Hallmark Channel
Hallmark Channel’s three-part event continues with Providence Falls: An Impossible Promise, the second movie in the series (or the second episode of the miniseries, depending on how you look at it), and with this installment the lives and afterlives of the characters become more complicated as new players enter the mix.
After wrapping up the larceny case in Providence Falls: Chance of a Lifetime and tying various people to the crime, there was still the little matter of John Brady’s murder to contend with, and the questions surrounding Liam’s possible involvement since he was the one who called in the tip that there might be a murder and he was out all night with the victim’s wife. Liam, of course, felt Brady was going to be murdered because he’d already seen many instances from his past life in 1844 being repeated in the present, and he wanted to keep Merideth Brady as far away from her house as possible just in case her husband was murdered. The fact that everyone knew the Brady’s were in the midst of a tumultuous divorce doesn’t help matters, and although Merideth has an alibi for the night it still doesn’t mean it wasn’t a murder for hire job, which Cora is tasked with investigating, to the great concern of her former police chief father who marches himself into the station and demands Chief Thompson take her off the case. Thompson assures Cora that he has faith in her to get the job done.
Also complicating matters are Cora’s feelings for Liam, and Liam constantly giving her mixed signals. One thing that helps Liam not run so hot and cold with her is that he asked angel Samael to remove the electric shock he felt every time he and Cora would touch hands (a reminder for his to keep on task and get her reunited with her soulmate Finn). Of course, not feeling that surge of electricity only makes Liam’s feelings grow stronger as he has nothing to hold him back from pursuing her … but he is constantly reminded by Agon that he must get the two lovers together. Complicating things even further is Suzette witnessing Agon snap out of existence after talking with Liam in the alley behind the coffee shop. A bit freaked out, she assures Liam that she is the one with the open mind and believes in everything from ghosts to alien abductions, so Liam feels safe telling her what is truly going on and asks for her help in getting Cora and Finn together — which she is not willing to do. At least not at first.
Hallmark Channel
Cora gets a lead on someone who may have had a connection to the Bradys, a local biker club leader named Eli (Darcy Laurie) … who is not really willing to speak to the cops. Luckily he knows Finn and makes arrangements to talk to him privately at a biker bar on the outskirts of town, but Cora is concerned Finn is going to jeopardize his own career to help her. So she and Suzette go ‘undercover’ to see what Finn is up to and it turns out he’s a real pool shark. Eli put him up as a challenger to the reigning champ and when Suzette saw how good he was she even put $20 down on him. A bit upset about what Finn was doing Cora decided to leave — and Finn and Suzette have a moment after she cuts her hand on some broken glass that he patches up and kisses (awkward!) — but after speaking with Liam, Finn decided to have a chat with Cora — outside of the police station — to explain himself, revealing to her that he grew up in a trailer park, not the wealthy cotillion boy she thought he was. He explained to her that playing pool and being taken under Eli’s wing after his father died helped him survive and turn out better than he could have. Cora felt a bit more comfortable with Finn after learning more about him, and in the end Eli agreed to talk to her about what he knew about the Bradys.
In fact, Eli was sort of in business with the Bradys, but at some point nearly a million dollars he had stashed in his office went missing — which he didn’t report for obvious reasons. He showed Cora and Finn the security footage from the office at one point when Merideth paid him a visit, and when he was out of the office it appeared that she was casing the joint, so all fingers now point to her as the thief … but does that make her a killer as well? Later, Liam asks Cora to teach him to drive so he doesn’t have to rely on her or others for a ride — it doesn’t go well — but as they are sitting and chatting in a parking lot Cora sees Merideth across the lot getting into her car. They attempt to drive over and head her off but a truck blocks their exit and she gets away.
Entering the mix of Cora’s life is former cop Magnus (Samer Salem), and Liam can see there is a spark between them. In a bit of a panic he relays the information to Agon who takes it to Samael. There is some concern that he may be working for ‘the other side’, a ‘nefarious agent’ hellbent on screwing up their mission to reunite the destined lovers. After doing some digging, Samael discovers that Magnus is not one of the returned souls and he had no connection to her evil counterpart Bael. But she summons Bael (Niall Matter) to Earth anyway just to have a conflab with him to make sure he isn’t meddling. He assures her he isn’t and when she leaves he also tells Agon that Samael doesn’t know as much as she thinks she does.
Hallmark Channel
Cora’s situationships with Liam and Finn get even more complicated when she agrees to meet up with Magnus, but it seems she believes he is also tied up with the Bradys, so while she’s at his ‘vacation home’ she does some snooping and finds a duffel bag under the bed stashed with the money stolen from Eli (wrapped in the bands he showed her to confirm it was his). Unfortunately, Magnus catches on that even off-duty Cora is still a cop and tries to make a deal with her to keep quiet and he’d cut her in for a piece of the pie. Knowing where Cora is, Liam gets a bad feeling about things when she doesn’t answer her phone but the car the chief calls for him never arrives. Luckily, Finn had dropped by to talk to him and he and Liam drive to Cora’s location. Liam is fearing that history will repeat itself and Cora will die, but they may be too late as they arrive at Magnus’ place to hear Cora crying out for help. Magnus has a gun, and Cora only has an oar to defend herself after she’s basically cornered herself on a dock. She swings at Magnus and gets hit in the head, falling into the water just as she had fallen off the cliff, bringing back the memory not just for Liam but for herself as well. Finn tackles Magnus and Liam jumps in to save Cora, except he doesn’t know CPR and he has a gun so he should have jumped Magnus while Finn saved Cora, which would have really helped cement their destiny. But Cora regains consciousness and Finn witnesses the two engage in a passionate kiss.
Later at the hospital, Finn tells Liam he saw them kiss and he’s okay not being her person, and if it’s not him he’s happy it’s Liam (Liam earlier told Finn just the opposite). While Finn is visiting Cora in her hospital room, Samael and Agon show up to reveal some news that has the potential to throw the whole mission into disarray as Cora is actually a very special soul with a very special purpose. In the present, Cora runs a foundation called Second Chances that helps teens find a path in life that keeps them from taking the criminal route. Liam and Finn have already seen how she’s helped Dominic — and Liam has grown attached to the boy, often showing up at Second Chances to play videogames with him — and Samael explains that in her past life, had she lived, she would have done something similar, saving millions of lives in the process as her foundation grew and spread around the world. This is Cora’s purpose in life and she can only do it if she is with someone who is another pure soul — and that is Finn, not Liam. The news shatters Liam, and he walks out of the hospital in a daze, unsure of what to do next.
Before receiving the news, Suzette had also come to the hospital to check up on Cora, but as she was talking with Liam she got a phone call that she had to take. Walking outside, Suzette parked herself on a bench, and sitting next to her is … Bael. Turns out she is the nefarious agent working against Liam. Ruh-roh.
Providence Falls: An Impossible Promise has a run time of 1 hour 24 minutes, and is rated TV-G. The film is streaming on Hallmark+.
Preview – Providence Falls: An Impossible Promise
Hallmark Channel