The Way Home Season 4, Episode 2, “Blinded by the Light” Spoilers Ahead
We’re getting into gear now, friends! After the season premiere, “Show Me the Way to Go Home,” The Way Home takes two of our Landrys back in time in “Blinded by the Light.” One heads to familiar grounds, one to someplace totally new. But Kat and Alice’s adventures have more in common than they think: another Lingermore mystery, a fabulous blonde bestie, and still no traces of Tessa. It’s a neatly-paced episode that nicely balances the introduction of this season’s big mysteries with some touching character work. Plus: it’s actually quite fun!
Blonde Ambition
The biggest story in The Way Home Season 4, Episode 2, “Blinded by the Light,” is the introduction of young Fern Landry (Bianca Melchior). I felt the same way watching her introduction as I did last year watching Devin Cecchetto’s debut as young Evelyn. That is to say, I would follow her anywhere! Fern is an absolute whirlwind of energy and good old-fashioned gumption. Melchior even manages to sell the just-this-side-of-cheesy “retro” dialogue.
More importantly, when she pulls Kat out of the pond in 1925, she reveals a crucial piece of information. Fern is the Landry, not married to a Landry, as many assumed. She knows the pond lore, though she doesn’t want to travel herself. Of course, this begs the question: why do her descendants have her name? Later on, we learn that Fern told a fake story of her life, one borrowed from the movie that was almost filmed at Lingermore. More on that later!
Fern and Kat (Kitty Kat!) bond immediately as Fern brings Kat to her place to get her some period-appropriate clothes. Fern works at the newspaper (like great-grandmother, like great-granddaughter!) and lives there, too. The duo gets an unexpected visitor in the form of Cliff Kane (Dan Jeannotte, aka Hallmark’s current go-to prince). He’s new in town and looking for a rental room. There’s plenty of screwball flirtation between him and Fern, which gets complicated when, by the end of the episode, he reveals himself as the new temperance inspector in town.
Lights, Camera… Mystery
In addition to being the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Grayson Goodwin is also the most important man in Port Haven, an aspiring movie producer, and, oh yeah, Fern’s fiancé! Fern is set to play the lead in his melodramatic, romantic movie, Cassandra of the Lighthouse. Yep, there’s that name again.
And, as always, the founding families are tangled up in dangerous doings. Kat spots Grayson making a deal with the bootlegging Percy and Mo Augustine. She tries to warn Fern, but Fern will hear nothing of it. Then, they’re distracted by a temperance raid. The women escape, only to run into Cliff Kane on the road. He turns a blind eye (and flirts with Fern again) while also revealing that he decided to rent a room at Landry Farm.
Just before she dives, Kat asks Fern to keep an eye out for Tessa. Fern swears she doesn’t know her, but when Kat mentions her by her maiden name, Cooper, Fern gets a look.
And speaking of Tessa! A brief ’90s flashback sees Colton and Del discussing a “pact” they made. Later, Colton throws half of a picture into the fire and insists that they have to let it go. The implication certainly seems to be that they know more about Tessa’s departure, and that his brother Griffin may be somehow involved (or, at least, they suspect he is). By the end of the episode, Del reveals the torn photo, just as we see Griffin arrive on the farm back in 1976.
A Complicated Reunion
Alice, meanwhile, lands in 1976 for her storyline in The Way Home Season 4, Episode 2, “Blinded by the Light.” In a delightful parallel, she, too, encounters Fern. Just as young Fern immediately pegs Kat as a time-traveler, Grandma Fern knows Alice is one, too — especially when Alice asks after the same description of Tessa as Kat did in 1925. Soon, Alice reunites with Evelyn, who is back from her European tour… with a husband.
We already know, from Max’s description, that Evelyn’s husband sucks. When we meet Ashley, though, “sucks” doesn’t even begin to describe it. He’s a lazy, faux-philosophical leech, and Colton and Alice are horrified. They don’t hide it well, especially Cole, leading to a nasty fight with Evelyn. After Cole storms out, Alice tries to talk to Evie, who — fortunately — realizes she’s in over her head with a bad marriage. She is also pregnant with the baby that will eventually be Lewis. Alice reassures her that she will be a great mom and that she’ll never be alone.
At Coyle’s, Alice asks Jasper about young Tessa, but he doesn’t remember her. What he does bring up, however, is another folk song — this one about a mysterious explosion at Lingermore in 1926. “Five went in, and four came out.” Later, at Lingermore, the group decides to go exploring, and Evie narrates how a deadly explosion killed someone in 1926 and how Al Capone’s gang was even involved. Alice, meanwhile, finds a bullet casing with a strange engraving on it.
What I’m Pondering
- The movie at Lingermore is about a woman in a tower… very “Lady of Shalott,” I must say. Coincidence? Symbolism? Foreshadowing?
- While everyone else has their time-travel adventures, Del and Elliot spend some time together. He reveals how he fixed up the barn with Colton in his “five more minutes,” and she advises him not to overthink his proposal. She also, very sweetly, admits she always wanted to be able to be his mom, and that she hopes she can be that now.
- “I don’t think you’re the one, though. You’re a girl, after all.” Young Fern mutters this cryptically about Kat, revisiting a mystery from last season. What on earth is this “the one” prophecy, and who?
- Young Fern loves the novel Gentlemen Prefer Blondes! And oh, does that give us some theories to unpack about where her story might go.
- Alice is still struggling to play her original music. I feel you, girl, I feel you. Fortunately, she has a heart-to-heart with young Cole, who encourages her to find her own voice and her own love song.
- Did I cry when Alice saw young Colton walk in? Absolutely.
- Cliff is either the season’s secret villain, or he’s going to be Fern’s tragic love (and Kat’s ancestor), right? Perhaps even the one who doesn’t make it out of the Lingermore explosion?
- I’m so, so here for the 1920s costumes!
- Kat and Fern look at the mysterious painting of the “woman in white” and children in Lingermore. Fern comments that it’s “freshly painted” — a clue to its true origins?
- In 1976, Ashley conspicuously picks up a shattered pair of glasses in the Lingermore tunnels. So I suppose we should be watching in 1926 to see who wears round glasses!
- Kat worries that she could be part Goodwin, if Fern married Grayson. But let’s be real: that’s definitely not the case. Because if it were, Alice would have kissed her cousin, and, as I’ve said before, this is Hallmark, not Game of Thrones.
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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