The Way Home Season 3, Episode 10, “If I Could Read My Mind” Spoilers Ahead
Well, Ponderers, we’ve reached the end of a roller coaster of a season! The majority of The Way Home’s Season 3 finale, “If You Could Read My Mind,” is unsurprising from a plot standpoint. That is, aside from a couple of twists at the end that many have theorized but now are confirmed. But it’s proof that a plot doesn’t have to be “shocking” to have an impact. In fact, it’s all the more satisfying for the steady emotional buildup to this point.
Here Come the Waterworks
Most of The Way Home Season 3, Episode 10, “If You Could Read My Mind,” is Colton-centric. Jefferson Brown returns as adult Colton, giving frankly one of the best performances of the series to date. We see a quick rundown of Season 1 from his perspective. And, yeah, he absolutely recognized Alice pretty much right away. This time, as we see all the familiar scenes, we see them through a new lens: Colton’s joy at seeing his old friend again.
As expected, Alice jumps again with the hope of landing in 1999. This time, the pond takes her exactly where she wants to be: early in that golden summer. Welcome back, Alex Hook and David Webster as teen Kat and Elliot! Sure enough, they play that MASH game (with Alice and Elliot exchanging a very sweet look when the game predicts Kat will have one child, and she wishes for it to be a daughter).
The real reason she’s there, though, is for Colton. He catches her at the pond and calls her out. It’s adorable (and a great, subtle bit of acting from Brown) to see adult Colton slouch and smile into teen Colton’s mannerisms around his old friend. He wants to ask her all his questions, but she warns him that he can’t. The Alice he’ll see from this point on is an earlier Alice, she explains, and that Alice hasn’t met young Colton yet. But before leaving, she tells him how much that time with him and Evelyn meant to her.
Five More Minutes (Redux)
When Alice jumps again (more on that later), she lands in early 2000, where Colton confronts her about Jacob’s disappearance. Oh, and he’s wearing that gray sweater from earlier in the season, which he drapes around Alice’s shoulders.
Turns out, he recently got an envelope from Evelyn, who wants to help pay for the search expenses. When he visits her at Lingermore, he sees the “My Katherine” painting. Only now, he recognizes “Rose” (aka adult Kat) from his grief group. He quickly flashes to the 1816 fire, realizing in quick succession that the woman there was Rose/Katherine and that her brother, the “ancestor” he saved and had previously met, must then be adult Jacob.
He excitedly tells Alice that his daughter is a time traveler and he’s met her in all these time periods. But he hasn’t figured it all out — at least, not until Alice refers to Kat as “Mom.” The moment Alice finally gets to hug her grandfather, with him knowing who she is — oh, the feels!
Related Content: Scene Breakdown: Colton Learns the Truth About Alice’s Identity in The Way Home’s Season 3 Finale
They have a heart-to-heart, and Colton begs her to break the rules just once to tell him if Jacob comes home. She says yes, and he’s so relieved that he’ll see his son again… until Alice starts crying. He remembers “Rose” mentioning that she lost her dad, and he puts it all together. Colton comforts Alice, reminding her that the pond may be a curse, but it’s also a gift. After all, it’s given them time (and music) together in two eras, and he reminds her to keep singing. Before Alice jumps for the last time, he tells her to give Jacob his love — and that he loves her, too. She’s sobbing as she finally calls him “Grandpa” and says, “I love you.” And let’s be real: we’re all sobbing at this point. Brown and Sadie Laflamme-Snow get every bit of emotion out of this scene without making it maudlin.
But then Colton decides to try to jump in the pond, one last time. He begs to see Jacob and the pond obliges. This is where he turns up at the final summer kickoff, where we saw him lurking in the Season 2 finale. It’s more than that, though. It’s Colton’s own “five more minutes” with Jacob. He gets to tell Jacob that he loves him, no matter what.
Also! As you might guess from the sweater, we finally discover Alice’s mysterious pusher. It was Alice herself, realizing she needed to trigger the chain of events.
A Personal Digression
If you’ve been reading all season, you’ve seen me allude to this already. I hope you’ll indulge me to talk about why reviewing this show has been particularly meaningful for me. During the airing of this season, I lost a beloved aunt who has been a grandmother to me in all but name. That’s why these Colton scenes in The Way Home Season 3, Episode 10, “If You Could Read My Mind” really hit hard. The up-and-down nature of grief, how it never fully leaves, and how you will always wish for one more visit.
My late aunt was brilliant and strong, a trailblazer, an icon both personally and professionally, and had an enormous, welcoming heart. We (along with my mother) shared a love for cooking and baking, for bringing people together, for vintage fashion, and for the simple joys of sitting around a table and just being together. And, much like Alice and Colton, we lost time together because of things beyond our control. I understand Alice’s urge to try to save him and her reluctance to leave when she knows it’s the last time.
I’ve rarely seen a show that understands this kind of multi-generational love — or the grief that inevitably follows. Just as Colton inspires Alice to hang onto her dreams, my aunt inspires me to hang onto mine. I’m proud to carry on her legacy, and I hope she’d be proud of me.
Here Comes the Bride
Since learning about time travel, Del has feared the worst about Colton. But in The Way Home Season 3, Episode 10, “If You Could Read My Mind”, she finally learns the truth. While sorting through some of Colton’s things, Kat and Alice find his original demo tape. Del gets to hear — in his own voice — saying that Del is the dream for him, “all I’ll ever need to be happy.” And then, as the Landry women listen to Colton singing his song for Del, she finally makes the request we always knew she would. “Take me to see him.”
While Alice lands in 2000 with Colton, Kat and Del land in 1975, on Colton and Del’s wedding day. Colton is upset that neither his brother nor Evelyn are going to be there. Kat bumps into Fern, who seems to know her quite well. Fern cheerfully reassures her that it’s “something to look forward to, I think!” She departs with another chant: “65, there they thrive.. 65, in 25.”
As Del watches, she’s happier than we’ve ever seen her as an adult. And, in a beautiful bit of editing, the scene cuts between her watching her own wedding and circa-2000 Colton, watching his family watch the fireworks. “It’s exactly how I remembered it,” they both say. All while Lizzy McAlpine’s “The Elevator” plays, and we cry.
Back home, Alice tells the family that Colton knew who they all were before he died. Del realizes he was about to tell her everything. Kat, meanwhile, realizes Colton was driving that night because he wanted to go to the grief group and tell her everything. In his last moments, that’s what he was trying to say to her. It’s cathartic for them all to know he knew everything and still loved them to the end.
Jacob’s Choice
The Way Home Season 3, Episode 10, “If You Could Read My Mind,” isn’t all heartwarming reunions. Lewis’s cameras did catch Jacob, and he’s currently deciding whether to press charges. Jacob promises he’ll deal with the consequences. His first stop is to apologize to Danny for taking advantage of him. Danny, in his quiet way, makes it clear that all is not forgiven. And Jacob leaves even more upset, feeling like he ruins everything he touches.
KC shows up and meets Jacob. They reveal what they were up to with the land. Turns out, back in the day, Susanna willed Lingermore to the Landry family, but Cyrus’s sons forged a fake will and kept the property. KC discovered those documents and used the threat of them (with Sam’s advice) to get Lewis to back off the Landrys’ land. When Alice found them on the property, they had just snuck in and hidden the same documents in the house. Now, they think they could be useful to make a deal and protect Jacob — and stop Del’s letters.
Sidebar time! When Alice runs into KC, they confirm they are not Alice (and Max) ‘s kid. They won’t answer, though, when Alice presses on whether they really are both a Landry and a Goodwin.
When Jacob finds Del’s letters, he’s done. He leaves a note explaining that he doesn’t want to put them in danger anymore. Sam calls and tells her he’s sure Jacob will be fine… and we pull out to show him standing at the pond!!
Time Future Contained in Time Past
Early in The Way Home Season 3, Episode 10, “If You Could Read My Mind,” Jacob helps Elliot figure out that the clock piece is actually a pendulum. Underneath the clock is an inscription. “Time past and time future. And in between is the still point of now. Find me there.” Elliot also receives a letter from Vic. He’s mailed back the Augustine ring, plus a letter that Elliot’s mom left for Elliot when she left.
After the dust settles, Kat comes to find El. They finally have a conversation they’ve needed to have for a long time. He admits he’s always put her on a pedestal; she acknowledges she’s taken him for granted. They’ve both let their relationship be defined by the past. But they’re seeing each other clearly now, and they love each other even more for it. “Let’s just love each other as we are,” Elliot says, and yes, please.
Kat notices the ring on the table, and for a second, she (and we!) think El might propose. But, he says, in a delightful throwback to the lead-up to their first kiss, he’s going to find the “perfect” moment. And it will be even more special — because, Kat realizes, the ring was originally Susanna’s.
But there’s one more twist! As Elliot reads his mom’s cryptic letter, he recognizes part of it as being from a poem. A T.S. Eliot poem, specifically — his mom’s favorite and his namesake. Alice realizes the teen from Coyle’s must have been her. But the clock was placed in the wall in the 1920s, even though the poem was written in 1936.
Yep, Elliot’s mom time-traveled somehow, and a Landry must have helped her. Elliot was the baby in the basket in the season prologue! Someone (kind of looks like KC, from the hair?) takes Baby Elliot and the letter, leaving both on Colton and Del’s doorstep. Del is holding Baby Kat as they read the letter. “Poor Elliot,” she says, and scene! We really need Season 4!
What I’m Pondering: Final Season 3 Thoughts
- A lighter moment in The Way Home Season 3, Episode 10, “If You Could Read My Mind!” Teen Kat’s “Marry” list for MASH is elder-millennial perfection. Scott Speedman, Nick Carter, Ethan Embry, David Boreanaz, and Joshua Jackson!
- “I don’t wanna marry any guys I know!” Oh, Kat, just wait a few decades.
- KC’s entrance line is an all-time great. “What, aren’t you Landrys used to time travelers at your door?”
- “Not gonna lie, I didn’t hate it.” Max’s pickup lines need work. But they acknowledge there’s still the Noah-shaped elephant in the room… especially now that Noah’s back and texting Alice.
- Are we meant to assume, from KC’s cryptic comment, that Lewis is connected to the threatening letters?
- So if Colton hadn’t traveled since ’74 until after meeting Alice in ’99, did he suspect adult Elliot was Elliot in the Season 2 finale? I feel like that might get addressed in Season 4, given the ending.
- Worth noting: pausing on Elliot’s mom’s letter reveals it was addressed to “my little one,” not addressing him by name. So when Del and Cole find baby Elliot on the doorstep and call him by name, they must already know the Augustines.
What I’m Pondering: Season 4 Predictions
- Now that Kat’s love triangle is over, it looks like it’s Alice’s turn. Sigh. I remain a known love triangle hater!
- Who is Sam, anyway? He can’t be a Landry descendant because of the whole romancing-Del thing. This is Hallmark, not Game of Thrones. But could he be connected some other way? A Goodwin, perhaps? Or even Colton’s brother? They did mention the brother a few times too many while deliberately never naming or showing him…
- Speaking of often-mentioned but never-seen characters! I remain suspicious of Nick’s fiancee, Claire, too!
- And speaking of “who are they really” — who is KC, really? I assume they must be in Alice’s line because Kat’s ring from her marriage to Brady would only be meaningful to Alice, right?
- We still don’t know what Fern’s “the one” reference was about.
- Fern’s chant plus her penchant for 1920s magazines, plus the clock … are we going to the ’20s next?!
Thanks for joining us in Port Haven this season!
Now streaming on Hallmark+: What are your thoughts on The Way Home Season 3, Episode 10, “If You Could Read My Mind?” Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: ©2025 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Peter Stranks.