Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0
4
OK, “Ain’t No Sunshine” didn’t quite live up to my expectations after watching The Way Home Season 3 Episode 5, but my expectations were through the roof, so that doesn’t mean much.
Specifically, this TomKat shipper was a little underwhelmed by their interactions, even though some of the scenes made me get all girly, if you know what I mean.
If The Way Home Season 3 Episode 6 has any theme, it’s that fighting fate may be futile, and what’s meant to be will be. It ended with some craziness, and we’ll try to make sense of all of it right here.
Where to begin?
Not at the beginning, as the scene with Evie and Cole playing laser tag in the woods fits nicely with Kat’s trip to 1816.
Del and Alice had a lovely breakthrough in their relationship. The two finally understand why sharing what Alice sees in the past isn’t good for Del.
Del’s first attempt at an apology didn’t sway Alice. Still, when she tried again, Alice understood that sharing elements from Del’s past with her that she hadn’t experienced herself sullied her memories of significant moments in her life.
Thankfully, Del was able to compare a scene in the present with Sam with a memory that she retained in all of its glory as she and Colton grew closer over her impending departure.
It’s sad to think of Del’s cotillion when the love of her life will not be there with her, but she can also remember that her first dance was with Colton, whether he was with her or not.
It’s funny that Alice initially had a hard time understanding why Del was so upset, especially since she is trying to fight fate herself.
She’s trying to make memories with Noah while believing that they may not have a chance because of her expectation that Casey could be her child with Max.
Del’s take was that she’d fall in love with the right person, and that’s why she’d marry. She went out of her way not to say that it would or wouldn’t be with Max. From what Elliot said, Max is a great guy, and if Alice wasn’t creating something new with Noah, she may see that.
Is Alice really going to marry the male version of herself? That’s how I see Noah. And his gold hoop earring does him no favors, if you don’t mind my silly opinion.
Just like Elliot and Emma appear to have a lot in common without fate forcing them together, Alice and Max might have great compatibility.
It’s not the first time Noah has commented on how similar Alice and Max are, and I’m beginning to believe he’s in her life to bring her into Max’s orbit. Everyone we meet has a purpose, after all.
And we can say the same for Casey Goodwin and Sam whatever his last name is. They came into the Landry family’s orbit in different ways, so seeing them walking together IN FRONT OF DEL’S WINDOW was a little bizarre.
If you had told me that the two were connected in come way before I actually saw that, I would have thought you were nuts. But now?
Maybe they are connected. Could Sam be a Goodwin and not Colton’s brother? Or do they know something from traveling, like they are really family.
If Casey is Landry and a Goodwin, Colton’s long lost brother may have run into them while traveling. After all, it seems pretty damn apparent that, before this story is all over, we will have confirmation that you can travel into the future.
But let’s move on to Elliot and Emma now because while Kat was away, there was sunshine in his life. The first ray came by way of his old friend, Nick (thanks to social media, I knew he was returning because the actor shared as much with someone on his Cameo account).
While it wasn’t necessary for him to come all the way into town to check on his friend, since Elliot ghosted him and Nick had his own news to share, it worked out great.
Nick and Claire are moving back to Port Haven. That will give Elliot something else to do other than be involved with the Landrys all the time, and that’s excellent.
He’s too entangled with them, making him seem like another of Del’s children instead of a romantic partner for Kat.
Whether he and Kat continue with their romance or not, having his own life outside of the family will be good for everyone.
Nick also knew how good Elliot and Emma were together.
Emma herself wasn’t so sure anymore, and I can’t blame her for wanting to understand what happened between them. When all the signs point to you and someone else fitting perfectly together, when it doesn’t work out, you need to know why.
I felt for her asking those questions, especially when she said she was over their breakup and marriage because I don’t believe her. I am not so sure Elliot would be over it if he hadn’t been carrying a torch for Kat the entire time he was married to Emma.
Evan Williams has been revealing so much with Elliot’s reactions, and I love it. He was visibly flustered at Alice’s questions about fighting fate, and with Emma during the kiss his face betrayed a lot, but not as much as he watched her pull away from the house.
Elliot is questioning everything, and I think it’s because the reality of him and Kat hasn’t lived up to the fairytale. It rarely does, and it can be like a wet blanket for your desire.
I’m interested to see if he fights for Kat or decides to take some time to really think about how his life happened so far. Using the word temporary like Kat did doesn’t make it seem like they’re in it for the long haul like Emma surmised.
Of course, Kat is similarly torn.
She rushes back to the past like her ass is on fire. She found a friend in Susanna that she’s never had in the present, and she’s fighting tooth and nail against the desire she feels for Thomas.
We don’t know much about Kat, but we do know that she’s never as alive as she is in the 1800s.
She’s inspired to fight for what she has there more than in the present. The thought that Susanna and she would have a falling out is unsettling — more so than when she has a falling out with Del.
Kat puts her life on the line to settle things with Susanna, even if she goes to the wedding under the guise of “saving” Susanna from Cyrus. Susanna already told Kat that Cyrus has been kind to her. Susanna has never lied to her, so she should have taken that at face value.
Even monsters sometimes have a different side to themselves, and we learned on The Way Home Season 3 Episode 6 that, at least for now, Cyrus truly cares for Susanna and wants to protect her.
That protection comes through marriage, which isn’t unheard of at the time, even if it seems awful now.
And OF COURSE Thomas showed his face to save Susanna, as well.
They’re a ridiculously tight-knit group for two of them being from over a century in the future. And right on cue, Kat got ornery with Thomas — it’s her go-to emotion to tamp down what she feels.
She knows that it’s untenable to carry on a long-distance relationship through the centuries, so she pushes him away with her annoyance, almost daring him to still feel for her through it. But Thomas knows what she’s doing and isn’t going anywhere, no matter how hard she pushes.
When Thomas took her hand during the dance, and they emerged, it gave me goosebumps, even upon watching a second time when I knew it was coming.
We’ve never had scenes like that with Elliot. They just are, while TomKat gets all of the emotional, romantic tropes.
As the episode continued, they went on a trope-filled adventure that had them jailed, escaping, and kidnapped. Kat claimed she was a witch and saved them all from hanging by relying on a song.
It was straight out of a romance novel, and I loved every second of it.
When Kat first called herself a witch at the wedding reception, it was to save Susanna. But Thomas played into it by declaring his love for her after she “brought him back to life.” Hey, they had to keep Cyrus in the dark about the reality of their situations, and it all worked beautifully.
“Wherever she goes, I go, even if it is into hell,” he declared. It reminded me a lot of a quote from 1923, when Spencer was lamenting how he got them into a big mess by taking her for himself, and she set him straight.
Thomas isn’t kidding around. If it could come to a fight between him and Elliot for Kat’s heart, Thomas would go all in. Kat’s reluctance to accept what’s between them is the only thing holding him back.
I almost cried when she stopped him from talking for a mere “Until the next time,” especially because a next time is never guaranteed.
That’s particularly true now that Jacob knows the truth about Colton’s death. Wow. I didn’t expect him to take it like that, especially since he has Elijah and knows that without Kat’s interference, he may not.
Jacob has been filled with guilt for leaving Elijah, and who can blame him since it seems William and Little Jacob are never in town, leaving Elijah all alone.
Jacob was determined to kill Cyrus, and Elijah stopped him. They are more father and son than Jacob and Colton ever were because Elijah raised Jacob during his formative years, the ones that made Jacob into the man he is today.
I think he was ready to tell Kat he wouldn’t be returning to the present with Kat when she spilled the beans about her role in Colton’s death. His angry reaction saved Cole from a fate similar to Jacob’s.
Kat emerged from the pond in the ’60s, right after Evelyn had fallen into the pond after looking at the “faeries,” and when Colton jumped in after Evie, he was going to be taken elsewhere by the pond, but for Kat’s interference.
I don’t think she necessarily saved his life, as she told Del while she sobbed into her arms, but she did save him from a far different fate than he would have had. By saving Colton, she allowed him to grow up and fall in love with Del.
The years are so intertwined with the family’s ability to time travel through that pond that nothing can be overlooked as insignificant, and no action can be given more weight than another. Therefore, Kat’s interference with eight-year-old Cole was just as important to her role in his death.
And somehow, I think it will all play into the eventual happy ending when The Way Home tale comes to an end. I don’t for one second believe that Del and Colton will not get their happy ending, do you?
And the more we see of Thomas and Kat, the more it seems that they will be together.
Because if Susanna’s drawing of Jacob and (who was that?) in izod shirts didn’t scream “WE CAN TRAVEL TO THE FUTURE,” then I don’t know what could.
Susanna painted My Katherine, but it’s not the only artwork she’s creating.
Her comment about marrying Cyrus, “We can’t always marry the person we want to, Katherine, but we can marry the person who can get us what we want,” must have a deeper meaning than we can imagine at this point, and I think it’s directly connected to what she knows of the future.
So, we had a lot laid to rest, but most of that had only just been uncovered. We just learned about the song on The Way Home Season 3 Episode 4, and now its origins have been confirmed and utilized.
We heard about the dark summer, and now we’ve lived through it.
But there are more questions than answers at this point. Here are some that come to mind, and I hope you’ll add more in the comments below.
- Who is the baby in the basket, who left it there, and when?
- Who is Casey? (Alice’s child??
- Who is Sam? (Colton’s brother?
- Who was kept in Lingermore’s attic room? (Susanna?)
- Why can Evie see “fairies” in the pond? (Because Goodwins can travel, too?)
- Who is Fern? (It’s looking a lot like Susanna from here…)
- What is the story behind the wine-soaked messages in the Wonderland books?
- When did Colton travel, and for how long?
- Did Del know about the pond or not?
- Who is sending threatening letters to Del?
- Will we ever get Evelyn’s full story?
- Who pushed Alice into the pond?
- Was Colton’s sweater really dropped by Colton, or was it someone else?
This episode covered a lot, and I’m sure I forgot some of it. Did it live up to your expectations, or was it a little underwhelming, given the high (TomKat) expectations?
What do you think about Elliot and Emma after that discussion?
Are you happy Nick’s returning and that Elliot will have more of a life?
How will Del react to Kat’s confession? Holding her like she did leads me to believe she’s done casting blame.
Please discuss your theories about Susanna’s drawing! Now that we’ve seen Kat wear the dress to Susanna’s wedding, does that mean Susanna either traveled to the future before or can somehow see it otherwise?
Does that mean Jacob could travel to the future to save Colton? TomKat aside, the possibilities of traveling to the future are endless (and frankly, could take us far beyond any five-season arc the creators have planned). I want to see all of these characters explored for a long time to come.
So much to discuss about The Way Home Season 3, and I can’t wait to do it with all of you! See you down there…👇👇👇
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