The Way Home Season 4, Episode 3, “Dust in the Wind” Spoilers Ahead
After “Blinded by the Light” gave us our first taste of the 1920s, The Way Home, “Dust in the Wind” is steaming ahead. So far, the season has been a slower burn, teasing out bits of the season’s mysteries while giving them room to breathe. It’s an approach that brings the show back to its cozier roots, but may frustrate those looking for more answers at a faster rate.
Not Quite Brother of the Year
The Way Home Season 4, Episode 3, “Dust in the Wind,” finally unpacks a lot of the Augustine/Landry tension, and it all comes back to Colton’s brother, Griffin. Del confesses that she (and Colton) suspected Tessa ran off with Griffin — a revelation that shatters the sweet bond Del and Elliot had been building in the last episode. Intriguingly, though, Del insists that Griffin came back and visited the Landrys multiple times after Tessa was gone. Could Tessa have come back with someone else? Or not to come back at all — either by choice or by default?
Alice, meanwhile, briefly meets young Griffin in 1976. He’s a brash, carefree kind of guy, with all the Landry charm but a touch of shadiness, too. Griffin has minimal screentime, but his presence is massive. Vic Augustine shows back up, raging about how the Landrys have turned his son against him. Over the course of a very awkward dinner, Del apologizes for spilling what she knows about Tessa to Elliot. She and Vic share a surprisingly nice moment where they remember when they were all friends. Tessa, Vic recalls, had a knack for making friends and searching for her “found family.”
Also, “dry biscuits” reference! I cheered!
Later, Elliot and Vic finally have it out about Tessa. Evan Williams and James Gallanders are just so, so good in this marvelously messy, complicated scene. Vic has been an absolutely awful person, time and time again. And yet, there’s real pain beneath it all. I appreciate how the narrative doesn’t excuse his frankly monstrous behavior, but also gives us a glimpse of the man he might have been if fate hadn’t intervened and if he hadn’t chosen to give in to his worst self. (See also: the glimpse of young 1970s Vic getting soft for Tessa!)
Sometimes I Feel I’ve Got to Run Away
Oh, Fern. We knew you knew something, and The Way Home Season 4, Episode 3, “Dust in the Wind,” proves it. Kat returns to 1926 in search of more answers, and Fern is waiting. Fern lets Kat know that she’s figured out that Kat must be a future relative, and I have to say, I just love their bond! It’s a different kind of connection than the one Kat had with Susanna, but no less meaningful. Fern, being her irrepressible self, takes Kat to a speakeasy, and it’s so much fun!
The 1920s storyline is definitely drawing on tropes of Prohibition-era dramas, with a darker side beneath the glitz. The Augustine boys are plotting to get rid of someone for their boss, who we assume (at least for now) is Grayson. (Me? I suspect that’s too easy of an answer.) Cliff and his temperance enforcers are planning a raid, which he warns Kat and Fern about. Unfortunately for them, someone drugs Kat, causing her to pass out just as the raid begins. The next time we see her, she’s waking up in a jail cell in the last seconds of the episode!
That’s not all, though. The big discovery comes when Kat recognizes a song Fern sings at the speakeasy: “Tainted Love” — a song that won’t exist for another 55 years. Fern is aggressively evasive when Kat asks her where she learned it. Their argument is cut short by the raid and the attack on Kat, but it seems safe to assume Fern and Tessa know one another somehow, yes? For further proof, 1970s-era Tessa is somehow wearing 1920s Fern’s bracelet!
This Is Still Hallmark, After All
Amidst all the pond drama, The Way Home Season 4, Episode 3, “Dust in the Wind,” still makes time for romantic drama, too! I’m talking, of course, about Alice’s love triangle. Which, I have to say, is probably the least annoying love triangle this show has done?
Noah’s culinary ambitions have been a slow simmer (yes, pun intended) for pretty much his entire stint on the show. Now, they might take him away. He’s planning to move away and open a restaurant, but he assures Alice they can make it work long-distance. Max is… well, kind of a downer, in a hilarious and obvious way. He’s so judgy and I love that for him.
Also, could we maybe stop styling Max this season like he’s in a Sears catalog circa 1997? It’s like the opposite of the usual love interest glow-up; as soon as he became a full-on love interest for Alice, the show started styling him in a bizarrely frumpy, preppy way.
Wardrobe notes aside, this episode does bring a major moment of tension with Max. After he and Alice argue (again), he follows her to the pond to apologize. He playfully pulls her to jump in with him, and Alice understandably panics. Fortunately, the pond has a sense of self-preservation, and nothing happens other than some very wet held gazes.
Oh, and let’s not forget the grown-up romance (the one that is finally out of love triangle hell)! Kat and Elliot go on a getaway that doesn’t quite go to plan, but is cute nonetheless. The big takeaway: Elliot has thought about having kids, and Kat has not. She doesn’t seem pro or con at the moment, just surprised. To be continued!
What I’m Pondering
- The show also styles Charles Vandervaart (yes, Outlander folks, that’s William Ransom!) in a way that really pulls out a resemblance between Griffin and Jacob. I appreciate the care put into these familial resemblances!
- Speaking of Griffin: the show is murky on when, exactly, Del last saw Griffin. So the “Sam is Colton’s brother” theory is still alive, I guess?
- Tessa apparently sent Vic a letter just before she died, saying she felt like her fate was a “fitting punishment.” It’s typewritten, so it could be a fake — but the Augustine ring was sent back with it.
- By the time Alice returns to the 1970s, a couple of years have passed. Evelyn is on her own now with Lewis, but she seems to have a thriving support system in the Landrys. Meanwhile, it appears Del has been having fertility problems, which are taking a toll on her and Colton.
- In the 1970s, Tessa is a waitress at Coyle’s. Alice spots her sneaking money out of the cash register, and Tessa just puts her finger to her lips.
- Tessa used to have a superstition about making a wish at 11:11. Let’s see if that comes back.
- With every episode, I am further convinced that Cliff is Colton’s grandfather and that he and Fern are en route to something very tragic.
- “I sure do love getting jewelry!” Oh, Fern, a girl after my own heart.
- Del’s horse is being weird about the forest near the pond again. Time for another round of off-the-wall horse theories, friends!
- I’m still thinking about the “wedding” prologue from the season premiere. Kat and Elliot seem like the most obvious candidates for the happy couple. But it’s also too obvious? Just going based on character ages and the Landrys’ expressions, I feel like it could also be Jacob and a to-be-met partner? That would also open up the possibility that the missing “he” is still Colton, but could also be Elliot? Or maybe we’re all overthinking this, and Rita is finally getting married!! Tell me your theories, friends, because I don’t know what to think right now!
Now streaming on Hallmark+: What are your thoughts on The Way Home Season 4, Episode 3, “Dust in the Wind?” Let us know in the comments below.
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