The Way Home season 4 isn’t going easy on us as the stakes for answers grow larger. Finally, Elliot and Kat find an older Tessa in the 1920s via the circus stopping in Port Haven. Unfortunately, things aren’t what they seem. Tessa isn’t in danger; she’s the boss. She holds Kat and Elliot at gunpoint at the cove. The miscommunication ends in episode 6 with one of the Auggie boys knocking Elliot out to the sound of Kat’s screams.
Del and Sam’s future
We finally discover that KC Goodwin is from a future where she knows both Sam and Del. She knows Sam’s past, present, and future, even his chess moves. He told her she could come to him at any time, any place, and he would help her. So in 2024, he takes her, knowing about everything like a champ who knows way too much about time travel—explaining how he knows about the pond. When he questions whether he and Del are still together, it cuts to the present, with a heartbroken Sam and KC wishing she had never told him about her future.
Del meets Sam at the edge of their farms to say thank you for saving her after her accident. He wonders if she remembers what she said that day. She doesn’t, but he tells her that if she does remember, she knows where she can find him. Maybe they will be okay; there’s hope for them.
Riding Stormy to the fields, Del remembers telling Sam she loved him when he saved her. She runs into Sam as she’s going to look for him. Conscious and appreciative of his kindness, she finally tells him she loves him and kisses him. He loves her, too. I love them so much! As if he knew, he set them up with a date area on the farm.
He sees KC peeking around the corner and goes to thank her for her advice with Del. He wants to tell her everything about the future, but KC warns him to be careful with how much he shares. Although he is shocked by her change, she leaves him with that to think about as he goes back to Del.
Alice’s decisions confuse her
Alice tells Del about wanting to push back on going for a semester or two because it doesn’t feel right to leave right now. Plus, with her mom still in the past, her travel plans are out the window. Del tries to convince her to wait to make up her mind and definitely talk to her parents about her decisions.
Alice gets home from work and abruptly stops the car when she sees KC. She tells her about her change in college plans, making KC regret telling her. But they turn it around by Alice inviting KC to dinner. Things quickly turn sour when Kat gets upset that KC encouraged Alice to follow her gut while not telling Kat if Elliot is okay. KC storms out with Alice on her heels.
KC jumps in the pond, but not before delivering a message that makes my head spin. Like Fern, she seems to speak in code: “Everything is a countdown to something.” I feel bad for KC having to deal with everyone’s questions and worries when she thought they were all great because her family talks about it like the good old times.
But I agree with Alice, no era is perfect, especially when you’re seeing the people experiencing it firsthand. It is hard. Yes, there is fighting and secrets, but there is also lots of love. Alice ignores a call from Kat, places her phone by the rocks, and jumps into the pond.
Jacob enters the modern dating world
Jacob questions his dating skills as he talks to Danny about Abby. Danny cautions him because of Jacob’s past in burning the vineyard to be careful around the Goodwins. Don’t poke the bear, and the bear won’t poke you. But he also reminds him that things usually work out for him. That seems to ease his mind as the conversation ends.
Jacob runs into Abby, and they strike up a conversation about the marketing project for the vineyard. She agrees to let Jacob show her the story behind the soil. Despite Kat wanting Jacob to stay far away from Abby, he meets up with her anyway. He tells her about the Landry farm history and why he loves it so much.
As promised, he talks about soil and the history it carries, along with the love that was put into the land. Abby is having trouble believing him, but she definitely feels something special. Over a glass of wine, they hope they can overcome family grudges. They both agree this is a date, and she welcomes a kiss from him.
Tessa’s lies hurt Elliot
Kat is rightfully mad about being misled about Tessa. She didn’t need saving since she was running the operation. Kat, Tessa, and Fern sit in the kitchen talking when Elliot joins them. With his head still pounding, he goes on a walk with Tessa. He brings her to the pond, the last place they were together 40 years ago. She’s angry at all the damage he and Kat have caused. A mess she now has to clean up, leaving her no time for him.
No time to ask about him or Vic, but to wonder about Griffin, whom no one has any idea about in the future or past. She left him as a baby because she thought it was the right decision at the time. Honestly, that’s not a good enough answer at all. He came all this way for her to leave him standing alone at the pond yet again with more questions than answers.
Through a heartfelt conversation on the porch, Kat and Fern realize they are more alike than they thought they were. Despite Fern being tangled in Tessa’s illegal acts because of her idolization of her auntie Coop, she just wanted excitement. She did not want to be told what to do by men, but to be a leader. It turns out that when she disappeared, she was getting acting lessons that may not pan out. Even though her fiancé is over the film, it isn't set in stone for her. Kat may be able to tell her about what she’s lost and the memories that haunt the farm, but she can’t tell Fern her future. With all that aside, they still relate on a deeper level. A level that is only possible because the pond brought them together.
As Kat steps into the bushes to go to the pond, Cliff pulls up to talk to Fern. She tries to ease his mind about missing the shipment at the cove last night. He’s suspicious since Grayson may be involved with all the illegal operations that he keeps missing in Port Haven. Their heated conversation finally brings out Cliff’s tender side. He passionately kisses Fern but then reminds them both that she’s engaged. He stocks off and drives away, leaving both Kat and Fern stumped.
Kat finds Elliot sitting by the pond, sad and alone. He still needs answers, but he agrees to go home so Kat can drive Alice to college. She ends up jumping in alone and landing in 1979, with Fern hugging her. It is so sweet to see Fern giving Kat advice about letting Elliot spend time with his mom. He just needs time, and Kat has to let him have it. The pond sent Kat to Fern for a reason, and she has to figure that out. Fern thanks Kat for being a dear friend, thankful that the pond at least gave them that comfort. She parts with those words, leaving Kat clueless as to why she ended up in 1979 and not the present day.
Kat is finally home and talking to Del. She says the same thing as Fern that Kat needs to let Elliot have time with his mom. Even if it scares her to leave him in 1925, she has to trust that the pond will bring them back together. In turn, Kat reminds Del not to let her dream of Colton keep her from a future of happiness with Sam.
Jacob checks in on Kat who is worried about Elliot and Alice. Although the pond kept Jacob for 25 years, he doesn’t think the pond would do that to Kat and Elliot.
1979 NYE
Alice lands in the 1970s, at the end of the decade celebrations as she watches from the window. Inside the cafe, Jasper shows the highlights, and the first reel is of Del and Colton’s wedding. It immediately sends Del running outside for fresh air, causing Alice to hide because she knows Del never saw her back then. I love that Colton runs after her and comes clean about hurting over not starting the 80s with their baby.
They are both hurting, but he reminds her that they can’t lose each other in this battle. All the hopes and dreams they had at their wedding will still come true one day. Surprisingly, Griffin steps up as a big brother when he brings Colton their coats after Del hurries to the truck. Griffin reminds Colton to be strong for Del during this time; she needs him more than ever.
Griffin spots Alice and brings her into the cafe to a happy Evelyn. But she sadly tells her Jasper is shutting down Coyle’s to head back home. They are watching the film reel, and Kat appears on the screen, and Evelyn says she knows her. Jasper supplies the name, and Evelyn jumps at connecting Kat to the portrait at her house (yes, it is her, but Alice can’t let on that it is!). Alice has to lie and say that it isn’t her mom, as Evelyn says that’s the white witch who saved her from drowning as a kid. I wish Alice could tell Evelyn about time travel, especially when Griffin starts making jokes. She ignores him and requests the film reel as a keepsake.
Tessa and Vic arrive late to the party, revealing that this was before Griffin and she met and secretly jumped into the pond. Thankfully, for now, Evelyn keeps him from hitting on Tessa, who is clearly taken by Vic.
They rang in the 1980s with glasses clinking as Alice steals the film reel and runs out. She dumps it in the trash as Evelyn comes out and tries to keep her from leaving yet again. Alice passes on KC’s message but includes that these are the golden years that she and the 1970s gang share. They hug goodbye, and I feel like Alice just left a part of herself in 1980.
Elliot’s mission revealed
Alice and Kat finally have their talk, with Alice admitting she jumped in the pond to escape her mom’s wrath. Honestly, it was a decent plan, but she couldn’t avoid her choices. Kat reminds her to not only talk to her dad soon, but also to plan to do something while she’s staying in Port Haven. Her trip to New Year’s Eve ‘79 wasn’t a waste. She lets Kat know she took care of Evelyn, recognizing Kat in the film reel.
A knock at the door interrupts their conversation. Elliot made an appointment last week to have a sticky key fixed on the piano. The repairman finds a page wrapped around the sticky key. Kat takes it to Alice, who recognizes it as the missing introduction page from her Alice books. It’s the page with Auntie Coop’s inscription to Fern, yet part of the page has a letter on it from Cliff professing his love and hoping to call the home theirs someday. They wonder if Cliff is Colton’s grandfather. Why did Fern hide her love in the piano? Why keep his love note a secret?
Monica brought a box down with memories from the cafe for its 45th anniversary. It opened in 1981, a year after Jasper closed it. As Noah and Alice are kissing, happy about being medium-distance, we see that the Summer ‘74 film reel made it into the box after all.
After work, Alice finds Kat on Elliot’s couch following an unsuccessful jump. She worries Elliot may think she’s not coming back for him, even though she’s trying so hard to get back to him. Alice reminds her that Kat goes back for the screen test, but they don’t know when. She worries that something could happen to Elliot in their time apart as the school calls for Elliot.
She tells the school he’s sick, but they tell her that his sabbatical for the semester was approved. Just then, the chiming clock leads them to Elliot’s research on Fern’s columns from the 1920s. In one of the papers, Elliot is being arrested as the “big fish” (Tom Buchanan) with an image of him in dapper attire. This uncovers Elliot’s lies to Kat about not jumping into the pond with her. He knew he stayed in 1925 and planned it ahead of time when he saw the photo of himself. Without telling Kat his plans, he let her go back to the present without her. He let her think she left him there, but really, he planned it all along.
The next episode of The Way Home airs on Hallmark Channel on June 7 at 9/8c.
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