5 Reasons to Watch Hallmark’s ‘The Way Home’

These days, Hallmark Channel is the place to be when it comes to TV shows. (Most of our readers already know where we stand regarding the Christmas movies—the countdown for the next one begins the moment it ends.) And as fans of the romance genre first, we’re always searching for the next best thing to satisfy our trope-filled longings. Such is the case with The Way Home. 

Hallmark’s The Way Home takes everything we love about romances and gives us something completely unexpected instead. It delivers a plethora of heart and complexities from day one as it tackles challenging topics with grace and brilliant performances that leave us drowning in our tears. (Seriously, I can’t remember the last time a show made me cry this consistently with every episode.) It’s clever, heartwarming, and keeps viewers on their toes with a unique story that beautifully centers around universally connecting themes. 

If you’re a fan of small towns, found families, and a dash of paranormal, then here are five spoiler-free reasons why The Way Home should be next on your list.

1. The Way Home Is a Story About Healing

The Way Home is a story about healing first and everything else second. It tackles grief with tremendous empathy as it showcases how people are often changed by the losses in their lives while simultaneously looking into how grief shapes them. The story isn’t for those struggling with their heartaches. If grief is a trigger for you, then it’s imperative to watch the show when you’re in a good headspace. I personally don’t always do well with dead fathers, but sometimes knowing it’s coming helps. At the same time, how the series approaches the idea of overcoming grief is one of the more realistic depictions I’ve ever seen. (There’s time travel involved here, but still, there’s a lot of realism in approaching how binding losses are.)

It’s not an easy series to watch, but it’s one that understands the everlasting strength in love and the detail that healing comes from tireless and constant work. We can’t run from our pain; we have to confront it head-on, and that’s exactly what happens when Kat Landry and her daughter Alice Dhawan return to her hometown of Port Haven. As the characters slowly heal, it’s easy to feel less alone in our pain. It’s easy to feel seen, and sometimes, that’s all you could ask for in the media you’re consuming. 

2. The Performances Are Incredible

People are often skeptical about Hallmark shows because they doubt the performances could be compelling enough to keep viewers invested. But The Way Home features Andie MacDowell. Do I need to say more? No, but truly, every performer in the series floors me. Chyler Leigh is astounding, and Sadie Laflamme-Snow is an actress to look out for. A show like this wouldn’t have worked if the actors didn’t give their all to every scene, and they do. 

It’s clear as day that they each understand their characters on profound levels, allowing them to bring out difficult emotions with such brilliant embodiment that I’m consistently in awe. It’s often easiest to overdo grief and tearful moments, but it takes a skilled performer to embody it authentically, which comes from deeply feeling every ounce of the emotions. 

3. The Romance Is Worth Investing In

I was skeptical about starting The Way Home because anyone who knows me knows that I strongly dislike childhood best-friends-to-lovers romances, so imagine my surprise that I adore every minute of the relationship between Kat Landry and Elliot Augustine. It helps that they were never together while they were young, making their reunion as adults and the process of falling in love more believable. In the two seasons so far, the show gives viewers every crucial moment necessary to prove why their relationship is worth investing in and structured to last. 

It’s a story about two people who know each other inside and out, making them equals even when they have completely different personality types. It’s a love story that centers around characters who look out for each other and heal together, and it features some of the most delightfully trope-filled moments, like a sunset kiss that we’re all wrecked from.

4. The Platonic Relationships Are Lovely

The Way Home centers on three generations of women, each dealing with their own turmoils while learning how to be better versions of themselves with others. It’s messy and complicated, and it’s so incredibly beautiful to see that people can heal from pain and look out for each other. It’s difficult to talk about the Landry women without going into spoilers, but we can say that every new development brings something remarkably wholesome and raw to our screens. It’s a story about mothers and daughters, which we can also understand is a tough topic for some viewers. Still, the show handles every narrative with thoughtful, character-driven outcomes that make sense and, more importantly, feel believable. 

The story is also about new friends and old, with two different timelines, making it riveting to see how developments shape characters into who they are. It’s about the way older siblings behave and how fiercely they love. It’s about fathers and daughters and fathers and sons. And it’s about intriguing friend groups. 

5. Complex, Well-Written Women Take Center Stage

One of the things Hallmark continues to excel at is its means of placing women at the center of the narrative. It does so exceptionally with When Calls the Heart and now, The Way Home, too. The three Landry women and their friends are well-written, relatable characters whose journeys are easy to invest in and appreciate. They’re messy, they’re complicated, they’re kind, they’re loving—and they feel real. They don’t always say or do the right things, but it’s so rewarding to see them lead the show with incredible stars who bring them to life.

They feel like people we all know, and it makes watching the show that much more enjoyable. Viewers often ask for series that feature powerful and strong women—the Landry women are it. And the best part is, they’re not the only ones. 

The Way Home is now streaming on Hallmark.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Hallmark