One genre loved and popularized by the public is none other than time-traveling. The concept of going back in time is everything to do with how the psychology of the human mind works. It is inevitable to think of going back in the past to fix the things that have gone wrong or maybe to taste that specific cookie from a shop that has shut down.
Such shows and movies showcase the unrealistic version of living and what consequences it may presumably have if we ever could go back and forth in time. Regardless, the genre itself comes with some great plotlines and has given us countless five-star rated watches, including The Time Traveller’s Wife, Dark, 18 Again, and many more.
The Way Home series is another new addition to this genre, with an original plot made for Canadian and US TV networks. Here, I will discuss with some recap of what Episode 8 gave us and whether it was good enough for the show to have a finale with two remaining episodes for Season 1. Spoilers ahead!
About The Way Home Series
The Way Home Series is a Hallmark Originals show based on a fictional plot that involves three women of different generations and the life-changing decisions that have made them fall apart from each other.
The show talks about Alice, Katherine, and Delilah and how their lives are intertwined together, with one incident giving all of them a chance to change their past and reconcile. Alice accidentally becomes best friends with Kat, the adolescent version of her mother, when she accidentally falls into the pond on the family’s property and awakens to find herself back in the 1990s.
Before the events that tore the family apart and forced Kat to flee and be married, giving birth to her, she learned what life was like for her mother and her family. She then begins to consider whether she would be able to stop the catastrophe and spare her Mother, Katherine, and Grandmother, Delilah, twenty years of suffering.
The only person Alice can confide in with her time-traveling secret is her future college professor Eliot who seems to have a love interest in the younger Katherine but to no avail. So, the journey unfolds whether Alice will be able to change the tragic past of her family for a future that may change the course of her and everyone’s lives.
The Way Home Episode 8 Brief Recap
The episode starts with Kat being taken back to the 2000s, where she sees her parents fight, which leaves an imprint on her as she craves that family reunion and bond again for her future self. She confides in Eliot about it what she learned about her parents and their struggles which makes her think more about the fact that she needs them to be happy.
On the other hand, Alice seems to be a little disappointed in how Nick does not recognize her when she and Kat visit Del and Bryon for some poker and drinks, which leaves her to go back in time to meet the younger Kat.
Here, we see Kat expressing her worries about Alice as she hasn’t been in touch for a long time which makes room for both of them to talk about Nick. In Alice’s head, the best she can do is reject Nick as she cannot bear the pain of losing someone if they ever come together, and again, the love she has for him is due to the entire time-traveling of her to the past.
Later, it is revealed that Nick is engaged, which leaves Alice heartbroken. In one of the scenes, we see Colton crying over, trying to figure out where Jacob’s body went missing, as Morgon denies helping him in any further investigation.
Coming back to Delilah and Bryon, they share a warm moment where Del is chopping wood, and he goes to help her but ends up with a splinter. She helps him get rid of it, and the brief tension of their kissing ends when she rejects his approach.
Later we see Del walking over to Colton on the boat, which gives Kat, who seems to be spying, hope that her family will come together. Inevitably, whatever was there between Del and Colton is over since she knows about the woman in his life and nothing can amend their marriage anymore. On the other side, a hopeful Kat seems to want to deliver the message to Eliot.
And Bryon seems to be packing up his belongings as he knows there is no room for him in Del’s life. The episode ends with Bryon and Colton both driving off in their car and truck, respectively, as Del watches from the doorway.
Thoughts and Views on Episode 8
Episode 8 reflects on what Kat wants, which for her teenage self was to have her family live together and be happy. It is a great thing to see how she tries to put a little effort into making it a success and for her time-traveling to be put to good use.
Perhaps Kat has taken to heart Elliot’s warnings about the risks of meddling with the past. She probably needs answers, and the only way she can find them is by acting like an investigator. Finding answers by talking to the individuals she loved in the past could unintentionally influence the result.
That is all that matters to her, but certain things cannot be changed as much as you want to, and that seems to come as a whiplash in this episode. There is very little chance of changing Del’s state of mind about her husband being at a motel and the loss of a child.
A loss can have a huge impact on relationships, especially when it involves a child or a significant other, and this is seen quite well in Kat’s family. Her secrecy works well to understand what’s happening, but she cannot change someone’s thoughts and actions. This scene is very similar to what Alice is going through.
Going back in the past and falling in love with Nick just proved to be anything but a disaster for her when she heard about his engagement. That is not where it ends. The fact that the elder version of Nick recognizes her to be someone he knew in the past was a good hint to it. And then comes Kat and Eliot with their unending stepping stones in their relationship.
The Way Eliot pines for Kat, even in the present, is heartwrenching as he never wanted her attention, and all Kat is focused on was to resolve the issues in her family, which is not an easy task to do. As Kat learns more about her parents, her perspective on love shifts.
She is torn between declaring love to be a fraud and understanding the value of every moment. Kat’s patience wanes as she witnesses her parent’s marriage break down in front of her. When she was a touch tipsy and wanted that kiss right away from Eliot before things became awkward, you could feel her frustration.
It is very much predictable why she feels that Way. When you come from an unstable home, your entire perspective of things that involve emotions and attractions is hampered and put in a challenge box that you need to compete in every day.
The episode gave us an insight into all these parallel love duos happening in the show and different versions of it, starting from self-doubt, infidelity, unspoken words, and an emotional roller-coaster. It gave more room for the viewers to see it from the perspective of every character, which is a good take.
The characters are well articulated and acted out by the casting members, and I love this episode for the trial and error in love and relationships that are showcased throughout. I can assume there are no such changes that will happen, but definitely, all of the characters will get their peace by reconciling and communicating their sufferings and miseries.
Final Verdict
The Way Home series is not your superhero time-traveling show. It is not about going back in time and experiencing a different era or a period or an epoch but rather utilizes this genre to reflect the broken relationships and unspoken scenarios of families. Of course, such thoughts have come to my head of going back in time to fix the problems I had with a friend to make them stay in my life, and that is an exact take the series intends to deliver.
Episode 8 was both heartbreaking and fluffy, with the couples experiencing both extremities equally. But, again, the episode tells us that certain things cannot be mended or changed as much as you want them to, so it is up to the viewer to assume what can or will happen next.
Our Rating: ⭐ (4.1/5).
Also read: The Way Home Episode 9: Release Date, Spoilers & Streaming Guide
