Crown Media
Some fans, unhappy about recent storylines on Hallmark’s When Calls the Heart, are questioning Elizabeth’s care for her baby, whom she named Jack after her late husband. But the creator of When Calls the Heart, Brian Bird, shared a short tweet explaining that no, Elizabeth has not abandoned her baby. This is why we don’t see them together as often as we used to.
COVID Restrictions Required the Show to Have Fewer Scenes with Baby Jack
Elizabeth hasn’t been seen as frequently with Baby Jack in Season 8 of When Calls the Heart. And even though a recent episode showed her having a date with Lucas in her backyard so she could be near little Jack, some fans are still tweeting and talking on social media about how Erin Krakow’s character is always seen around town without her baby. But appearances can definitely be misleading.
COVID restrictions required the show to have fewer scenes with Baby Jack overall this season.
Bird explained this by retweeting a tweet from fan Janette Stephens that reads: “I think it needs to be reiterated that the Hope Valley kiddos couldn’t film as much this season because of COVID. No, Elizabeth hasn’t abandoned her child. The show was making safe choices. 💓💓💓 #Hearties”
Showrunner John Tinker, who joined the series for the eighth season, explained in a Facebook video that this is the same reason we don’t see Elizabeth’s suitors — Nathan or Lucas — with Baby Jack very often.
Tinker said in the video:
The COVID restrictions really limited our use of the Taylor twins… But there was some things like that that escaped my attention… Chris McNally and Erin Krakow brought it to my attention, for instance… They helped me realize, Lucas has never been in Erin’s row house. Perhaps appropriately. He’s simply a suitor and he’s not seeing [unintelligible.] But yes, in short, it did limit us.
Some fans have pointed out that prior to this season, Lucas did have some interactions with Baby Jack.
@ohmyhearttttt @Gina__Christine @hallmarkchannel Lucas is the man who will always put Elizabeth & Little Jack first ❤️ #TeamLucas #Hearties
And Nathan has to:
Baby Jack is portrayed by twins, Lincoln and Gunnar Taylor.
You can follow their story on Instagram here. The twins just celebrated their third birthday.
This Is Also Why WCTH Doesn’t Have Many Classroom Scenes This Season
Tinker also explained that this is the same reason we don’t have classroom scenes very frequently on the show this season.
He told Forsyth County News that classroom scenes had to be cut down because of COVID-19 protocols. The show also had to limit how they approached scenes involving moments of affection between characters. The good news is that all these protocols worked and no one from the cast or crew was diagnosed with COVID-19 during filming.
Tinker said: “If you had to have a kiss or a scene warranted it, you asked both (actors),” he said. They had to get everyone’s OK for moments of close affection, due to the risks, he said.
The show had to decrease physical contact between characters in general and limit the number of people on set at a time while filming during the pandemic.
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