Critic’s Rating: 4.25 / 5.0
4.25
Things got pretty hairy between The Way Home Seasons 2 and 3 when Hallmark announced that the beloved series would be moving to Hallmark+. Thankfully, it was all resolved after a viewer uprising.
Well, that was nothing compared to the excitement of The Way Home Season 3 Episode 1, which we (thankfully) all got to watch together.
Let’s get down to business
First, let’s discuss the new mystery that we’ll all be dying to solve through the season. Another child was a “victim” of the pond when its parents left it on the side of the pond with a note before jumping in without it.
In the series premiere, Cat was seen running through the woods in her white gown, creating the Lady in White fable. In The Way Home Season 2 Episode 1, Colton’s grandmother was explaining the pond’s magic to him.
So what clues do we have now?
The young woman is dressed in what looks like ’90s clothing (hello Doc Martins and jean jackets!), and I’ll be darned if she doesn’t look a lot like Alice.
The pond is a gift that keeps giving new life to “the way home” as a central theme.
As the episode progresses, more about this comes to light, but it only makes sense if we take it all one step at a time.
On The Way Home Season 3 Episode 1, Jacob found his way home, and we didn’t have to sit through lies to keep his story safe or Del from the truth. Bringing her into the loop was the first thing they did.
It was a lot easier for her to accept what had happened than you would have thought. Kat began with a simple, “Mom, the pond isn’t just a pond. This is Jacob’s story.” Showing the almanac was probably irrefutable evidence, and Del was so happy to have Jacob home she didn’t care to do much nitpicking.
When Del admitted to Kat she was shocked that her children had been in so much danger right before her eyes, I couldn’t help but wonder if she’d eventually recognize Alice from the past.
It seems we’re about to discover Alice was a constant in her life throughout the decades, so maybe having this understanding of the family’s gift will give those memories a nudge.
Then again, when Alice brought up to Kat her thoughts about Casey, Kat was eager to close the door on the possibility Casey is from the future. How can she suggest that Alice’s imagination may be running a little wild after everything they’ve experienced?
It didn’t take Del long to realize that the mystery of the pond must be kept secret. If the Landry line is the only one that can travel, that would put them in terrible danger.
Well, keeping the secret might have put them there already.
Del has been receiving threatening letters (no postmark, I noticed). One contained the phrase, “Your lie is known. Time will tell.” But who is threatening her, and why? And why only Del when she’s the one person who hasn’t been through the pond?
It’s been nine months since Jacob returned. Does the culprit have a specific “time” in mind for the truth to be revealed? Why sit on it and terrorize her for three-quarters of a year rather than just spill the beans?
Maybe the letter writer is just aggravated that Jacob has returned home after 24 years only to lead a sheltered existence as a crop worker on the farm. Del is treating him like a child, which is expected, but it’s also sad.
How is he supposed to reacclimate to the present if he never experiences it?
They all seem stuck in the past, no matter how hard they try to convince themselves otherwise.
Jacob is homebound. Kat is publishing Susanna’s work and wishes she could visit her friend. Alice talks to the pond to feel closer to the friends she left behind.
It’s no wonder the opening scene brings to mind so many different scenarios about the past, present, and future.
And no sooner did Kat tell Alice she might be overthinking things than she found a mysterious message in one of her father’s books. “No curse is on the water. Believe in magic. Come to the pond.”
That might be the first “welcoming” message we’ve ever seen about time travel, but it’s not the only one in this episode. More on that shortly.
After nine months and when Elliot and Kat are secure together, Elliot suggests she return to the past to update Elijah about Jacob and share with Susanna that her words have now been printed.
Taking down the Goodwins with the truth about Cyrus will have repercussions, even with the caveat on the chapter that was added after the fact.
Jacob only returned home because Cyrus was after him. He wanted to stay, but Thomas and Susanna urged him to jump. Did that story carry down through the ages? It seems significant enough that it would travel through the generations.
Kat’s visit with Susanna was… odd. There are plenty of ‘shippers out there hoping that the two would be more than friends. Susanna clearly feels quite a bit for Kat, and how Kat approached her gives the impression that she could have similar feelings for Susanna.
“If only you know how many times I imagined you here just like this” seemed to be playing into that possibility, and I don’t appreciate it.
Writers have to take a stand with their characters and stop fooling around with fans’ emotions.
No wonder Susanna wanted Kat to leave so quickly. Not only is she fearful for Kat’s life should Cyrus get wind of her visit, but seeing the woman she loves and cannot have is painful.
And as if Kat’s dance card wasn’t full enough, she also ran into Thomas, who was, as ever, lurking around the pond, hoping to see her. OK, it’s only been a day since she left in their timeline, but still.
Kat’s reaction to Thomas was as alive as ever and in a way that she hadn’t been with Elliot. Again, it’s uncool to toss goodies at fans, stringing them along and fanning ‘shipper wars.
Kat’s “there is somebody else” couldn’t possibly have had less conviction, though. As much as Elliot didn’t want to be her fallback guy, he seems to play third fiddle to both Thomas and Susanna, which is enough to keep everyone’s tongue in motion.
Still, Kat said she had someone, and she told Elliot she had chosen him over all of it. Who am I to read a lack of conviction into her words?
And, not to keep beating the “it’s been nine months” thing, but Jacob just so happened to remember the photos he had taped under his desk the very minute we caught up with them months down the road.
That memory seals it — there is no way that Colton wasn’t visiting who knows what time periods searching for his boy. Sadly, we know he never found him, but it’s unlikely he didn’t give time travel every chance to do so.
What’s surprising is that Kat and Alice never caught him when they were back in time. Colton wasn’t alive very long after Jacob disappeared, so to do an exhaustive search, he had to be jumping a lot.
The evidence of his knowledge only increased as the episode progressed. Colton knew Alice in 1974, as she joined him on a song he recorded about the pond.
Jacob’s memories have been unlocked, and he recalls Colton telling him to always remember that he loves him no matter what “will” happen. Jacob realizes that Colton may have already known what was coming and also knew he had no way to save his son from a fate similar to his own.
Is there a child in every generation that disappears into the past or future, never to be seen again, and family members that follow them into the pond to try to save them?
Was the young woman giving away her baby in the opening Alice, living in another time and leaving her daughter behind while traveling elsewhere?
Was it Colton at the pond in the end, pushing Alice into it and toward her fate?
Someone was running about in the yard, watching the family from the fields. Was that the same person who pushed Alice? Or maybe it was someone nefarious — a Goodwin perhaps, with a grudge about the past that was reawakened with Kat’s publication.
No doubt, Colton will emerge at some point now that we know Del and Sam have grown closer, using the barn as their own private hideaway.
Time is relative in Port Haven, and I have a feeling that a lot more people know about just how relative it is than the Landry family would like.
The Way Home Season 3 premiere was an excellent start to this latest chapter in the Landry pond-traveling saga, creating as many new mysteries as were solved.
Have you started to spin any theories about the season from the opening scene to the last? Drop below and share your thoughts in the comments!
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