Sully hasn't had a great deal of luck in the love department in Sullivan's Crossing season 3, but an exclusive clip of tonight's episode, "The Ties That Bind," appears to be changing that. Helen was introduced in the first episode of this season as a writer looking to find a quiet place to work on her next novel. However, she and Sully didn't exactly get off to a great start. Helen is outspoken and a bit demanding, not one to suffer fools. And Sully is, well, Sully. He's a true curmudgeon, not exactly the friendly, accommodating face of the business – that role has always gone to Edna and Frank, and increasingly this season, Maggie.
ScreenRant got an exclusive clip of Sullivan's Crossing season 3, episode 3, "The Ties That Bind." In it, newcomer Helen (Kate Vernon) takes Sully (Scott Patterson) on a quasi-date to get his mind off his worries about Glenn developing the land next to the Crossing. In the exact clip, Sully teaches her how to play a game of washers, and they make a friendly wager – and there's a sense that Helen isn't quite as new to the game as she lets Sully think. It's a sweet scene, and it hints at things to come for Sully in Sullivan's Crossing season 3 – like new love, which is long overdue for him. Check out the clip below:
Sully Deserves To Find Love Again In Sullivan's Crossing Season 3
He's Been Pining For Phoebe For Decades
Sully is a flawed and imperfect man, but one with a tremendously huge heart. He has never fully gotten over Phoebe, his first wife and Maggie's mother, since she took Maggie away to Boston and remarried Walter. Last season, Phoebe turned up in Sullivan's Crossing after Walter's fraud scandal, and it seemed she and Sully would rekindle their relationship, even going so far as to kiss. She broke his heart all over again, however, when she ultimately decided to stay with Walter and left again. She and Sully finally buried the past, but her decision still closed the door on any chance of romantic reconciliation between them. While Sully understood, that doesn't mean it didn't hurt.
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That's why it was so promising when sparks - however begrudgingly - started to fly in season 3, episode 2 when Sully and Helen discovered they have a few things in common, from unconventional parenthoods/guardianships to a mutual love of bird-watching. Tonight's clip hints that the ice that's beginning to thaw between them might actually be developing into a genuine romantic connection. While we don't know much about Helen, we do know a lot about Sully, and what we know only underscores the fact that he deserves a win and to find love again.
Sully & Helen's Story Is Somewhat Different In The Books
Helen's Niece, Leigh, Doesn't Feature In The TV Show
In the Sullivan's Crossing book series by Robyn Carr, Sully does indeed find love with a woman named Helen in the fourth book in the series, The Best of Us. In the TV show, Helen mentions that she helped raise her niece after her sister's ing, and that holds true in the books, as well. Helen is also a writer in both the books and the TV show. Thus far however, in Sullivan's Crossing season 3, her niece, Leigh, is nowhere to be found.
Leigh could show up later in the season, but in a season already crowded with storylines, that might be one too many love plots to untangle.
Likewise, in the books, it's Leigh who lives in Timberlake and first brings her aunt Helen to Sullivan's Crossing, rather than Helen booking a trip there for herself. Sparks fly between her and Sully in the show just like in the books. Again, though, her niece, Leigh, plays a major part in the book when she and Rob start a tentative romantic relationship of their own, and Leigh has to choose between staying in Timberlake and moving back to Chicago. It appears her storyline has been cut out of the TV show – so far, at least. Leigh could show up later in the season, but in a season already crowded with storylines, that might be one too many love plots to untangle.
Sullivan's Crossing Season 3 Has Expanded The Potential Romantic Relationships
This Season's Focus Is Broader
This season has seen an expansion of potential new love interests, and previously established but new relationships still working out the kinks. Maggie and Cal are on solid ground in Sullivan's Crossing season 3 after declaring their love for each other at the end of season 2, and Edna and Frank are as strong as ever. On the flip side, Sydney and Rafe are going through a rough patch after Rafe's new fire captain caught him and Sydney making out at work and is taking it out on the young firefighter. Meanwhile, Rob is still cautiously dancing around single mom, Jane, after their brief affair last season.
There are clearly plenty of emotional entanglements to go around Timberlake, even if Sully and Helen's romance doesn't take off and if Sullivan's Crossing season 4 happens. Even so, it's great to see a TV show exploring a storyline of finding love in one's late middle age, as it's not something often explored in romance, which tends to pretend new love is a game for the young. So it's refreshing to see Sully and Helen taking their first tentative steps toward something real. Hopefully, it lasts, as it would make Sullivan's Crossing season 3 a richer season to dive into.
Sullivan's Crossing
- Release Date
- October 4, 2023
Cast
Morgan KohanMaggie Sullivan
Chad Michael MurrayCal Jones
WHERE TO WATCH
- Creator(s)
- Roma Roth
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