The Way Home Season 4 Premiere Dives in Headfirst with Stories We’ve Been Waiting For

Critic’s Rating: 4.25 / 5.0

4.25

Here we are, Ponderers, for one (seemingly final) leap.

There’s much to discuss about The Way Home Season 4 Episode 1, which set the stage for another grand adventure, this time in 1925, which has much to reveal.

But let’s start at the end and work our way back. Are you ready? Let’s leap!!

So, it seems the series finale will be a wedding, most certainly Kat and Elliot’s, since Kat is all dolled up in red lipstick by the pond, the pathway of which is lit by hanging lanterns.

And who is “he”? Most certainly Jacob, who will show up just before the credits roll, bringing this story to its conclusion.

I’m far too certain of those events to feel good about it, but when you’re left holding an intricate storyline that weaves through centuries in your hands without much time to wrap it up.

But where are we now? We’re exploring Elliot’s past, its connection with Fern Landry, and Alice’s future. And all of those things open up all kinds of avenues.

I have to be honest, I’m not sure I’d want answers about my mom if I were in Elliot’s shoes. His dad was out on the water fishing, and she still jumped, leaving him beside a pond. With wildlife. Alone.

Alice’s comment to Elliot that the clock in the wall was a message to him that she wanted him to find her is hardly consolation. She was incredibly irresponsible, and she put his life in danger. Is that the kind of woman you want to track through time for answers?

OK, of course we’d all want answers. But that still doesn’t make it worth the effort or the risk.

Even worse was the look on Elliot’s face when he realized that Colton and Del weren’t surprised to see him. So they knew his mother was either neglectful or susceptible to fantastical whims? And they didn’t think it was a problem for her to leave Elliot alone with her?

It’s not a very pretty history for Elliot, that’s for sure.

So was it any surprise that his immediate thought was to toss her back into the weeds where it seems she belongs?

And can we really expect that, even as good as things are going with Kat and Elliot right now, that he won’t have at least some feeling about the Landry who took Tess’s hand into the pond and far, far away from him?

It doesn’t stop his romantic side from preparing for the perfect engagement. He still hasn’t learned his lesson that time is short, and there is no perfect time. Any time you’re together is perfect.

Time isn’t guaranteed.

But his quest for perfection made for a cute moment between Kat and Alice as they both held a secret from the other — Alice about the impending engagement and Kat about Alice’s “baby,” the car she had her on her mind that subsequently sold.

And this was Alice’s episode. The young girl she was, rebelling, angry about her parents’ divorce, is gone, having grown into her lovely skin.

If you missed the interview with Sadie LaFlamme-Snow and Evan Williams, you should check it out because Sadie is so insightful about her portrayal and Alice’s journey.

Even her hesitance about fate and Noah and Max seems to have cleared. She’s chosen Noah, and Max is still a trusted friend. Of course, that’s not how Elliot sees it.

He sees himself in Max. So, of course Kat can’t see it. She was blind to Elliot’s love for a long time, so she may miss signs in Max, too. That story? Still up for debate.

After all, we still don’t have answers about Casey, so it’s possible Alice will have more questions in the future, but for her high school graduation, all is right with her world.

She even got the car, a “perfect mix of her two favorite worlds.”

When the episode ends, Max proves just how much he is Elliot 2.0, when they discuss how much he’s pushed Alice toward what she loves all summer. And how she reacted? That’s her unconsciously pushing back against “fate,” not necessarily Max himself.

She even calls him her best friend, which is amazing since they haven’t known each other long. Merely being Evelyn’s grandson could be the instigator for that, but Casey is still the outlier.

Alice is going to marry Max, just like her mom plans on marrying Elliot. Mark my words!!!

One of my favorite things about The Way Home is not just the bond between mothers and their children, but how it shows that you can continue to have loving relationships with your exes, too.

Brady is still as much a part of the Landry family as he ever was, and his and Kat’s divorce was acrimonious for a while.

In real life, people often forget to open their hearts to what made them fall in love in the first place, which can be really difficult for the families after a breakup.

I sincerely hope that The Way Home has given families a nudge in that direction. Loving and losing isn’t a death sentence for a relationship. They can evolve like any other.

And then there’s Jacob.

While I understand why Jacob left town to see if he could make it on his own in the brave new world (hey, I was a big fan of Mary Tyler Moore…), it doesn’t make his leaving any more palatable.

Spencer Macpherson is doing double duty on School Spirits (dang… we should have had his name on that list), so it’s possible he had to beg out due to scheduling.

But storywise, it’s just more pain for a family who waited decades for him to return and went through time to retrieve him.

And those letters that Del is getting? She’s holding back the truth. She’s letting him go, possibly in part because she knows that they aren’t a result of his return and her lies about it.

It doesn’t make her pain any more bearable, but the woman has to let it all out at some point.

Honestly, I was hoping that The Way Home Season 5 would bring her story full circle. I do not for a moment believe that she’s as devoid of answers as she sometimes pretends, and the look on her face when Elliot said he didn’t want answers about her mom only told part of that story.

I just don’t believe that the story would take Jacob away before Alice’s graduation, even if he is thinking of her by sending her copies of the Alice in Wonderland books. He lost too much to miss out on new memories.

The bittersweet part of Alice’s graduation came courtesy of Del, who dug up a time capsule she and Colton buried for Kat’s graduation, which surely didn’t turn out as planned.

The letter was beautiful, and it shone a spotlight on how hard Del took Colton’s death, so much so that she lost her daughter in the aftermath.

It’s an absolute miracle they found their way back to each other thanks to the pond’s mysteries.

In other news, Lewis and Kat are still at odds, and she’s enjoying holding Susanna’s will over his head. Even that relationship is changing. It could be very messy, but they’re holding it together for Alice and Max, or so they say.

I think Kat likes knowing there are options. Time travel has given her so much that taking it away from someone else isn’t on her agenda anymore.

Gossipy Rita is stoking the fire for The Way Home Season 4 with her excitement about the Lingermore Tunnels and the bootlegger who died there in coordination with the 100th anniversary of the explosion.

I’m not going to lie. The optimistic pessimist in me (or is it pessimistic optimist?) wishes that the bootlegger was Thomas, who somehow traveled to 1925 and carried on his “profession” there, so that Kat’s potential wedding was with him, and Elliot was the “he” missing in the pond.

Don’t shoot me! A Pavlica never gives up. I can live in a fantasy as much as anybody else. And that doesn’t mean I hate Elliot or something. I just saw something much different with Thomas, and I’ll never forget that love story.

But that anniversary will bring about the real story of 1925, not some fantasy I want to explore.

Fern Landry has been an enigmatic presence throughout the series, and we’re about to find out why she’s so “kooky.” My guess is it’s tied to the explosion. And I also bet she knew Elliot’s mom.

I do have one bone to pick with the premiere. Alice finding Tessa’s suitcase under less than one inch of dirt? After decades? Please, no. The odds that field has been tended without uncovering that is absolute zero.

Yet we needed that connection to move the story along, so I’ll give it a pass, even if I think Alice would have buried her own time capsule much deeper.

Elliot didn’t know as much about his mom as he thought he did. And that spark for answers he thought he lost? He found it as soon as he realized Tess carried his blanket with him through time.

But who is Sam, and why did he have a wry “oh, look at those kids” smile on his face when he watched Kat, Elliot, and Alice jump into the pond together?

I think everyone is right. Sam is Colton’s brother, the now-named Griffin. And while that won’t bring Colton back, it could be a way for Del to move on without him.

Fern said that whether he likes it or not, Griffin is a part of him, and Colton’s comment that by the time they open the time capsule, their rift will be mended says a lot. Things may not turn out like we plan, but that doesn’t mean our prayers aren’t answered, as they say.

Imagine the moment Del gives that watch back to Sam.

Casey being Alice and Max’s daughter would also explain why Sam knows things. She was sent back to reconnect him with his family. He’s hiding secrets just like Kat and Alice hide in their respective travels.

But if Tess jumped with Griffin, why couldn’t she return with him? Did she die? Is she the fifth body in the explosion? Why would that spark a cutsie rhyme from kooky Fern?

These are all questions that need to be answered before the season — and series — ends.

Of course, Chyler Leigh made sure to note that the first three seasons of the series is now available on Netflix, so get your friends and family to watch. I know we aren’t the only ones holding out hope that someone takes the leap to save this show.

And now? It’s your turn!

How do you feel after The Way Home Season 4 premiere?

Are the storylines that are heating up going to satisfy your curiosity even if you don’t get all the answers you wanted before it’s all said and done?

Do you think they can deliver those answers? What new theories do you have after watching?

Vote in our poll below and fire up the comments section with all of your thoughts. Let’s make this (potentially) final journey worth every moment!