Hope Valley: 1874 Season 1 Episode 5 Highlighted Different Meanings of Lost and Found

Critic’s Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

4.5

Hope Valley: 1874 excels at showcasing the strength of family bonds.

While Rebecca’s dedication to keeping Sarah safe is the central theme, watching Nash and Peggy with their children has been heartwarming.

They remind me of the Ingalls family from Little House on the Prairie, since they’re supportive parents with young children.

That’s why the McCabes and Rebecca worried when their children went missing on Hope Valley: 1874 Season 1 Episode 5. Peggy tried not to, since her kids often roamed the frontier, but Rebecca panicked whenever she couldn’t keep Sarah safe.

“Finally Home” showcased different parent-child relationships and how these children remembered certain survival skills their parents taught them. They were a resourceful group.

With gold rising, Hattie acquired a safe but couldn’t figure out how to open it again. It was somewhat amusing, but I feared that safe cracker would hold Olivia hostage unless he got paid.

Generally, Hattie is resourceful, but even she crumbled under pressure.

Be Home by Dark Has Been a Rule for Years

Some things will never change. Children have been known to explore outdoors for years, as long as they’re home by dark.

It’s a norm many of us grew up with, and it’s one that the McCabe children were familiar with, as long as an adult knew where they were.

While Sarah loved running with them, it worried her mother. Initially, the kids were only going to collect tree moss to stuff pillows, but Sam got distracted by panning for gold.

He’s a kid who likes shiny things. It’s accurate. Naturally, he knew a shortcut and got them all lost in the woods.

I was relieved that even though Doyle often acts like a jerk, he cared enough to give a lantern to find the kids. Maybe he’s not as mean as he looks.

Sometimes Longevity and Longing Win in a Love Triangle

Clayton, Olivia, and Alexander have been one of my favorite love triangles. Both men care first about Olivia’s happiness and still treat the other man with respect.

We’ve finally reached the part where Alexander felt like the odd one instead. He was so excited to congratulate Olivia on the government choosing her drawings, but she dashed off to share the news with Clayton.

There’s something to be said about shared dreams and familiarity. He has been her biggest champion, encouraging her art. He even referred her to Alexander.

That takes a real gentleman. Yet, we hadn’t seen the two in many romantic scenes together until they started designing the table for Rebecca’s boarding house.

It was so intimate and romantic how he guided her hands and taught her how to craft the table. While Clayton hasn’t said the words yet, you could sense the longing on his face in those sultry looks they shared.

I like Alexander, I love a good friends-to-lovers trope, and Clayton and Olivia have that in spades.

This love triangle has heated up to be one of the best parts of the show.

When Mother and Daughters are Like Oil and Water

Since more people kept finding gold, Alexander persuaded Hattie to install a locked safe at the trading post.

Thus, a comedy of errors began. At first, I assumed Hattie didn’t want to pay a customer and show her the money in the safe, but Hattie had lost the combination to her new safe.

She’s usually so dependable and often chastises her daughter, Olivia, for not being as responsible as she is.

I was frightened when Alexander brought a safe cracker to open it, especially when he tried to extort a fee from Hattie.

I became even more worried when Olivia walked in on this negotiation with the memorized code. She’d locked them in the safe so that no one could swindle her mother.

It was ironic that she tried to protect Hattie and ended up causing issues. I’m just relieved that the safe cracker didn’t hurt the women since he didn’t get paid.

I know Hattie and Olivia love each other, but words hurt, and Olivia dreamed of being an artist, which is the exact opposite of her mother.

It stung that Hattie learned from Alexander that the government bought some of Olivia’s drawings, but it also cemented her fear that she could lose her.

Thankfully, the two reconciled with Hattie reassuring her daughter that she’s perfect as she was.

I love their complicated and loving mother-daughter relationship.

The Children Learned Bravery and Resilience from Their Parents

I love how the McCabes have welcomed so many into their extended family.

It inspired loyalty, and it’s part of the reason why Tom rushed to find the children, knowing that Nash was injured.

Nash hated not being able to search for his children, and I’ve enjoyed seeing him and Peggy work as a team. They comforted each other and then drove the wagon around instead.

All three children featured different levels of survival skills. Since Jenny and Sam were raised there, they knew not to eat poisonous berries or how to keep warm.

On the other hand, Sarah knew how to stay strong and brave after riding cross-country with her mother running from danger.

While she was terrified seeing that hungry wolf, she worked hard to keep her friends calm.

You could tell that Sarah was not related to Jenny and Sam, as she reminded them that placing blame was not important.

Since she wasn’t their sibling, the other children listened to her more quickly. I felt bad for Sam since he always wants to be included, and they usually blow him off.

He looked so happy when the girls believed he could help them by starting a fire. I think that their misadventure brought the children closure.

Wolves fear unfamiliar noises, especially clapping and yelling, so the children survived by making noise and alerting Tom and Rebecca to their location.

I appreciated that none of the parents scolded their children for getting lost. They only cared that the children were safe. It’s all that matters in these instances.

You couldn’t help but be proud of them.

Rebecca Ran From Her In-Laws

Bethany Joy Lenz and Benjamin Ayres teased that Rebecca’s secret would be revealed in Episode 6. Well, it was an episode early.

She ran across the country and kept Sarah on a tight leash because her in-laws had wanted to take Sarah away from her after her husband died.

We haven’t heard the details yet, but they’re rich and have bought off the law before. That explained Rebecca and Sarah’s nervousness around Alexander, and why she thought her in-laws could capture her daughter.

In reality, Sarah and her friends became lost while on an adventure, as many children do. I suspect Tom thought Rebecca overreacted until he learned why she ran with Sarah.

He meant no harm. He was used to letting the kids run off and knowing where they were, but he should have asked her before sending Sarah off, too.

Tom has grown fond of Jenny and Sam, but something shifted during this search in his feelings for Rebecca and Sarah.

It wasn’t just a warm friendship. He felt an intense protectiveness for them and swore he wouldn’t let her in-laws hurt them.

Over to you, Hearties. Were you surprised by who was after Rebecca and Sarah? Were you confident the children would be found? Do you ship Clayton and Olivia?

Let us know in the comments below.

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