I know I’m a few weeks behind with these reviews. Life happened and threw my schedule out of whack, but I’m back! In this episode, Kat tries to find her bearings with time travel, while Alice gets to meet her teenage father. Meanwhile, Del is struggling to get the help she needs around the farm and has to ask Elliott for a big favor.
The cliffhanger last episode left us with Kat jumping into the time traveling pond, believing her daughter needed to be rescued. Instead she ends up time traveling with her to 1999. Surprise! Once Kat gets over the initial shock of realizing she’s seeing herself and her family in the past, she, like Alice, seems to embrace what is actually a pretty amazing opportunity. She gets to see the brother and father she lost, and she gets to revisit a time in her life before death and loss were such a centerpiece. As soon as she gets out of the pond, the very first thing she sees is her daughter and her past self hanging out in a field singing and talking and laughing together. One question I have at this moment is, now that Kat is actually seeing this friendship with Alice play out, are there any memories of these moments being triggered for her present day self? In an earlier episode, she told Elliott that Alice felt more like an energy than an actual memory. He proposed that the reason she didn’t remember was because, technically, those interactions were impossible. It seems like now that she’s actually time traveling herself, and she’s seeing these interactions for herself, now, as an adult, that the question of possibility would no longer be a factor. Is there any point at which she will see these interactions between Alice and her younger self and actually remember those moments happening? What I love about Kat seeing her young self with Alice is the dichotomy of coming back to the present and trying to recreate that friendship in the present. It’s similar to when Alice came back from her first time travel trip. She was riding the high of experiencing a really positive experience with her mom, only to end up grounded for having disappeared for twelve hours. They established quickly that the relationship in the past and the relationship in the present were going to be two separate entities. Likewise, Kat comes back to the present wanting to be best friends with her daughter and recreate what she saw in the field, only to have Alice ditch her at the Lobster Social. There’s some irony in the fact that she’s ditching her to hang out with her younger self. The other big piece of Kat’s adventure is that she gets to see her father and brother for the first time in twenty years. Her reaction is heartbreaking. It’s one of those experiences I’m sure she’s fantasized about for years, getting to have one more moment to see them, or talk to them. She does actually get to talk to her father, when he spots her hiding behind the boat, and asks her if she’s okay. I feel like it's hard to overstate the emotional significance of that experience. It was one thing for Alice to meet Colton and Jacob, when she has no past relationship with them. Kat has a history, and memories, both good and painful, with her father and brother. It will be interesting to see what interaction, if any, Kat has with them in future trips.
The cliffhanger last episode left us with Kat jumping into the time traveling pond, believing her daughter needed to be rescued. Instead she ends up time traveling with her to 1999. Surprise! Once Kat gets over the initial shock of realizing she’s seeing herself and her family in the past, she, like Alice, seems to embrace what is actually a pretty amazing opportunity. She gets to see the brother and father she lost, and she gets to revisit a time in her life before death and loss were such a centerpiece. As soon as she gets out of the pond, the very first thing she sees is her daughter and her past self hanging out in a field singing and talking and laughing together. One question I have at this moment is, now that Kat is actually seeing this friendship with Alice play out, are there any memories of these moments being triggered for her present day self? In an earlier episode, she told Elliott that Alice felt more like an energy than an actual memory. He proposed that the reason she didn’t remember was because, technically, those interactions were impossible. It seems like now that she’s actually time traveling herself, and she’s seeing these interactions for herself, now, as an adult, that the question of possibility would no longer be a factor. Is there any point at which she will see these interactions between Alice and her younger self and actually remember those moments happening? What I love about Kat seeing her young self with Alice is the dichotomy of coming back to the present and trying to recreate that friendship in the present. It’s similar to when Alice came back from her first time travel trip. She was riding the high of experiencing a really positive experience with her mom, only to end up grounded for having disappeared for twelve hours. They established quickly that the relationship in the past and the relationship in the present were going to be two separate entities. Likewise, Kat comes back to the present wanting to be best friends with her daughter and recreate what she saw in the field, only to have Alice ditch her at the Lobster Social. There’s some irony in the fact that she’s ditching her to hang out with her younger self. The other big piece of Kat’s adventure is that she gets to see her father and brother for the first time in twenty years. Her reaction is heartbreaking. It’s one of those experiences I’m sure she’s fantasized about for years, getting to have one more moment to see them, or talk to them. She does actually get to talk to her father, when he spots her hiding behind the boat, and asks her if she’s okay. I feel like it's hard to overstate the emotional significance of that experience. It was one thing for Alice to meet Colton and Jacob, when she has no past relationship with them. Kat has a history, and memories, both good and painful, with her father and brother. It will be interesting to see what interaction, if any, Kat has with them in future trips.
There is a difference in the way that Kat and Alice are approaching their time travel adventures. Alice is fully engaging herself in the past. She’s making friends, building relationships… essentially making a life in 1999. Kat, on the other hand, is taking a more voyeuristic approach. There are likely several reasons for this. Firstly, I think it has something to do with the fact that she has already experienced these moments. She doesn’t need to live what she’s already experienced. Second, Alice didn’t really have much of a choice. During her first visit, she meets young Kat the second she gets to the other side of the pond. We’ve seen that young Kat is not great at taking no for an answer, so Alice was going to be involved in that world whether she wanted to or not. Alice also has the benefit of being a teenager. In this episode in particular, most of the people and relationships Kat is observing are those of teenagers. It would be rather challenging, and kind of creepy, for her to try and insert herself as an adult into those situations. That said, Kat’s other major reason for observing from afar is the fact that Alice doesn’t know she is time traveling. She’s trying to figure out what Alice is doing, and trying to actively integrate herself would obviously blow her cover. It would definitely be cool for them to be able to experience this gift they share together. Maybe someday we’ll get to see that.
Alice’s experience with time travel in this episode is far less magical than she’s used to. She meets her teenage father and things do not turn out the way she expected. It’s one thing to have that awakening moment where you realize your parents are only human, but Alice’s introduction to her teenage father is… brutal. She’s had such a positive experience with her mom, basically becoming best friends and sharing clothes and music and boy talk. Meeting young Brady is such a stark contrast to that. Alice calls Brady in the present, knowing that she’s going to meet him in 1999. She asks him what he was like back then, and he tells her the same as now, but just less mature. Dear lord if that isn’t an understatement. I know one shouldn’t be judged for the behaviors of their teenage selves, but let’s face it. The kid is a jerk. He’s pompous, entitled, and rude to everyone. He’s in Kat’s hometown and has nothing but jabs and jokes to offer, which seems like a pretty crappy way to act in front of his girlfriend’s friends and family. Between the fake ID, and his attempt to force Elliott to run his mother’s credit card without her being there, it’s really difficult to imagine what in the world Kat saw in this guy. Now imagine being Alice, excited to meet her father in the past, only to have to watch him put on a display like that. I already was not a big fan of Brady in the present. Watching his younger self did him no favors.
Now, it is worth mentioning that some of the behavior we saw Brady exhibit, we have seen to some degree in Alice at times. To some degree, she does tend to treat Elliott, both young and old versions, as if she’s better than him. She was a little bit rude about the clothes he was leaving her at the pond, and definitely had no consideration of his feelings or schedule when she was giving him grief for not wanting to come on the double date. She was completely oblivious to Elliott’s feelings about Kat going on a date with another guy and made a big show of how wonderful it was going to be for her to meet her dad. That last point she can get somewhat of a pass on. Chalk it up to teenage self centeredness. It is a big deal for her to get to meet her dad’s younger self. She is allowed to be excited, but maybe just read the room and understand your audience a little bit better. I don’t know how she hasn’t figured out yet that he has a crush on Kat. Poor baby Elliott. He was crushed by the realization that Brady was Alice’s father, and therefore would inevitably end up with Kat. All of this said, the difference between how Alice acts versus how Alice acts is intention. Most of Alice’s less desirable behavior isn’t done out of intentional malice. She’s not going out of her way to be a jerk to the people around her, even when she’s saying or doing things that are insensitive. Brady goes out of his way to be confrontational with everyone who isn’t Kat, and purposely belittles them to make himself look cool. There is no attempt made to be remotely nice to anyone. Just look at Alice in the present. She’s done some things that weren’t great, like when she bailed on Spencer’s birthday party. However, she owned up to that and apologized, saying she’s just really bad at being the new kid. Speaking of, I appreciate that Alice seems to be trying a little bit harder to be present in the present. It was nice to see her accept Spencer’s olive branch and spend some time with him at the Lobster Social. Even if we didn’t get to really see them hang out, the knowledge that she did shows an attempt at trying to balance her life between worlds. Regardless, my point is that Alice’s teenage moments are balanced by recognition and attempts to be better. Brady has no remorse for his actions, and even as an adult just chalks them up to immaturity.
My biggest issue with everything that happens in 1999 is adult Kat’s reaction to it. While watching all of this from afar, she doesn’t appear to be the least bit concerned by Brady’s behavior. She’s mooning over apparently fond memories of young love. I personally don’t understand how an adult can watch interactions like that unfold and not cringe. Her teenage self, we can assume, is merely blinded by young love and more concerned with making Brady ‘comfortable’ than worrying too much about how he’s affecting her friends. I can guarantee if adult Kat had witnessed Nick acting like Brady did with Alice, that date would have been far less sweet and nostalgic for her. The only thing about the entire 1999 sequence that seems to bother her is when she overhears Alice talking to Elliott about 2023, and realizes that he’s known about Alice time traveling all along.
Elliott standing up to Kat was a big deal for him and something that needed to happen eventually. We’ve watched him be the most upstanding best friend one could ask for in both time periods. He does nothing but help the Landrys. We see him play Giles to Alice’s time travel adventures, act as Kat’s shoulder to lean on, help fix up the boat, and even help Del deliver a gosh darn baby cow! Del at least shows open gratitude for Elliott’s efforts. Kat and Alice have largely taken him for granted. Kat is focused on her own needs, and as both a teenager and an adult, is often quick to push him aside for someone new… be it her bff Alice (specifically as a teenager), or new boyfriends Brady and Andy. At the same time, she gets jealous if anyone else shows him attention. Alice is using him as a means to serve her time traveling needs, and has come to just expect him to help her keep her cover in 1999. She shows up in his classroom or at his house unannounced when she wants questions answered. What Elliott is doing in helping Alice is pretty incredible. I don’t think Alice truly realizes the freedom he’s granted her by allowing her to take these trips on her terms without revealing her secret to anyone, or how big of a deal it is that he’s been there as a support system, unconditionally. When Kat confronts him about keeping the time travel secret and essentially tells him his help is unwanted, you can tell he’s a man who has finally reached his limit. His reaction is twenty plus years in the making. You can also tell he isn’t comfortable with that level of confrontation, especially when it comes to Kat. He does say everything he needs to say, and every bit of it is warranted. However, it feels like once it’s all out, he suddenly realizes who he’s talking to and the tail end of his speech falters just a little bit. I totally understand that. As an introvert who hates confrontation, I can relate to bottling up all of the bad feelings until they explode and then realizing you can’t take them back. Kat is visibly taken aback as well. While she has no problem confronting people she has an issue with, I don’t think she’s ever seen Elliott stand up for himself like that. The benefit of being the quiet mouse who doesn’t regularly speak up is that, usually, people tend to listen more when you do. Kat knows she messed up, and we do see her thank Elliott for being there for her mom and daughter. Now, I will say, in Kat’s defense, she does have some reason to be upset with him for not telling her about Alice time traveling. Remember back in episode two when she spent twelve hours not knowing where her daughter was? Elliott knew. So, as a parent, she has a right to be angry and upset with him for essentially lying to her about her daughter’s whereabouts. That said, it’s such a gray area, because he’s been playing secret keeper since they were teenagers, at a time when Kat wasn’t Alice’s mom. Also, he doesn’t know what the time ramifications are for Kat knowing about any of this. Not to mention, she likely would never have believed him if he told her anyway. He’s sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place. Anyway, my point is, Kat deserved to be called out for taking him for granted and for not being there for Del, but Elliott is not totally without fault. Alice is Kat’s daughter and she has a right to know what’s been going on with her.
The last thing I want to talk about from 1999 is Nick and Alice. I don’t want to get invested in their relationship, but this episode made it really hard not to. When young Kat insists on doing a double date, she calls Nick to go with Alice, something that she’s definitely not mad about. Unfortunately, due to how things unfold with Brady, Alice’s attention is nowhere near Nick. Nick has a surprisingly mature response to this. He’s quick to notice that Brady is the root of Alice’s distraction and is kind and understanding with her, offering to bail on the date if she wants to get away. Essentially, he spends the date playing peacekeeper, also stepping up big time when Brady tries to bully Elliott into running his mom’s credit card without her present. He’s always been a nice guy, but paired up next to Brady, he looks like an absolute saint. Alice even gets introduced to Nick’s parents. His moms own the movie theater where the quad goes on their date. Lesbian power couple of 1999! Thank you, Hallmark, for including some LGBTQ+ representation in this show. I love the scene where they’re teasing Nick and trying to embarrass him a little bit in front of Alice. It seems clear that he’s mentioned Alice to them, further indicating that he likes her. It’s just so unfortunate that Nick and Alice are ultimately a doomed pairing. They’re from two different times and in the present the age gap is exceptionally significant. If it continues, it’s only going to lead to heartbreak.
Now let’s look at some of the happenings in the present timeline. Kat runs into Andy at the Lobster Social. She channels her inner Alex Danvers and gets wine drunk, which leads to her offering some interesting revelations. It also leads to her making out with him on the pier. Her first kiss since Brady. What a way to move on. Other than this one scene, I’m not totally buying that there is an actual, real connection between them. They are obviously physically attracted to one another, but only seem to show interest when they are both in the same space. Even then, that interest is debatable. Andy doesn’t call her, claiming he’s been busy at work. Okay. That’s valid. However, on Kat’s end, she’s so consumed by her own drama, that it doesn’t feel like she actually cares to get to know Andy. In their scene at the Lobster Social, she essentially uses him as a therapist to vent to. Then later at the farm, she bails on him to go after Alice without saying anything. While they don’t dislike one another, it doesn’t feel like either one of them is all that invested in putting forth much effort to actually build a relationship. I will say, the fact that Monica had told Kat that Andy is a doctor, not elaborating on the fact that he’s a vet, was quite funny. It is so true to who we have seen Monica’s character to be that she would leave out that small detail, and it creates some great moments of comedy. Revisiting the episode a second time for this review, I died laughing when Andy says he’s been busy because it’s birthing season, and Kat says she didn’t know there was a season for that. He’s referring to cows, and she’s got it in her head that he’s talking about humans. When she does finally figure out that he’s not a human doctor, her confusion as she processes that information is put on full display for Andy and Del. Del seems to very much enjoy the awkward exchange at her daughter’s expense. “You enjoyed that.” “I didn’t hate it.” I feel like Brady showing up at the end of the episode has pretty well sealed Andy’s fate as a one off love interest. The battle between Brady and Elliott is on. In case it wasn’t obvious, I’m on Team Elliott all the way. Del appears to agree, as she tells Elliott to play the long game with Kat.
Del is still adjusting to having her daughter and granddaughter back in her life. In the twenty years since Kat left Port Haven, Del has embraced being independent and self-sufficient. This was in part out of necessity, having essentially lost her entire family in one fell swoop. She’s been doing things by herself for so long that this independence has become a point of pride as well. Unfortunately, having Kat and Alice home has increased her work load a bit, and she’s struggling to get them to pull their weight and help out. Now, I am definitely one who believes in the philosophy that having a little bit of mess in your house is not necessarily a bad thing. It only serves to prove that people actually live there. However, the current state of Landry farm in this episode is definitely crossing into disaster territory. When Alice comes down for dinner, there is just stuff everywhere. Not to mention that, even though she promises to pick it up, Alice still leaves all of the boat cleaning supplies scattered across the front yard. Then she asks Kat to pick up the tables from the Lobster Social, which Kat agrees to do, and then she still ends up having to go get them herself. That, I think, is what makes both Kat and Alice’s lack of helping particularly egregious. They both make a promise to do so, and then bail. Not surprisingly, they both bail to take a trip through the pond. They’re so consumed by the way things were that they are completely unaware of the way things are, and don’t see Del’s struggles.
Elliott is definitely aware of Del’s struggles, and he offers her his help and support. She is able to vent to him about Kat and Alice, and eventually she has to call on him for a pretty big favor. When Ole Miss, the cow, goes into labor during a thunderstorm, Del can’t reach Andy or Kat, so she calls Elliott. He steps up big time, and helps her deliver the calf. However, what he does for her isn’t just about the calf. Del’s arc in this episode proves once again that, for as much as she tries to project that she’s moved on, losing Colton and Jacob is still something that is ever present on her mind. It is revealed that Ole Miss’ mom was a gift from Colton, and Del is hanging onto her like a lifeline. Considering Kat’s claims in the first couple of episodes that Del erased everything related to Jacob and Colton, it’s notable that we’ve now had two episodes in a row that feature pretty significant pieces from her and Colton’s relationship that she has kept and cannot let go of. Elliott being there for her in that moment was just further proof of how much he cares about the Landry family, and gives some insight into just how much he has been around to help in Kat’s absence. Other than Elliott’s crush on Kat, and his love of science, we know very little about Elliott himself. His stories are so wrapped up in helping others that there is little time left to explore his own issues or goals. I hope that as time goes on we get to know more about him and that he gets his own arcs and moments to shine that aren’t so tied to other characters.
Other observations:
-Jacob finds a ball in the field and insists he has seen a dog. Are we to assume that Finn has been time traveling?
-The 90s music in this show continues to be spectacular.
-Coachella for crabs. When Alice assumes she doesn’t get the reference, Del makes a burning man joke. I love these little moments of Del getting to bond with her granddaughter. We need more!
-Kat asks Del if she remembers ‘her friend Alice’ from 1999. Del claims she doesn’t because there were so many kids that would visit the farm. Is she lying?
-It seemed a little jarring for Del and Rita to just get over their fight from last episode so quickly. I guess it’s supposed to be a testament to old friends being able to fight without holding grudges, but given the context of the fight, it felt like Rita was let off the hook pretty easily.
This show continues to deliver strong episodes. There hasn’t been a bad one yet. As much as I disliked watching young Brady’s introduction in 1999, there is no denying that these time travel stories are so well written and are providing so much insight into the present day stories. I hope that someday Kat and Alice can enjoy their time travel experience together. It would be cool to see them explore the past together. With Brady rolling into town, I’m sure the present day dynamics will get shaken up a little bit. How will Alice deal with knowing what she knows about her father’s past? How does Kat feel about Brady being around? How does everyone else feel about it? This show is doing a spectacular job with cliffhangers. They have me hooked and wanting more every week. Keep up the good work, Hallmark!