The Way Home Season 4, Episode 10, “Ahead by a Century” Spoilers Ahead
It’s finally here, Ponderers, and I can’t believe it. The Way Home‘s “Ahead by a Century” serves as a poignant series finale that answers… most of our questions. While the majority of our mysteries wrap up, not everything ends so tidily. In some ways, it reminds me a little bit (only a little, mind you!) of the famous Lost finale. In other words, if you’re watching for answers in the sense of hard, sci-fi mechanics, you’ll be disappointed. But if you’re watching for the people, and for the ethos that love is its own wonderful, nonsensical, rule-breaking kind of magic… well, you’ll probably cry as much as I did.
Hallmark rewarded our patience with a super-sized finale, so we have a lot to cover! So, one last time, come jump in the pond with me.
A Time to Mourn
The Way Home Season 4, Episode 10 rejoins Kat and Elliot immediately after the explosion at Lingermore. As Kat pulls Elliot towards the pond, he’s getting weaker and weaker. Eventually, he can’t move any further. Just when it looks like he’s about to die in Kat’s arms, Alice and Jacob jump, warned by Fern and Rita’s stories. They arrive just in time to get Elliot back through. But the pond won’t let Kat jump with them.
Instead, she has to remain behind with Fern, who waits at the Cove for more information. Kat brings her back to the Landry farm, where Cliff’s love letter waits for her. She also tells Kat her news: she’s pregnant and was going to tell Cliff at midnight.
Any slim hope Fern (and we) had vanishes when a distraught Mo Augustine arrives. He confirms that Tessa, Percy, Cliff, and the undercover cop are all dead, and that “Tom” is still missing. Worse: he brings her Cliff’s hat. As Fern falls apart, it’s clear why the pond kept Kat here: to be the friend Fern desperately needs.
The good news, although Kat doesn’t know it, is that Elliot is safe. Alice and Jacob got him to the farm, where they called for help. And Sam kept the police away by insisting it was just an accident.
Papa, Can You Hear Me?
Deciding what scene(s) made me cry the most in The Way Home Season 4, Episode 10 is almost futile. But if I have to? Fern’s single pond jump has to win. Fern, who has always refused to look to the past, asks Kat to accompany her for just one jump, to see Cliff one more time. The pond takes them back a single day, and that’s who snapped the twig that Kat heard!
Fern about loses it when she sees Cliff, but just covers by telling him she missed him. “I’m not going anywhere,” he says, and ouch, this dialogue is already killing me! For a second, it looks like Fern will tell him about the future. But instead, she just tells him about their future: specifically, that she’s pregnant. He is elated and asks if she wants to get married right this very second. She declines, but she can’t help begging him to just “run and find me” at the party instead of being a hero. Bianca Melchior does such an exquisite job here, conveying in her expressions and her delivery how Fern knows it’s futile, but has to say it anyway.
As Kat leads Fern away, Fern explains she just wanted Cliff to know he was going to be a father before he died. Back home, Kat sees a hallucination of Elliot sitting at the table. Now it’s her turn to lose it. I truly love how Fern and Kat take such good care of each other.
Their conversation also solves one mystery: who is “the one.” Fern reveals how her family passed down lore about a boy from the future who comes back in time and saves them all. When her brother died, she knew she would have to carry on the Landry line to lead to that boy and ensure the future is safe. But now, after losing so many people, she insists that she won’t ever let her son be “the one.” It’s not magic, it’s just… family — a theme we’ll come back to a lot this episode!
(Oh, and Kat finally tells Fern that she’s a mom and reveals Alice’s name. So Grandma Fern does know!)
And the Gold Medal for Messiest Family Goes To…
While Season 4 started out suggesting that Grayson is a scheming villain, the reality has turned out to be more complex. Story of the Goodwins, to be honest (other than the irredeemable Cyrus). When Kat goes to the paper to get Fern’s things, she finds Grayson there. He’s writing the column with the message about Tessa, and he promises Kat that he was truly trying to help.
To prove it, he pulls out a document his late sister Cassandra found: Susanna’s will. Grayson reminisces about how Cassandra and Fern used to sit by the pond together — that’s why the Lingermore painting has them at the pond, with the angel (or “white witch,” as Kat reminds him).
Later, Grayson brings the will to Fern at the farm and offers it to her, no strings attached. Even when she reveals her pregnancy, he offers to marry her and claim the child. But she declines both offers, so he promises to be there for her as a friend. Fern later tells Kat that she can’t risk Cliff’s reputation by revealing the truth. She’ll make up a story about her son’s father and hide his love letter in the piano.
That will ends up being the thing that binds together generations of stubborn, suspicious, arrogant, yet ultimately decent Goodwin men. After getting some much-needed advice (more in a moment), Jacob tells Abby he wants to make things right and be with her. So he goes to Lewis to bury the hatchet. His peace offering: Susanna’s will. Susanna was trying to unite families after tragedy, and he wants to do that now. Lewis recalls his childhood memories of all the families together, as well as his regrets about his relationship with Evelyn. They shake hands and make peace, with Cyrus’s portrait scowling down.
Speaking of messy Goodwins, there’s still Max. Which we will get to momentarily!
Promises Past and Future
Alice and Jacob both jump, hoping to tell Kat that Elliot survived. Alice lands right before Tessa’s jump, and they finally talk openly. Tessa explains that she doesn’t love Griffin, but that he is the only one left who treats her like a person, not a problem. She’s terrified that she’s going to harm Elliot. So, when she saw Griffin come out of the pond, she asked him to take her along. Even when Alice tells her that she might not be able to return, Tessa says it’s worth it — as long as Elliot will be safe, which Alice assures her. In return, Tessa tears Alice out of the photo of Griffin took.
On another jump, Alice finds Griffin dropping off the letter and Tessa’s ring in 1984. The pond refused to let him get back to Tessa, whom he has feelings for, despite knowing they weren’t reciprocated. He wrote the letter and delivered Tessa’s ring (which she gave to him before jumping), hoping it would give Vic and Elliot closure. And ugh, I wish we had gotten more time to explore Griffin! Before leaving, Alice reunites with Grandma Fern, who reveals that she’s always known who Alice is. Alice, in turn, confirms Elliot lived.
Jacob, meanwhile, lands in 1820, where he finds Susanna, Thomas, and Elijah at Landry Farm. And, oh, I’m so glad we get to see them one last time! Elijah’s wisdom is just what Jacob needs: “I didn’t raise you to blame others for what is in your control.” He reminds Jacob that the pond is not his prison; he is his own jailer, and his love and his family are the key.
Before leaving, he gets to tell Susanna and Thomas about Abby, as well as confirming that Kat is well and happy. Susanna is proud of him for uniting the families, while Thomas offers a nugget of wisdom — a line that Jacob dreamed of when imagining Thomas while he was away from home. Thomas mentions dreaming of the Landrys too (mostly of Kat), and of sitting together on their blue house’s porch — a detail Jacob never shared. Another bit of magic where the explanation is simple: love and dreams cross time.
(That said, I really hope Thomas hasn’t met his future wife yet; otherwise, I feel really bad for her!)
When Jacob returns to his time, he looks at the almanac and realizes Elijah died shortly after his visit. Just like with Fern and Cliff, the pond offered them the “five more minutes” they most needed.
Here Comes the Sun
The Way Home Season 4, Episode 10 is about family, yes, but it also really delivers on the romance! After her own final moment with Cliff, Fern escorts Kat to the pond and tells her to be brave. Although Kat promises she’ll come back, there’s a bittersweet understanding that she may never get to. “I’ll see you in my dreams,” Fern sings as they part. “Something to look forward to,” Kat says, echoing when she met Grandma Fern in her chronology.
Back home, Elliot resets the mysterious clock to 11:11, just as Kat appears in the mirror behind him. “Make a wish,” she says. And then they’re in each other’s arms, and I’m emo again. Can we also please talk about how this scene is set up to perfectly reflect their first kiss? From the identical music cue to the sun flare in the background, it’s just a perfect callback. Later, Alice brings Kat out on the porch, only to find the front yard lit up, with Elliot waiting for her. And he finally, finally proposes, as Alice sings her song in the background. “Our love is forever,” he promises.
Another devastatingly romantic moment? KC takes Del on a jump, and there’s Colton. It’s the same night Alice revealed the truth to Colton last season, so he knows, as he takes in Del, that he’s seeing a version of her he’ll never grow old with. I sobbed when he asked for confirmation that Jacob remembers him.
Del assures him that their family is happy and their children are happy; she hasn’t been, but she wants to be. Colton asks her to promise that she will be. But for now, they share one last, magical dance. Which we can barely see through our tears! “I could dance with you to the end of time,” he says. “I feel like we are,” Del replies.
Reel Friendship
After catching Elliot up on the missing-reel situation, he realizes that it had been in the Augustine basement at one point, and he gave it to Evelyn after the Lingermore party. Alice remembers Tessa’s cryptic comment that they both saw each other steal, and she realizes Tessa took the reels out of the trash. But did Tessa cut the reel before it went to Lingermore?
Nope! In one of the most thrilling, sob-inducing scenes of The Way Home Season 4, Episode 10 (and of the whole series), Alice jumps back just a few years and finds older Evelyn, watching the full, uncut reel at Lingermore. Evelyn has slowly been piecing things together, from Susanna’s will to the sketch of Jacob and Colton to a photo of Alice at the Lingermore party. At first, she’s hurt that her best friends hid so much, but Alice reassures her that she is magic, all on her own.
Evelyn then uses the skills her Granddad Grayson taught her to cut the film reels, protecting Kat and Alice. When Alice mentions knowing Max, and how much he loves his grandmother, Evelyn says she’ll call him tonight. You can see the dawning realization on Alice’s face that this, then, is Evelyn’s last night on earth. Then, the light shifts, and instead of present-day Evelyn, young Evie stands in front of Alice, reassuring her that she has lived a full life.
As Alice sobs (and so do I), much like her final conversation with Colton last season, Evelyn vows she’ll always be with her. They share one last hug, and a promise: “Friends — in any time.”
You Probably Think This Song Is About You
Let’s talk about what I suspect will be one of the most polarizing parts of The Way Home Season 4, Episode 10. I’m talking about Alice’s love life. Max, in another brilliant move straight out of the hotheaded-Goodwin handbook, decides to drive cross-continent to ask her if the song she sent him is about them. Or, rather, to insist that it must be, catching Alice off guard.
Max, my dude. I get that your emotional role model growing up was Lewis “never met an emotion I didn’t reject” Goodwin, and that you’re 18 and impulsive. But, come on. Being pushy is not romantic. Fortunately, he realizes it and returns later to sheepishly apologize for getting in his own head and ambushing her. Alice, meanwhile, has gotten some sage advice from Nick, who overheard the conversation while checking out Colton’s boat (which Del finally has agreed to sell him). He reminds her how he once told her he hoped she’d find love in her own time, and suggests Max is that person. She should look ahead, not behind, he says; even though he’s moved home, he went out in the world and now knows for sure what he wants.
So when Max returns with his apology, Alice is ready. She broke up with Noah, and for a minute, it sounds like she’s going to do the teen-drama-heroine “choosing myself” thing. But then she’s brave, and she admits that, yeah, her song is at least a little about her and Max — or at least, the kind of relationship she wants. So he turns right back around and kisses her.
And finally, Max says the right thing! When Alice says that she thinks her road leads to him, he tells her he’ll be wherever she needs him to be. “But that road? It leads to you, Alice. The best you.” Where was this awesome Max all season?!
Somewhere in Time?
Speaking of Alice’s love life, we do have to also discuss the Nick of it all. Or, rather, the Claire of it all. After he sees Max and Alice’s reunion, Alice lightly ribs Nick about witnessing all her awkward romantic moments. But when she asks if she’ll ever meet Claire, he very seriously says that he’s sure she will… one day.
It’s a clear nod to the “Claire is Future Alice” theory, and honestly? I’m good with this ambiguity. Young Nick and Alice had such sweet chemistry, and I wouldn’t mind if they found their way back to each other through some time travel shenanigans so they could be the same age again. But the logistics? The idea that Future Alice would leave behind her entire future life to jump to the past permanently? Eh. Or, hey, maybe Future Alice just sort of… commutes between timelines via pond? I’m gonna just go with that. In any case, it’s a charming wink to the fans, and who can quarrel with that?
In other time-breaking-shenanigans, Elliot and Kat realize that Tessa had never placed the clock in the walls before she died. But only she would have inscribed the T.S. Eliot quote… meaning she somehow lived, and she hid the clock to tell Elliot, across time, that she lived. “It’s all about time — the unity of past, present, and future,” he muses.
We end the show by jumping ahead to Jacob and Abby’s wedding. Alice gives Jacob her ring to propose with, and they simultaneously realize that must make KC Jacob and Abby’s kid. No surprise there! The wedding is lovely, at the pond, with Sam officiating and both families present. But the real gut punch is watching as all our past characters appear in spirit. Jacob spots Elijah, Thomas, and Susanna, while Kat sees Fern and Cliff, and Alice sees Evie peeking out. KC (presumably the real one) watches their parents’ wedding. And the whole family seems to notice Colton, standing by the pond and watching them all with love.
In the final moments, Alice and Kat stand by the pond, musing about all that’s happened. “Every ending is just a new beginning,” Kat says, and together, they jump once more.
Final Thoughts
The Way Home Season 4, Episode 10 managed to cram a lot into its super-sized runtime, and yet it still wasn’t enough. It’s clear that the show had to sacrifice some hanging plot threads to wrap up the most important stuff. We still don’t know what happened to Griffin after 1984, why KC was upset about something “changing” or “ending” in their own time, how Kat and Elliot’s conversation about having kids will pan out, anything about Fern’s son, and plenty of other plot points, large and small.
But in the end, I don’t feel like I needed every answer. Because, really, who among us knows everything about our families? It’s a story about the families we nurture and the ones we choose — about the ones who love us, in spite of and because of our flaws (and their own). The Way Home has surprised at every turn with its complexity, its messy characters and their messy choices, and its willingness to go into the gray where, let’s be honest, most of us dwell as imperfect humans. That seems to be the final message The Way Home wanted us to hear. Perfect logic and answers to every possible question don’t matter nearly as much as love.
It’s been a blast spending time in Port Haven these past few years. Thanks for watching and reading along, and see you in dreams…
Now streaming on Hallmark+: What are your thoughts on The Way Home‘s series finale? Let us know in the comments below.
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