Hallmark/Heavy "The Way Home"
The cast and creators of “The Way Home” recently shared their insights into the love triangles and romances on the show. They chatted about the intricacies of Kat and Elliot, the chemistry with Thomas, and an alternate scene with Alice and Nick.
Showrunners Heather Conkie and Alexandra Clarke, co-creator Marly Reed, and cast members Chyler Leigh (Kat), Evan Williams (Elliot), and Sadie Laflamme-Snow (Alice) led a cast and creators panel on June 2, moderated by Emily Longeretta of Variety. Clarke and Conkie also led a limited-attendance micro panel on June 1 that Longeretta moderated. Heavy attended both events and has been sharing a series of articles about what happened.
Elliot & Kat May Have Growing Up to Do, a Showrunner Hinted
The relationship between Elliot and Kat is one of the most talked-about storylines in “The Way Home.” Elliot’s unyielding affection for Kat has been evident since their youth, but as adults, their love is complicated by the mysteries of time travel and intense personal disagreements about how to approach their problems.
During the first micro-panel on June 1, when addressing the idea of when a potential relationship should leave the “will they/won’t they” question behind, Conkie ended their discussion with an interesting statement.
“I know who we’re talking about,” Conkie said without naming a specific couple. “…They have a lot of things to get through. They have a lot of growing to do.”
While she didn’t mention which couple she was referring to by name, some audience members couldn’t help but wonder if she was talking about Elliot and Kat.
In a poignant moment during the second panel on June 2 with the cast and creators, Williams reflected on his character’s growth.
“The arc of Elliot, I think, has been moving from a man who was being everything he felt he had to be, and maybe had no choice, to becoming a man who is discovering what he wants to be,” Williams said, emphasizing Elliot’s journey towards self-discovery.
“And that’s the kind of man that is required to love a woman like Kat Landry,” he added.”And so I’m hoping that we will continue to see Elliot expand.”
During the same panel, the audience watched a clip from the show where Kat and Elliot argued, and Kat concluded by telling Elliot, “You just watch me fix it.”
Williams and Leigh revealed that the iconic line was ad-libbed by Leigh.
It came “from a real place,” Leigh shared.
Kat & Thomas Had Immediate Chemistry
While Elliot vies for Kat’s heart, her relationship with Thomas brings a different kind of emotional complexity. The chemistry between them is undeniable, but they have a vast separation of time keeping them apart.
While the panels didn’t touch on future plotlines involving the 1800s or even if Thomas is returning, they did talk about the amazing chemistry between Kris Holden-Reid (Thomas) and Leigh.
“With Kris [Holden-Ried], we also did a chemistry read,” Leigh recalled. “And it was like immediate. You just knew who belonged there with us to tell this story.”
Alice & Nick Leaned Into the Awkwardness, Even Filming an Alternate Scene in Case It Was Needed
Sadie Laflamme-Snow, who plays Alice, shared her excitement about Alice and Nick’s storyline during the panel on June 2, especially the part where they finally told Nick the truth and Alice and Nick faced each other in person.
“It’s intimidating… I think we knew from early in the season that that’s where we were headed,” she said. “And so — I’m going to be honest — I was kind of nervous just because … Alice was really ready to be done in the past. And I think the audience thought, ‘No way they’re going to go there.’ And then to just kind of crack it open like that, that is the hallmark of The Way Home. It’s like, ‘Oh, you don’t think we’re gonna go there? We’re gonna go there.’ So it was really fun … to just give that sort of respect and love for that really formative relationship for both of them.”
She continued, adding that the scene where Nick and Alice in present-day acknowledged what happened was fun to film.
“I think that relationship means a lot to Alice,” she said. “It meant a lot to me. And to be able to close that loop and invite Nick into their world and their town in a way that he knows what’s going on, but not in a way that would ever make it weird, was really exciting. And Kerry’s so funny… It was just really enjoyable to shoot. We just really leaned into the awkwardness.”
Williams revealed they even shot an alternate scene, in case everything seemed a little too awkward.
“And we even shot an alternate just in case … because we were really careful on the show to not have it be awkward,” he said. “So there’s an alternate beginning where Elliot is between them at the beginning. He’s like, ‘Well, I’m just gonna, I’m just gonna go upstairs.'”
The Showrunners Talked About Finally Letting Characters Get Together
During the June 1 micro-panel, the showrunners talked about the concept of finally letting characters get together romantically.
“I think we’ll know when it’s right,” Conkie said. “And I hate to bring up Heartland again, but in the sixth season, we wanted the two main characters who were obviously in love to get married. And I can remember the network saying to us, ‘Why would you want your show to die so quickly?’ As if there was no life after marriage… But we thought, boy, life begins with that. You know, you start to think about children. Your family grows. You grow up yourself. It’s a whole different ball game.”
Clarke said that two characters having a romantic moment or getting together must feel earned.
“I think any time in the writer’s room where we’re talking about … oh when are we going to just pull the plug on this? … I think it just always has to feel earned,” Clarke added. “It always has to feel like it’s not coming out of left field, that you can understand why those characters are doing that when they are. Whether it’s getting together, falling apart, it always has to be justified… Any time you act impulsively, any time you do have that romantic moment, it’s earned because of the things you’ve done before…”
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