1 of 2 | Left to right, Andie MacDowell, Chyler Leigh, Sadie Laflamme-Snow star in “The Way Home.” Photo courtesy of Hallmark
NEW YORK, Feb. 6 (UPI) — Chyler Leigh says her character Kat sincerely chooses Elliot over Thomas in Season 3 of the time-travel drama The Way Home, but the situation is complicated.
Co-starring Andie MacDowell, Sadie Laflamme-Snow and Spencer Macpherson, the show follows the contemporary Canadian Landrys, whose family farm features a pond that allows them to travel into the past.
Elliot (Evan Williams) is Kat’s childhood best friend, whom she reconnects with after nearly 20 years, and Thomas (Kris Holden-Ried) is a man Kat meets during one of her unexpected adventures back to the 19th century.
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“She is very honest in the beginning of Season 3. ‘Hey, I’m here. I’m here now. This is what I want. This is where I am and let’s build this. Let’s grow this as as best we can together,'” Leigh, 42, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview, suggesting Kat is foregoing a passionate relationship “rooted in the impossible” with Thomas for one that it is healthier, if not a little more predictable with Elliot.
“How do we navigate a life together forward when we still have so much to learn about each other? There’s such a huge gap in between the time of Kat leaving and then coming back to Port Haven,” Leigh added. “They’re trying to take their time with that, but love has so many twists and turns.”
Williams, 39, said the story digs into what happens when Elliot gets the one thing he has wanted his entire life.
“Now, all of a sudden, it’s real,” the actor said.
“They’re kind of playing house a little bit and they’re jumping into this ‘idea’ of what they want. But I think life is more complicated than that and the writing reflects that,” he added. “They need to make the negotiation in their hearts and that takes time and there’s a long and twisted journey ahead of them.”
Kat isn’t the only one who has someone from their past turn their world upside-down.
“His father shows up again, as well, which kind of throws a wrench in the whole idea that Elliot has reached this idyllic future with Kat that he’s always dreamed of,” Williams said.
“And, so, once again, the pond has other ideas and, in a way, we’re just kind of along for the ride,” he added. “But I think that Elliot and Kat deserve the opportunity to try. And it’s been a rocky road for two seasons and, so, it’s really nice to lean into at least getting the chance to try, even if it’s not always clear sailing.”
Season 2 saw Elliot make his first trip through the pond to the 1990s and the experience helps him understand why Kat and her teen daughter Alice (Laflamme-Snow) are so addicted to revisiting the past and spying on their loved ones when they were younger.
“I was so thrilled to read the script for the first time when I found out that Elliot time travels. Not only did he actually get to do the thing that the person he’s in love with has been doing and learn a whole different side of it and share that now, but he also got to go and meet the father he never had and have such a beautiful healing moment,” Williams said, referring to how Kat’s late dad Colton (Jefferson Brown) treats him like a son and makes him feel worthy of love.
“That really changes the trajectory of his life and changes the trajectory of his relationships,” Williams added. “It was beautiful to shoot. It was really emotional.”
The actor went on to say he thinks those scenes resonated with viewers, as well.
“The type of society we live in, there’s lots of stuff around patriarchy and man-dad-father dynamics in general, so it was cool to feel like I was getting to speak to that and provide some healing for it,” he said.
“Also, we’re going to see in Season 3 how that healing takes us on a new trajectory, both for [Kat and Elliot’s] relationship and, also, for Elliot’s journey into growing up into being the man he dreams to be.”
Leigh joked that she was thrilled to finally see her co-star experience the physical challenges that getting sucked through a pond portal presents for the characters who time travel.
“I also love the fact that Elliot gets to go through the terrifying vortex that happens in the pond. It’s rough and tumble, like you’re in the dryer,” she laughed. “He gets to actually go, “This happens every time?’ And you’re like, ‘Every time!'”
Williams chimed in: “I like to highlight the idea that the time travel vortex is insane. It’s insane! It became very real, very quickly.”
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