Is there a reason why Kat and Elliot are so uncomfortably awkward in The Way Home Season 3?
Unlike Carissa, I actually like Elliot. He’s an endearing enough character if deeply flawed, and what can I say? I’m a sucker for the nerdy, bookish type.
I also don’t mind the Kalliot ship. It combines my favorite romantic tropes: the Girl/Boy Next Door, Unrequited Love, and Friends to Lovers.
I eat up that type of content with a spoon, so I never minded the idea of Kat and Elliot together because I thought they would be sweet.
However, I’m also a diehard shipper’s worst nightmare. While more often than not, I, too, would love to say that I’m averse to shipping culture, it’s inescapable, and sometimes I get sucked into it.
I’m one of those annoying ‘shippers.
Fair-weather shipping is a common theme for me, as I’m all about vibes and chemistry during the moment and flowing with what works for the characters at the time. I can jump ship at a moment’s notice as long as the storytelling works and it serves the characters well.
Multi-shipping? I’m guilty of that, too. My favorite protagonists may have to choose, but I don’t have to do it! So, while I genuinely enjoyed Kalliot as a pairing, the allure of TomKat doesn’t elude me either.
Their chemistry is fiery hot. Kris Holden-Ried has a certain bodice-ripping appeal, making him a formidable, timeless romantic lead, and this girl loves some delicious drama!
Regarding The Way Home’s shipping, who I’m rooting for can depend on the day, the episode, and my ability to resist the urge to say, “Kat, why not both?” But I digress.
As someone who enjoys Kalliot as a pairing, I’m even starting to wonder what the heck happened to these two. Their entire romance is hanging on by a fraying thread and Elliot’s dreams. It’s a disappointing turn of events.
They HAD chemistry before.
Buying into the two of them as a pairing was easy in the first season and a half. Maybe Elliot or the pairing wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but there was something there — a spark and good bones.
The potential for these two to blossom into something beautiful and heartwarming was there, and it felt ripe for a Hallmark romance with two compelling leads. Elliot could’ve been the guy for whom Kat always ran home, serving as a port in the storm or her lighthouse.
I can’t even say Thomas’ introduction threw everything out the window, because there was still something there with Kat and Elliot, even when she was in 1814, falling in love with another man. Her conflict felt real and understandable, too.
But the third season has doused frigid water on whatever sparks were flying between Kat and Elliot, and it’s too obvious to ignore.
Their relationship feels as stale, dull, and dingy as that denim blue shirt Kat is always wearing for some inexplicable reason.
I’ve never seen an established couple feel this out of sync, and it leaves me wondering if this was intentional on the writers’ part or something else entirely.
Kat can’t run away from the present and Elliot enough, and that wasn’t even solely about Thomas, either, so it feels deeper than that.
Even in the current timeline, she feels hurried, frazzled, and itching to get anywhere else at any point in time.
She had genuine reservations about moving into his home with him, and now she’s been twisting herself into a pretzel trying to justify the reasoning to anyone who will listen.
Every moment of their relationship this season feels like Elliot is twisting her arm into doing something she doesn’t have the attention span for, and more often than not, she waves him off and away as if he’s a nuisance and not “the love of her life.”
I’ll be blunt; their romantic scenes these days are painful to watch. There’s no heat, sizzle, or sensuality in any of them.
I was taken aback when my face contorted into the tell-tale signs of cringe during one of their kissing scenes instead of conjuring up a smile or a swoon.
Heavy petting on the kitchen counter should be hot, right? Even their so-called steamy scenes have been tepid at best and awkward at worst.
Kat and Elliot weren’t always like this, though. Even if we’re on the brink of the pair falling apart as Elliot’s endearing ex-wife enters the picture and Thomas casts sultry eyes toward Kat from behind bushes, the chemistry between Kat and Elliot is horrifically bad.
Their scenes have reached a point where they take me right out of the series, jarring me with their awkwardness.
For me, a great love triangle is one where I can understand the connection between both sides, even if I may prefer one over the other.
As someone who appreciates the Kalliot ship, the pair gives us nothing to work with right now. I can find more heat standing outside in the middle of a Polar Vortex.
It’s not a pretty picture for Kalliot’s shippers these days. The pairing endured a colossal blow and has been unsatisfying to watch all season, well before outside forces returned to shake things up.
A young Del and Colton’s love story has carried the sweet, romantic heat, while Alice’s inevitable Noah/Max love triangle at least adds some intrigue.
But for Kalliot? Well, it’s not looking good because Thomas is coming.
Over to you, The Way Home Fanatics.
How do you feel about Kat and Elliot’s chemistry this season?
Are you excited about Thomas’ return? Let’s hear it
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