Did Tessa survive? “The Way Home” Series Finale Explained (SPOILERS)

WARNING! THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS ABOUT THE ROAD HOME SERIES FINALE!During the series finale of The way homeElliot realized that his mother, Tessa, was most likely alive because she hadn’t put the clock in the wall of his house before she supposedly perished in the explosion in the Lingermore Tunnels, meaning she must have survived it. Tessa Cooper (Megan Follows) experienced postpartum depression after giving birth to Elliot Augustine (Evan Williams) in the early 1980s.

Tessa’s fears of being a terrible mother were confirmed when Fern Landry (Jill Frappier) warned her that she was going to kill her son. Elliot grew up believing that his mother had abandoned him and his father, Victor Augustine (James Gallanders), when he was a baby, but he eventually learned the truth that Tessa had used the Landry pond to travel through time.

Realizing that Tessa had jumped into the pond and time traveled, Elliot was stuck back in time. He eventually followed her to 1925, where she worked as a cobbler after decades of living in the past. On New Year’s Eve 1925, Elliot ended up in the Lingermore Tunnels with Tessa and others. She accidentally shot him just before the explosion that had become part of Port Haven history. Elliot returned to the presentwhere he made a full recovery, but he believed that Tessa had died in the explosion.

How did Elliot realize that Tessa might have survived the Lingermore tunnel explosion on the way home?

The Way Home's Elliot Augustine holds the clock from inside the wall — The Way Home’s Elliot Augustine holds the clock from inside the wall

Under The way home season 3 episode 1 Elliot found a mysterious clock in the wall of his house that he assumed his mother had placed there. But when they met in 1925, she told him she knew nothing about the watch. Because Tessa later supposedly died in the Lingermore tunnel explosion, it seemed impossible that she was the one who put the clock in the wall.

But under the series finale of The way homeLooking at the clock on his cloak, Elliot realized that Tessa must have survived the blast. He remembered that she hadn’t bought the house yet when she supposedly died, so she must have put the clock in the wall later than 1926. Elliot told Kat (Chyler Leigh) that he thought Tessa had lived, theorizing that she didn’t put the clock in the wall so he could find her in time, but to let him know she was still alive.

What are The Way Home Executive Producers saying about Tessa surviving the explosion?

The Way Home's Tessa (Megan follows) and Elliot (Evan Williams) sit together outside — The Way Home’s Tessa (Megan follows) and Elliot (Evan Williams) sit together outside

The creators and executive producers of The way homeHeather Conkie and Alexandra Clarke, who are mother and daughter, confirmed that Elliot’s theory that Tessa is alive is correct. When asked by Black If Tessa put the clock in the wall to prevent Elliot from coming back to look for her, Clarke replied, “It’s a reassurance. It’s the Bootstrap Theory.”

Bootstrap Theory, also known as a time travel paradox, is a causal loop in which an event causes itself. The way home had many examples of Bootstrap Theory. Clarke explained, “Elliot tells Tessa about the clock in the wall and she doesn’t know what it was. Is that why she puts it in the wall later? It’s a cyclical, interesting time-travel conundrum. But in our minds, yes. Tessa putting it in the wall is to reassure Elliot that she’s okay. What Elliot chooses to do with that information is what we don’t want to do with that information.”

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In an interview with TV InsiderConkie elaborated on why it was important for Tessa to survive the explosion. she said “Well, I love the ending of that story because it’s heavily implied, in fact I think it’s proof that she survived the explosion because the logic of the clock in the wall was always questionable, but she put that clock in the wall just to show him that “No, it wasn’t over. I was okay. I put this clock in the wall after the fact so you could explain some things.” So I think it was a much nicer ending than knowing she was blown to bits. I mean, that just wouldn’t be good for a mother.”

It seems that Elliot’s theory about Tessa being alive is true, as confirmed by the executive producers of The way home. Now fans will wonder if Elliot would try to time travel with his now fiancée, Kat, to find her again. Tessa would be too old to have lived to this day, so the only way Elliot could reunite with her would be to travel in time, but he can’t do it alone because he’s not a Landry by blood.

It was beautiful to see Tessa leave Elliot a sign to tell him what had happened to her. He lived his whole life with uncertainty about his mother, but now he can have some peace knowing that she somehow survived the Lingermore tunnel explosion and was able to buy their family home. The inscription on the clock said, “To make an end is to make a beginning” from TS Eliot’s poem, “Little Gidding.” As Elliot said, the poem is about time, “the unity of past, present, future.” This ending to Elliot and Tessa’s story is both hopeful and exciting. Now fans are left to wonder if Elliot and Tessa would have found each other again in a future season of The way home.

Sources: Black, TV Insider

Publication date: 2023 – 2026-00-00
Network: Hallmark Channel
Directors: Grant Harvey, Shamim Sarif, Norma Bailey, John Fawcett, Michelle Latimer