Kat is a very commendable time traveler.

Jacob was the exception, but in general, she's maintaining a safe distance from the people she loves despite how much she wants to bring them solace.

If ever there was a time Kat would be aching to reach out to her parents, The Way Home Season 1 Episode 8 would have been it.

Maybe Kat has taken Elliot's words to heart about the dangers of interfering in the past. It's more likely that she needs answers that can only be found by her acting as an investigator.

To interact with the people she loves in the past to find answers could inadvertently manipulate the outcome. Understanding her past is far more important to her.

Now that she and Alice have done all they could to save Jacob, only to have him disappear anyway, Kat's quest is subtler.

It hurts her to see the love between her parents that she held up, rightfully, as idyllic has been tarnished in her mother's mind. She thought it would be as simple as discovering what Colton had been up to at the motel, but it's never that simple.

Still, seeing Colton in so much pain and hiding it from Del doesn't say much about their idyllic marriage. The love was there, for sure, but losing a child can have a chilling effect on the most profound love.

Everyone processes grief differently, and Colton and Del were on opposite spectrums. Del's way of dealing with it was to accept what was and move on from the tragedy.

Del was never going to forget her son, but living with not knowing while thinking about it incessantly would have torn her apart. She needed to get back to living to deal with it.

Colton, on the other hand, needed answers. Acceptance wasn't good enough for him. He needed to exhaust every possible avenue before giving up on his son. Knowing Del's feelings led him to close himself off from her, keeping secrets she misconstrued as taking his love elsewhere.

In reality, he was taking his grief elsewhere, using it to drive an investigation into a mystery that wasn't meant to be solved.

Would that every couple who suffered the unimaginable horrors of losing a child that is never found had a mysterious pond beckoning them to find answers to the secrets that tore them apart.

The distance between people is a gulf that expands the further they drift.

Del and Cole were so raw they feared sharing with each other would push the other farther away, but communication of any kind is better than leaving each other in the dark. Every unsaid word widens the gap between two people until finding their way home to each other seems impossible.

By exploring the past, Kat hopes to mend Del's broken heart. It would have been miraculous to restore Jacob's life as they knew it, but it's just as crucial to restore Del's faith in the love she shared with her husband.

Colton died, but Del felt as though she had lost him long before that. She did, but likely not for the reasons she thought.

Keeping her distance from her grieving father, Kat still managed to put together what he was doing, and she hoped that sharing what she found with Del would begin the healing process. But as with most things in life, it opened the door to another mystery.

Going with my gut on this one, I think that continued trips to the past will lead Kat to find the unknown woman at the funeral was another false flag of her father's supposed infidelity.

Colton has been shown to express his grief methodically, not by seeking comfort in another woman's arms. He wanted answers to save his family. He didn't want to invent new reasons to keep them unhappy.

Kat's still got work to do. Del can't allow herself to love again, and it's not because she is holding onto Colton's love. She's holding onto the pain of losing him well before he died. When Byron gave up on her, she saw him and Colton both driving away one last time. Talk about heartwrenching.

Kat's view on love changes the more she knows about her parents. She's wavering between calling love a sham and the realization that every moment is precious. There will never be a perfect moment, so you have to embrace each before it slips away.

Elliot has spent his entire life waiting for Kat. He's spent a lifetime imagining the perfect moment for a series of firsts, including a kiss. Kisses are so freely given today, but wanting a moment they'd never forget seemed sweet.

The more Kat sees her parent's marriage disintegrate before her eyes, the less patience she has to wait. You could feel her frustration when she was a little tipsy and wanted that kiss at that moment before things got awkward.

Elliot's hesitation took it to awkward in a flash.

Kat's response was so realistic, going from being flirty and wanting to be close to considering slamming the door on the possibility and seeing only the negative side of getting closer.

It gave Elliot whiplash, but those conversations can be relationship killers whether you have them or hide them inside, allowing your thoughts to eat away at you.

When Kat heard her father tell his beloved Delilah that he loved her, Kat's fears of love melted away. Her faith in her parents' example was restored, and the weight of losing time washed over her.

Elliot was planning a special moment for his first kiss with Kat, but Kat understood that perfection isn't reality. You make your moments with feelings and spontaneity.

Elliot couldn't have planned a better moment than the one Kat created from her emotional rush. The sun setting in the distance, in a green field, Kat soaking wet. It was perfection.

Kat's not going to allow communication to come between her and Elliot. She let it with Brady and saw the damage miscommunication and staying silent did for her parents.

I'm excited to see what it means for ElliKat going forward.

Everything she's learned even made Kat a better mother and friend to Alice, who was suffering from the reality of loving a man a lifetime away.

If Kat is a commendable time traveler, her daughter follows in her footsteps.

It's hard to remember the selfish, bratty Alice introduced in The Way Home Season 1 Episode 1. She's matured so much, and her decision to let Nick down, even though her heart was heavy at the thought of it, was selfless.

Her selfless act coinciding with adult Nick's return to town was coincidental but perfectly timed.

Nick pretended not to notice how much Alice looked like his Alice, and he hid from Kat how much his Alice meant to him. It left Alice feeling cold, but it was a case of miscommunication that had to exist.

Nick's a grown man. To show any impropriety with regard to Kat's daughter wasn't going to happen. It didn't mean he had forgotten her or what knowing her meant to him.

When he finally revealed what he felt to Elliot, Kat precipitously happened to be walking by, allowing her closure on her first love and knowing that the boy she loved found happiness in love as a man.

What more could you ask?

There are so many levels to love, and the Landry women were experiencing them all.

We've got two episodes left for The Way Home Season 1, and at the rate stories are moving along, it's hard to imagine what will fill a second season.

Something tells me that the next two episodes will set it up nicely.

What do you hope happens in the final two episodes of the season? Did Kat create the perfect moment with Elliot? What are your thoughts on Del and Byron? Did Alice get as close to a happy ending as she could?

Share your thoughts in the comments!

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.