Critic’s Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
4.5
If you are one of the fans who dislikes a faster pace, then The Way Home Season 3 Episode 3 might not have been for you.
But if you’re like thousands of others whose spirits soar at the idea of time travel and where this immersive human puzzle might be taking you, then you were in your element!
Things are getting really exciting for the Landry, Goodwin, and Augustine family histories.
There is a lot going on this hour, so much so that Nick Augustine’s death wasn’t as profoundly sad as expected.
Instead, we saw the beginning of life-changing events in 1974 and surprising revelations in 2025 (Or is it 2024? No matter…) that promise to upend everything we know about the pond so far.
Colton’s Not Ready to Share His Secret About the Pond
As I expected, if Colton had already used the pond in 1974, he wasn’t ready to share that with Alice. And while they haven’t come out directly and said, “Hey, we time travel through a pond,” Colton and Evelyn have come close enough.
They are definitely traveling. Even more interesting, it’s possible Evelyn can do it on her own, which either means there is a Landy ancestor in her bloodline or the Goodwins have a little secret of their own.
If time has been true to Colton’s story so far, he probably won’t share his adventures with Alice. They aren’t exactly close, and it’s a massive secret. But I also have to wonder if he recognized Alice in 1993.
He was so warm and inviting to a girl his daughter hardly knew.
The odds are pretty good that he already knew then that Alice was his granddaughter. Those of you on your tenth watch of The Way Home Season 1 need to share what you think in the comments below.
Colton had to know that Alice wouldn’t have exited if he lived.
A large part of why Kat left with Brady was because of the turmoil with Del after Jacob went missing and Colton died. Knowing her when Jacob went missing could have been a blessing and a curse.
We never saw him looking for Jacob in the pond, but his first move after Nick’s funeral was to visit the pond, likely with the hope he could bring him back.
The biggest revelation of the night was that it now seems that a significant part of Cole and Evie’s relationship involves the pond.
Evelyn Admits She Loves Colton
The summer Del fell in love, Evelyn was letting go of her dreams of a future with Colton.
Alice could hardly keep that conversation going since she was a product of Del and Colton’s love. I wonder what would have happened if Evelyn had lived long enough to meet Alice.
When Evelyn and Alice were talking, Alice mentioned the pond, and there was the moment everyone had been waiting for — a hint of knowing in Evelyn’s demeanor.
Before the truth was revealed to us, Alice remembered the books were a set, and she and Kat discovered a more significant message in the pair:
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 the pond. Love Cole
What on earth does that mean? Was Colton in love with Evie when he met Del, only for his heart to be stolen away? Or did he write those messages in the books at a later time, perhaps after Evelyn left through the pond? Did he hope to send her a message through time with the paired books?
Why, oh, why did Evelyn have to die before we got to this point? I would have loved for her to be a part of this story in the present. Instead, we have to settle for glimpses into who she was through talk and time travel.
But there is something else to consider. Evidence indicates the Goodwins are travelers, too. If so, what does that mean for the Goodwins we’ve met so far?
How will the past connect to the present and bring their full story to light?
Casey is a Goodwin, and we’ve been pretty hung up on tying the time traveling and the ring to Alice. But what if there is another reason it all ties together that has nothing to do with Alice?
Fern Landry Is in the House!
Kat was in 1974 when she ran into her great-grandmother, Fern Landry. And what a coincidence that Del began talking with Alice about her at the same time.
Fern is Colton’s grandmother, so two generations before Colton. If she were in her 80s or so in 1974, then she would have been born around 1894, which is another 80 years gone from the year Kat found Jacob in 1814.
Are we getting hints of other times when Kat and Alice might travel in the future? Del recalls Fern talking about the pond as magical and a curse, just like the messages in the books.
Even better, Fern not only knows about the pond, but she might have been familiar with Kat before they bumped into each other in the woods. She’s not calling Kat Kitty Kat for nothing.
She’s absolutely delightful and likely has a basket of secrets to tell. The first one was revealed to Kat when she “feared Colton was ‘the one.’”
I feared that he was the one. If not his father or his brother, then him. But I was wrong.
— Fern Landry
She was also singing a ditty when she bumped into Kat in the woods that Evelyn was later singing with Colton. “Sixty-five, thought they died. Sixty-five, still alive.”
In 1965, Port Haven wanted to fill in the pond. Why?
Is the sing-song about Colton’s brother? Did they think he died in 1965, but Fern (and maybe Colton and Evelyn) know he’s still alive?
And, like so many fans are theorizing, is Sam Colton’s long-lost brother?
Why was Evelyn singing the song when she looked at the pond? Did they just hear Grandma Fern sing it a lot, or were they in on a secret about 1965?
If we had any doubt about the whole Landry family using the pond, Colton and Evelyn all but admitted it when they said they don’t do it without each other. Yet, Colton at least tried, so he may be been on adventures without her.
Seriously, it makes my head swim, but it does it in the best way possible.
The Best and Worst Summer of Colton’s Life
Del recalls 1974 as Colton viewed it — the best and worst summer of his life. The summer has just begun, so we have no idea how bad things get, but Nick’s death was a good start to that sadness.
Meeting Del was the beginning of his best life so that summer really threw him for a loop.
We finally saw a flash of Del’s true heart when she delivered a casserole to the Augustine family after Rick’s death. And if she was less than pleasant with Kat, she sure stuck up for Elliot when he needed defending.
She’s adamant that she didn’t know about time travel, so we have to assume she’s new to this time travel thing, and it’s got to be mind-blowing that her granddaughter is witnessing her past in her own present. It’s a lot to soak in, especially since it’s been so long since she’s seen Colton.
Wouldn’t it be hard for you if you were in her place not to want to reach out to him in some way? I suppose it’s good enough (for now) that Alice is there for the man she loves during one of his worst moments.
That doesn’t mean that she has shared everything she knows about that summer. The way she’s begging Kat to choose the present over the past suggests she’s hiding something (other than her affair with Sam).
Elliot’s Family History
Grief-filled Vic blamed Colton for Rick’s death in 1974. If he hadn’t had a chip on his shoulder about the Landrys before then, it would have been an excellent way to get it.
(As an aside… why two Ricks in subsequent seasons? Is there a tie-in between them?)
In the present, Vic claimed he returned for the ring to give to his new wife. He’d been looking around for it, even calling Elliot’s ex-wife in his search. He laughed in Elliot’s face when he realized he’d been saving the ring to give to Kat.
Of course, Vic doesn’t want the Augustine family ring going to any Landry, which is rich since she’s the only one in the equation who knew a genuine early Augustine.
But I’ve also seen many people question what happened to Elliot’s mother, and now we know she ran off shortly after they were married.
The way they’re talking, I get the feeling Elliot’s mother isn’t dead and will be returning. “The only living family you’ve got left” is usually a phrase hinting that someone couldn’t be more wrong.
There was even a moment when it seemed like Vic really was just a sad man who’d lived a sad life — until he made off with the ring sans the ring box. Nobody gives their girl an engagement ring without the box.
The man is up to something, but who knows what?
Elsewhere…
Jacob finally left the confines of the farm. If he needed that change of pace, Danny needed to see his friend far more.
Will this finally give Danny what he needs to move on? He’s stagnant, his life having stopped the day Jacob disappeared.
Alice and Noah had a moment together again, but I can’t be the only one who doesn’t give a hoot about her life in 2025. It might be a nice teen tale to tell, but we just don’t have time for it on The Way Home.
Did this do anything to advance the mystery of the baby in the basket? I don’t think so just yet. The girl jumping into the pond was from the ’90s, if my personal history is any indication, and I think the story will only be revealed at the end of The Way Home Season 3.
Now it’s your turn! Is your mind still reeling? Are any of my ideas totally off the beaten path? What did you think of Fern? Will we see Colton and Evelyn traveling?
Share your thoughts below. I’m excited to see what you think!
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