The Way Home Season 3 Episode 9 Recap: Too Late to Turn Back Now

The penultimate episode of ‘The Way Home’ season 3, titled ‘Too Late to Turn Back Now,’ jumps straight into the burning questions left behind by episode 8, particularly in relation to Colton’s time-traveling powers and Jacob’s unending hatred for Cyrus Goodwin. Kat has to work through her feelings and try to make sense of her romantic life in light of her renewed connection with Thomas. However, this has an adverse effect on Elliot’s frame of mind as he tries to tie the loose ends left behind by their last conversation. Meanwhile, Del contends with the staggering possibility that the Colton she knew and the Colton, in reality, are two different people. The internal battles also rage in Alice’s life as the young girl remains unsure whether her future with Max Goodwin can be changed at all. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Colton Tells the Truth About Traveling Through Time

After the shock of the last episode, Kat and Jacob sit outside the burned husk of Elijah’s home and talk about Colton’s time travel powers. Although Kat has her doubts, Jacob tells his sister that their teen father ultimately saved his life. He also asks her to stay with Elijah and rebuild the farm while he heads back to the present day. In 2025, Del and Alice learn the truth from Jacob’s mouth about Colton’s time exploits. Devastated by the confirmation, Del begins collecting all of Colton’s belongings with plans of removing them. However, she asks Alice to seek out some answers from Colton personally by traveling to 1974. The young girl heads back and learns that Colton has been chosen by a music producer who heard one of his demos. He is requested to visit San Francisco with Alice. Evelyn is excited by the news as well.

Colton hopes that he might be able to link up with Delilah during his travels. Evelyn also wishes to reconnect with Colton after their recent fights. Alice heads toward the pond and notices Colton leaping into the water. She confronts him about it, albeit feigning innocence about the process herself. He states that he wanted to test his grandmother’s old tales about the pond serving as a bridge to other timelines. While he did not believe her words immediately, he experienced the pond’s powers when he jumped or fell in and ended up in 1814. He recounts his experiences with Elijah’s family and how he broke one of his grandmother’s rules by sharing events from the future – for instance, planting potatoes and rye in the fields. After meeting Delilah and Rick’s death, Colton wanted to go back in time and save his friend.

When he jumped into the pond, he wound up in 1816 instead of the recent past. Subsequently, he witnessed the effect of messing with the timeline and sharing information about the future when he saw the Landry farm in flames. His decision to tell Elijah about planting potatoes and rye had a direct influence on the townspeople attacking the Landrys. It had an adverse effect on the timeline and forced him to save Jacob’s life as penance for his actions. He now believes that he can no longer travel back in time because he broke one of his grandmother’s tenets about using the pond. Clearly, he does not have a comprehensive picture of the pond and how it behaves in an erratic manner when sending people to different times. He also asks Alice if she is a time traveler, which she denies.

Kat Makes Her Peace With Thomas While Evelyn Takes the Hard Step Towards Letting Go

Kat and Thomas start addressing the obstacles holding back their romance. They know that despite being attracted to one another, they cannot get past the fact that they come from different eras. If something happened to Kat or Jacob during the Landry farm fire, people in her time would have no idea about their fate. The same applies to Thomas, who is unable to use the pond as Kat and Jacob can. Kat sees this as a sign that they must go their own ways no matter how painful the resolution is. Although their love is strong, fate and destiny cannot be cheated for long, and Kat must prioritize what is important to her, and Thomas must do the same. In the meantime, we are informed that Cyrus’ larynx has been damaged due to smoke inhalation during the fire. Susanna uses this to her advantage and becomes his voice moving forward.

She uses her renewed authority to ensure that she is protected from the fanatic Port Haven crowd while also making certain that Elijah is looked after properly. This affords Kat a semblance of relief. She and Thomas have yet another critical conversation in which they make the final step towards dissolving their relationship. Thomas realizes that Kat cannot sacrifice her life and stay in 1816, nor can he burden her with such a request. Thus, he decides to travel far away, doubling down on Kat’s impact on his life and how much she changed him. Kat also echoes the same sentiment, and a mutual sense of loss pervades the air between them as they split. Although they cannot spend a lifetime together, they both acknowledge that their relationship is an important bond akin to a beautiful season.

In 1974, Colton reunites with Del, who is back in Port Haven. It turns out that things did not go well for her when she went back to her family. They were in a dire financial situation, which created a rift in personal relations. Subsequently, she came back to Port Haven to meet Colton. Alice watches from afar as Colton proposes to Del, and she agrees to marry him. He cancels the San Francisco travel plans and commits his whole life to Del. The two begin their new life together as an engaged couple. Meanwhile, Alice consoles Evelyn and tells her that she should not give up on her dreams of traveling the world. It is essential that Evelyn moves on from Colton and takes care of herself. Alice also tells her that she is always on Evelyn’s side, which displays the strength of their friendship. Evelyn tells Colton to let her go while allowing Del to stay at Lingermore.

Jacob Gets Lost in a Cycle of Revenge

In the present timeline, Alice meets up with Max, learning more about Evelyn from his mouth and how he regrets not picking up her last call. She was very close to him throughout his childhood. Alice realizes her true feelings for Max, and they share a kiss, doubling down on the future she had kept envisioning for herself. However, now it seems a more concrete possibility than ever before. It does not matter to some extent, as her feelings for Max are genuine and growing stronger by the second. Additionally, it may be her only way to stay close to Evelyn now that she is out of her life. She tells Kat about the recent developments and losing Evelyn as a friend. Kat tells her that she and Alice played a game in 1999, which the latter does not remember. Kat surmises that maybe Alice has not lived through those experiences yet.

Meanwhile, Jacob starts obsessing over exacting revenge against the Goodwins, determined to punish them for burning the Landry farm in 1816. His grudge against Cyrus has taken a poisonous root in his mind, and Delilah urges him to let it go, especially considering the vast length of time separating them. However, Jacob feels as if Cyrus is still alive and haunting him. He decides to take out his rage by burning down the vineyard owned by Lewis Goodwin. He sees it as compensation for Cyrus burning down his own house. Elliot meets Jacob at his home, asking the latter to help him travel to 1816. Jacob agrees, and Elliot reunites with Kat at Elijah’s farm. There, he sees Thomas from a distance, and the two share a meaningful nod. He also gets the opportunity to meet his ancestor, Susanna.

Back in the present timeline, Jacob begins executing his mission by getting closer to Danny to swipe his security code. When night arrives, he gets to work trying to burn the farm down. Del discovers Jacob’s disturbing plan when she goes to his room and finds his laptop open with web pages detailing vineyard fires. She drives to the Goodwin vineyard, where she finds Jacob in the middle of his mission. She urges Jacob to give up his foolish errand, which he hesitantly does. Unbeknownst to both of them, the entire exchange is captured on the farm’s CCTV camera, making the situation even more messy than usual. Jacob’s ploy was always foolish from the get-go, but now, he may have dragged his mother into a huge spot of trouble because of his inability to see straight whenever Cyrus Goodwin is involved.