Feel free to skip onto chapter one because I plan to upload this and Chapter 1 at basically the same time if you are tired of hearing people rant about Season 5 of WCTH but I have been bottling this up for a week and half and I have to put this out there or I might actually explode. I would like to preface this by saying that this rant is going to be jumbled because that's literally how my mind is right now: jumbled. First, I am extremely angry. I am angry at Daniel Lissing and angry at myself because I know I have no right to be angry at Daniel Lissing, therefore I am twice as angry as normal. I want so badly to be able to say that I support Dan in his future endeavors and part of me does, it's just a bigger part of me hates the fact that he left after five seasons. He and Erin lit up my screen year after year on When Calls the Heart and I just feel like, no matter what other "stories they have to tell", it will never be the same without him and that breaks my heart into a million tiny pieces. Second, I feel betrayed. Betrayed by the people who I never thought would betray me like this: Hallmark, with Dan, Erin, Lori, and Brian included. They knew about this for a year and a half. A YEAR AND A HALF! I know Daniel doesn't owe me or the other Hearties any explanation but what boggles me is why they not only kept his departure a secret for so long but why they went ahead and threw everything we had been waiting for together like some science project they had been procrastinating doing and then did the night before it was due. Literally everything, from the engagement to the wedding to the pregnancy, felt really really rushed, which made it way less special to me. I have always had a problem with them drawing out their romance season after season, especially when Rosemary came into town (I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I really hate Rosemary. She is self centered and downright rude for no reason and the fact that we were suddenly supposed to like her after she met Lee and stopped trying to sabotage Jack and Elizabeth's relationship made me hate her even more because it's literally 3 seasons later and she still hasn't changed personality-wise. She has just stopped harassing Jack.) and somehow ended up married within a season and a half while we had to wait until halfway through the fifth season for the wedding we actually wanted to see, but this was just pathetic. And they had the nerve to call it a "gift to the Hearties" like they were doing us a favor. I won't lie and say the wedding wasn't beautiful but it was way overdue and really undermined by everything that happened afterward. They couldn't even get in a whole episode before Jack had to leave again. (Yes, I'm aware that Daniel had a death in the family and had to leave, but that just goes back to my previous point that this, meaning their wedding, should have happened a long time ago.) It makes me sick to my stomach, finding out that they knew a year and half in advance and we are just now finding out. I was thinking about the episode "Love and Marriage" earlier and I can't process how they could throw in the line "There's no danger" knowing that Jack was going to die. It would be different if Jack was going to die because that's the storyline they had originally planned but they threw that line in there knowing Daniel was leaving the show. That's not good drama. That's just mean. Third, I thought I was the only one who picked up on it but a lot of Hearties in the FB group are talking about how sad Erin looked during the FB Live the on Monday, and I agree. I held it together until she started crying over Dan leaving. I think she finally got to digest that no matter what anyone says, WCTH WAS about Jack and Elizabeth's romance. Now Jack is dead, Daniel is gone, and therefore not only are the ratings going to drop, but her best friend and partner in crime won't be on set when they go back to film the sixth season, and I feel awful for her because I love her and have seen any and everything she's been in and I want so much more for her than this. Fourth, can we talk about Lori Loughlin for a hot second? I love that woman to death but does anyone feel like lately, she's been less "I'm an actress and I play Abigail Stanton" Lori and more "I am an executive producer and I have to do damage control now" Lori? Because, literally throughout the whole FB Live and the whole Home Family interview, it just felt like she was repeating the same thing over and over again: "We respect Dan in his decision to move forward and leave When Calls the Heart but please still watch our show because it wasn't really our fault." I don't know why but that just rubbed me the wrong way. The bottom line is this: I'm fully aware that Daniel Lissing is an actor and that sometimes actors, while their fans may think they are fine right where they are, need to branch out and spread their wings. I am very hurt that he chose to leave, I am even more hurt the way the WCTH team manipulated its viewers by keeping such a big secret and shoving everything we've been loyally waiting five seasons for together. And I can honestly say that I really don't know if I can watch the show anymore, old episodes or new. When Calls the Heart was my guilty pleasure show. For me, the fact that it was my guilty pleasure show meant that I had a connection with it that I didn't have with any other show. It meant that I didn't have to water it down and belittle it by trying to explain what it was about and why it was awesome. It was me, myself, and When Calls the Heart. And now I feel empty. I think I've said everything I'm feeling. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading my rant. Now unto the story…