Critic’s Rating: 4.75 / 5.0
4.75
TomKat is not dead yet! I repeat: TomKat is not dead yet!
In fact, Thomas might even have been “the one” who led Kat to Elliot.
Yes, that’s the big story for fans of Kat and Thomas, but that doesn’t leave Elliot high and dry or rain on the parade of other characters with big stories during The Way Home Season 3 Episode 5.
Where should we start? I’m of a mind to start small and work up to the big stuff, but the entire hour was all big stuff, in a way.
Let’s start with Del, past and present. Her story continues to grow as The Way Home Season 3 continues, and that’s a welcome change.
Del’s Not Fond of Memories
It’s Del’s birthday, and Sam has returned to throw her a surprise party. She hates surprises, but you can tell that if they’re from a place of love, she can tolerate them.
But what she can’t tolerate is Alice telling her about her own past. I can’t say that I blame her. Memories are sacred, and they are from our own viewpoint. Learning about someone else’s vibe can sully your cherished moments.
Proving how little they really knew about each other, Del was shocked to hear that Evelyn was in love with Colton. They had enough animosity for each other that it’s not surprising, but when you think about Del, she’s been rather oblivious to others’ feelings for most of her life.
Alice was showing empathy toward Evelyn, a girl she’s come to like quite a bit, by sharing what she knew with Del. Alice is living with Evelyn’s friendship now, and she’s so young that she can’t possibly understand how important those recollections become as you grow older.
Don’t try to make me feel guilty about what Colton and I had. Stay out of my memories!
Just when I thought Del’s reaction was way over the top, Sam asked her what she meant by her words.
She told him that she hates her birthday because of her memories around the day, specifically from 1974.
At the time, she left Port Haven, but when she got home, everything had changed. She said it was brutal and lonely, noting that she made a selfish choice that left other people no choice at all. She’s worried that Alice will think less of her as a result.
Surely, she can’t be referring to going home as that choice, right? She was a young woman. Living at home is what you do at that age. Why on earth would that be selfish, let alone cause Alice to think less of her?
Could she have played a role in her family’s downfall that scarred her? If so, I can’t help but compare her to Kat and wonder if that’s why she was so hard on her after Jacob disappeared.
It never seemed logical that she would hold Kat at arm’s length after losing her other child and then her husband. Could it have been her own guilt about her past worming its way into her present?
Yes, there are many questions about Del and her past, and we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of them.
The Real Stories Are in the Art
Jasper is full of wisdom, and he reminds Kat that the real stories about the past can be found in art.
Now, he can’t possibly understand the lyrics of the songs in his newly published booklet, but Kat sure can. Was Thomas a musician, or did someone else know their story so well as to write that beautiful ode?
Colton was singing at Coyles, and the lyrics struck Kat right in the heart. It was a ballad about Thomas losing Kat to the water.
But before we get to all that song means, it’s worth noting that Jasper filmed Kat and Alice while they were in 1974. Where are those films? Could someone like Casey have seen it (or them if there were more)? That’s definitely food for thought.
But back to the song. I jotted down notes of the lyrics, although I’m sure someone else captured the whole song.
Here’s what I have: “Slip from these cold hands of mine…fate has then divided by water and time. They drift in different worlds. Though we loved you and me, we were never to be, so fare thee well.”
Thomas really loved Kat. And the other song? Perhaps it was about Susanna, but I have my doubts. Susanna lived a long life, so likely lived beyond the witch panic that left so many hung or burned.
Other clues included an active volcano erupting and covering the world in ash, taking away the daylight in the summer of 1816, a year Susanna didn’t cover in her book.
Regardless, someone was in danger, and by the end of the episode, Kat and Jacob decided to return to the past to try to stop it.
But Wait! There Is More to Discuss in 1974!
What did you think of Kat’s awkward moment meeting her 18-year-old mom? I would want to share that memory with Del, whether she wanted to hear it or not.
Kat was just another in a line of people in Port Haven who weren’t all that welcoming. Colton’s love must have been magical to get Del to want to return. We know it was, but I thought that was funny.
Meanwhile, Evelyn disliked Del so much that she moved rooms to get away from her. It’s not that simple, and in another time, the two could have been friends. But when your heart is breaking, the picture is clouded.
Evelyn is doing anything she can to draw her attention away from what’s happening between Colton and Del, but she’s not very successful. Del even found her way to Evie’s new haunt — a literal haunted room in Lingermoore she claimed as her own.
Cassandra Is a Goodwin Family Name
Hey, there is time travel, so why not a little spiritual guidance? But what was that guidance? Well, the first thing of note is that Evie names the spirit Cassandra, a Goodwin family name. Hello future Casey! There’s a past and future connection for ya.
Next, in a room full of candles, a blustery wind picked up, tossing papers around, and nobody gave a second thought to the warning about a fire that was too fast or the blame that came with it.
Is this the first time we’ve heard about fire in the families’ history? There are so many blink-and-you-miss-it moments that I can’t be sure.
That line of questioning on the spirit board got lost when Del and Colton ran off, and Evelyn and Alice found My Katherine hidden in a “secret” door in the wall.
Evelyn recognized the face, which Alice called “pretty generic.” I laughed out loud at that remark. How long will it be before Evie sees Kat at Coyle’s and puts two and two together?
That discussion also revealed that Evie nearly drowned in the pond when they were eight, which was likely why the town wanted to fill it in. Colton saved her, and you can imagine that her heart was intertwined with his ever since.
Alice asked but didn’t receive an answer about why Evelyn’s family wanted the children to stop playing together. It seemed like a simple answer: believing that your little girl wouldn’t get in such trouble without a fellow to take her there.
That theme recurred when Kat told Alice that Max seemed like someone who would mess with her and when Fern appeared again, reminding Kat that Colton was not special, nor his brother, but that Colton was trouble enough being a “rule breaker.” It seems the Landry women love them a good rule breaker!
Alice Is Fully In Tune with the Pond’s Antics
I know I’m not alone in my frustration with Kat’s refusal to believe that Casey could be from the future just because they don’t have proof. Excuse me? Can she hear herself?
Alice has been to the past enough to know that if something seems suspect, it probably is. She’s certain that Casey has been using the pond — as certain as she is that something untoward may be going on between her and Max, even if she doesn’t want it to.
Alice and Kat bumped into Max, and Kat wasn’t impressed. But the way Alice looked at him screamed, “You’re my future husband.”
Right now, things with Noah seem too sweet and too good. It’s kind of like an Elliot and Kat relationship. A little too vanilla. The Landry girls are adventurers. They need a dash of something more, and by more, I mean more than Brady not being keen on Alice dating (a guy who looks just like him).
Kat noticed that Max totally has Casey’s eyes, but she’s still suspicious of time travel. Hello — he may be your future son-in-law!
It’s kind of sad since Noah is a real sweetheart. Sweethearts don’t always make the grade, though. And when he said Max told him to “lock this down” because Alice is wife material, I thought she was going to faint, her eyes rolled so far back into her head. That’s the start of something beautiful right there.
But how will things fall apart between Noah and Alice when they’re going so well now? Is he going to die or something? As Alice said to Del, “When you choose someone, all the other choices fade away, and you don’t think of them.”
Alice hasn’t chosen someone yet. And with the way the pond interferes in their lives, any choice she makes may not be for long.
Kalliot vs TomKat With a Dash of Ellema
Once Kat had a chance to think about the song and come to terms with its meaning, she told Elliot, “The songs of that time were incredibly, eerily accurate.” Ya don’t say?
I’m sorry, guys, but if you think Kat would have chosen Elliot if there had been really a competition between the two, you need to think again.
Kat’s heart pitter-patters at the thought of Thomas, something that’s missing with Elliot. It’s as if she’s talking herself into being with Elliot under the guise of it was always meant to be or he’s the safer choice. Something is confusing her.
I mean, what we have, people could write songs about it, right?
— Kat [to Elliot]
People aren’t going to write songs about Kat and Elliot. Maybe, someday, they could be as fiery as Kat and Thomas were, but that seems a long way off.
So, it was the perfect time for Elliot’s ex, Emma, to return. At first, I thought it was to make Kat jealous so she could realize that she really does want to be with Elliot, forgetting Thomas altogether.
However, after meeting Emma, I think the real tragedy here is that Elliot never gave his marriage to her a real try because he was so immersed in his future with Kat, thanks to what he knew from Alice.
He even told Kat that his marriage to Emma was futile since he always knew where he’d end up and because he always loved her. That’s kind of heartbreaking in its own right. In the short time we got to know Emma, she seemed like a good match for Elliot.
Could her visit prompt him to rethink how things are going with Kat and perhaps tap on the brakes? They seem so uncomfortable with each other, and it isn’t sexy.
Elliot Thinks Kat is Running Away from Them to 1816
Oh geez. Elliot thinks Kat wants to go back to 1816 because of Emma. Again, that just makes me sad. She’s got this fiery love back there and an equally passionate friendship. Then there’s Elliot.
But the big surprise was that Elliot proposed to Emma because Kat and Brady were having dinner at the same restaurant he was meeting Emma for dinner. What are the odds?
So, in the pursuit of happiness, he impulsively proposed to Emma. Of course, it wasn’t as impulsive as he likes to recall. After all, he had a ring.
But did his marriage fail because he thought his future with Kat was written in the stars?
As it turned out, Kat and Brady were trying to rekindle their marriage that night. But she claims that if she had known Elliot was there that night, she would have run into his arms and never looked back. I call BS on that. It just doesn’t fly. Why?
Because Kat also said, while thinking of Thomas, “I guess there is always the one before the one.” She said it. Thomas is the one. “Before the one” is moot right now because she and Elliot are struggling so much.
But I have to wonder how much Jacob knows about Kat and Thomas and if he ever ponders whether she’s doing the right thing with Elliot. He’s probably too polite to inquire, but it would be interesting to hear his opinion.
Random Thoughts:
- Elliot and Brady are still egging each other on like teenage rivals. It’s nice that some things don’t change.
- Sam and Del have had Jacob declared alive again. But the real eyebrow-raiser here was when Jacob said to Sam, It’s good to see you “here,” with the emphasis on “here.” Has he seen him somewhere else before? Is this a passing reference to how Evie recognized Kat?
- Goodwins Good Wine really is a dumb name.
- Was that the first time Brady had seen Jacob since his return? Jacob was warm, understanding, and not accepting of Brady’s guilt. He’s a good man.
- Did Kat and Jacob really forget the story about the missing summer so quickly that they were shocked to see a dark, red-tinted sky when they reached 1816?
And, oh yeah. Can we get an OH. MY. God. before we go?
SUSANNA MARRIED CYRUS GOODWIN!! Will her family line be intertwined with the Goodwins? Is Elliot a Goodwin? That would be a huge leap to think they’ll actually share a marriage bed… Will the marriage last that long?
And hello! Thomas was lurking not far away… Who else absolutely cannot wait for The Way Home Season 3 Episode 6?
Hit the comments below to share your thoughts about this powerful and packed episode!
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