The Way Home closed its third season with a beautifully poignant finale, bringing Colton Landry back into the fold and shedding light on his knowledge of the pond.
But as revelatory as that was, it highlighted a lingering problem: Del Landry remains a mystery.
She’s the matriarch of the Landry family, the steady anchor in a storm of time travel and secrets, yet we know shockingly little about her beyond what others see. With each season peeling back layers of the Landry family’s past, why is Del’s perspective still being kept at arm’s length?
A Character in the Shadows
No matter how much The Way Home explores its characters, Del remains one of the most frustrating. She presents a warm, Southern charm, yet she often feels emotionally closed off.
And while it’s understandable — losing a child is unimaginable — her grief has defined her in ways that have kept both her family and the audience at a distance.
Del lost Jacob, and in the process, she lost Kat and Colton, too. Kat felt invisible in the wake of her brother’s disappearance, and Colton struggled to reconnect with his wife.
The result? A woman who spent years keeping herself guarded, living a seemingly full life in Port Haven but never truly moving forward.
A Story Told From the Outside In
Over three seasons, we’ve seen who Del is through the eyes of others — Kat, Alice, Colton’s ghost — but rarely do we see what she’s thinking.
Even when she appears in past timelines, the focus isn’t on her but on how others perceive her.
Kat and Alice have used the pond to make sense of their lives, rewriting their understanding of the past while keeping Del in the dark.
When Alice began visiting Del’s younger self, she hoped it would forge a deeper connection between them. Instead, Del recoiled — fearful that the past would betray the memories she clung to.
Her eventual leap into the pond was a moment of surrender. Finally, she faced the truth: Colton never intended to keep secrets from her.
But even that realization came through the lens of Kat and Alice’s discoveries, not from Del herself.
By the end of The Way Home Season 3, we had even seen Colton’s perspective — before we ever got a true look at Del’s.
Will Del Always Be an Afterthought?
The finale set up an exciting new mystery — Elliot’s mother didn’t abandon him; she time-traveled. And while that’s compelling, it’s hard to ignore that Del will once again be pushed to the background.
How long will we have to wait before The Way Home gives Del her due?
She’s more than a grieving mother or a stubborn woman set in her ways. The depth of her pain, her resilience, and the choices she’s made deserve the same careful storytelling that’s been given to Colton, Kat, and Alice.
The show has spent three seasons unraveling the past through the Landry women’s eyes. Isn’t it time we finally saw it through Del’s?
Watch The Way Home Online
Source link
