The Way Home season 3 episode 3 was phenomenal — like every other episode in this series! While I had meant to write reviews on the first two episodes for this season also, time (and feeling a bit intimidated at discussing a show with such depth) caused me to put them off! Well, this week I’m tackling the review head on. Let’s discuss this great episode.
WARNING: SPOILERS FOR S3E3 OF COURSE!
The episode picks up where last week’s left off: with Ric’s death. The show did a great job of getting me attached to Ric and caring about his character, even though we only knew him for a short time. It helped me feel like I’m in Alice’s shoes, in a way.
In fact, there were numerous moments in this episode where the characters just felt so authentic. The dialogue was on point (kudos to the writers!) and the new mysteries were expertly woven into the story.
All in all, I will give this episode a resounding A. (A+ is reserved for episodes like the one where Colton crashed and said “My Katherine” — though this one was certainly close!) And while all the actors were great, my shoutout for this episode goes to Jill Frappier for her marvelous and inspired portrayal of Fern.
Colton & Evelyn Were Already Time Travelers
This episode not only gave us resounding evidence that Colton was already time traveling as a teen, but that Evelyn joined him.
When Alice first returns to the 1970s, she runs into teen Colton coming out of the pond. We already know from the season 2 finale that Colton is a time traveler as an adult. But here we get more evidence that he was already time-traveling when he was much younger. To me, it seems quite apparent that he was trying to go back in time to save Ric, in a last-ditch effort that he likely knew would be futile.
Is it possible that he caused Ric’s death, much like Alice and Kat will contribute to his own years in the future? It doesn’t match Vic’s story of what happened at all, but I still can’t help but wonder based on Colton asking Evelyn: “What if you did something really awful, would you still tell me?”
We also are given some pretty heavy hints that Evelyn knew about the pond’s magic too. Evelyn is quite concerned when Alice tells her that she saw Colton in the pond. And then there’s the scene where she’s singing Fern’s rhyme: “65 thought they died, 65 still alive” and Colton says, “You’re not gonna go in?” (Referring to the pond.) Evelyn replies: “Without you? Never.”
This strongly indicates that Evelyn was a time traveler too. But whether she could travel without Colton is not known. Perhaps she never tried to travel without him.
Bonus thought: The way he asks about “going in” right when she starts singing Fern’s rhyme has me wondering if they use the rhyme while time traveling. Does it help them access the pond’s magic in a different, more controlled, way? Or does Evelyn just sing it because Fern does, and she almost seems to emulate Fern in quite a few ways?
Del Defends Elliot But Is Still Abrasive To Kat
Del and Kat had patched things up, but now Del’s abrasive side is getting in the way again.
At the start of the episode, Del’s having a tough time wrapping her mind around the concept that Kat and Alice can time travel. Hearing Alice’s voice on Colton’s record really brought the reality home for her.
But this doesn’t make her more sympathetic to Kat. In fact, she continues to be abrasive and hurtful in this episode.
When Kat shared that she wanted to move in with Elliot, Del was so mean. She said things like: “thanks for ruining dinner” and accused Kat of “abandoning” Alice.
And when Del tries to convince Kat to quit time traveling into the past, she harshly says: “Just because you can time travel, doesn’t mean you’re entitled to stick your nose into every little thing.” And she gets so upset when Kat asks for more information about Evelyn. Obviously she’s hiding something.
My theory is that Del did something nefarious to keep Colton from going back to Evelyn. Maybe Colton was having trouble ultimately choosing between her and Evelyn, and Del did something to make sure they’d never get together. Or maybe she lied to Evelyn, and this is why Del owed Evelyn all those years later. Did Del hide a letter confessing one person’s love to the other (a la “The Notebook”)? Or am I letting my imagination get away from me?
I’m just glad we saw a good side to Del in this episode too when she called out Vic and defended Elliot. Otherwise, I would have been left with mostly negative feelings about her when the episode ended.
Fern Is Magical
Colton’s grandmother, Fern Landry, was perhaps one of the best parts of the episode! The actress does such a great job in this role. (And it’s interesting to me just how much Evelyn seems to resemble Fern in her mannerisms. They must have spent a lot of time together!)
In an interview with TV Insider, showrunner Alexandra Clarke said about Fern: “our dream was always that you go back and really do even write down what she says because it all has meaning in the end. It’s not just the crazy antics of an older woman.”
So let’s analyze what Fern was saying.
- Kitty Kat: She calls Kat “Kitty Kat,” like she already knows her. I’m betting that at some point in the future, Kat travels farther back in time and interacts with a younger Fern.
- Colton’s dad and brother: Fern reveals that Colton’s dad was gone for most of his life and his brother also disappeared. “She raised two boys,” Fern said about her daughter-in-law (Kat’s grandmother and Colton’s mom.) “She kept this farm going all on her own when we lost my son.” Her use of the word “lost” and not “died” is telling. Did Colton’s brother disappear in the pond? Did his dad?
- The pond’s curse: Del said about Fern: “Cole’s grandmother used to talk about the pond, that it was magical and also cursed… ” Fern knew all about the pond, including a darker side that Kat and Alice have witnessed for themselves.
- She’s glad someone is using the pond: “It’s nice to see someone using the pond again…” Despite knowing about the pond’s curse, Fern is still glad that someone is using it. Interesting!
- “The one”: Fern tells Kat: “I feared that he (Colton) was the one, if not his father or his brother then him. But I was wrong… If you want the right answers, you must ask the right questions.” Who is “the one” and what does he do? Some have guessed maybe Jacob — perhaps Fern knew that one of the Landrys was destined to go back in time and be raised by Elijah and Rebecca. (But I think the answer is going to be more complicated than that.)
- Her rhyme: We’ll be debating this for a long time. “55 first arrived, 55 never tried, 65 thought they died, 65 still alive.” Kat and Alice think it has to do with the newspaper clipping they saw about a town vote to fill in the Landry pond. Maybe so many people disappeared in the pond, they wanted to get rid of it? Maybe 65 disappeared total?
Evelyn’s Tragic Love Story
In this episode, teen Evelyn confesses to Alice that she’s in love with Colton. She and Colton have been close since they were children and Evelyn always loved him. But Colton just never seemed to feel the same way about her.
Alice feels so conflicted, caring about this young version of Evelyn while knowing that Evelyn and Colton can never be together.
(Hmmm, maybe this is what causes the friction between Evelyn and Del. Maybe Evelyn realized Alice was a future Landry and blamed Alice/Del for keeping her and Colton apart?)
When Evelyn was going to leave for Morocco, Colton gave her two books: Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Evelyn thinks the books are just another sign that he saw her as a childhood friend and nothing more. But we learn that Colton left her a secret message in the books that she never found.
His note read: “To Evie: No curse is on you if you stay. The water did save us. I believe in it now. There is magic at home. Come back to me and to the pond. Love Cole.”
When Alice revealed this to Del, she said, “Of course Cole loved Evelyn, they were best friends… I was married to the man for 25 years, if he knew about the pond he would’ve told me…”
Was Colton’s choice to date Del enough to drive such a strong wedge between him and Evelyn that they stopped speaking completely? Or was something else going on?
The Augustine Ring & Elliot’s Mom
Elliot’s mom’s wedding ring is a big focus of this episode. Vic started out trying to find it secretly. He told Elliot that he wanted to give the ring to the unnamed woman that he’s engaged to. When they fight about it, Elliot refers to how his mom “went away” (didn’t die.)
(I’m sorry, but every time someone “goes away” and doesn’t return, I’m going to think they traveled in the pond. 😅)
“She wore it for all of two minutes before she ran off… It meant nothing to her,” Vic replies, not giving us viewers much to go on clue-wise.
Later in the episode, Vic has a change of heart and decides Elliot should keep the ring after all. But at the end of the episode, Elliot finds that Vic is gone and the ring is too. Of course, he assumes that Vic took it. But could there be someone else at play? Maybe the person who took the file that Casey had marked for Kat?
It’s Hard to Have Compassion for Vic
This episode tried at one point to make me feel bad for Vic. But it didn’t work. Yes, it was heartbreaking how his parents treated him and how he lost his big brother. But he’s still responsible as an adult for how he treated his son.
As a child, he hated Colton and blamed him for Ric’s death, even though he also confessed to Elliot that he felt responsible for the car accident. Was he just deflecting onto Colton so he wouldn’t blame himself? Or was something else going on?
“The Landrys have always loved to use us Augustines. No way my ring is going on one of them,” he says.
Why does he hate the Landrys so much? This legacy of hate didn’t start with Susanna, so how did it start?
Other Points to Ponder
A few more points brought up in the episode:
- Elliot’s ex-wife, Emma, is brought up briefly when Vic says Elliot never gave her the family ring. I wonder if this means we’ll see her at some point this season?
- Del reveals that she’s dating Sam.
- I love Elliot’s growing friendship with Jacob.
- It was nice to see Jacob venture out to the farmer’s market, where he saw his childhood friend. His reaction later to trying to acclimate to the modern world (even getting drunk over it) was a realistic reaction too.
- Alice and Noah’s relationship is back. I wonder if Noah pulling away last season was maybe connected to a story idea the writers considered that they decided not to pursue. Maybe that’s why things with Alice and Noah are suddenly smoother this season.
Questions & Mysteries
Here are some new questions I’m pondering this season. Let me know in the comments if I missed any.
- Who is Colton’s brother and what happened to him?
- Why are Evelyn and Colton estranged?
- Can someone travel to the future?
- Who is “the one” that Evelyn referred to?
- Who was the couple who left the baby in a basket? And who was the baby?
- What happened to Colton’s dad?
- Why did Elliot’s mom leave and where is she now?
- Could Evelyn travel through the pond by herself?
- What does Fern’s rhyme mean?
- Did Kat travel back in time and meet a younger Fern?
- What’s the deal with the clock Elliot found? The time was 11:10.
- What’s so important about his mom’s ring?
- Who pushed Alice into the pond?
- Who sent Del the letters?
Stephanie Dwilson has been working in entertainment journalism for more than a decade. She's led teams of writers covering top TV show franchises like The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Rick and Morty, and more. She's a veteran Hallmark journalist and runs a 60,000-member Facebook group dedicated to the genre.
Stephanie is a licensed attorney and she has a master's in science in science and technology journalism. You can reach her at [email protected].
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