I’m all turned around at this point in the season. I don’t know who to trust, nor what information to believe. There are so many storylines going on at once that my brain is about to explode. Despite all of that, The Way Home season 4 has been incredible. I still don’t have a clue where we’ll end up.
Episode 7 tested our trust in Elliot to the extreme. Not only did he plan to stay in the 1920s, but his photo was posted in the newspaper. He was an important figure back then for all the wrong reasons. Instead of telling his family, he let them believe Kat left him behind. When in reality, they find his research and the truth in his house after the school calls them. Everything is upside down for Kat and Alice while Del and Sam repair things and Jacob goes out with Abby.
Elliot becomes Tom Buchanan
Elliot walks in on Tessa and Fern yelling at each other about how she should go home with her dear son. They’re both shocked to see him back at the house without Kat. Tessa rudely tells him just because he wanted more time doesn’t mean she had time to give. The circus is leaving town, and so is she.
As Elliot is worrying about where to stay and being trapped behind Kat’s back, Fern assures him there’s always a place for him. They have to keep Cliff in the dark about the next shipment Tessa is planning. Fern introduces Cliff to his new roommate, Tom Buchanan (Elliot). He’ll be rooming with him while he figures out his traveling situation. No one misses the flirting between Fern and Cliff. Her tone turns serious once he’s out of earshot. The only way out of Elliot’s mess is through, so he begs to help the Auggie boys, revealing he’s Coop’s son. With a lot of stern words, they agree since Elliot has nothing but time.
Elliot earns his keep by cooking a 5-star dinner for Cliff and Fern. He plays the piano as Fern sings and dances. As she pulls Cliff in for a dance, Elliot starts singing a song from his time. Tessa peeks in on this sweet moment, and they finally realize she’s there. She’s caught up in emotion, having not heard that song in a very long time. It turns out it was the song she sang him to sleep with, and it was their song.
Tessa’s sickness and recovery
The Auggie boys caught her up on everything since she’s been away. She’s in shock at how Elliot is doing things for her without expecting anything in return. He confesses he is expecting answers. She was scared of who she was, but not of Vic (he was kind to her).
She and Griffin landed in 1882 for their first jump. She fell ill, and Griffin jumped back to get her help, yet he never returned. Instead, the Landrys took her in, and she’s been here ever since getting older in the past. She confirms she never sent the letter to them saying she was sick. It begs the question: Who would want them to think Tessa was dead and was sending back her engagement ring?
Tessa makes sure Elliot is prepared for the shipment. They bond over the likeness of wanting to teach. Whereas Elliot loves science, books were Tessa’s bread and butter. They quote T.S. Elliot (his namesake) to each other, and he finally asks about the clock in the wall. She doesn’t know about a clock.
All is forgotten when Kat runs towards them. He lied to protect Kat and learn more about his mom. Unfortunately, he has to stay, and Kat is hurt once again for what he’s doing. After their fight, Kat walks in on Tessa and Fern’s conversation about keeping Cliff in the dark about the shipment. She stays hidden as she watches Tessa give Fern the bracelet and tells her she sees her as a daughter. They hug and part ways so Fern can make sure Cliff gives off to St. John on time. She turns and sees Kat, saying she’s right about getting the bracelet finally.
Kat confronts Tessa about abandoning Elliot so many times. Of course, Kat came back because she would never do that to someone. Whether the person was her child or her other half, she wouldn’t abandon them without reason. When Kat parts with mentioning Alice’s name, you can tell it sparks a memory in Tessa’s head. She met Alice multiple times in the 80s not knowing who she really was.
Cliff learns the truth
With the shipment starting soon, they need to get Cliff out of town. He’s not leaving on a happy note. An award may be waiting for him, but he doesn’t want it. It seems he’s the only one who cares about stopping the bootlegging. Little does he know he’s leaving town as it is about to happen again. Grayson leaves with the strangest parting words: that the hotel Cliff mentioned went out of business three years ago. Kat runs out to warn Elliot that Cliff may be hiding somewhere in town to catch the “big fish” himself.
Kat and Fern aren’t welcomed as they arrive at the Stills. They try to warn them about Cliff coming to stop them, so Tessa says she’ll take whatever she can. An undercover cop stops them. Elliot pushes the man out of the way and yells for everyone to run. They shoot one of the Auggie boys, who tells Elliot and the others to keep going. The undercover cop tells Cliff that Tessa (the fortune teller) is the boss.
Cliff is shocked to see Kat, but even more shocked to see Fern. She’s heartbroken that he’s finding out the truth like this when he saw her how she wanted to see herself. In a turn of events, he tells them to run as the cops close in.
Back at the farm, Elliot tells Kat that Tessa is making arrangements and that she’ll meet them at the pond afterwards. Hopefully she stays true to her word about being ready to return home. Cliff and Fern burst onto the lawn as Kat and Elliot hide. They witness their fight and Fern giving him the letter that Kat found in the piano. He hates knowing she lied to him for someone else while he was lying to protect her. It was real for her and she tries to tell him that he brought her back to life. She wants him, not Grayson.
Tessa meets Kat and Elliot at the pond, but she only came to say goodbye. She can’t go forward even if she could be with Elliot. She can’t start over in the present. Instead, Elliot tells her he’ll meet her back here on New Year’s Eve. They hug and promise on their next meeting as he jumps with Kat.
History in the making
The pond finally lets someone time travel after many failed attempts by Kat. Alice reaches the 1980s to find Colton, Evelyn, Vic, and Tessa sending outside. Tessa is very pregnant and staring at her stomach. A very pregnant Del joins them. Alice smiles knowing that history is in the making. Tessa has been a zombie most days; Del raves about art class and being paired with Rita. As Colton and the gang are making plans for the next generation, Evelyn is all cheered out and leaves.
Alice and Evelyn sit down at the manor with a chilled bottle of champagne and lots to catch up on. She truly is the lady of the manor now since her parents moved to Switzerland. Alice finds out that Evelyn didn’t get the reel because Jasper said it was gone like we all thought, so how did it end up at the estate sale?
After leaving Evelyn, Alice sees a sweet moment between Del and Colton. They are excited about their next chapter. Although they had to wait, it was all worth it. Back in the present, Alice finally wrote a song and sent it to Max. She gets to tell Del about seeing the moment she was pregnant with Kat. I loved hearing her say that Kat was her miracle baby and Jacob was their surprise. But all of those moments led to Alice.
Elliot’s return home
It is one month later, and Elliot isn’t back. Kat, Alice, and Del are cleaning up the newspaper office. No closer to answers, they are worried about Elliot’s well-being and their future.
The Point’s 45th anniversary party finds our Port Haven residents celebrating more than just the past, but also each other. The closing of the Herald is sad, yet it is the right move. Alice is frozen with her music, but she’ll find it again eventually. Del notices Jacob and Abby stealing glances across the room. That’s not even the most shocking thing.
Monica starts up the film reel. Yes, the same one Alice thought she got rid of in 1980. Instead of seeing themselves in the reel, they’re cut out. Monica tells them it was bought at Evelyn’s estate sale. Meaning, as Evelyn saw the reel, she knew to cut them out and knew their secret?
Elliot returns home with Kat and is greeted with hugs from Del and Alice. Del tells Sam about all her children being back and wishing Colton knew. Sam tells her to go tell him and that he knows about the pond. Meanwhile, Elliot tells Kat he doesn’t know why he told Tessa when he would be back. After promising she’ll stay away, Kat wonders about Fern’s columns.
It turns out Fern started most of her columns with a T.S. Elliot quote. It connects to Fern being a messenger, leading to Kat showing Elliot the letter. They realize it is a key to something found in her columns. Tessa used Fern's columns to communicate with her bootlegging ring. The key reveals the truth about what happens to Tessa. The tunnel exploding was turned into a song, and it revealed that five people went in and only four came out. Elliot is scared he invited his mom to her death.
Jacob and Abby
Jacob gets out of packing by saying there’s something he needs to take care of at the farm. He jumps into the barn loft to kiss Abby. They keep it just for them since their families are like oil and water.
The day after the party, Del confronts Jacob about the glances she saw between him and Abby. He actually tells her they’ve been seeing each other. She receives it so well and even tells him to invite her over for dinner. She sneakily gets him to confess they’ve been sneaking around in the barn. I mean, she did it once, and so has everyone else. It makes the most sense.
After Abby gets all her worries out about dinner with Del, she and Jacob say I love you for the first time. He knows this family will love her as much as he does. Right there in the barn loft, history is beginning once again.
Jacob and Abby have a family dinner with Del and Sam. She ruffles some feathers by being happy about being separated from her dad and Max after her parent’s divorce. She has to remind Del that not all families benefit from separation like hers did. She keeps messing up especially when she reveals she’ll leave eventually to go back to her life in the city. Jacob didn’t know those plans.
They meet up at The Point to talk about them. Finally they come to the conclusion that they can do long distance. Abby realizes she needs to loop her dad in on the changes in her life. Jacob wants to be with her as much as she wants to be with him.
The next episode of The Way Home airs on Hallmark Channel on June 14 at 9 p.m. ET
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