Posted in: TV | Tagged: Alexandra Clarke, Andie MacDowell, back to the future, Chyler Leigh, cw, hallmark channel, supergirl, The Way Home

The Way Home (The Good Show You Should Be Watching) Earns Season 2

The Way Home, starring Chyler Leigh (Supergirl), Andie McDowell, and Sadie Laflamme-Snow, has been renewed for a second season.

The Way Home, a show you might not know about if you're not a frequent viewer of the Hallmark Channel, has been renewed for a second season. It's Chyler Leigh's first starring role since Supergirl ended, and she co-stars with Andie MacDowell and Sadie Laflamme-Snow as three generations of women in the same family. The series has proven popular amongst female viewers ages 18 to 54 groups, which is pretty much all the female viewers that truly matter to any show.

Like "Back to the Future" for Girls and Their Mothers

Think of The Way Home as "Back to the Future for teenage girls and their moms." It is really a story about three generations of sad, broken, and traumatized women trying to heal and discover ways to come to terms with their family tragedies through time travel. LaFlamme-Snow plays Leigh's teenage daughter as both women are reeling from Leigh's divorce from her high-flying but insensitive high school sweetheart and Laflamme'Snow's father, Bradey (Al Mukadam). Alice Landry has been acting out in school while her mom Kat has lost her job as a journalist and writer. Kat decides to move back to her hometown for a fresh start and maybe reconcile with her estranged mother, Del (MacDowell).

Initially miserable from being out of the big city, Allie falls into the lake on the family property and emerges to discover she's back in the 1990s and unwittingly becomes best friends with the teenage version of her mom Kat. She discovers the time when her mom and her family were happy before the tragedies that broke the family apart and drove Kat to run away and get married, resulting in her birth. Then she starts wondering if she might be able to prevent that tragedy and save her mother and grandmother from twenty years of grief. The only confidante she has is Elliot (Evan Williams), friend-zoned by Kat then and now and her high school teacher in the present day. But even as Elliot continues to carry a torch for Kat, he doesn't believe in changing history or if it's even possible.

Why "The Way Home" Is a Surprise Hit

The Way Home has quietly turned out to be one of the best-written and acted shows right now. Every line of dialogue, plot turn, and character reveal is meticulous. Laflamme-Snow, Leigh, and MacDowell all carry the melancholy that grounds the characters like the most natural thing in the world. A single close-up of Leigh's eyes suggests volumes of regret and sadness. MacDowell's silences and evasions also suggest suppressed tragedy, and Laflamme-Snow's earnest desperation gives more depth to her character than the average CW teen heroine. The show is carried by the fantasy of young girls and their mothers becoming best friends and being able to understand each other beyond the usual fights. It really is a show for moms and daughters, and there are very few of those out there right now. That's probably how it quietly became a hit for Hallmark. It's a show with surprising emotional depth and sadness.

"The press and our audience have enthusiastically embraced The Way Home from the first episode making the decision to renew the series an easy one," said Lisa Hamilton Daly, Executive Vice President, Programming, Hallmark Media. "We're thrilled to be able to continue the journey of the Landry family and can't wait for fans to see what's next."

"Heather Conkie, Alexandra Clarke, and Marly Reed have created a rich, textured story filled with heart and mixed with intrigue that's proven to be a winning combination," added Laurie Ferneau, Senior Vice President, Development, Hallmark Media. "Season two is sure to bring more drama and mystery as the Landry family's history is revealed."

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!