When The Way Home opens with Alice having a nightmare, there is no part of me that doesn’t think we’re in for a nightmare of an episode. I mean, I have a lot of thoughts about this episode – some good and some bad. But I do think that for me – this episode was hard to watch.
Maybe it was the 9/11 of it all. Maybe it’s the musical proposal. Maybe it’s the past. I am not sure. It felt like a lot and I felt like to little. The thing is that even when you’re on the fence with The Way Home, it’s still one of the strongest hours of storytelling on television.
ALICE
Alice and the pond sometimes feels like a bad relationship. She can’t escape the allure of the pond the want to see all of the things that she can. She doesn’t notice the danger of it. She just sees the possibilities.
But the thing is, when you explore the things that you may not know, sometimes you will be faced with the things that you shouldn’t know. Alice, wanting to know about her parents and see their proposal, keeps going back. But going back to 2001 will only give her insight to things that she shouldn’t see. And what’s that? Well, that’s still unfolding.
What I do love is that even as Alice goes back to 2001, the one person that we see as a consistent in her life is Elliot. Now, I am still pissed at him for the things that he’s said, but I also find myself being a little lenient with that, because he’s there for Alice.
It doesn’t matter if it is the past or the present, Elliot is there at the expense of his own heart. That takes courage and heart.
Alice is able to see the proposal, she’s able to see Nick, she’s able to see Elliot. And yes, everything seems fine with her going back this time. She thought that Elliot’s warning about what she would run into with how people had changed would be what she would see. However, I think that we have yet to see that, because of the ending and Kat finding out that she keeps going back.
Whatever Kat doesn’t want Alice to see, I think that will come.
Watching The Way Home, you can’t help but notice that Sadie Laflamme-Snow is a star. She’s dominant in every scene that she’s in. She captures the audiences attention. She brings Alice to life with this subtle vulnerability, but all of the strength. Alice has been through a lot in her young life, but she’s survived and thrived and I don’t think that anyone would be able to bring that to life the way that Sadie Laflamme-Snow does.
DEL AND THE LEASE
I may not be Brady’s biggest fan, but I do love the fact that he’s showing up for the Landry women. He’s not the most reliable man, but I do know that he loves them. From the opening of the episode when he’s comforting his little girl to the end when he’s watching her perform.
Him wanting to be there for Del and helping her with the lease and the land problem, well… I love that about him. However, I do think that Del’s pride will be the one thing that gets in her own way.
Brady fighting for her and acting as her lawyer with Mr. Bishop, I have to appreciate that about him. What I also loved was the fact that Mr. Bishop was a lawyer and could one up Brady. Anything that I found to dislike about Mr. Bishop faded when he said that he would honor the lease.
However, Del went to him and said she wouldn’t let him. She doesn’t accept a hand out. Well, Del, that’s not a handout, it’s a contract. I do think that one of the great things about Del is that she wants to do right by everyone in her life, but the one person that she neglects is herself.
Del has to realize that letting people help her and be there for her, there is no shame in that. What there is, there is strength. There is strength in knowing that you can’t do everything alone and allowing people in.
I am thankful that she accepted Mr. Bishops offer to board the horse (that I am convinced time traveled) and train him. I think that Del’s connection to the horse is of the utmost importance and a clue. I just can’t figure out what that connection is. I do believe that we’ll get there, but I’d like to know now.
Isn’t that a sign of a good show? One that makes you want to know more. One that keeps you intrigued. One that you want the answers now, because you know that they are going to be so good and you’ll see that you’ve seen the clues and have known everything all along?
I think part of the special thing about The Way Home is that it does just that. The Way Home makes you want to understand everything. It’s a show that has you invested in every character and wanting to know their story. You know that it’s a puzzle that you can’t find a piece for just yet, but that puzzle piece isn’t lost.
God, I love this show.
THE PROPOSAL
Brady’s proposal to Kat was one of the most awkward things I have ever seen and never ever want to see again. It was painful to watch. The whole singing thing was one of the worst second hand embarrassment things that I have ever experienced.
What I hated watching was the 9/11 of it all. That day – even though it’s been decades – was really hard to relive on any level. It made my anxiety go up. Brady asking for Del’s permission on the night of the benefit concert – the worst timing ever. It was the worst for Alice, Elliot, and Del.
My heart broke for Elliot, seeing how broken he was over knowing Brady would propose. He was distraught. He was in pain. But most of all he was in love.
I think that one of the beauties of this show is seeing a young Elliot and Kat. We get to understand the things that shaped them and made them who they are. Hell, even Brady, we get to see that he’s not a bad guy. He didn’t take Kat away.
He tried to fix Kat and Del’s relationship.
But, that being said, a young Brady still has bad timing.
I will never understand what young Brady was thinking when he thought a musical performance would be the best way to propose. However, we’re all young and sometimes stupid, so I think that I am going to have to overlook that. The second hand embarrassment will not go away though.
THE KAT AND ELLIOT OF IT ALL
Kat and Elliott have the strangest relationship of all time. I said what I said and I will stand by it. The thing about best friends, though, is that you always find a way back to each other. It doesn’t matter what has happened in the past, all that matter is that you can grow past it.
I know that Kat has forgiven Elliott for the things that he’s said, but I can’t understand why. I feel like Elliot is hiding something more. We know that he is. However, what I should do is forgive Elliot, because he’s the one person that seems to be getting Kat and Alice through.
I don’t think that Elliot is being straight forward – I can’t forget the journal that he had the last episode and I know that he knows something more.
But I also feel for him. I feel for him because of seeing the pain that young Elliot felt when he had to go through everything with Kat and Brady getting engaged. Sometimes I feel like he likes a “victim” sort of role. Other times I think that he’s just lost and there is something that has to do with his Dad being gone all the time that we aren’t seeing.
Seeing him tell Alice when she returns that the love for Kat that he has always felt is still there… well, that I can and do appreciate the vulnerability. I do think that his love for Kat is genuine, but I also think that he’s keeping something that could change everything. Whatever that is, I really need to know.
A SISTER IN SUSANNA
Kat and Alice are the same in one thing – their bad relationship with the pond. Now, I do think that finding Jacob is really important and it’s something that we’re all waiting for. That whole journey to the past for Kat and waiting for her to come face to face with Jacob.
The friendship between Kat and Susanna is what is important right now though. I think that they are going to need to understand each other and work together for something. It’s ironic that it’s Elliot’s family that Kat needs, but maybe that’s a sign that Elliot and Kat’s lives have been and will always be intertwined.
Maybe it’s a sign that Kat and Elliot were always meant to be together.
What I do love is that Kat asks Susanna find a kinship that makes them understand each other. Both have a draw to magic and both have a love for Jacob.
Susanna felt on the outside of her community, because she had a draw to magic. Susanna explains that she’s a healer, that since she was a child she’s had a connection to people who needed healing. She explains that Jacob was the only person that could see through the magic and see her.
THE RING
When Open Mic night hits at The Point, Alice goes to perform. Seeing her Dad be there for her, I was smiling. I was smiling because you know that Brady is a good Dad and the happiness of his little girl means everything to him.
And you know it really does mean everything when he gives her Kat’s engagement ring. The moment is going to be a core memory for Alice, as it would for any daughter.
Yes, it was me crying when he told Alice that she was Kat and his love story. It’s a touching moment that really shows the beauty of the relationship that Kat and Brady were able to build.
But, Open Mic night isn’t all roses. See, Kat finds out that Alice keeps going back and that scares her. It scares her because she finds out that Alice is going to see something she doesn’t want her to. She’s afraid that her daughter is going to hate her.
And I think that terrifies her.
I know it does actually just by the look on her face.
Elliot though, he says something right for once and tells Kat that knowing her and Alice, they will work through it.
I do believe that Alice and Kat have a strong relationship. Kat’s been determined that their relationship wouldn’t be like her relationship with Del. I just don’t think that any of them planned on time travel.
It’s the things that you don’t plan for though that can really change everything. Fate has a way of working itself into things.
You can’t outrun it.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- Really want to know what the rebel rousing was about and why everyone is afraid of Cyrus
- Who’s the douchebag talking to Cyrus and being like na, no one is gonna mess with you.
- Young Kat telling Brady that the proposal was too much – I think we all agree with her.
- Elliot giving Alice the pic from the proposal and telling her that she has a pic with her friends, but she says Elliot isn’t in it – I loved that moment.
- Alice returning from 2001 and going to see Elliott. She tells him that she didn’t know that Elliott loved Kat his whole life. Elliott says that the love is still there. Yes, that was me crying my eyes out.
The Way Home airs Sundays on The Hallmark Channel.
