Best of ShOliver: Part One

Welcome to the first installment of my "Best of" series, starting with ShOliver! This was both incredibly easy and challenging to write. Easy because the moments just kept coming to me and challenging because it was hard to narrow it down! I finally settled on 14 special moments from the series. Of course, this is not an exhaustive list and the moments appear in chronological order. Enjoy POstables!

1. The Dance – The Masterpiece

Oliver and Shane dance a LOT in the series, but I think we can all agree that this is the one dance we will never forget. Be. Still. My. Heart. The music, oh, the music. I don’t believe I had ever heard “And So It Goes” by Billy Joel before watching this episode, but it will forever hold a special place in my heart because of this scene. This song was the absolute perfect choice in so many ways and it just elevates the intensity of the scene. Whether you’re watching it for the first time or the fiftieth time, this dance will seize your heart and make you catch your breath. I love how they both smile at each other about halfway through and, of course, we cannot forget that will-they won’t-they moment at the end. Shane and Oliver are both changed after the conclusion of the dance. They realize the feelings they have for one another are far greater than they were even aware of themselves. In this moment, we see the beginnings of ShOliver.

“So I will share this room with you and you can have this heart to break.”  

(Excuse me while I go cry my eyes out.)

Gif credit: Alameda & Downing blog/Crown Media/Hallmark Channel

2. Oliver’s Speech and the Cheek Kiss – For Christmas

In this scene, Shane is struggling emotionally after Oliver hands her the letter (which ended up being a dead letter) that she wrote to God as a child asking for “a happy family.” Her father had walked out on their family and much of Shane’s aversion to God and Christmas stems from this incident. Oliver is a connoisseur of profound speeches and, true to his form, he has the perfect words to help her deal with her hurt, anger, and hostility. “…through it all I have learned how to hold firm in a storm, not by holding onto whatever I can find for as long as I can, but by trusting that the one thing that matters in this world will never let go of me. And Shane, that’s what perfect love is. Perfect love casts out all that pain, all that fear, and replaces it with hope. And hope is what you were asking for in that letter. And every Christmas since, hope is what you have been given. Don’t you see it? It’s right here for you.” Following his speech, Shane tenderly touches Oliver’s face and kisses his cheek before embracing him. There is so much in this speech to dissect and, although I believe it was intended to be more of a spiritual speech, I think there is also a ShOliver parallel running through it. He speaks of “perfect love” being able to provide hope, which is exactly what his words do for her. And he is, quite literally, “right [there for her].” Just by being Oliver (you know, that “odd fellow who loves words and books”?), he is able to bring her so much comfort and help her begin to heal. He is able to both challenge and encourage her and, in return, we see her heart soften and her walls break down.

(I’m not crying, you’re crying.)

Gif credit: Giphy (@l_oakman)/Crown Media/Hallmark Channel

3. Forgiveness – From Paris with Love

I love From Paris with Love, I really do, even though we have to endure Holly (blech). As we know, Oliver goes through the emotional roller coaster once his absentee wife waltzes back into the DLO as if nothing has happened (girl, please). What is incredibly touching in this movie is when Oliver and Shane are sitting together on the scaffolding and it dawns on Shane that Oliver has not forgiven Holly for deserting him. It would have been all too easy for Shane to tell Oliver that Holly didn’t deserve his forgiveness after what she did. Instead, Shane says, “Forgiveness is doing the right thing, Oliver.” Shane exhibits such a high degree of selflessness here. She encourages Oliver to reconcile with Holly instead of further driving a wedge between them. She knows that this could lead to the possibility of Oliver and Holly staying together, yet, in spite of this, Shane takes the higher ground because of how much she cares about Oliver and his intrinsic need to “do the right thing.”

(Is it inappropriate to want to see if we can fit Holly up the mail chute so we can mail her back to Paris?)

Gif credit: Alameda & Downing blog/Crown Media/Hallmark Movies & Mysteries

4. The Porch Swing – From Paris With Love

After seeing Holly and Oliver kiss, Shane quits the DLO, knowing that she cannot possibly continue to work with Oliver if he gets back together with his wife. Upon arriving home, she finds Oliver on her porch installing a porch swing. At first, she is brusque, until she realizes that Oliver and Holly decided to officially separate. The magnitude of what has commenced hits her when Oliver talks about how he has always wondered what he would do after “it became absolutely clear that [his] marriage was over.” She asks, “What did you do?” Oliver responds, “I went out and I bought a porch swing.” They had discussed porch swings earlier in the movie, when Shane was complaining about winter. She began reminiscing about her family’s porch swing. She mentioned how they would store it in the garage during the winter months and “[she] always knew when the swing was back up on the porch, spring was almost here.” The crux of what transpires here is that once Oliver and Holly have gotten the closure they need, Oliver immediately thinks of Shane. Furthermore, he remembers what she had said to him in their previous conversation that was barely a few minutes long and turns her childhood memory into an incredibly meaningful birthday gift.

(They should send a free box of tissues with every DVD purchase of SSD – it’s just common courtesy.)

Gif credit: Alameda & Downing blog/Crown Media/Hallmark Movies & Mysteries

5. The Hug Attack – Truth be Told

It seems like Oliver just can’t catch a break. He finally is able to move past the Holly rain cloud that’s been hanging over his head the entire series and now he is battling the return of his estranged father. Oliver harbors a lot of resentment toward his father which only gets more complicated when he learns that Joe is not his biological father, throwing him into a bit of an identity crisis. What really strikes me is that Shane pushes Oliver to turn back to his faith to get him though this struggle. She says, "I'm guessing your faith has been shaken a little bit today. But I know you and your faith is in something far greater than being an O'Toole. And you know where you need to go to find that again." Shane is still not really a spiritual person at this point in the series. Even so, she adequately identifies Oliver's need to reconnect with God to get him through this, even though it's not what she would need if their roles were reversed. We see Shane again be able to empathize with Oliver by how she clearly chooses to respect his space. She admits, “Oliver, in this moment I want to walk over to you, put my arms around you, and hold you and tell you that everything is going to be okay. But I know that’s not what you want right now.” He responds, “Since when did what I want ever stop you, Ms. McInerney?” At this thinly veiled invitation, she immediately strides over to him, theatrically dropping all of her stuff to the ground in the process, and gives him what I call a hug attack. A full-on bear hug in a moment that’s a bit uncharacteristic for both of them. Perhaps that is what makes it so special. Shane is the perfect support to Oliver in this movie and, in return, Oliver is able to further open up his heart to Shane. 

POstables, when I think of you, I see you as Shane in this scene. When I first posted on Twitter about discovering SSD, there all of you were, out of nowhere, with a full-on assault of virtual hug attacks, welcoming me to the family. I’m sure other POstables have experienced this too. This is what makes you so amazing.

(POstables, thanks for hug attacking me! Stay cool. *wink* )

Gif credit: Giphy (l_oakman)/Crown Media/Hallmark Movies & Mysteries

6. It Matters – Truth be Told

Oliver is at Shane’s adjusting her porch swing. His frustration is clear as he mutters, “What the Sam Hill.” He believes in this scene that his father, Joe, has left. In conjunction with this, he is reminded of his mother leaving him as well as his ex-wife Holly. Oliver and Shane discuss Joe and then Shane states, "I have no plans to leave, if it matters." Oliver responds very poignantly, "It matters." Shane is able to reassure Oliver that, unlike his mother and Holly, she is sticking by his side. Her steadfastness is pivotal to Oliver, who has already experienced so much abandonment. In return, he is able to share just how important Shane's presence is in his life, by affirming that "it matters." Shortly after, Oliver follows with, “Do you know what I’d like to do? Right now?” This presumably alludes to the previously described scene; however, Shane’s phone rings and Oliver does not finish what he was going to say.

(What the Sam Hill were you going to say Oliver?! Shane, I will break your phone if you don’t start putting it on silent.)

Gif credit: Giphy (@POstablesSquad)/Crown Media/Hallmark Movies & Mysteries

7. Childhood Home and the Yellow Rose – The Impossible Dream

At the beginning of this movie, the POstables stop by Shane’s old house on their way to Washington DC. Unfortunately, Shane is disheartened to find that her home is no longer there and the lot is essentially vacant. However, a rosebush still remains. Shane reveals to Oliver that her mother would send her a clipping from the rosebush, or the "last rose of summer." At the end of the movie, Oliver presents Shane with a clipping so that it will become "the first rose of summer." He also purchases the lot where her childhood home once was to turn it in to the “McInerney Home for Retired Postal Workers”. Hands down, no contest, Oliver is the king of grand gestures. As always, he continues to show his care and concern for the things that matter to Shane and transforms them into something even more beautiful.

(Porch swings, homes, and flowers? I blame Oliver for my high expectations of men. Swipe left if he won’t buy you furniture and real estate before the first official date.)

  Gif credit: Alameda & Downing blog/Crown Media/Hallmark Movies & Mysteries

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Disclaimer: Signed, Sealed, Delivered and all associated characters/dialogue/stories belong to Martha Williamson and Crown Media.