When Calls the Heart’s season 11 finale left fans with a lot of unanswered questions — but stars Kevin McGarry and Erin Krakow are confident in Nathan and Elizabeth’s future.
“There’s a big shift,” McGarry, 39, exclusively told Us Weekly of the Sunday, June 23, episode, in which Nathan Grant (McGarry) and Elizabeth Thornton (Krakow) go public with their romance.
The actor explained that once Elizabeth professed her love for Nathan one week prior — and finally shared a kiss this season — the characters were ready to move forward.
“Once that little hiccup is cleared up … They’re in a whole new world,” McGarry said of Elizabeth apologizing for accidentally breaking Nathan’s heart during season 8.
Krakow, 39, revealed that while she thinks fans “would’ve still been happy if we just kissed,” she thinks if they “didn’t have all the monologue leading up to it” there would’ve been “questions” about how Elizabeth and Nathan grow as a couple.
Elizabeth previously picked Lucas Bouchard (Chris McNally) over Nathan, but Elizabeth and Lucas split in season 10. Throughout season 11, Elizabeth and Nathan have been moving slowly to rebuild their relationship.
“We warned them that it would be a very slow burn seeing these two people come together, but maybe it’s a little slower than they were expecting,” Krakow teased.
McGarry, meanwhile, agreed that since there was “a lot left unsaid” between the pair leading into the last two episodes of season 11, Elizabeth’s declaration of love was the right call.
“They sat with a lot of these questions unanswered for years. So I think that monologue that Erin delivers is earned and important and needed,” he shared. “It is the last thing to clear all the air to be kind of what Nathan’s been waiting to hear.”
The speech gave Nathan and Elizabeth the ability to go public with their romance in the season finale while attending Mei Sou (Amanda Wong) and Mike Hickam’s (Ben Rosenbaum) wedding.
“A lot of obstacles went away,” McGarry said of Sunday’s episode. “I think they’ve known each other for five years, five seasons, and a lot has been kind of in the way of this romance. It’s a clear road to romance now between the two of them and I think they’re taking advantage of it.”
Looking forward to season 12, the actors told Us that the love will continue to blossom. “It’s a bit of a honeymoon phase,” Krakow said of the TV couple.
“They’re in a brand new phase. They’re taking the town out,” McGarry added.
While fans are going to have to wait and see what the WCTH cliffhanger means — a Mountie came to town during the final seconds to tell Elizabeth he had news about her late husband, Jack Thornton — McGarry and Krakow have started to think about a possible TV wedding.
“It took five years to get to the kiss, so I mean, we got lots of time to envision what this wedding [is] going to look like,” McGarry joked to Us. “I will say if and when it happens — when and if it happens — I hope it’s special to them.”
He said he envisions something that’s “fitting to what their story is, whether that’s something just special for them.”
Krakow agreed, adding that she wants “something that feels unique [to the couple].”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
