The Way Home Season 3, Episode 3, “Live and Let Die,” Spoilers Ahead!
We’re past the setup and well into the drama now, Ponderers! The Way Home Season 3, Episode 3, “Live and Let Die,” starts unraveling the plot threads we know will carry us all season long. Alice is getting closer with the ’70s crew, who are mourning one of their own. Kat, meanwhile, is back in journalist mode, trying to figure out what her father really knew. And, as usual, Vic shows up and ruins everyone’s mood. Let’s dive in.
Augustine Family Drama, Part Deux (Trois? I Lost Count.)
“Live and Let Die” picks right back up on the last episode’s cliffhanger, with Alice catching Colton coming out of the pond. He never out-and-out says it, but it’s clear he tried (and failed) to go back to save Rick. Later, they see Del try to bring food to the Augustine house. Young Vic wordlessly takes the dish. But when Vic spots Colton and Alice, he yells out how much he hates Colton and that it should have been Colton, not Rick, who died.
Meanwhile in the present, Elliot chews out Vic for ransacking his house in search of the Augustine ring. Vic snidely drops another bomb. He knows Elliot never gave his ex-wife, Emma, the family ring — because Vic called her in search of it. Vic even taunts Elliot that he must have been saving it for Kat all these years. To be fair, we know that’s probably partly true. But we also know that Elliot has always known, from context, that he’d end up alone and teaching in Port Haven.
Vic rants, again, about his hatred for the Landrys, also dropping in the fact that Elliot’s mom left long ago. Elliot 2.0, though, doesn’t let Vic get the upper hand. He refuses Vic’s guilt trip, reminds him that he made Elliot’s life miserable for years, and kicks him out. It’s super satisfying, but we also know there’s no way this is the end of the story.
Good News… Maybe?
When Elliot calls Kat to the clubhouse for support, they get briefly, uh, distracted. The mood is ruined, though, when the radio comes on to unfamiliar music. Elliot notes that the empty wine bottle is not Kat’s, either. Later, at a family dinner, it becomes clear the wine bottle is Del’s. The Way Home Season 3, Episode 3, “Live and Let Die,” then gives us a much-needed moment of levity. When Del tells the family about Sam, Kat teases her about “sneaking around in the clubhouse.” I just really love it when these characters get to be light and laugh together, okay?
Kat and Elliot break their own news about Kat moving. Del is reluctant, and Alice, still upset by 1974, runs off. While Kat and Del argue, Jacob and El share a beer on the porch. Jacob pulls the “man of the house” card on Elliot, only to assure him that he’s joking. But he does acknowledge that Elliot would have Jacob’s blessing if he ever were to want it — and El acknowledges that the thought has crossed his mind. The next day, Alice tells Elliot what she saw: Vic as a scared, angry little kid clinging to his brother’s jacket. She suggests that maybe, just maybe, it’s worth trying one more time.
Vic isn’t exactly proving her right at the moment. In a neat parallel, Del offers Vic a plate of food at the farmers’ market. For her pains, she gets — shocker — another rant. And apparently, this is the episode where everyone tells Vic what they really think of him! Del chews him out for hiding Kat’s letter all those years ago. She also calls him out for mistreating Elliot, which Elliot witnesses. I’m very fond of the tiny Elliot-and-Del moments this season.
Alice gets some unexpected news of her own: Noah is back with a coffee-plus-fish-and-chips food truck. They awkwardly flirt, and she offers to help him with his business. Later, he drops by the Landry house to ask for a second chance, and they share a kiss. Jury is still out on Noah, to be honest. I don’t think the show has developed him as a character quite enough, but I hope they do! Alice’s almost-love-interests so far haven’t quite lived up to the bar set by her first, doomed romance with Nick.
More Grief, More Mystery
Back in 1974, Alice joins the other teens at Coyle’s for a private memorial for Rick. Colton starts singing but chokes up, and Evie chimes in. Their song of choice is Cat Stevens’s “Oh Very Young,” and I dare you not to choke up while listening. As the funeral procession goes by, the group spills onto the street to watch — and there’s Vic in the car, glaring at Colton again.
Evelyn confesses to Alice that she’s loved Colton her whole life, but he only sees her as a friend. She also has a curious reaction when Alice mentions seeing Colton in the pond. At this point, I think we have to figure that Evelyn knows something about the magic. There’s also a gut punch of a moment where Colton tells Alice he’d have been in the car if not for her, so he’s alive because of her. Knowing how it all ends and seeing the look on Alice’s face… ouch.
Kat, meanwhile, has her own 1974 adventure in The Way Home Season 3, Episode 3, “Live and Let Die.” She stumbles across an older woman singing and wandering in the forest: Colton’s grandmother, Fern Landry. Fern invites her in for tea, and it’s clear that she’s quirky but knows about the pond. She tells Kat that she feared Colton “was the one,” but she was wrong. When Kat pushes for more information, Fern just tells her that she needs to ask the right questions. On her way back, she sees young Colton and Evelyn talking by the pond, and their conversation implies they’ve jumped together before.
A Game-Changing Message
Alice realizes that the two Alice in Wonderland books were meant to be a matched set from Colton to Evelyn — and that there might be a message in the second book, too. Sure enough, she and Kat reveal words etched in the other book. And they’re not individual messages; they’re meant to be read as one, and they change everything:
To Evie: No curse is on you if you stay. The water did save us, I believe in it now. There is magic at home. Come back to me and to the pond. Love, Cole.
When Alice asks Del about the message, she recalls that Colton’s grandmother used to talk about the pond: that it was both magical and cursed. Seems like Grandma Fern was right!
Elliot offers Vic an olive branch at the end of The Way Home Season 3, Episode 3: Rick’s jacket, found in the house. Vic opens up a bit about what it was like to be in Rick’s shadow and then lose him. He even acknowledges his failures as a father. In return, Elliot offers Vic the ring, but Vic turns it down, saying Elliot should be the one to carry on the legacy. But as usual, it’s too good to be true. When Elliot wakes up the next morning, Vic is gone, and so is the ring.
Kat and Alice try to decode Fern’s strange chant: “65, thought they died, 65, still alive.” Digging through Evelyn’s archives, Kat finds a folder that Casey labeled “For Kat: Important!” It’s empty, but Alice finds an old flyer for a 1965 town meeting — to debate filling in the Landry pond.
What I’m Pondering
- We’re all in agreement that Emma is going to show up in person soon, right? Yay for more backstory, but also boo for the relationship drama that will inevitably follow.
- Jacob is trying to get out in the world more, accompanying Del to the farmers’ market. Also, you have to love her and Rita’s one-sided “feud” and eventual reconciliation. More friendships please!!
- Del’s rant was satisfying, but her shoving the “dry biscuits” right in Vic’s chest takes the cake. I cheered out loud!
- Jacob tries to reconnect with his childhood friend Danny. It’s tentative and awkward, not helped by Jacob’s residual 1800s mannerisms, but it’s sweet to see Jacob trying his best. And it’s nice to see Danny get some closure on his own guilt.
- Grandma Fern outlines more Landry lore. Her (now deceased) son is Colton’s father, and Colton also has (or had? Unclear, unless I missed something?) a brother.
- One more Casey mystery: what was supposed to be in that folder?
- The Way Home Season 3, Episode 3, “Live and Let Die,” offers some clues to try to piece together what Colton knows about the pond and when he knows. In Episode 2, he gives Evie the Alice books with the message, and he seems on the verge of saying something about the pond. Then, in Episode 3, he tries to go back to save Rick, but it’s unclear if he’s successful in traveling at all or if he’s traveled before. He and Evie also talk privately in a way that implies they’ve both jumped before, though. My guess: they both jumped as children, but Colton no longer believes it’s possible (or he didn’t until something happened before giving her the books), while Evelyn does.
Now streaming on Hallmark+: What are your thoughts on The Way Home Season 3, Episode 3, “Live and Let Die?” Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Michael Tompkins