This story contains light spoilers from the When Calls the Heart season 12 finale.
When Calls the Heart season 12 has officially come to a close, and phew, was the finale full of surprises! But with season 13 officially on the way, we just got even more news we weren't expecting.
Hope Valley is buzzing with a new sense of change, as the citizens are all going off in different directions. Between Governor Lucas Bouchard (Chris McNally) seemingly jumping into a potential romance with Edie Martell (Miranda MacDougall), and Nathan Grant (Kevin McGarry) and Bill Avery (Jack Wagner) solving the season-arc case of the Garrison gang stealing rare coins, it seemed like things may have been looking up. But for Elizabeth Thornton (Erin Krakow), life couldn't be more dire for her.
Fans know how Elizabeth went through a parenting crisis when her son Little Jack (Hyland Goodrich) was diagnosed with diabetes. While Elizabeth was adamant about facilitating an insulin trial for Little Jack in Hope Valley, it turned out one person in her life wasn't so keen on the idea. As for who this person was, well ... it turned out to be someone fans were never expecting to hear from again.
As Elizabeth received a letter from none other than her mother-in-law Charlotte Thornton (originally played by Brooke Shields), she learns how Charlotte isn't thrilled about Little Jack being far away from a lab that has multiple resources to help his condition. What's more, she had hopes for Elizabeth and Little Jack to join her in Cape Fullerton, where they could receive proper care until he stabilizes from receiving insulin shots.
When fans realized the show was potentially implying Charlotte's return to Hope Valley, it immediately caused a stir online.
"More #HiatusReflections ...Will we see Charlotte Thornton in S13? Hearing her name in the S12 finale was a surprise! Not sure if it was a good one 🫢," one person wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "Charlotte Thornton mention!! 💖💖💖💖 We haven't heard her name in years," another penned. "Charlotte Thornton! As much as this letter is rough - I’m glad she’s still in touch!" a different viewer added.
The last time folks got to see Charlotte on When Calls the Heart was back in season 3. At the time, she made her way to Hope Valley to attend Lee (Kavan Smith) and Rosemary Coulter (Pascale Hutton)'s wedding, as Rosemary was her late son Jack (Daniel Lissing)'s former fiancée. We also know she had her reservations about Elizabeth and Jack's relationship, although she was happy for them once they saw the couple together.
Even though we don't know if Charlotte will make a special appearance on WCTH, we do know one thing: she is going to be involved in some way. Given how Elizabeth and Little Jack decided they'd go to Cape Fullerton, it's likely we'll get to hear more about Charlotte's whereabouts while they're there for the time being.
No matter the case, we certainly love the idea of Charlotte being back on our screens once more!
As the entertainment and news associate editor for Good Housekeeping, Adrianna (she/her) writes about everything TV, movies, music and pop culture. She graduated from Yeshiva University with a B.A. in journalism and a minor in business management. She covers shows like The Rookie, 9-1-1 and Grey's Anatomy, though when she’s not watching the latest show on Netflix, she’s taking martial arts or drinking way too much coffee.
