelings first, and her happiness is the most important thing to him,” according to McNally. “But so far in Lucas’s journey, there’s no one else that ticks that box for him and that he feels the same way about her even close to. So I think it’s tough, but it’s what it is.”
He also confirms that “Lucas is very aware” of what’s developing between Elizabeth and Nathan (Kevin McGarry). “I don’t think he’s surprised by it. I think that internally he knows that when it wasn’t right with Lucas and Elizabeth that Nathan would be next or would be the final choice,” he admits.
As for who shot Lucas and whether he believes Pike’s confession, his character “wants [the investigation] to go away and move on,” says McNally. Until there’s new information, “he’s considering it case close because he has to compartmentalize. He’s very stressed out this season. … He’s just got so much on his plate.”
But McNally is enjoying seeing Lucas under that pressure because “as we progress through this Season 11 storyline, the amount of weight and pressure and stress that’s added on him and sort of chipping him away, you just get to see sides of Lucas that you haven’t seen before—some for the better and some for the worse. It’s an interesting perspective that we get to see for the first time.”
Oh, and as for those people who think Lucas might actually really remember what happened the night of his shooting and is covering it up? “As far as I’m concerned, he’s not lying,” says McNally, but adds, “I also don’t think he’s too eager to try and remember and go down that path because he has so much on his plate. If it comes back, then I think that’s helpful. He really did smack his head and has nothing to offer.”
Watch the full video interview above for more from McNally, including whether Lucas misses who he was with Jeanette, how he feels about her bid on the hotel, Lucas and Elizabeth, Lucas and Nathan’s dynamic this season, whether he trusts Edwin (Erik Gow), and the investigation into his shooting.
When Calls the Heart, Sundays, 9/8c, Hallmark Channel