The Way Home Season 3, Episode 2, “The Way We Were” Spoilers Ahead!
After a season premiere that wrapped last season’s storylines, The Way Home Season 3, Episode 2, “The Way We Were,” is moving forward. Or, more accurately, moving toward the past. The episode fully introduces this season’s primary “past” period in the 1970s. We’re also finally meeting the season’s (extremely talented!) new cast! Here’s what’s happening down by the pond.
Welcome to the ‘70s
As widely publicized, The Way Home Season 3, Episode 2, “The Way We Were,” takes us to a new era: Port Haven, circa summer 1974. The first people Alice meets, though, aren’t Landrys — they’re Augustines. Vic had a mean, suspicious streak even as a kid, but his teenage big brother, Rick, is the polar opposite. Rick is welcoming toward Alice and on his way to give a guitar to his best friend, Colton Landry. Alice offers to tune up the guitar for him in exchange for a ride into town.
At the music shop, Coyle’s, she gets her wish: meeting her teenage grandfather. Colton is charming, laid-back, and at the center of it all without being arrogant. Alice also meets Colton’s other BFF, who, to her total shock, is Evelyn Goodwin. Free-spirited and sunny, if a little razor-edged at times, this Evelyn couldn’t be more different from her cold, reclusive older self. I have a feeling that the tragedy of Season 3 will be seeing the foundation laid for that transformation. Especially given Rick’s comment that “everyone” expects her and Colton to end up together…
I genuinely cannot say enough good things about the ’70s cast. Jordan Doww has Colton’s twinkle and charisma in spades, while Devin Cecchetto is just a whirlwind of energy and feeling as Evelyn. We don’t meet young Del (Julia Tomasone) until later in the episode, but she has Del’s elegance, defensiveness, and deadpan delivery down pat.
Kat Follows Alice Through the Looking Glass
The Way Home Season 3, Episode 2, “The Way We Were,” showcases, again, Kat’s tendency to get single-minded when her family is in danger. She jumps into the pond after Alice and insists Elliot stay behind so she’s not distracted. El is visibly not thrilled, but instead of sulking, he advises Del on how to deal with the emotional strain of knowing their loved ones are somewhere they can’t help them. Then he goes home to a very unwelcome guest: Vic, whose calls he’s been ignoring.
(He also picks up that jacket by the pond, implied to belong to the mystery pusher. Upon closer consideration, it looks a lot like the chunky cardigans Colton wore in the ’90s flashbacks.)
Vic claims to be in town for Kat’s/Susanna’s book launch since it puts the Augustines at the center of town history. I give Evan Williams props for the way Elliot’s whole body language changes, from relaxed and casual, even under stressful circumstances, with the Landrys, to tense and rigid the second Vic arrives. Later, Vic is uncharacteristically chummy. He eventually reveals that he’s met a woman who changed his life, they’re getting married, and he wants Elliot to be his best man. On the one hand, this is a show that believes anyone can be redeemed. But on the other hand, this is one character who has never shown interest in being a good person.
When Kat lands in 1974, she hitches a ride with Jasper, a stereotypical hippie in a van. Turns out, he owns Coyle’s. Also turns out, he is a Coyle! His smuggler ancestor fled Port Haven, landed in New York, and started a now-enormous family. It’s a nice touch to reassure Kat (and viewers) that Thomas lived, thrived, and got his own happily ever after.
Chyler Leigh does so much with just her expressions when she walks into the back of Coyle’s and sees her dad, young and healthy and with guitar in hand. She even allows Alice to go to the beach party with Colton, Evelyn, and Rick before they go home.
The Past Is Still Present
In the present day, Jacob visits Elijah’s grave and confesses to feeling lost without him. He also says a sweet “hi” to Susanna’s nearby grave. Later, by the pond, he finally tells Del the truth: that he did bad things in the 1800s and that he came back not because he wanted to but because he had to. I know I keep shouting out cast members in The Way Home Season 3, Episode 2, “The Way We Were,” but Andie MacDowell and Spencer Macpherson are so good in this terribly painful scene.
At the beach party, Alice hangs out while Kat watches from behind the trees. When Colton starts playing “Summer Breeze,” Alice starts harmonizing (and I start tearing up). Later, she watches him give the Alice in Wonderland book duo to Evelyn. Evelyn tells him to keep one, like friendship bracelets, but he (almost weirdly?) insists she take both. He seems on the verge of telling her something when someone catches his eye: young Del, who turns out to be one of her family’s summer guests Evelyn has been avoiding. Colton flirts successfully at first but crashes and burns when Del calls out his music snobbery.
Kat returns home just in time to speak at the book launch. Unfortunately, Vic isn’t the only unwanted guest. Evelyn’s son Louis insinuates sinister motives behind the book since other Port Haven history treats Cyrus as a hero. It’s too much for Jacob, who has an angry outburst. His trauma from Cyrus runs deep. Later, he and Del reconcile, agreeing to focus on thriving here and now instead of walking on eggshells. But Jacob and Kat both have their suspicions about Colton and time travel…
Back in 1974, Colton insists on walking Alice and Evelyn home instead of going on a drinks run with Rick (and tag-along Vic). Alice thinks it’s a one-and-done trip, but Kat plays her Colton’s record with her voice on it. When Alice tells Elliot about how cool Rick was, he tells her that Rick died — after a beach party in 1974. Vic survived the car accident, but Rick didn’t. Horrified, Alice runs off to the pond. And for one last piece of Augustine family drama to end the episode, Elliot walks in on Vic ransacking his house, looking for Elliot’s mother’s ring.
Upon returning to the past, Alice has just left the pond when she sees Colton emerging, then hitting the water in frustration. They spot each other… and scene!
What I’m Pondering
- Kat’s annoyed-but-not-surprised reaction to young-Vic being just as obnoxious as present-Vic is priceless.
- Let’s revisit Evelyn’s “tarot reading” of Alice’s Queen of Cups shirt. “She carries her emotions in a glass and her heart on her sleeve. But when the queen is upside down, her cup will spill, drowning you with her thirst for love and attention.” We’re all in agreement that this is foreshadowing Evelyn’s own fate, yes?
- It’s always a good idea to pay attention to literary references in this show. That’s why Evelyn playfully calling Colton “Sir Lancelot” caught my attention. Arthurian legend, of course, features a love triangle that ends badly (actually, more than one)…
- Louis uses Evelyn’s Goodwin name, rather than his (still unknown) father’s last name. Minor detail, family pride, or future significance?
- Jasper is a proud draft-dodger for ethical reasons and of course he is.
- In a flashback, Colton and Jacob clean Elijah and Rebecca’s grave. Colton talks about their lives back then with just a little too much knowledge.
- It’s nice to see the “extended” family helping each other. Sam comes to Jacob’s defense and smooths things over at the book launch while Del reaches for Elliot’s hand for support.
- Elliot finally asks Kat to move in with him, and it’s all very sweet. She apologizes for brushing him off at the pond, and Alice smiles when she sees them.
- There’s no way ’90s-Colton didn’t recognize Alice, right?! And Alice nearly bursts into tears when young-Colton says he hopes they’ll sing together again.
- Sam and Del exchanging quasi “I love yous” is adorable. I love seeing a freer, more open Del this season!
Now streaming on Hallmark+: What are your thoughts on The Way Home Season 3, Episode 2, “The Way We Were?” Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Peter Stranks