S01 - 1999, ICQ and Beepers

[sskrill]

So I'm placing some bets:

1) Alice sent the letter.  She saw how happy her family had been and wants to repair what she can.

2) Kat knows the pond is a portal but has never thought it safe. 

3) The woman in white is a portal trip that Del took that ended badly. She knew she had to get back to the pond to get to safety.  Uses the legend to keep the others out of the pond.

I'm never right with guesses 🤷‍♀️ 

[twoods]

On 1/31/2023 at 3:23 AM, Lisa418722 said:

My feeling is that Jacob will show up in the final scene at the end of Season 1.  Cliffhanger.... 

He has to have fallen in the pond and time traveled, but unable to return (maybe he saw Alice jump in and when she didn’t come out he went in after her). That’s the only storyline that makes sense (with this time traveling storyline of course).

Edited February 3, 2023 by twoods

[Simba122504]

I've been enjoying it, but I don't understand their end game. I'm referring to TPTB. Hallmark is going to renew it for an S2, but how long can this premise last? Alice's first kiss was with a man who's old enough to be her father. The teenager in '99 is a grown man in current time. And how many times can she jump into the past, but not build a life as a teenager in 2023? She loves the past more than the present. I mean understand it during the freshman season, but what about the other seasons?  

Edited February 7, 2023 by Simba122504

[AnimeMania]

S01.E04: What's My Age Again?

Alice double dates with her parents as teens; Kat's first visit to the past brings a surprising discovery; Del swallows her pride to ask for help.

Premiere Date: Sunday, February 5, 2023      9pm     Hallmark 

[Daff]

On 2/3/2023 at 4:24 PM, twoods said:

He has to have fallen in the pond and time traveled, but unable to return (maybe he saw Alice jump in and when she didn’t come out he went in after her). That’s the only storyline that makes sense (with this time traveling storyline of course).

Unless he drowned (or was killed) coming out of the pond in a different time. If so, they wouldn’t have found a body in 1999.  If Del knew,  I wonder if she ever scoured the archives looking for the death of an unidentified male child. 

[Daff]

On 2/5/2023 at 2:28 AM, Simba122504 said:

I've been enjoying it, but I don't understand their end game. I'm referring to TPTB. Hallmark is going to renew it for an S2, but how long can this premise last? Alice's first kiss was with a man who's old enough to be her father. The teenager in '99 is a grown man in current time. And how many times can she jump into the past, but not built a life as a teenager in 2023? She loves the past more than the present. I mean understand it during the freshman season, but what about the other seasons?  

I hear what you’re saying. The fact that they want to continue hints that all questions won’t be resolved when this season is over. Probably won’t even know if Del is aware of the time travel. 

[bybrandy]

I really like this show and I am worried about how conviluted it can get if it continues, but that is a season 2/season 3 problem.  For now I'm just curious how knowing her dad was a tool in the past impacts Alice in the present.  I mean I don't expect her to turn against him but it is a new perspective for her.  

What's the song they were singing in the field.  I remembered what it was when I watched the show but not now that I'm typing abut it a couple of minutes later in the present... lol... I'm not made for time travel.  :).   

Alice dating Nick is total squick so I'm glad she was too wrapped up in the earth shattering realization that dad is a tool for any romance to take place.   I am not here for that.  NOT HERE FOR IT.   

His moms are adorkable, though.   

My best friend in high school worked at the local movie theater.  She carded me on my 17th birthday... she had come to my house earlier that day to bring me birthday cupcakes.  LOL.   But I'm a little older than Kat and saw Blair Witch Project in a theater in college.   

[Jillybean]

1 hour ago, bybrandy said:

What's the song they were singing in the field.  I remembered what it was when I watched the show but not now that I'm typing abut it a couple of minutes later in the present... lol... I'm not made for time travel.  :).   

I don't know the name of it, but it goes "I like girls who wear Abercombie & Fitch..."

[Daff]

8 hours ago, Daff said:

I hear what you’re saying. The fact that they want to continue hints that all questions won’t be resolved when this season is over. Probably won’t even know if Del is aware of the time travel. 

Had a really weird second thought about that post-what if the woman at the beginning of episode 1 WAS Del, who had gone back to find Jacob and was locked up for having a “disturbance of the mind”?

[jmonique]

32 minutes ago, Jillybean said:

I don't know the name of it, but it goes "I like girls who wear Abercombie & Fitch..."

LFO's "Summer Girls"
 

 

[JAYJAY1979]

I think Del's advice to Elliot to play the long game is weird since the dude has been doing just that for 25+ years.

And Kat's reaction to seeing her dad and brother was realistic...sort of like Peggy Sue's reaction when she heard her grandmother's voice in Peggy Sue got married.

I do wonder if this will be a long running show...or more a limited series.

[Bort]

Anybody else noticing that the episode titles are era-appropriate song titles? It only just pinged me with the latest one being “What’s My Age Again.”

[Simba122504]

14 hours ago, Daff said:

I hear what you’re saying. The fact that they want to continue hints that all questions won’t be resolved when this season is over. Probably won’t even know if Del is aware of the time travel. 

I'm going to see it through S1 and S2 because basic cable always did shorter seasons than network television. But I'm going to be watching the clock (pun intended) going into anything post S2. 

[bybrandy]

2 hours ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

I think Del's advice to Elliot to play the long game is weird since the dude has been doing just that for 25+ years.

 

Right?!?!   The long game starts now?    That is rough for Elliot.  
 

so my question though was his plan to always go back to the town because of his relationship to the town/community or because he’s known since that night at the movie theater that Kat would eventually come home?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, bybrandy said:

Right?!?!   The long game starts now?    That is rough for Elliot.  
 

so my question though was his plan to always go back to the town because of his relationship to the town/community or because he’s known since that night at the movie theater that Kat would eventually come home?

Other than Jacob, this is the part that I am finding most interesting. How much did Alice tell him and how did it shape his life? There have been small hints like him telling Alice how confusing your life becomes when someone tells you your future.

[Aliconehead]

This show reminds me of the Disney Show Secrets of Sulphur Springs but more adult.  So far that show somewhat resolved the first mystery but managed to keep it interesting.  Hopefully this show can do that also.  One thing is if they resolve the Jacob mystery, the pond could start sending them to another time frame, maybe Del’s teenage years.  

[AnimeMania]

No new episode on February 12, 2023, the Hallmark Channel will air a mini-marathon of Episodes 1-4 starting at 6pm.  

[Crs97]

16 hours ago, bybrandy said:

I think Del's advice to Elliot to play the long game is weird since the dude has been doing just that for 25+ years.

I haven’t gotten to see this episode yet.  My first reaction upon reading this was to argue that he had moved away and gotten married, which is hardly just waiting around, but I forgot his comment that Alice told him his future.  I’m intrigued.

 

[Bort]

So far, Alice has told him her parents’ future, that they’ve split up and Kat moved back to town. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Elliott moved back shortly before that happened, if he’d been carrying a torch for Kat and still is. He knew she’d be back.

[salvame]

On 2/6/2023 at 7:06 PM, JAYJAY1979 said:

I do wonder if this will be a long running show...or more a limited series.

I've been having this same thought. Itdoesn’t seem like this time travel format will hold up through many seasons. This isn't like "Quantum Leap" where it was a different, self contained, leap each week. Guess we'll just have to wait it out and see where it takes us.

[JAYJAY1979]

On 2/6/2023 at 9:22 PM, bybrandy said:

Right?!?!   The long game starts now?    That is rough for Elliot.  
 

so my question though was his plan to always go back to the town because of his relationship to the town/community or because he’s known since that night at the movie theater that Kat would eventually come home?

If that was his plan...I will have to give the show props for giving the male character a trope usually reserved for female characters.... someone adjusting their life for someone else.  (Elliott is good looking and could so get a nice woman that loves.him for him right away).

[Simba122504]

I wonder if Kat viewed Brady as her ticket out? Of course we can see why a teen girl would fall for a guy like that, but he also comes from an affluent family and the city. I don't think Elliot ever told Kat how he felt. 

[peachmangosteen]

On 1/25/2023 at 9:05 AM, AheadofStraight said:

Any thoughts on whether Jacob is going to turn up alive? First thing I thought when it turned out there wasn't a body....

Yea, as soon as we found out they never found him I thought he probably ended up in the pond/in another time and somehow got stuck there. I will be shocked if that isn't what happened.

On 1/30/2023 at 10:19 PM, SonofaBiscuit said:

I think little Jacob’s friend Danny was in an earlier episode where Kat went to visit her dad’s grave stone. That encounter was weird too (he didn’t acknowledge her when she said hi). Wonder what that all means.

I'm wondering if perhaps he saw Jacob go into the pond and was too scared or traumatized to ever say anything.

[JAYJAY1979]

Conspiracy theory...what if Jacob saw Alice or Kat jump into the pond...and he followed and went to a different time than either of them..and couldn't get back?

[bybrandy]

On 2/9/2023 at 6:25 PM, Sproutlet said:

This came to me out of left field, but what if obnoxious, fake-ID-flaunting Brady had something to do with Colton's death? We know he died in a car accident on a rural road a few months after Jacob disappeared, and I guess it's possible Brady was visiting. If young Elliott knew, he might have kept quiet because ending Brady's relationship with Kat would "erase" Alice.

If nothing else, I've have an okay plot for some fanfic. 🙃

That's pretty dark.  But it could totally have gone down that way.  I think Jacob's friend from the cemetery knows something but I doubt a small child is responsible at least in a nefarious kind of way.  

My out there theroy Jacob goes into the lake.   He comes out of the lake  few months later and comes out of the lake and Colton sees them along the road is shocked and wrecks without being able to say anything and Jacob goes back into the lake because he thinks he hurt Colton.  

[Crs97]

Husband thinks it would be fun if Nick found the pond and came to present day.

[peachmangosteen]

I like that idea, but I think they might be going with the premise that only people from the bloodline can travel through the lake. Although, if that's the case, then the theory that Del went through it and is the woman in white at the beginning of episode 1 wouldn't work. Maybe people married to the bloodline can use it too lol.

[bybrandy]

Too soon to tell but it is my theory that it is only of the bloodline that can time travel. I don’t think Dell is the woman in white. Or at least not yet because her response to the sinkhole is not good but it isn’t avoid that place at all costs. 

[AnimeMania]

S01.E05: Don't Dream It's Over

Snausages?

Kat chaperones a school dance and reconnects with Brady; Alice wants Nick to find her in the future; Del says goodbye to more memories as a landmark closes.

Premiere Date: Sunday, February 19, 2023      9pm     Hallmark 

[Bort]

Me: Hears the strains of “Kiss Me” starting up… OMG, don’t tell me they’re doing this… And they did! Chyler Leigh comes down the stairs in a red dress, it’s the same type camera shot and everything, and she even trips on the stairs! Sadly, she doesn’t fall through the floor, but I guess they couldn’t completely copy the Not Another Teen Movie scene.

[bybrandy]

I don’t hate Brady either but I’m not rooting for him. He left them and doesnt seem aware that he caused pain.  
 

I think Alice being unrealistic about Nick is logical but it do grosses me out. Stop. 
 

 

[Crs97]

I am so, SO thankful that Nick didn’t show, and I am grateful that Elliott was the voice of reason - “Please go dance with your age-appropriate friends.”

As much as I hate the trope of the love interest catching the other love interest kissing someone else, it made sense here.  She was kissing Brady back (which usually isn’t the case for hallmark) and was clearly conflicted in her feelings for her ex.  

[JAYJAY1979]

Adult Kat went back in time for a scene where she saw her brother Jacob with a friend.. and I noticed that she was wearing white... so could adult Kat be the lady in white... or maybe there is multiple ladies in white?

I did like at the start of the episode that Del warned cheating hubby to let Kat and Alice find their way and not rock the boat.  She does care, but she's reserved/stoic.

[peachmangosteen]

7 hours ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

Adult Kat went back in time for a scene where she saw her brother Jacob with a friend.. and I noticed that she was wearing white... so could adult Kat be the lady in white... or maybe there is multiple ladies in white?

Jacob made the comment about the lady in white to Alice in the first episode, so before he saw from-the-future Kat. Seeing her probably reinforced the legend in his mind.

[Simba122504]

On 2/19/2023 at 9:01 PM, kariyaki said:

Me: Hears the strains of “Kiss Me” starting up… OMG, don’t tell me they’re doing this… And they did! Chyler Leigh comes down the stairs in a red dress, it’s the same type camera shot and everything, and she even trips on the stairs! Sadly, she doesn’t fall through the floor, but I guess they couldn’t completely copy the Not Another Teen Movie scene.

I had the exact same reaction. NATM is an unnderrated gem. It's so hilarious. Every scene. 😂 Alice is definitely a stupid teenager. Believing in that Romeo and Juliet/Star Crossed Lovers crap. 

[AnimeMania]

S01.E06: Building a Mystery

Kat and Alice try to stop Jacob's disappearance; Del realizes the tragedy of Jacob was not hers alone.

Premiere Date: Sunday, February 26, 2023      9pm     Hallmark 

[Crs97]

I spend more than half of each episode disliking Del.  That continued tonight.  I don’t know if that is their intention, but they are being consistent about it.

[RedInk]

Liking this show more than I expected to! I try not to overthink the time travel logic, but the frequent mentions of “I was always here” leads me to believe that Kat or Alice inadvertently played a role in Jacob’s disappearance. He follows one from the house back out to the pond and gets lost in another timeline? So if they hadn’t been there, he wouldn’t have gone missing? Is that what we’re thinking? He seemed to be totally indifferent to Kat, so I’m not sure why he would follow, but he goes missing within minutes of being dropped off, and she goes directly to the pond. 

[ElectricCityy]

I read an interesting theory on twitter or instagram that that dog could be time traveling. Jacob winds up in the pond following the dog that night? It seems logical. The only other explanation is that he was kidnapped but I hope that isn't the case and it's too dark for Hallmark anyway.

[NeenerNeener]

I'm just hoping that Del or her future friend didn't do something to him. They seems awfully determined to make everyone just drop the subject.

[AheadofStraight]

On 2/26/2023 at 11:47 PM, Crs97 said:

I spend more than half of each episode disliking Del.  That continued tonight.  I don’t know if that is their intention, but they are being consistent about it.

For me, her acting just makes it so much worse. I've never been a fan.

 

 

[SonofaBiscuit]

They really are blowing through story lines so fast! What will next season even be about? Time traveling to try and find Jacob? (Yeah, I still think he went through the pond).

I find Del very disagreeable, but I thought it was completely careless of whomever to leave that Jacob flyer just sitting in a box where Del or Kat might see. Also, they shouldn't have included the photo of young Del and her husband (whose name I don't remember right now) in the slide show without speaking to Del first. Terrible. 

They need to just end the Alice/Nick stuff. Does she really believe that a man who is now old enough to be her father will want to reconnect with a teenager? LOL, no.

Elliot is still the best. I'll take him if Kat doesn't want him!

[Crs97]

Funny story - DH good naturedly teases me for watching Hallmark.  We have boys, and he assumes the channel is on for my girl fix.  I got him to try The Way Home, and if you recall the first half of the pilot is more Hallmark-esque, but he stuck it out with only a couple of eyebrow raising.  Now he watches each Sunday night with me.

Out of the blue last night he exclaims, “What in the world happened to Jacob?!?”  When I look puzzled, he says, “Our show!  Did he go in the pond?  How did he disappear from the house?” I smiled really big.

[Simba122504]

Kat brought Jacob home, so where did he go? I love and hate the time travel  genre.  If you think too hard you get a headache. Del is an accurate portrayal of a woman from her era. 

[RedInk]

On 2/27/2023 at 9:18 AM, ElectricCityy said:

I read an interesting theory on twitter or instagram that that dog could be time traveling. Jacob winds up in the pond following the dog that night? It seems logical. The only other explanation is that he was kidnapped but I hope that isn't the case and it's too dark for Hallmark anyway.

I thought you meant the stuffed dog at first and was confused 😂 I think that makes sense…the dog from the present time, Del’s dog? That would also explain why the stuffed animal dog figures so prominently in the story. Like a little clue. I’m certain Jacob will reappear, if only because it’s Hallmark. I think it’s kind of interesting that time still moves in a linear way when you go through the portal…like Alice keeps ending up a few days/weeks after the last time she traveled and never earlier. 

Edited March 1, 2023 by RedInk

[AnimeMania]

‘The Way Home’ Picked Up For Second Season By Hallmark Channel

[Daff]

There were a lot of touching moments in this episode. Kat really did a good job tracking Jacob and linking all her research to the moment to do so, but after hearing Danny’s account, why did she race into the fun house? She could have waited by the cliff. You could feel her restraint, though, as they chatted on the walk home. She just wanted to hug him. Emotional chat with Danny, and nice cinematic reveal that he’s been tearing up the festival posters and burning them in his wood stove. Why did Kat tell Jacob that his sister was in the house when she must remember that she and Brady didn’t go back there when told to do so? He might have followed her to the pond, but as far as we know, no male has ever time traveled.

[Daff]

BTW, I think Del is still ok, and coping rather well. I think she knows more than she’s able to share with Kat and Alice, but she’s definitely not wanting to give any appearance to family/community of being in any way “unhinged”.

 I had an aunt who, when things weren’t going her way, would declare to the family, “I’m the last living (surname), and you will respect that accordingly!” I liked her and she always had a smile for me when I visited. Even though she was doubled over with scoliosis, she was sound of mind and fiercely independent. 
 

I get Del and I think she’s trying to move on the best way she knows how, and it seems AM is depicting that fairly, with progress demonstrated. Every older, female actress can do charming, but I prefer the older, female curmudgeons!

 

[Crs97]

I don’t mind Del bring a curmudgeon.  I do mind how she treats Kat.  I can’t decide if she blames Kat or wishes Kat had been the one to disappear.  If it turns out she somehow knows more about all this and continued to watch Kat suffer, then my dislike will jump a level.

[Bort]

4 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

I don’t mind Del bring a curmudgeon.  I do mind how she treats Kat.

Yeah, this is my problem with Del. She’s completely oblivious to the fact that Kat lost the same people she did. I’m actually surprised Kat is as emotionally healthy as she is, since her mother had completely shut down on her and left her to grieve alone.