‘The Way Home’ Recap: ‘Hanging by a Moment’

1/29/2024

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 202 of ‘The Way Home’. To revisit the Season Two Premiere, click here.

When we last settled in to discuss the fascinating Hallmark Channel series, The Way Home, we talked at length about how the season two premiere, did an incredible job of setting the stage… for an epic year of commentary regarding what people can become when they don’t address the pain of their past and the trauma in their lives and perhaps… how everyone finds their way home from such pain. So that we can come away with some delightful lessons as these deeply wounded characters discover their peace at last. But before those lessons could truly begin, there was… a bit of a problem for Kat and Alice to deal with. In that, they were separated in various periods of time and Kat… was in serious trouble.

The kind that left us worried for her well-being since she took a bullet. But thankfully, ‘Hanging by a Moment’ wasted little time in informing us, that Kat was being cared for and that she was on the mend in the year 1814 and well, once she came to… she made every effort to understand her surroundings and the situation. To better understand why she was dragged to this particular period in time. Which as it turned out, related to the fact that this year was now young Jacob’s home. Who was living with family and seemed happy and that brought about comfort for Kat. As though she had found some peace and that prompted her to escape, her current situation at the hands of the man who shot her, and thanks to another assist, she was able to return home.

However, while she was dealing with that surprise, Alice found herself torn between two-time frames. For the Pond kept sending her back to the turn of the century. Wherein she came to realize that she was in the past to make amends with Elliot. Whom she did realize she hurt deeply through her actions, and she thought perhaps an apology would heal him and bring about peace in the present. Though sadly, none of that came to fruition. In fact, Elliot seemed more frustrated than ever in present day. But Alice did her part, and did her best, and let that sit a bit to deal with other problems in the Landry household. Such as the fact that Del was potentially going to lose the farm. Which in turn, prompted her to stick around and help where possible.

All of which seemed to be… moments designed to set up the future. As though Kat and Alice could start working toward peace and working toward healing while helping Del. But in reality, this episode was nothing short of a brilliant hour-long metaphor. One that used all of those aforementioned moments to explore the central themes of this story. Since Kat’s journey more or less spoke to the fact, that it’s not enough to acknowledge the past, we have to confront it and our actions. Which is why she likely traveled back to 1814 once again… to make proper peace with what happened to Jacob. Not to mention, Elliot’s emotional explosion and fight with Kat made it clear that hollow forgiveness and burying down real feelings does not allow for us to move forward.

Which means the only way anyone will find peace here… is to confront their pain, work it out and find real forgiveness. Which sets the stage for more big moments down the line. But before we ponder deeper upon that, we can celebrate one brilliant tale. One that truly surprised us with its smooth examinations of the subject matter at hand, while also offering up… one epic time travel adventure. One that did not romanticize it in the slightest, as so many other stories do, instead presenting the past as rough as it truly is. Even on an intimate level, and well, in the end, this episode deserves a round of applause. For offering up such engaging moments and for also letting us know that the core commentary will indeed be handled as healing is handled in real life. In manageable chunks, so that we know we are making progress at last. Until next time.

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