The Way Home Season 4, Episode 1, “Show Me the Way to Go Home” Spoilers Ahead
Welcome back, Ponderers! I’m so excited to be back reviewing and discussing The Way Home with you this year. Of course, “Show Me the Way to Go Home” is a bittersweet premiere. As we all know, it’s the last The Way Home season premiere we’ll have. But it’s a strong start to what I hope will be a worthy final season for this wildly underrated gem.
Jumping Right In
The Way Home Season 4, Episode 1, “Show Me the Way to Go Home,” wastes zero time! As is tradition, the season starts with a mysterious cold open. On some indeterminate future date, Alice and Del watch Kat running her hand through the pond. They talk about how they wish “he” could be here. Alice then reveals they’re headed to a wedding.
Since the episode later reveals Elliot is planning his “perfect” proposal, I think we’re supposed to assume this is Kat and Elliot’s wedding day, and that “he” is Colton. So, given this show’s penchant for misdirection, I now believe the truth is anything but that! I will note that the cold open deliberately does not let us get a good look at Kat’s left hand (trust me, I paused repeatedly).
Jumping back to where Season 3 left off, Kat and Alice immediately head to the pond, Elliot in tow. They’re convinced they can find his mom, Tessa, in the past. He’s conflicted and emotional, but he jumps with them. The pond allows it… but not back to the era that the Augustines’ clock is from. They land only about 40 years earlier, just in time to see Tessa and an unknown person jump, and to see baby Elliot abandoned.
While Elliot (understandably) loses it over literally seeing his mom abandon him, the Landrys jump into action. Kat knocks on the Augustines’ door, only for Elliot to realize his mom intentionally left on a weekend Vic was away. Instead, Alice drops baby Elliot off on Del and Colton’s porch. So that’s one more Season 3 mystery solved (while traumatizing Elliot even further)! And when the family debriefs, Elliot is firm: he doesn’t want to explore further.
Memories Playing Like a Film Without Sound
When The Way Home Season 4, Episode 1, “Show Me the Way to Go Home,” jumps ahead seven months, it’s graduation goggles time. Alice is working with Noah (who she’s still dating) and Max (who she now calls her “best friend”) on a graduation-themed fundraiser.
The past keeps getting dug up (sometimes literally — sorry, El!). One running thread reveals that Del and Colton buried a time capsule on their own graduation day, including a letter Del wrote for their future child on their graduation day. Del reading the letter to Alice at her graduation party is a highlight of the episode. There’s so much pain in the reminders of the years their family was broken. And yet, there is hope, and, always, love. That’s one of the best parts of this show, truly.
The seemingly contrived fundraiser, though, opens the door for a major discovery. Lewis Goodwin buys a bunch of old film reels from when his 1920s ancestor tried to make a silent film at Lingermore. Left briefly alone with a reel playing, Alice sees a young Fern Landry (new cast member Bianca Melchior). But that’s not all! Kat enters the scene, trying to pull Fern away — and the reel cuts out just as both women turn in fright to see something off-screen. Intrigue! As expected, we are heading to the 1920s!
The Prodigal Son(s)
Jacob is pushed to a subplot in The Way Home Season 4, Episode 1, “Show Me the Way to Go Home.” Sometimes, it feels like the show doesn’t know what to do with him as a character (versus a plot device for others). Here, he flees Port Haven (despite Del’s last-minute rush to the bus stop), hoping the letters threatening Del will stop. He does send Alice a set of Alice in Wonderland books he found on his travels. But he’s still far from home, again.
Jacob’s arc is likely being compressed due to the unplanned cancellation, I get that. Still, something is frustrating about his journey. He’s adrift everywhere and in every time. What does he want? We never really get to learn that, and I hope we still get to.
He’s not the only son struggling, either. Alice’s discovery leads Kat to recall older Fern recognizing her in the 1970s. Eventually, they figure out that Kat must have gone back to the 1920s to try to find Tessa. Buried outside, Alice finds an old, battered suitcase with Tessa’s clothes, a picture of her and baby Elliot, and two of Evelyn’s tarot cards. Elliot finally changes his mind: he wants to jump with Kat. They try to jump… but the pond only takes Kat, leaving Elliot to sob in Del’s arms. And, in the 1970s, Colton and Del question whether Colton’s still-unseen brother will show up.
What I’m Pondering
- Creepy Sam is watching when the trio jump at the start of the episode. Who is he, really?
- Clearly, I’ve watched too much Doctor Who, because my first thought when adult Elliot found baby Elliot was “nooooo, paradox!!”
- There’s a shot of Danny looking at Del’s letters with an unreadable expression. Are we thinking the theory that he’s responsible is correct?
- That scene of Kat and Alice talking about how “maybe we’re the ones who make [boyfriends] complicated” is so very Lorelai and Rory Gilmore coded. I will not be taking questions at this time.
- Del, Kat, and Elliot chip in to buy Alice a VW Beetle, and, as a fellow Beetle enthusiast, I love it.
- Kat is in a (hilarious) stalemate with Lewis. He won’t pursue charges against Jacob in exchange for the Landrys keeping Susanna’s will a secret.
- Alice is playing music again, yay! But she gets stage fright at the event and decides not to perform an original song. When Max calls her on it, they argue. Pair that with Elliot (correctly) spotting Max’s feelings for Alice… yeah, I suspect we know where this is headed.
- Once again, Rita gives us a Port Haven lore drop! In the 1920s, there was a deadly explosion in the Lingermore basement. Presumably, the equivalent of last season’s witch-hanging and eclipse?
- “Bring the wine, too.” Elliot and Del’s friendship = priceless. Oh, and Brady is here, too, telling Elliot to put a ring on it!
- Alice buries her own time capsule, with a message for her future child. Will we get to see that play out?
- Del totally knows more than she’s letting on about Tessa, right?
Now streaming on Hallmark+: What are your thoughts on The Way Home Season 4, Episode 1, “Show Me the Way to Go Home?” Let us know in the comments below.
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