The Way Home season 3 episode 6, “Ain’t No Sunshine,” was another phenomenal episode. This show knocks it out of the park every week! This time, we got some questions answered about Cole and Evie, with new sets of questions remaining. And I loved the return to the 1800s!
Below is a detailed recap and review of season 3 episode 6, including a list of the mysteries we need answers for at the very end.
WARNING: SPOILERS FOR S3E5!
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Kat Saves Cole & Evie — She’s the White Witch in Every Timeline
The episode begins in 1965 when child Cole, Evelyn and Ric are running in the farmland of Port Haven. They were playing a game of “tag you’re the witch” and Evie is the witch. She goes to the pond and ends up falling in.
When Cole jumps in to try to save Evie, his foot snags on some plants in the pond, pulling him under. (But it looks like the plants aren’t just accidentally snagging him, but actively trying to pull him in. Perhaps to take him to the 1800s?)
When Kat leaves the 1800s, the pond pulls her to 1965 instead of the present day. She’s able to rescue both Evie and Cole.
Kat is the secret that Cole didn’t want Evie to talk about at the town meeting, and she’s the “white witch” who saved them both. Seems like Kat is the white witch in any timeline.
This part wasn’t shocking to me. I assumed it was Kat who saved Evie as a kid all along.
We also learned that it’s definitely our Cole in the flashback at the end of the season 2 finale. According to IMDb, Lincoln Reign McCaffrey has played Colton in season 2 and season 3.
Here’s Colton in press photos for season 3 episode 6.
And here are screenshots from the season 2 finale:
He’s wearing different clothes in the flashback scene from season 2, but both sets of clothes are very “old-timey.” I wonder if Grandma Fern insisted that he dress that way because she was worried he was going to be sent back in time to the 1800s and she wanted him to fit in?
I wonder if this scene from season 2 was kept fuzzy because the actress who played the grandmother was a stand-in until they hired the actress to play Fern in season 3. I’m thinking that this is Cole and Grandma Fern in the season 2 finale. Their conversation makes sense:
Colton as a boy says to his grandma: “But why grandma? I want to try.”
And she says: “You just have to be patient, Colton.”
In the season 2 premiere, she also told Colton that the pond would always take him where he needed to go.
Who Is ‘The One’?
There was a moment in this episode when I wondered if “the one” that Grandma Fern was referring to might by Kat. She’s the one who saved child Colton, who saved Jacob and brought him back to the present, who caused adult Colton’s wreck, who was the white witch… Could she be the infamous “one” that Fern feared would be Colton or his brother?
But I quickly bypassed this theory.
Tempting as the idea is, I think Jacob is “the one.”
I think Fern traveled back to the 1800s herself at some point and met him. (That’s why Elijah knew he should plant potatoes and rye to survive the year without summer.) She’s known for a long time that a Landry boy was going back in time. She just didn’t know which one.
Susannah Shines in Her 1800s Scenes, and Kat Secures a Win Again
I’m so glad we returned to the 1800s! One of my favorite characters is Susannah, and I always love a good Susannah-centric scene.
We learn that provisions are running out because of the “year without summer.” The Landry farm is doing OK because the potatoes and rye they planted aren’t affected by the cold.
“Sound advice we were given,” Elijah comments. (Maybe that advice came from Grandma Fern traveling back to the 1800s?)
Kat and Jacob learn that Cyrus is marrying Susannah. But it’s not as horrendous to Elijah as it might have been the last time they were there. Elijah says Cyrus is trying to do right by Port Haven during “these dark times.”
Susannah even visits and tells them to stay out of it, but Kat and Jacob believe that she needs rescuing. And who can blame them? After what Cyrus did last season, practically killing Jacob, it’s natural that they think she needs rescuing. And based on that folk song, they think Cyrus is going to betray her and hang Susannah for being a witch.
So they both sneak into the wedding reception… Jacob almost kills Cyrus before Elijah intervenes. And Kat runs into Thomas, who is just as determined as she is to save Susannah.
Kat makes a rash decision and claims she’s the witch in order to get suspicions off Susannah. And while Cyrus would do anything to protect Susannah, he definitely doesn’t feel that way about Kat. Kat’s brash words almost gets herself, Thomas and Jacob executed. But since she knew about the lunar eclipse that was about to happen, she was able to scare Cyrus and the rest of the town into setting them free, buying both Jacob and Thomas permanent freedom in Port Haven from now on.
So while Kat was foolhardy in this episode, in the end she secured safety for both Jacob and Thomas. While Susannah’s situation isn’t changed, these two will always be safe in the 1800s from now on.
Susannah reveals later that Cyrus has a soft spot for her. She was attacked by people in the town who believed she was a witch, and Cyrus is the only one who could keep her safe. So even after what Kat did, she’s going to stay with Cyrus.
And while it’s comforting to know that Cyrus cares for Susannah, I keep thinking about the “My Katherine” painting in the Lingermore attic and the story of the wife locked up there alone. Did things go wrong with Susannah and Cyrus at some point? Did he eventually turn on her and lock her up?
Kat & Thomas Are Sizzling
This episode brought Kat and Thomas’s love story back to the forefront. And their chemistry is still off the charts! I loved the witty banter between them, even down to their arguing about who gets to be the hero.
Thomas tells Kat that from his perspective, she’s been gone for two years. (This makes it feel like he’s not a time traveler. But the way he shows up at important events, just like Kat and Jacob do, makes me think he is from the future.)
The writers do a great job with Kat and Thomas’ dialogue. Like just as Kat was saying, “It’s called empathy Thomas, look it up,” Thomas showed her that he had Jacob freed too. And thus, he was being empathetic. The timing in every Kat and Thomas scene is truly on point.
But at the end, these two don’t progress in their relationship at all. Just when Thomas is about to say something meaningful to Kat, she cuts him off and says they should just say their goodbyes. And it’s over.
Nick Is Moving Back to Port Haven
Nick is moving back to Port Haven and bringing Claire with him. We will finally get to meet her! Elliot seems conflicted by this news, maybe because he feels like having adult Nick and Alice in the same circles is going to be awkward. But Nick is being an adult about everything (as he should) because he doesn’t harbor any feelings for Alice. She’s from his past and Claire is rightfully his future. I think bringing Nick back to town will be a way to pull Nick into the time travel mysteries again. He’s one of the only people outside of the family who knows the truth. His perspective will be a great one to have.
Elliot & Emma Rekindle a Flame
Emma comes back, needing a little more closure from Elliot. She wants to know why he never gave her his mom’s wedding ring. Why didn’t “they” work? Did he just know they were doomed from the start?
Sadly, deep down, that’s exactly what happened. Elliot was always still in love with Kat and could never give his whole heart to Emma.
“I probably didn’t give us enough of a chance,” Elliot admits. “In another world, another time, we might have worked because I did love you.”
Emma then apologizes for “dredging up the past.” She says: What’s done is done, right?”
It’s an interesting choice of words — one that Elliot himself often used with Kat. He used to insist that Kat should not travel back to dredge up the past. He insisted she shouldn’t try to change the past because what’s done is done.
I wonder if Emma’s words struck a deep cord with Elliot and that’s why he let her kiss him.
After rewatching the scene where they kissed, I disagree with everyone who insists that Elliot wasn’t too blame and Emma just caught him by surprise. She was telegraphing her intentions long before she leaned in. First she moved very close to him, face to face, and put her hand on his cheek, looking deeply into his eyes. And when she kissed him, he didn’t immediately pull away. He leaned into the kiss. In fact, I’m not even certain it was Elliot who stopped the kiss. It was more of a mutual thing, with Emma pulling back just as much.
So no, Elliot wasn’t an innocent bystander here. He allowed the kiss every bit as much as Emma did. I’m not saying that makes him a bad person. He and Emma were married, and he just heard Kat talking about how staying with him is temporary. He and Kat have a lot of communication issues they need to work through. Right now, I just don’t see them working out.
In a Surprise Moment, Sam Is Seen with Casey
We briefly see Sam and Casey walking together in town, and it throws Del and Alice for a loop. It surprised me too! This was one scene I hadn’t predicted.
Del’s not sure why they’re hanging out. And since Alice thinks Casey’s a time traveler, it’s making her suspicious about Sam.
It’s obvious that this means something deeper is going on with Sam. Could he be Colton’s missing brother? Or could Sam be a Goodwin himself? Or is Sam to Casey like Elliot is to Alice: a time travel helper of sorts? I do recall that Sam had a strange look on his face when the Del talked about the 1800s coins last season. Something’s definitely going on.
Susannah Has a Portrait of Jacob … And Colton?
“My Katherine” isn’t the only mysterious painting Susannah was working on. She also has a drawing of two men: one that looks just like Jacob and one that looks like a younger Colton. But Colton told Alice he couldn’t travel in time, and I don’t think he was lying in that conversation.
Colton must begin to time travel later, perhaps between the time that Del leaves at the end of the summer and before she comes back. He obviously spends time with Jacob in the 1800s before he gets too much older. But if that’s the case, wouldn’t adult Colton have known immediately that his son disappeared in the pond? Why would have looked anywhere else for him?
I saw an interesting theory that Colton’s older brother was actually his twin, and that the person we see time traveling wasn’t adult Colton, but adult twin Colton. While it’s an intriguing idea, I don’t think the show is going down this route. It’s a little too “soap opera-y”.
Instead, I think Colton was never trying to find Jacob in the present after he disappeared. I think he was secretly disappearing into the pond to search for his son in other timelines.
In a Strange Scene, Jacob Stays in the 1800s
Perhaps the worst part of the episode is when Jacob decides not to go back to the present day. Kat decides to confess about Colton right before they’re jumping into the pond. Jacob’s response is odd. He doesn’t ask for more details. Instead, he just decides that he can’t be around Kat anymore (“I can’t even look at you”) and needs to stay behind. It’s an … extreme reaction to say the least. I’d expect a confused reaction and a desire to learn more details before moving into the anger phase. (Although the anger phase would certainly come.)
When she grabs his arm, he shakes it off and she falls back into the pond, shocked. It reminded me a bit of when Alice was pushed into the pond. But I don’t think a time-traveling Jacob did that…did he?
Other Notes
- We learned that Del is the one who made the drawings on Colton’s guitar. She made the fish, and I’m assuming she made the other ones too.
- The scene with Del and Colton dancing on the back of the truck was so sweet and helped cement how quickly these two teens fell in love.
- Alice is scared that she and Max may be Casey’s future parents, and this upsets her because she likes Noah, not Max. (Will she never give her heart fully to Noah because of her suspicions about Max?)
- Del and Alice are back on solid ground. I don’t agree with Del’s decision to keep her memories of Colton sacred, to the point that she won’t talk with Alice about her 1970s adventures. It’s just another way of keeping Alice away from whatever secret Del is hiding. But I am glad to see these two bonding again.
All the Mysteries & Questions We’re Still Pondering
Here are some 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 were Evelyn and Colton estranged later in life?
- How did Colton “break” the rules?
- When did Colton start time traveling?
- Is that Colton with Jacob in Susannah’s drawing?
- What secret did Del and Colton hide, and why would it be a “fear” their children would have to carry?
- Can someone travel to the future?
- Who is “the one” that Fern 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 about 1965 mean?
- Did Kat travel back in time and meet a younger Fern?
- What’s the deal with the clock Elliot found when he tore down the wall in his home? The time was 11:10.
- What’s so important about Elliot’s mom’s ring? Who stole it?
- Who pushed Alice into the pond and why were they wearing Colton’s jacket?
- Who sent Del the letters?
- Who is Casey really? Were they running in the field like Alice thinks?
- Why was Casey seen with Sam?
- Who is Sam really?
- What happened to Finn the dog?
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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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