Truths are coming out little by little, but the secrets seem to be piling up. Every time we get an answer to one question, I end up with 50 more in the queue. I know that’s the point of a good story, but man, I want all the answers right this minute. Unfortunately, we probably won’t know everything until the end of June 2026. For now, we have all the Port Haven mysteries to obsess over and keep us busy.
So far, The Way Home season 4 has been thrilling in every era: the 1920s, the 1970s, and the present day. It has also been plagued with sadness as Alice faces the end of an era yet again with her 1970s friends. Not to mention, Elliot and Vic are coming to terms with their differences and how Tessa left them.
Out of all of that, the episode 3 cliffhanger left me reeling. It looks like Fern knows more than she’s letting on as Kat faints at the party and wakes up in jail. She's trapped in the 20s with no means to escape on her own. This can’t be good.
Tessa and Fern’s history revealed
Kat is still calling out for anyone and everyone from her 1920s jail cell. Cliff hassles her about her lack of ID and personal belongings, coupled with always having a drink in her hand. Kat tries to tell him the Auggie boys drugged her, but he doesn’t seem to believe it. Finally, Fern comes waltzing in after paying the bail.
As Kat is changing by the pond, she confronts Fern about all the secrets. Fern admits she drugged Kat to protect her from the Auggie boys. Fern doesn’t believe Grayson Goodwin is heading up the bootlegging in Port Haven, nor does she know who could be. After a tense exchange of broken trust, Kat jumps into the pond, ending her time in the past for now.
In the present day, Kat notices that the crown symbol (most likely the Goodwin crest) on the bullet matches the one in the history book she found at the cabin. The bullet places Grayson at the site of the 1926 explosion. Alice and Elliot (being "real flat tires") shut down any ideas of time travel from Kat after being drugged, jailed, and a target added to her back. She agrees to track the answers down another way.
Elliot walks into the paper with Kat, immediately saying she promised she would try to work. Instead, she was going through Evelyn’s files to find out more about Grayson. Even though she needs to focus on her job, Elliot offers to help her track down more history. Kat uncovers a marriage certificate for Grayson, but it’s not Fern, which leaves her wondering how someone so devoted to Fern could marry someone else in the same year. Elliot finds a photo that reveals Grayson’s good side: his sister, Cassandra, died young, and he had a portrait commissioned for her. That portrait of him, his sister, and the white witch still hangs in Lingermoore today. As the past becomes more confusing, Kat worries about her lack of interest in the Harod after seeing it shine in the 20s.
Kat can’t find Elliot after his mysterious 4 AM text. Alice finally tells Kat what else happened in 1979. It was obvious that Fern was upset about something that had happened between her and Tessa at a much earlier time. Meaning Kat was right about the history between Tessa and Fern, but Tessa doesn’t live that moment until she time-travels in 1983. So, in 1979, Tessa has no clue who Fern is or why she’s so upset (that’s a lot to unpack).
Alice shows Kat the Jacon’s Almanac entry, and she recognizes the handwriting for the death date. They rush over to Elliot’s house and confirm the handwriting matches Tessa’s letter, meaning she wrote in the Landry Family Almanac.
Nick walks into them, discussing that Tessa must have been in 1882 to fill out the death date and Fern’s birth date. Revealing Fern has known Tessa her entire life. This uncovers that Tessa made more than one trip while Griffin came back to the present. But then, she got trapped because Landry can’t bring her to the future. For 43 years, she’s been waiting for someone from her timeline to bring her home, and Kat can’t let her wait a second longer. They keep Alice from going as Nick offers Kat’s bodyguard to the past. Even though there’s a risk he may get stuck somewhere in the past like Tessa, he’s stoked to go in the time machine. Essentially, she’s ignoring Elliot’s request not to time-travel until he’s back, but at the same time, Kat is doing this for Elliot.
Jacob’s fears crush him
We finally get a glimpse of Jacob in his new life as a bartender. He encounters some interesting customers who dislike that the bar isn’t old school in drinks like the server. After he wishes the lady good luck on her blind date, he turns to the mirror and sees a familiar face. He’s being haunted by Thomas, or more so, his conscience telling him he doesn’t need to stay behind that bar forever. He tries to convince himself he isn’t hiding from the Goodwins at all, but his ghostly visitor counters that he’s hiding from everything else now. Sadly, he ignores a call from Kat even though ghost Thomas is telling him to answer it.
We soon find out his text meant he was going to see Jacob. He’s come to bring him home. Jacob would love to come home, but he’s building a life; he thinks Del is building one too. But Elliot tells him that the party was just a cover-up for Del’s sadness. Jacob abruptly tells Elliot to leave because Jacob is convinced he’ll only hurt his family if he goes back. As Elliot leaves, he confirms Jacob’s fears that he isn’t starting a new life but running from his old one.
Nick returns to Port Haven
Nick returns to Port Haven for good, making Del very happy after he walks up to the farm, chatting with Elliot and Alice about time travel. His bio dad pulls up to the farm, and finally gets to meet Del and her boyfriend, Sam. His dad makes things awkward when he says, “Nicky’s first love was named Alice.” You don’t say?
Kat walks in, dripping from the pond, to a kitchen full of people (two who don’t know about the pond or time travel). Nick drags his bio dad out of there while Del delivers her honey to The Point, promising to catch up with Kat later. That leaves Elliot and Alice in the kitchen, making sure Kat is okay after her 1920s travels. They wish she wouldn’t go back, but she does, according to the film reel. Alice begs Kat to let her find out more in the 1970s, even though his time with them is almost up, like it was for teen Elliot, and Kat Elliot reminds her they are still here and cooler than ever. It's such an almost stepdad thing to say—give her the ring already!
She says she wants to focus on her job but also proposes to shut down the Harod. Then, Del drops the bomb that Sam asked her to move in, and she turned him down (wait to sneak that one in!). She pivots from her interesting update to tell them about the kitchen parties she and Colton used to have when they were first married.
Apparently, they stopped after Kat was born in 1982, but before that, her parents could get down with the small gathering of music and friends. After Del says she wants to have a kitchen party for Nick’s return, she gets a flower delivery from Nick’s bio dad. Kat teases her about the party being for Nick or his bio dad, and honestly, from the social media post about Del and Nick’s bio dad, it leaves me wondering if he really was flirting with a taken woman.
Del’s kitchen party
Elliot, Kat, and Nick walk in on Del’s dance party of one as they are getting ready for the kitchen party. Nick reveals that Alice jumped in the pond right before Sam and Nick’s bio dad walks in. Sam finds out in that moment that his woman got flowers from another man. Oh boy! Even though he continues to flirt, it is obvious that Del only has eyes for Sam.
Kat announces to the party that she’s closing the Harod and hopefully focusing on things that matter to her, like writing about Port Haven’s history. Of course, this leads Rita to confirm that Kat will have plenty of material.
The next morning, Del confronts Sam about how relaxed he is about seeing another man flirt with his woman. He reminds her that they are solid. Then, they pivot to how broken up she is about Jacob hanging up on her last night. She admits the party was a distraction from the pain, and she worries she’s using their relationship as one as well. Sam agrees with her that they need to take a step back, and that doesn’t make her happy. It led him to tell her he doesn’t want it to be a guessing game; he just wants her.
Del thinks she sees Colton walking into the woods as she’s riding her horse. A few paces into the woods, her horse gets spooked and bucks her off. Leaving her laying on the ground, waiting for someone to find her.
Fern remembers Tessa
After some advice from Nick, Alice jumps back to the 70s as Tessa and Vic are running up to the farmhouse. Music plays from the house as Vic smiles about marrying Tessa. As he walks in, Tessa turns and sees Alice standing behind the tree. She begs Tessa to keep her secret like she kept Tessa’s, and she agrees. Alice peeks in the window at Del and Colton’s kitchen gathering as she has a 1990s memory. She sneaks into the house to have a closer look as Evelyn gives a toast and Colton starts singing. It breaks my heart as Alice watches her favorite people slowly slip away from her, while Tessa grows closer to them.
Tessa brings out the Landry Family Almanac and seems confused by Jacob’s entry. Colton easily tells her the history and that his dad (Ejiah) was the one who built the farmhouse they are sitting in right now. That’s when Del and Colton realize they like the name Jacob, which reveals that Jacob got his name before his time-traveling trip. It's a full-circle goosebump moment.
Alice backs out of sight as Fern comes down the stairs, requesting to be introduced to the new face in the room. Her outburst reveals far more than she was telling Kat in the past. She screams at Tessa to get her hands off the Family Almanac because she’ll never be a Landry, no matter how hard she tries. Colton tries to calm Fern by telling her she’s engaged to Vic Augustine and not a Landry. But that only makes Fern more upset as she storms out of the kitchen party without singing a note. Alice runs out to check on Fern, who is muttering to herself on the porch as she paces.
She hides behind the bush as Del comes out to calm Fern down. Del sends Fern inside and tosses her wine out as Colton jumps her on the porch. They reveal that they are waiting to tell everyone about their pregnancy just in case something happens. But Alice recoils in shock when Colton says 1979 is the year they start their family, when we know Kat was born in the '80s. Meaning something happened to their first baby, which breaks my heart for them as someone who has experienced the hopes of their first pregnancy being crushed.
Alice immediately hugs Del upon her return in the middle of the party. Kat can sense something’s up as Alice agrees to a duo and sits at the piano with Elliot. As they sing a song from Del’s past, the house phone rings with a call from Jacob. Sadly, as she shushes everyone, Jacob gets spooked and hangs up. Jacob thinks that because his family is happy, it is better for him to be there and not with them. Ghost Thomas counters with, “But for who?” Him handing up crushes Del to pieces as Kat and Alice comfort her, and Kat tries to no avail to reach Jacob.
Kat tells Alice to give Del some space, which leads her to tell Kat about seeing Del in 1979. Losing Jacob twice makes so much sense after they realize Del lost a pregnancy before having Kat and Jacob years later. Elliot, being the sensitive guy he is, goes against Kat’s decision to let Del be alone and walks out to sit with her on the porch. He wishes he could fix the hole in her life, but she reminds him that some things in life just can’t be fixed.
The next episode of The Way Home airs on Hallmark Channel on May 17 at 9 p.m. ET
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