The Way Home should take a lesson from Hallmark’s greatest show of all

No shade, but The Way Home’s endless time travel twists and turns are getting too much. The show fails to nail the basics which is annoying because Hallmark did it once before.

Over the last few years, I’ve developed my own personal gauge for whether a new telly (Editor’s Note: TV for our American friends) series will perform well. The rules are simple – if my mum brings it up in conversation without being prompted, we’re onto a winner. This has so far worked for Virgin River, Sweet Magnolias, and Ginny & Georgia. 

However, even if I paid her $5,000, there’s no way I could get her to watch The Way Home. After work the other week, I tried to explain the multiple timelines and time travel rules to her over dinner, and I watched her eyes glaze over as she shoved more food into her mouth. Even the hook of having Andie MacDowell in the cast didn’t get more than “No, I don’t think I could do this.”

There was one Hallmark show that entered her individual Hall of TV Fame, though. My mum’s always said the best dramas are the ones that focus on core relationship dynamics rather than getting caught up in a massive scandal or unnecessary car crash. She’s right, and I think The Way Home could learn a lot from what Hallmark has done before. 

Chesapeake Shores is what The Way Home should be 

Hallmark

In my mind, Chesapeake Shores has easily been the greatest Hallmark TV show of all time. Starting in 2016, its six seasons followed divorced mother of two Abby, who revisits her troubled past when she returns to her hometown. She’s there to help her sister Jess renovate an inn handed down through generations of their family.

See? How much simpler does finding out your family’s secrets through a Dulux color chart and a paintbrush sound? On top of this, Chesapeake Shores has a hefty helping of present-day family drama, culminating in plenty of ill-advised romance and tense family dinners. The fact this is all happening in the most picturesque beachfront house doesn’t hurt things either.

You’ll notice the big difference straight away – there isn’t a single gimmick. No magical pond, no younger version of present-day selves, and no weird riddles that may or may not be a clue altogether. Just family struggling through their issues and poorly communicating them. Of course, there’s some twee stereotyping, this is Hallmark, after all.

If The Way Home can get back to its present-day family roots in Season 3, everyone will benefit. Fans are starting to complain about how many loose strands the series has on the go, and I can’t blame them. It’s absolutely exhausting to keep up with, and it feels like the Landrys’ journey is being over-complicated for the sake of it.

Hallmark

I’ve dedicated the last six weeks of my life to The Way Home, and I can still hardly explain or reason anything happening. In contrast, it’s been years since I saw any of Chesapeake Shores, yet I can still confidently outline it. In short, something is wrong.

If a little Hallmark genie could grant me a wish for the second half of Season 3, it would be to cut down the questions, take a step back, and see what has worked. My mum talking about any TV show years after the fact is like getting a goat to speak Latin – it just doesn’t happen. Yet Chesapeake Shores has stayed in her mind’s eye.

Hallmark has taken a risk with The Way Home, and it clearly doesn’t know what it’s doing. Something as “edgy” as this doesn’t fit the typical format, so what’s stopping some streamlining from gently nudging it back in? Those viewing figures are declining for a reason… time to get the back catalog out as inspiration.

The Way Home Season 3 is currently airing on the Hallmark Channel. Catch up with Jacob’s return, who the mystery couple could be, and the best Hallmark movies of all time.