This week’s episode of Hallmark’s “The Way Home,” called “The Way We Were,” mixes past and present very interestingly. While examining themes of love, family, and the mysteries of time travel, it introduces 1974 as a significant new period.
After the exciting season premiere, in which the Landry family found their long-lost son, Jacob, this episode details the problems Kat Landry (Chyler Leigh) and Elliot Augustine (Evan Williams) are having. Despite their significant move-in together, their relationship is tense, especially because of the mysterious pond that allows time travel.
When Alice (Sadie Laflamme-Snow) is pulled back to 1974, Kat follows her. This makes things more tense. During a stressful moment, Kat turns down Elliot’s offer to go with her, which leads to an interesting conversation. “No one said Kat was perfect,” says co-showrunner Heather Conkie. “She’s one of the most flawed characters we’ve ever written,”
This episode greatly broadens the show’s temporal scope with the introduction of 1974 Port Haven and a younger generation of familiar characters. Alice meets important people, like Vic Augustine, Elliot’s father, as a teenager. She also sees Del (Julia Tomasone) and Colton (Jordan Doww) meet for the first time, a moment that, despite its historical significance, proves to be less sweet.
Devin Cecchetto’s performance as Evelyn Goodwin is a great addition to the story. She gives Port Haven’s past more depth. Rick Augustine’s story becomes an important part of the puzzle as the episode carefully builds a web of relationships that will affect the town’s future.
In present-day Port Haven, things get tense at Kat’s book launch when Louis Goodwin questions how she wrote about his family’s past. This causes Jacob to talk about his situations with the past in public. While this happens, Del and Sam’s relationship reaches a significant milestone.
At the end of the episode, two big things are revealed: Elliot’s uncle Rick died in a terrible accident in 1974, and Colton may have been time traveling, too. These events hint that the mysteries of the pond are deeper than thought, creating interesting possibilities for future episodes.
One of the show’s mother-daughter showrunners, Alex Clarke, discusses a major theme of the season: how the three main women deal with time in different ways. “Del questions her past, Alice questions her future, and Kat questions her present.” This framework makes it easier to examine how the characters’ relationships change and how they grow as people.
Overall, the episode does a great job of balancing many different plots while maintaining the show’s signature mix of family drama, romance, and mysterious mystery. “The Way Home” proves its ability to surprise viewers while staying true to its emotional core as relationships develop.
