Chris McNally Says He Hopes Things Get ‘Messy’ on ‘When Calls the Heart’ Season 8
When Calls the Heart Season 7 wrapped up without resolving the Elizabeth-Lucas-Nathan love triangle. That’s a disappointment to fans, who are eager to see to whom the widowed teacher (played by Erin Krakow) gives her heart. But it’s not an issue for actor Chris McNally, who plays saloon owner Lucas. He’s eager for more drama next season.
Lucas was feeling confident about his relationship with Elizabeth
In season 7, Lucas wasn’t afraid to show Elizabeth how he felt about her. He invited her to attend a reading by author Virginia Woolf, wowed her with a romantic dinner in a library, and was instrumental in getting her a book deal.
As a result, Lucas was feeling fairly secure about his chances with Elizabeth in the season finale. But he was shook when it seemed that Nathan (Kevin McGarry) — who has hesitated to be more open about his own feelings — and Elizabeth showed they also have a strong connection. In the last moments of the episode, Elizabeth rushed into Nathan’s arms after fearing he’d been shot, while a wounded Lucas looked on. (Earlier in the episode, Nathan had finally worked up the courage to ask Elizabet out on a date.)
“I feel like Lucas felt pretty confident by the end, you know? He thought … that everything was sort of falling into place the way that he wanted,” McNally told Entertainment Tonight. But when he sees Elizabeth and Nathan embrace, “it sort of takes his feet up from under him because he didn’t realize those ties were that strong,” the actor said. “I think he now has to rethink his whole situation.”
Chris McNally wants things to get ‘messy’ in Hope Valley
With the situation in Hope Valley suddenly a bit more complicated, Lucas is going to have to reassess where he stands with Elizabeth. That’s not great news for the character, but it’s a development the actor seems to relish.
“I feel like I wouldn’t mind having some more conflict, because that’s fun to play with, so I would like for things to get messy before anything gets better,” he told ET. “Just having that little bit of mystery is really fun to work with, so I’m hoping that if something messy can happen in the future, that it has something to do with Lucas’ character and personality and we can kind of dabble in a little darkness or mystery or suspicion or something again.”
Some fans don’t trust Lucas
McNally might be itching to dig more into his character’s mysterious past, but that might rub some fans the wrong way. Lucas is a relatively recent arrival in Hope Valley, and it took a while for him to become a part of the close-knit community. While it seems his intentions are good, some of the show’s dedicated fans still don’t quite trust him.
“He just buys people’s affection and lies to everyone!” argued one Heartie on Instagram. Another called him “too controlling.”
“I’m also starting to feel like Lucas is using Elizabeth,” wrote a fan. “He is just way too smooth.”
A few people on Team Nathan seemed to relish seeing his character get hurt at the episode’s end. One declared that their favorite moment from the finale was “when Lucas saw Elizabeth running into Nathan’s arms and embracing him, showing how much she cares more for Nathan.”
