This week, Alice starts to learn about the mechanics of time travel and dives head first into learning more about her Uncle Jacob’s disappearance. Kat is offered an interesting opportunity, and Del prepares for Jacob’s upcoming memorial service.
Poor Kat. Those opening scenes where she’s out searching for Alice are heartbreaking. Obviously, we as the audience know that Alice is perfectly fine, but we find out she’s spent twelve hours not having any idea where her daughter was or what happened to her. When you consider the amount of loss Kat has experienced, and particularly Jacob just up and disappearing, it’s not all that surprising that she quickly jumps to worst case scenario conclusions. The visual imagery is poignant when we see her pulled over next to a cross, which we later learn is a marker for her father, who died in a car accident just outside the farm. The reminder of what she’s been through makes her near panic attack seem like a pretty reasonable response. It was nice to see that, once again, Brady steps in to ground her. While I have my issues with Brady’s character, the one thing he has excelled at is being there to talk things through with Kat. Despite their divorce, he is continuing to be an ally during what has been a rather rocky return home for his ex-wife. I’m still not crazy about some of his choices as a father. Kat never should have had to be the one to tell Alice about Rachel. However, it does feel like in this episode, he is putting forth a little bit more effort to try and be there for Kat and Alice in his own way.
Eventually Alice returns from her time travel adventure. In what is a prime example of miscommunication, the conversation between adult Kat and Alice when Alice first gets back highlights how out of sync they are. We know, and Alice knows, that she wasn’t trying to run away, or get back to her dad, but how exactly does one explain to their mother that they were stuck in another time and didn’t know how to make it back to the present. I don’t envy Alice in that moment. Unfortunately, when she says she was trying to get home, all her mother hears is that she was trying to get back to Minnesota to be with her dad. Likewise, when Alice asks ‘what happened to you?’ referring to Kat’s carefree, teenage self, Kat is not thinking that far back in time. Why would she? Her daughter didn’t know her then. Under normal circumstances, mothers and daughters aren’t often on the same page. In this particular instance, Kat and Alice aren’t even reading the same book. Now, in full fairness, Kat has been through hell the past twelve hours, worrying about her daughter’s whereabouts and being terrified that Alice could have disappeared in a similar manner to Jacob. Also, given Alice’s behavior since they arrived, and the fact that she has been begging to go back to live with her dad, the conclusion Kat draws and her reaction to it are justified. It just sucks for Alice, who is actually feeling really good right now about the time she got to spend meeting her family in the past. The experience has left her feeling much closer to her mother, and so it is jarring to be back in the present where they aren’t fast friends. As much conflict as there may be for them right now, I do love the scene near the end of the episode where Alice tells Kat that, while she appreciates that her mother would leave for her, that she wants to stay in Port Haven and learn more about her family. It’s one of the first times where I think Kat feels like she made the right choice bringing them home.
Poor Kat. Those opening scenes where she’s out searching for Alice are heartbreaking. Obviously, we as the audience know that Alice is perfectly fine, but we find out she’s spent twelve hours not having any idea where her daughter was or what happened to her. When you consider the amount of loss Kat has experienced, and particularly Jacob just up and disappearing, it’s not all that surprising that she quickly jumps to worst case scenario conclusions. The visual imagery is poignant when we see her pulled over next to a cross, which we later learn is a marker for her father, who died in a car accident just outside the farm. The reminder of what she’s been through makes her near panic attack seem like a pretty reasonable response. It was nice to see that, once again, Brady steps in to ground her. While I have my issues with Brady’s character, the one thing he has excelled at is being there to talk things through with Kat. Despite their divorce, he is continuing to be an ally during what has been a rather rocky return home for his ex-wife. I’m still not crazy about some of his choices as a father. Kat never should have had to be the one to tell Alice about Rachel. However, it does feel like in this episode, he is putting forth a little bit more effort to try and be there for Kat and Alice in his own way.
Eventually Alice returns from her time travel adventure. In what is a prime example of miscommunication, the conversation between adult Kat and Alice when Alice first gets back highlights how out of sync they are. We know, and Alice knows, that she wasn’t trying to run away, or get back to her dad, but how exactly does one explain to their mother that they were stuck in another time and didn’t know how to make it back to the present. I don’t envy Alice in that moment. Unfortunately, when she says she was trying to get home, all her mother hears is that she was trying to get back to Minnesota to be with her dad. Likewise, when Alice asks ‘what happened to you?’ referring to Kat’s carefree, teenage self, Kat is not thinking that far back in time. Why would she? Her daughter didn’t know her then. Under normal circumstances, mothers and daughters aren’t often on the same page. In this particular instance, Kat and Alice aren’t even reading the same book. Now, in full fairness, Kat has been through hell the past twelve hours, worrying about her daughter’s whereabouts and being terrified that Alice could have disappeared in a similar manner to Jacob. Also, given Alice’s behavior since they arrived, and the fact that she has been begging to go back to live with her dad, the conclusion Kat draws and her reaction to it are justified. It just sucks for Alice, who is actually feeling really good right now about the time she got to spend meeting her family in the past. The experience has left her feeling much closer to her mother, and so it is jarring to be back in the present where they aren’t fast friends. As much conflict as there may be for them right now, I do love the scene near the end of the episode where Alice tells Kat that, while she appreciates that her mother would leave for her, that she wants to stay in Port Haven and learn more about her family. It’s one of the first times where I think Kat feels like she made the right choice bringing them home.