I’m still playing catchup, but hey! That just means extra review fun. This episode, Kat juggles all of the possibilities that her time travel ability could have, while also reconnecting with Brady, who has unexpectedly turned up in town. Alice struggles to connect with her father in the present, knowing what she knows about his past. Elliott and Del both ask their respective love interests out on dates.
Before we jump into this review, I want to preface it by saying that I very much enjoyed this episode. I love these characters and this story, so any strong feelings expressed going forward are coming from a place of protective instinct over something that I care about. That said, there was some stuff I didn’t like, notably in regards to one Hurricane Brady. Unannounced, he rolls into town to stir things up, with the excuse that he had some time off of work and wants to see Alice. His timing is unfortunate since Alice just witnessed his behavior during his first date with Kat in 1999, and it did not put him in a good light. This makes it incredibly difficult for her to see him the same way she used to in the present. What I find most interesting about this is that Alice’s attitude about her father has taken a 180 degree turn from those early episodes when she wanted nothing more than to go back to Minnesota. She used to call and beg him to let her come live with him. Now, she’d rather he just go back home. Of course, instead of dealing with her feelings about her father, Alice chooses to avoid him. To be honest, after the last episode, I was right there with Alice in my opinion of Brady. I’ve said from the start that I wasn’t a fan of some of his behavior, even as an adult. However, given the fact that he is her father, Brady’s redemption arc with Alice was important. Regardless of who Brady is or isn’t as a person, Alice needed to have that resolution with him, and I think it is earned. While this is going on, something I did appreciate is that when Alice asks the other adults in her life what they thought of Brady as a teenager, they provide very diplomatic descriptions of him. Both Del and Elliott have been able to express the fact that they weren’t crazy about teenage Brady without outright putting him in a negative light in front of his daughter. They respect the father daughter relationship, and aren’t doing or saying anything to harm that for her. This makes Brady’s reaction later in the episode exceptionally infuriating, but I will get to that later. Even Kat has done her best to protect Brady’s image with Alice. She hid the fact that he had moved in with Rachel until it was no longer possible to keep the secret, and in those early episodes had to play bad cop with Alice while Brady was simply not around. The negative side of this diplomacy is that it makes seeing Brady in 1999 an exceptionally difficult pill for Alice to swallow.
Ultimately, Brady has 1999 Kat to thank for getting back in Alice’s good graces. Young Kat, desperate for Brady’s first family dinner to go well, forces Alice to attend as a buffer. Alice is less than thrilled with this prospect, and doesn’t go out of her way to play nice. This dinner ends up highlighting what I think is one of the biggest issues with Brady in both timelines. He is the ultimate bullshit artist - I honestly couldn’t think of a nicer word for it. The majority of what comes out of his mouth makes him sound like he’s putting on a performance for everyone in the room. As a lawyer, this is probably a skill that comes in handy. When it comes to his real life though, I don’t think he’s fooling anyone. It makes much of his conversation with the family incredibly awkward. Poor Colton is trying his hardest to relate to his daughter’s new boyfriend, but they just are not on the same level. While he is the master of the soulful, singer-songwriter ballad, Brady thinks Limp Bizkit is the greatest 90s band. Alice is quick to point out that their songs are full of misogynistic lyrics. Jacob also doesn’t appear to be a big fan of Brady. When Brady attempts to compliment Del’s potato salad, calling it the best he’s ever had, Jacob asks him how many he has tried. That was pretty funny. The honesty and lack of filter that kids have is so beautifully entertaining sometimes. Given that Brady was dismissive of Jacob’s claims to have seen the white witch, accusing him of sneaking into a scary movie, and treating him like a little kid, it’s not that surprising that Jacob would be annoyed. None of these interactions are changing Alice’s opinion of her father, until the moment that Kat tells him to tell everyone what he thought when he first arrived at the house. Even the best performers have to be real every once in a while. I do think Brady is being honest when he says that pulling up to the house felt like coming home. Suddenly, Alice starts to see her 2023 father in this teenage kid. She sees him again later, when she witnesses the moment that Brady gave Kat the bracelet. It paints her a picture of what young Kat was seeing in Brady. When he’s real, and authentic, and not putting up entitled pretenses, he’s actually a halfway decent guy.
Before we jump into this review, I want to preface it by saying that I very much enjoyed this episode. I love these characters and this story, so any strong feelings expressed going forward are coming from a place of protective instinct over something that I care about. That said, there was some stuff I didn’t like, notably in regards to one Hurricane Brady. Unannounced, he rolls into town to stir things up, with the excuse that he had some time off of work and wants to see Alice. His timing is unfortunate since Alice just witnessed his behavior during his first date with Kat in 1999, and it did not put him in a good light. This makes it incredibly difficult for her to see him the same way she used to in the present. What I find most interesting about this is that Alice’s attitude about her father has taken a 180 degree turn from those early episodes when she wanted nothing more than to go back to Minnesota. She used to call and beg him to let her come live with him. Now, she’d rather he just go back home. Of course, instead of dealing with her feelings about her father, Alice chooses to avoid him. To be honest, after the last episode, I was right there with Alice in my opinion of Brady. I’ve said from the start that I wasn’t a fan of some of his behavior, even as an adult. However, given the fact that he is her father, Brady’s redemption arc with Alice was important. Regardless of who Brady is or isn’t as a person, Alice needed to have that resolution with him, and I think it is earned. While this is going on, something I did appreciate is that when Alice asks the other adults in her life what they thought of Brady as a teenager, they provide very diplomatic descriptions of him. Both Del and Elliott have been able to express the fact that they weren’t crazy about teenage Brady without outright putting him in a negative light in front of his daughter. They respect the father daughter relationship, and aren’t doing or saying anything to harm that for her. This makes Brady’s reaction later in the episode exceptionally infuriating, but I will get to that later. Even Kat has done her best to protect Brady’s image with Alice. She hid the fact that he had moved in with Rachel until it was no longer possible to keep the secret, and in those early episodes had to play bad cop with Alice while Brady was simply not around. The negative side of this diplomacy is that it makes seeing Brady in 1999 an exceptionally difficult pill for Alice to swallow.
Ultimately, Brady has 1999 Kat to thank for getting back in Alice’s good graces. Young Kat, desperate for Brady’s first family dinner to go well, forces Alice to attend as a buffer. Alice is less than thrilled with this prospect, and doesn’t go out of her way to play nice. This dinner ends up highlighting what I think is one of the biggest issues with Brady in both timelines. He is the ultimate bullshit artist - I honestly couldn’t think of a nicer word for it. The majority of what comes out of his mouth makes him sound like he’s putting on a performance for everyone in the room. As a lawyer, this is probably a skill that comes in handy. When it comes to his real life though, I don’t think he’s fooling anyone. It makes much of his conversation with the family incredibly awkward. Poor Colton is trying his hardest to relate to his daughter’s new boyfriend, but they just are not on the same level. While he is the master of the soulful, singer-songwriter ballad, Brady thinks Limp Bizkit is the greatest 90s band. Alice is quick to point out that their songs are full of misogynistic lyrics. Jacob also doesn’t appear to be a big fan of Brady. When Brady attempts to compliment Del’s potato salad, calling it the best he’s ever had, Jacob asks him how many he has tried. That was pretty funny. The honesty and lack of filter that kids have is so beautifully entertaining sometimes. Given that Brady was dismissive of Jacob’s claims to have seen the white witch, accusing him of sneaking into a scary movie, and treating him like a little kid, it’s not that surprising that Jacob would be annoyed. None of these interactions are changing Alice’s opinion of her father, until the moment that Kat tells him to tell everyone what he thought when he first arrived at the house. Even the best performers have to be real every once in a while. I do think Brady is being honest when he says that pulling up to the house felt like coming home. Suddenly, Alice starts to see her 2023 father in this teenage kid. She sees him again later, when she witnesses the moment that Brady gave Kat the bracelet. It paints her a picture of what young Kat was seeing in Brady. When he’s real, and authentic, and not putting up entitled pretenses, he’s actually a halfway decent guy.
Flashforward to the 2023 family dinner. Del has invited Elliott, with the excuse that he’s always been like family. You cannot tell me that Del didn’t know exactly how that dinner was going to go. I know Del genuinely loves Elliott and does consider him family, but that is not why she invited him. That was purely to provide a roadblock to Brady weaseling his way back into Kat’s good graces. I will admit that it was hilarious watching her reaction to the boys’ sparring match over Kat. The best part was when she leaves the dinner, accusing Kat, Brady and Elliott of regressing, so she can go in search of ‘actual adults’. I honestly love her for orchestrating that moment. Brady didn’t stand a chance at verbal competition with Elliott, and Elliott seems to have no regrets with how that conversation went. Meanwhile, Kat just wants wine. Humor aside, there is something that bothers me about this scene. The episode spends so much time trying to teach Alice that, while her dad isn’t perfect, he’s not the same person that he was in 1999. The message for her is that he has grown up and become better than he was. She even acknowledges as much, and is proud of who he has become. When she’s not around, however, he reverts back to being that same person from 1999. It undermines that arc for me. The sparring match at dinner is laced with Brady’s privilege and entitlement. He’s still the rich kid who has always gotten whatever he wanted, and he doesn’t like that he’s being bested by ‘a common man’ like Elliott. At least that is how it read to me. Every insult he throws is him looking down on Elliott for being poor, for being nerdy, and for being the guy from the small town who isn’t some wealthy bigshot. He even tries to insult him for being a teacher. Such a quaint ‘noble’ profession. Are you kidding me? Teachers are saints who deserve the utmost respect. No, they don’t make much money, especially by Brady’s standards, but they endure more than anyone should ever expect them to, all in the name of giving kids a chance to learn and grow into decent, productive humans. Del finds the fact that Elliott is a teacher to be something that gives him a leg up on Brady. When Alice tells him she has a physics test to study for, Del points out that Elliott is the science teacher and that all the kids love him. I get that this comment was partially responsible for Brady even bringing the teaching issue up, but the whole dinner conversation was a poor reflection on Brady regardless. Also, Dave Matthews Band is so much better than Limp Bizkit.
I’m conflicted, after this episode. On the one hand, we want Brady and Kat to end up together in the past, because we want Alice to exist in the present. We love Alice. However, I kind of feel like it should have been a sign to Kat, both in 1999 and in 2023, that her best friends, Alice and Elliott, have zero interest in being friends, or even interacting with Brady. Other people’s opinions shouldn’t always be the determinant factor in whether a partner is right for you, but I feel like it’s a bit of a red flag when none of your best friends want anything to do with them. Contrast that with Del, Byron and Rita. Rita openly admits she doesn’t like Byron, but she is incredibly supportive of him having a relationship with Del, because she knows he’s a good guy for Del. Now, in Alice’s case, I understand not wanting to be a third wheel with her parents, and also the growing pains associated with learning her dad wasn’t always a great guy. However, young Kat doesn’t realize that as a factor. It’s just concerning that she works so hard to defend him, rather than calling him out for his bad behavior. Even in the present, she says nothing to Brady but later scolds Elliott for the two of them ‘bringing out the worst in each other’. Kat literally just got back from 1999 where she watched Brady be an absolute jerk to Elliott at the theater and somehow she still believes both of them are the problem? Also, why does Brady keep acting like Kat is still his wife? He’s got a new girlfriend, and yet he’s holding Kat’s hand at the breakfast table and kissing her cheek when he leaves after dinner. Let’s not forget the straight up kiss on the lips at the end of the episode… after she’s already told him it’s too late for them. It was too much.
All of that said, over the course of this episode, I started out emotionally locked-step with Alice as she got to see some of Brady’s softer, less pretentious sides. They showed us moments that definitely illustrated why Kat would have fallen for him as a teenager. Even his conversation with Alice about becoming a father earned him some brownie points. He wanted to be better for her, because he considers her the best kid ever. Honestly, he was on track for some serious character redemption in my eyes - until the ending. Again, if the message was supposed to be that Brady wasn’t as selfish and pretentious as his teenage self, then… this really failed to deliver. Alice innocently mentions that she’s glad he’s grown into a better person than he was, and his first reaction is to go tattle on Elliott to Kat, assuming that Elliott has said bad things about him to his daughter. Remember earlier how I mentioned that I liked the fact that Del and Elliott had both been diplomatic discussing Brady and had not said bad things about him, even when warranted. I wish so badly that Brady had somehow figured out that Alice had drawn her own conclusions about what a jerk he was. The tattling was bad enough, but that last scene with Kat is brutal for other reasons too. From a storytelling perspective, the jealous, cheating, ex husband is a trope that is not unique to this show. It is, however, a trope I would love to see die a fiery death across media in general. Man cheats on wife, or leaves wife for a younger woman, but then gets jealous of the now ex-wife for moving on with someone new and comes in to blow away all of the good things that ex-wife has built in his absence. It is TOXIC. It’s not interesting, it’s infuriating. I don’t expect characters to be perfect. There is drama in the mess and the triangles and the dynamic of logic versus feelings. Jealousy in and of itself is great drama. They’ve explored it so well with Elliott all season, and gotten me emotionally invested in his feelings. The jealous cheater crosses a line for me though, and I’ve written Brady off, regardless of how much more of him we get. The only person for whom I felt anything in that scene was Kat. Kat having to reopen old wounds because Brady was too selfish to live with his own choices was devastating. At least when the makeout session is over, Kat is still able to tell Brady that they’re over, and that the moment changes nothing. I was proud of her for that.
Let’s move on to something not Brady related. Alice is participating in 2023! This made me so happy to see. She actually goes so far as to get involved in planning for the school dance, suggesting the theme ‘Party Like It’s 1999’. You couldn’t get any more on the nose with that one, could you, Alice? I laughed so hard when Spencer says that the 90s are having a moment right now. Oh, kid, you have no idea. Spencer and Zoey offer to set Alice up on a date, but Alice tells them she’s seeing someone… aka Nick. She still attends the dance with Spencer and Zoey, and actually appears to have some fun in the process. While she does duck out early in hopes of meeting Nick, she’s taken some baby steps towards living her life in the present. This is major progress from a couple of episodes ago when she was spending every waking, and some sleeping moments, in 1999. I’m proud of her for trying to find a balance.
I was curious to see how they were going to handle Alice and Nick’s storyline in the present. Back when the two first met, I expressed concern about the impracticality of that relationship having any feasibility in 2023 due to the significant age gap. I appreciate that they addressed that in the show, by having Elliott in both timelines point out the impossibility of it. The line where Alice tells him in 1999 that she’s already heard a morality speech from him once today was funny. Basically, she didn’t like adult Elliott’s answer so she went to ask 1999 Elliott’s opinion and got the same response. It’s also amusing to see that adult Elliott is now choosing to hide in places where Alice can’t go, like the staff lounge, when he wants to avoid time travel talk. He’s been burned enough by her confronting him out in the open that he’s developed an exit strategy. Back to Nick and Alice though, I think the scenes in 1999 are telling a beautiful love story between two teenagers. If Alice were actually a product of that time, I would cheer on that story all day long. However, she’s not, and what we’re left with is a 2023 teenager pining for a man twenty years her senior. I think they handled it in the best way they possibly could without getting into creepy territory. Alice, in 1999, gives Nick a date in 2023 where they can meet up, but when that date comes around, he doesn’t show up. Personally, I think it needs to stay that way. Having them meet now is just too slippery of an uncomfortable slope for my liking. I think it’s fine to enjoy their relationship in 1999, even knowing it has an expiration date, but a line needs to be drawn somewhere. They’re not dismissive of Alice’s feelings, which is also nice. Both adult Elliott and adult Kat are aware and trying to figure out the best way to handle things without her getting hurt. Ultimately, she still does get hurt, but at least she’s now got two people in 2023 who can be there for her, and actually understand some of those time travel complications.
In an episode that was largely about endings, we see that the local theater, The Roxy, is closing down. The best part of this was seeing the 2023 return of Nick’s moms, Port Haven’s resident lesbian power couple, Joyce and Jude. They are having to go through boxes of old movie posters and memorabilia, and arguing about what things to keep and throw away. Del, Kat and Brady, all having a special connection to the place, volunteer to help. I love that they used this theater closing as a way to tie all the stories together in this episode. Movie theaters have become a perfect representation of nostalgia, and times gone by, so it makes for a beautiful bookend. In one of the boxes at the Roxy, Kat finds an old poster from when Jacob went missing. This sends her on a trip to the past, where she’s watching young Jacob and Danny play in the woods. She attempts to stay hidden from them, but they hear noises, and when they approach, Jacob sees her white shirt through the branches and thinks she’s the white witch. I actually love that. While we still don’t know the true origin story of the white witch, we know that this local legend and lore is something Jacob is very tuned into. It makes sense that a boy his age would believe that he’s seen it for real, and it’s such a perfect twist that he’s actually just seeing his big sister as an adult. This scene is also a perfect way to tie together the fact that, even though Kat and Alice are traveling through the pond separately, they both seem to be going to the same date. When Alice joins the family for Brady’s first dinner, Jacob tells everyone that he saw the witch that afternoon. The fact that Alice is the only one who will believe him is very cute. I love the bond between uncle and niece.
Like her daughter, Kat is using Elliott as her time travel sounding board. Also like Alice, Kat’s relationship with Elliott has felt very one sided. Alice has the benefit of being the teenager who doesn’t have the friendship history with Elliott that Kat does. She also sees him as the mentor who is supposed to be telling her how to handle things, not the other way around. Kat doesn’t really have these excuses. Firstly, they’re best friends of twenty plus years. By default that’s supposed to be a two way street. Even when Elliott tries to be a mentor to her, she’s dismissive of his theories, calling them ‘useless’ and assuming they only apply to Alice. Harsh, Kat. When she posits the idea that she could go back in time and change things, namely Jacob’s disappearance, Elliott seems convinced that she couldn’t even if she tried. He seems to think his observations of Alice have proven that there is a singular, consistent timeline. Given that Elliott is the one with the actual nerdy, science background, it seems like maybe Kat should be a little more open to his ideas. I understand that she’s reacting from an emotional place, and a refusal to believe she can’t fix Jacob’s disappearance, but still. Elliott has twenty years of experience with this subject. He tells Kat to be grateful for the opportunity to see her brother happy and alive. It was funny, and also very Alice-like, when Elliott gets into his nerdy science talk, and she’s just like ‘plain English, please.’ Science is not a strength of this mother-daughter duo. Kat also expresses concern about how Alice feels about the time travel situation, knowing that she’s been confiding in Elliott. He assures her that he’s looking after Alice, and that she’s okay. He reminds Kat that Alice thinks she’s amazing, but she thinks it’s only teenage Kat that Alice feels that way about, while mom Kat continues to be a let down. Elliott reminds her that both versions are still her. Maybe Elliott should become a therapist to supplement his teaching salary. At the very least, he should start charging the Landry family. Kat is also still upset with Elliott for not telling her about time travel. That’s understandable, but then she turns right back around and tells him that she doesn’t want Alice to know that she can time travel. Am I the only one who hears the loud ring of hypocrisy in that statement? Alice is going to find out, and she’s going to be mad at Kat for not telling her the truth, even though she too has been keeping it a secret for months. Landry women and their secrets. I just don’t see how she can keep up the ruse. If her secret keeping ability is anywhere near as bad as Alice’s, Alice will find out by the next episode.
Del and Rita’s dynamic continues to be somewhat baffling, but also amusing. In their first scene together, they are discussing the theater closing, and the fact that they have both volunteered to help. Right off the bat, we find out that Rita has managed to skirt the majority of the theater cleanup responsibilities, while Del has been stuck with a not insignificant number of them. Rita is a woman who definitely knows how to get her way. When Byron comes in and says he’s glad she and Del have mended fences, the two women at first look confused, and then Rita assures him it was water under the bridge and to keep up. This would imply that Del and Rita having disagreements like that is far from unusual. Given that they are both strong headed women, I can definitely see where they’ve probably butted heads plenty of times. It was sweet that Rita is encouraging Del to go out with Byron, despite her claims that she doesn’t like the man. I had previously wondered if she was jealous of Del and Byron. I’m glad this isn’t the case. One jealousy triangle was more than enough for this episode. Rita likes Del, and knows she has a connection with Byron, so regardless of her own personal tastes, she is happy to support their relationship. This is a Rita I can get on board with. I’m fine with her being a spitfire, so long as she’s not overstepping boundaries like she was early on. After some encouragement, Del finally agrees to go on a date with Byron. It was so nice to see her engage in something that brings her joy. It’s obvious that she enjoys spending time with Byron and that they have a special connection. Everything was going so well until that picture of her and Colton appeared on screen at the Roxy farewell. It turns out Kat and Brady aren’t the only ones with date night memories from the old theater. Del and Colton appear to have had their own share of memories. That moment was like air releasing from a balloon, as she instantly put walls back up, and poor Byron felt it. As much as Del has preached to Kat about moving on with her life, we keep seeing examples of the fact that she’s holding onto the past just as hard as Kat is. Kat is just more upfront about it.
Elliott was so adorable with the prom storyline. This man has been crushing on Kat for the last twenty plus years, and he finally gets his shot to have a pseudo date, when he invites her to chaperone the Fall Dance with him. She jokingly tells him he has to bring her a corsage, and he does. Not only that, he also gets the iconically 90s view of Kat walking down the stairs in her dress, set to Kiss Me by Sixpence None the Richer no less. Of course, in a moment which I feel truly encapsulates the adorable awkwardness of the moment, she trips down the last couple of stairs. (A nod to Chyler’s role in Not Another Teen Movie?) Heels are hard. Elliott tells her she looks ‘fine’. Way to really sell it, buddy. Del appears to be enjoying the moment for all of its sweet and awkward glory. Her reaction when he walks in, dressed to the nines and holding the corsage was priceless. She’s obviously team Elliott, but she’s getting a rise out of teasing him about it a little bit.
Kat is either completely oblivious, or in serious denial about the fact that Elliott has feelings for her. It’s also incredibly difficult to tell if she reciprocates those feelings in any way. The problem is, if she is aware, and isn’t actually interested, then she’s doing him an incredible disservice. She’s also being an incredibly cruel ‘friend’. I genuinely don’t think, even with all of the clues in the world, that she has any idea. Kat is so used to Elliott just being the loyal best friend, that I don’t think she’s even bothered to consider whether or not he has the potential to be more than that. Sixteen year old Kat definitely did not have feelings for him. Honestly, once Brady entered the picture, it seems like she barely even remembered that Elliott existed. Adult Kat on the other hand, I don’t know. Yes, she shares the dance with him at the end, but everything prior to that doesn’t show any obvious reciprocation. When Elliott asks her to come chaperone with her, she makes light of it, joking about limos and corsages. After she does agree to go, she immediately jumps into a conversation about traveling back to see Jacob. Then, when Elliott actually does show up with the corsage, she tells him she was just joking. Even when they dance together at the end of the episode, she spends most of the time telling him that if he’d only shown up to their high school dances, she could have taught him how to dance. Something tells me that lack of dancing skill was far from the primary reason that teenage Elliott didn’t attend dances. Hurricane Brady likely had more to do with that. That nickname is sticking. Kat does say that she overheard Elliott and Nick talking about her in the theater in 1999. The only thing that was said was Nick assuring Elliott that Kat and Brady wouldn’t last. Is that meant to imply she knows Elliott liked/likes her? Regardless, even when they do approach a moment leaning into more sincere territory, the aforementioned hurricane swoops in to ruin it. I really don’t know what to think, or how to read Kat’s feelings on this one. That said, I think it’s going to be pretty darn difficult to avoid talking about it going forward. After Elliott witnesses Kat and Brady making out in the parking lot, I think his tolerance for being the one left standing has officially expired. Kat does not owe it to Elliott to be romantically interested in him if she is not, but given their history and friendship, it does feel like she owes it to him to have some consideration for his feelings. Their friendship has been incredibly one sided. He always shows up when she needs him, but when have we ever seen her be there for him in the same way? Whether it was 1999 or 2023, Kat is consumed by her own problems. It’s been an issue brought up by her mother and daughter as well. Elliott deserves better, whether from a best friend or from a love interest. If his reaction is anything to go by, I think Kat is going to have to step up in the friendship department in order to fix this.
Other Observations:
-I love Alice’s outfit in the 1999 scenes. The black flannel tied at the waist. It’s giving very 90s grunge vibes.
-Jacob leaves his bike in the woods when he runs off after seeing the white witch, aka Kat. Is this why it randomly appears on the side of the road after he disappears? How close are we to his disappearance?
Hallmark keeps bringing their A Game with this show. I love escaping into this world week after week. The only thing I will say is that I am ready to move on from the Brady stories. They were important to include to further develop these characters and better understand how past dynamics have influenced the present. I fully respect that. However, I’m more interested in jumping back into the stories with our Port Haven regulars. Team Elliott all the way. Overall, this was yet another fantastic episode. The dance storyline was really sweet, and I loved the small town charm in the theater closing story. As I’ve said before, any complaints I’ve had about this show are mostly related to personal likes and dislikes. The story continues to be so well written and the performances are engaging. The time travel elements and the mystery of Jacob’s disappearance are so well balanced with telling a genuine story about family in the present. I can’t wait for the next episode.
I’m conflicted, after this episode. On the one hand, we want Brady and Kat to end up together in the past, because we want Alice to exist in the present. We love Alice. However, I kind of feel like it should have been a sign to Kat, both in 1999 and in 2023, that her best friends, Alice and Elliott, have zero interest in being friends, or even interacting with Brady. Other people’s opinions shouldn’t always be the determinant factor in whether a partner is right for you, but I feel like it’s a bit of a red flag when none of your best friends want anything to do with them. Contrast that with Del, Byron and Rita. Rita openly admits she doesn’t like Byron, but she is incredibly supportive of him having a relationship with Del, because she knows he’s a good guy for Del. Now, in Alice’s case, I understand not wanting to be a third wheel with her parents, and also the growing pains associated with learning her dad wasn’t always a great guy. However, young Kat doesn’t realize that as a factor. It’s just concerning that she works so hard to defend him, rather than calling him out for his bad behavior. Even in the present, she says nothing to Brady but later scolds Elliott for the two of them ‘bringing out the worst in each other’. Kat literally just got back from 1999 where she watched Brady be an absolute jerk to Elliott at the theater and somehow she still believes both of them are the problem? Also, why does Brady keep acting like Kat is still his wife? He’s got a new girlfriend, and yet he’s holding Kat’s hand at the breakfast table and kissing her cheek when he leaves after dinner. Let’s not forget the straight up kiss on the lips at the end of the episode… after she’s already told him it’s too late for them. It was too much.
All of that said, over the course of this episode, I started out emotionally locked-step with Alice as she got to see some of Brady’s softer, less pretentious sides. They showed us moments that definitely illustrated why Kat would have fallen for him as a teenager. Even his conversation with Alice about becoming a father earned him some brownie points. He wanted to be better for her, because he considers her the best kid ever. Honestly, he was on track for some serious character redemption in my eyes - until the ending. Again, if the message was supposed to be that Brady wasn’t as selfish and pretentious as his teenage self, then… this really failed to deliver. Alice innocently mentions that she’s glad he’s grown into a better person than he was, and his first reaction is to go tattle on Elliott to Kat, assuming that Elliott has said bad things about him to his daughter. Remember earlier how I mentioned that I liked the fact that Del and Elliott had both been diplomatic discussing Brady and had not said bad things about him, even when warranted. I wish so badly that Brady had somehow figured out that Alice had drawn her own conclusions about what a jerk he was. The tattling was bad enough, but that last scene with Kat is brutal for other reasons too. From a storytelling perspective, the jealous, cheating, ex husband is a trope that is not unique to this show. It is, however, a trope I would love to see die a fiery death across media in general. Man cheats on wife, or leaves wife for a younger woman, but then gets jealous of the now ex-wife for moving on with someone new and comes in to blow away all of the good things that ex-wife has built in his absence. It is TOXIC. It’s not interesting, it’s infuriating. I don’t expect characters to be perfect. There is drama in the mess and the triangles and the dynamic of logic versus feelings. Jealousy in and of itself is great drama. They’ve explored it so well with Elliott all season, and gotten me emotionally invested in his feelings. The jealous cheater crosses a line for me though, and I’ve written Brady off, regardless of how much more of him we get. The only person for whom I felt anything in that scene was Kat. Kat having to reopen old wounds because Brady was too selfish to live with his own choices was devastating. At least when the makeout session is over, Kat is still able to tell Brady that they’re over, and that the moment changes nothing. I was proud of her for that.
Let’s move on to something not Brady related. Alice is participating in 2023! This made me so happy to see. She actually goes so far as to get involved in planning for the school dance, suggesting the theme ‘Party Like It’s 1999’. You couldn’t get any more on the nose with that one, could you, Alice? I laughed so hard when Spencer says that the 90s are having a moment right now. Oh, kid, you have no idea. Spencer and Zoey offer to set Alice up on a date, but Alice tells them she’s seeing someone… aka Nick. She still attends the dance with Spencer and Zoey, and actually appears to have some fun in the process. While she does duck out early in hopes of meeting Nick, she’s taken some baby steps towards living her life in the present. This is major progress from a couple of episodes ago when she was spending every waking, and some sleeping moments, in 1999. I’m proud of her for trying to find a balance.
I was curious to see how they were going to handle Alice and Nick’s storyline in the present. Back when the two first met, I expressed concern about the impracticality of that relationship having any feasibility in 2023 due to the significant age gap. I appreciate that they addressed that in the show, by having Elliott in both timelines point out the impossibility of it. The line where Alice tells him in 1999 that she’s already heard a morality speech from him once today was funny. Basically, she didn’t like adult Elliott’s answer so she went to ask 1999 Elliott’s opinion and got the same response. It’s also amusing to see that adult Elliott is now choosing to hide in places where Alice can’t go, like the staff lounge, when he wants to avoid time travel talk. He’s been burned enough by her confronting him out in the open that he’s developed an exit strategy. Back to Nick and Alice though, I think the scenes in 1999 are telling a beautiful love story between two teenagers. If Alice were actually a product of that time, I would cheer on that story all day long. However, she’s not, and what we’re left with is a 2023 teenager pining for a man twenty years her senior. I think they handled it in the best way they possibly could without getting into creepy territory. Alice, in 1999, gives Nick a date in 2023 where they can meet up, but when that date comes around, he doesn’t show up. Personally, I think it needs to stay that way. Having them meet now is just too slippery of an uncomfortable slope for my liking. I think it’s fine to enjoy their relationship in 1999, even knowing it has an expiration date, but a line needs to be drawn somewhere. They’re not dismissive of Alice’s feelings, which is also nice. Both adult Elliott and adult Kat are aware and trying to figure out the best way to handle things without her getting hurt. Ultimately, she still does get hurt, but at least she’s now got two people in 2023 who can be there for her, and actually understand some of those time travel complications.
In an episode that was largely about endings, we see that the local theater, The Roxy, is closing down. The best part of this was seeing the 2023 return of Nick’s moms, Port Haven’s resident lesbian power couple, Joyce and Jude. They are having to go through boxes of old movie posters and memorabilia, and arguing about what things to keep and throw away. Del, Kat and Brady, all having a special connection to the place, volunteer to help. I love that they used this theater closing as a way to tie all the stories together in this episode. Movie theaters have become a perfect representation of nostalgia, and times gone by, so it makes for a beautiful bookend. In one of the boxes at the Roxy, Kat finds an old poster from when Jacob went missing. This sends her on a trip to the past, where she’s watching young Jacob and Danny play in the woods. She attempts to stay hidden from them, but they hear noises, and when they approach, Jacob sees her white shirt through the branches and thinks she’s the white witch. I actually love that. While we still don’t know the true origin story of the white witch, we know that this local legend and lore is something Jacob is very tuned into. It makes sense that a boy his age would believe that he’s seen it for real, and it’s such a perfect twist that he’s actually just seeing his big sister as an adult. This scene is also a perfect way to tie together the fact that, even though Kat and Alice are traveling through the pond separately, they both seem to be going to the same date. When Alice joins the family for Brady’s first dinner, Jacob tells everyone that he saw the witch that afternoon. The fact that Alice is the only one who will believe him is very cute. I love the bond between uncle and niece.
Like her daughter, Kat is using Elliott as her time travel sounding board. Also like Alice, Kat’s relationship with Elliott has felt very one sided. Alice has the benefit of being the teenager who doesn’t have the friendship history with Elliott that Kat does. She also sees him as the mentor who is supposed to be telling her how to handle things, not the other way around. Kat doesn’t really have these excuses. Firstly, they’re best friends of twenty plus years. By default that’s supposed to be a two way street. Even when Elliott tries to be a mentor to her, she’s dismissive of his theories, calling them ‘useless’ and assuming they only apply to Alice. Harsh, Kat. When she posits the idea that she could go back in time and change things, namely Jacob’s disappearance, Elliott seems convinced that she couldn’t even if she tried. He seems to think his observations of Alice have proven that there is a singular, consistent timeline. Given that Elliott is the one with the actual nerdy, science background, it seems like maybe Kat should be a little more open to his ideas. I understand that she’s reacting from an emotional place, and a refusal to believe she can’t fix Jacob’s disappearance, but still. Elliott has twenty years of experience with this subject. He tells Kat to be grateful for the opportunity to see her brother happy and alive. It was funny, and also very Alice-like, when Elliott gets into his nerdy science talk, and she’s just like ‘plain English, please.’ Science is not a strength of this mother-daughter duo. Kat also expresses concern about how Alice feels about the time travel situation, knowing that she’s been confiding in Elliott. He assures her that he’s looking after Alice, and that she’s okay. He reminds Kat that Alice thinks she’s amazing, but she thinks it’s only teenage Kat that Alice feels that way about, while mom Kat continues to be a let down. Elliott reminds her that both versions are still her. Maybe Elliott should become a therapist to supplement his teaching salary. At the very least, he should start charging the Landry family. Kat is also still upset with Elliott for not telling her about time travel. That’s understandable, but then she turns right back around and tells him that she doesn’t want Alice to know that she can time travel. Am I the only one who hears the loud ring of hypocrisy in that statement? Alice is going to find out, and she’s going to be mad at Kat for not telling her the truth, even though she too has been keeping it a secret for months. Landry women and their secrets. I just don’t see how she can keep up the ruse. If her secret keeping ability is anywhere near as bad as Alice’s, Alice will find out by the next episode.
Del and Rita’s dynamic continues to be somewhat baffling, but also amusing. In their first scene together, they are discussing the theater closing, and the fact that they have both volunteered to help. Right off the bat, we find out that Rita has managed to skirt the majority of the theater cleanup responsibilities, while Del has been stuck with a not insignificant number of them. Rita is a woman who definitely knows how to get her way. When Byron comes in and says he’s glad she and Del have mended fences, the two women at first look confused, and then Rita assures him it was water under the bridge and to keep up. This would imply that Del and Rita having disagreements like that is far from unusual. Given that they are both strong headed women, I can definitely see where they’ve probably butted heads plenty of times. It was sweet that Rita is encouraging Del to go out with Byron, despite her claims that she doesn’t like the man. I had previously wondered if she was jealous of Del and Byron. I’m glad this isn’t the case. One jealousy triangle was more than enough for this episode. Rita likes Del, and knows she has a connection with Byron, so regardless of her own personal tastes, she is happy to support their relationship. This is a Rita I can get on board with. I’m fine with her being a spitfire, so long as she’s not overstepping boundaries like she was early on. After some encouragement, Del finally agrees to go on a date with Byron. It was so nice to see her engage in something that brings her joy. It’s obvious that she enjoys spending time with Byron and that they have a special connection. Everything was going so well until that picture of her and Colton appeared on screen at the Roxy farewell. It turns out Kat and Brady aren’t the only ones with date night memories from the old theater. Del and Colton appear to have had their own share of memories. That moment was like air releasing from a balloon, as she instantly put walls back up, and poor Byron felt it. As much as Del has preached to Kat about moving on with her life, we keep seeing examples of the fact that she’s holding onto the past just as hard as Kat is. Kat is just more upfront about it.
Elliott was so adorable with the prom storyline. This man has been crushing on Kat for the last twenty plus years, and he finally gets his shot to have a pseudo date, when he invites her to chaperone the Fall Dance with him. She jokingly tells him he has to bring her a corsage, and he does. Not only that, he also gets the iconically 90s view of Kat walking down the stairs in her dress, set to Kiss Me by Sixpence None the Richer no less. Of course, in a moment which I feel truly encapsulates the adorable awkwardness of the moment, she trips down the last couple of stairs. (A nod to Chyler’s role in Not Another Teen Movie?) Heels are hard. Elliott tells her she looks ‘fine’. Way to really sell it, buddy. Del appears to be enjoying the moment for all of its sweet and awkward glory. Her reaction when he walks in, dressed to the nines and holding the corsage was priceless. She’s obviously team Elliott, but she’s getting a rise out of teasing him about it a little bit.
Kat is either completely oblivious, or in serious denial about the fact that Elliott has feelings for her. It’s also incredibly difficult to tell if she reciprocates those feelings in any way. The problem is, if she is aware, and isn’t actually interested, then she’s doing him an incredible disservice. She’s also being an incredibly cruel ‘friend’. I genuinely don’t think, even with all of the clues in the world, that she has any idea. Kat is so used to Elliott just being the loyal best friend, that I don’t think she’s even bothered to consider whether or not he has the potential to be more than that. Sixteen year old Kat definitely did not have feelings for him. Honestly, once Brady entered the picture, it seems like she barely even remembered that Elliott existed. Adult Kat on the other hand, I don’t know. Yes, she shares the dance with him at the end, but everything prior to that doesn’t show any obvious reciprocation. When Elliott asks her to come chaperone with her, she makes light of it, joking about limos and corsages. After she does agree to go, she immediately jumps into a conversation about traveling back to see Jacob. Then, when Elliott actually does show up with the corsage, she tells him she was just joking. Even when they dance together at the end of the episode, she spends most of the time telling him that if he’d only shown up to their high school dances, she could have taught him how to dance. Something tells me that lack of dancing skill was far from the primary reason that teenage Elliott didn’t attend dances. Hurricane Brady likely had more to do with that. That nickname is sticking. Kat does say that she overheard Elliott and Nick talking about her in the theater in 1999. The only thing that was said was Nick assuring Elliott that Kat and Brady wouldn’t last. Is that meant to imply she knows Elliott liked/likes her? Regardless, even when they do approach a moment leaning into more sincere territory, the aforementioned hurricane swoops in to ruin it. I really don’t know what to think, or how to read Kat’s feelings on this one. That said, I think it’s going to be pretty darn difficult to avoid talking about it going forward. After Elliott witnesses Kat and Brady making out in the parking lot, I think his tolerance for being the one left standing has officially expired. Kat does not owe it to Elliott to be romantically interested in him if she is not, but given their history and friendship, it does feel like she owes it to him to have some consideration for his feelings. Their friendship has been incredibly one sided. He always shows up when she needs him, but when have we ever seen her be there for him in the same way? Whether it was 1999 or 2023, Kat is consumed by her own problems. It’s been an issue brought up by her mother and daughter as well. Elliott deserves better, whether from a best friend or from a love interest. If his reaction is anything to go by, I think Kat is going to have to step up in the friendship department in order to fix this.
Other Observations:
-I love Alice’s outfit in the 1999 scenes. The black flannel tied at the waist. It’s giving very 90s grunge vibes.
-Jacob leaves his bike in the woods when he runs off after seeing the white witch, aka Kat. Is this why it randomly appears on the side of the road after he disappears? How close are we to his disappearance?
Hallmark keeps bringing their A Game with this show. I love escaping into this world week after week. The only thing I will say is that I am ready to move on from the Brady stories. They were important to include to further develop these characters and better understand how past dynamics have influenced the present. I fully respect that. However, I’m more interested in jumping back into the stories with our Port Haven regulars. Team Elliott all the way. Overall, this was yet another fantastic episode. The dance storyline was really sweet, and I loved the small town charm in the theater closing story. As I’ve said before, any complaints I’ve had about this show are mostly related to personal likes and dislikes. The story continues to be so well written and the performances are engaging. The time travel elements and the mystery of Jacob’s disappearance are so well balanced with telling a genuine story about family in the present. I can’t wait for the next episode.