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Scott Patterson Doesn’t Agree With ‘Gilmore Girls’ Fans When It Comes to the Show’s Most Hated Storyline

Andrea Francese — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 16:37:00 +0000

Scott Patterson spent seven years playing Luke Danes in Gilmore Girls. He reprised the role again in 2016 and has spent several years discussing the show on his podcast and in interviews. In a recent interview, the actor decided to make a pretty controversial statement. Patterson revealed that, unlike fans of the beloved show, he did not hate his character’s season 6 storyline.

Scott Patterson doesn’t hate Luke Danes’ long-lost daughter storyline

In Gilmore Girls Season 6, Luke and Lorelai Gilmore get back together and plan to marry. They were headed for the altar when a 12-year-old showed up in Luke’s diner, proclaiming he might be her father.

Luke later learns that he did, in fact, father the child with a long-forgotten love interest. While Luke built a relationship with April Nardini, he inadvertently iced Lorelai out, causing a significant rift. April, her mother Anna Nardini, and Luke’s behavior led to a called-off engagement and the end of his romance with Lorelai.

Vanessa Marano as April Nardini | Suzanne Hanover/Netflix

Gilmore Girls fans almost universally agree that the storyline was horrible, but Scott Patterson doesn’t think so. In an interview with ScreenRant, Patterson revealed that he enjoyed the storyline.

“Sometimes you’ve got to piss off the fans,’ Patterson said. “It’s a risk you take, but the payoff is so great. It doesn’t ruin anything. It just sort of deepens the sort of comeback that’s required.”

Patterson went on to praise Vanessa Marano, the actor who took on the role of April Nardini, insisting she was so impressive as as young actor. He said he wished fans hadn’t been so hard on her back then.

Scott Patterson might have explained why fans hated the storyline so much

While Patterson understands why the storyline didn’t sit well with fans, he insists it was a risk the show had to take. He told the publication that despite how distasteful fans found it, he thinks the storyline deepened Luke and Lorelai’s “comeback.”

Luke Danes and Lorelai Gilmore | Saeed Adyani/Netflix

Patterson makes a valid point. He might have stumbled upon why Gilmore Girls fans hate the storyline so much, even after many rewatches. Patterson argues that there is a payoff in the end because Luke and Lorelai had to claw their way back. He might be correct, but he’s missing one crucial factor: fans never actually go to see that.

The show’s cancelation was a surprise, meaning many storylines weren’t completely wrapped up. Luke and Lorelai’s love story was still very open-ended when the series wrapped. Sure, they seemed to be contemplating working things out, but they hadn’t started yet when fans last left them. When fans did reconnect with them during Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, they had already been back together for years. The show’s sudden cancelation made fans miss out on the “payoff” of adding Arpil Nardini and her meddling mother to the storyline.

‘The Night Agent’ Season 2: When Does It Come Out?

Mandi Kerr — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 02:38:00 +0000

Unlike the many canceled TV shows that aren’t returning this year, The Night Agent is back. Peter Sutherland, played by Gabriel Basso, is returning in The Night Agent Season 2 and soon. Ahead, get details on when new episodes of the Netflix original series come out.

When does ‘The Night Agent’ Season 2 come out?

Get excited fans of The Night Agent because new episodes begin streaming soon. The Night Agent Season 2 comes out on Jan. 23, 2025. That means in just a matter of weeks—just over 14 days at the time of writing—Peter will be back in action and on a new adventure.

Just like The Night Agent Season 1, all 10 episodes will be available to watch when the new installment premieres. In short, cancel any plans for the weekend and get ready to binge-watch the entire season.

What is ‘The Night Agent’ Season 2 about?

Gone are Peter’s days of waiting for the phone to ring. Now he’s trying to make it as a Night Agent, which comes with a lot more danger. Per Tudum, the latest season of the show, which is based on the novel by author Matthew Quirk, picks up where season 1 left off. “Working in the secretive organization Night Action in Season 2 will push Peter into a world where danger is everywhere and trust is in short supply,” according to the outlet.

Peter questions those around him, even telling his love interest Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan) in the trailer that he “cannot trust anyone.” After all, there’s the possibility that leaked American intelligence is being sold to the highest bidder. Sound familiar fans of Black Doves?

As for what’s in store for Peter and Rose romantically, creator and showrunner Shawn Ryan teased it’ll be touched on in upcoming episodes. “That’s one of the big questions we’d love to answer in Season 2,” Ryan said. “What does Peter getting on this plane and going somewhere (presumably overseas to enter into some new wild adventure) mean, with Rose going back to California to try to pursue her Silicon Valley dreams again?”

Is ‘The Night Agent’ Season 3 happening?

Gabriel Basso in Netflix’s ‘The Night Agent’ Season 2 | Christopher Saunders/Netflix

Good news, fans of The Night Agent! A third season is currently in the works. Netflix greenlit the political thriller for an early season renewal in October 2024 (via Variety). So, that means Peter’s story isn’t over with season 2.

“We’re so excited that our fans will get to watch Season 2 of The Night Agent in early 2025, and we’ve been hard at work writing Season 3 to deliver more breathless Peter Sutherland Night Action adventures to our rabid audience,” Ryan previously told Tudum.

Meanwhile, Basso sees “a lot of storytelling opportunities for potential seasons down the line” with Peter’s new status as a Night Agent. So, depending on how seasons two and three go, viewers could be a long road ahead for the show.

The Night Agent Season 1 is currently streaming on Netflix. Season 2 premieres on Jan. 23, 2025.

When Is the ‘Landman’ Season Finale? Will There Be a Season 2?

Megan Elliott — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 14:19:00 +0000

Taylor Sheridan has struck gold again. Landman, the Yellowstone creator’s newest TV show, is a bona fide hit. Nearly 15 million households watched the series in the month after its November 2024 premiere, making it the top Paramount+ series of all time. Unfortunately, it’s almost time to say goodbye to Billy Bob Thornton’s Tommy Norris character. Find out when the Landman season finale will be available to stream. Plus, get details on what we know about whether the Texas-set drama will return with more episodes.

The ‘Landman’ season finale premieres Jan. 12

Jon Hamm as Monty Miller ‘Landman’ | Emerson Miller/Paramount+

Landman, which is set in the boomtowns of West Texas, is a “modern-day tale of fortune-seeking in the world of oil rigs,” according to Paramount+’s description of the show. It’s a “story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires fueling a boom so big, it’s reshaping our climate, our economy, and our geopolitics.”

Thornton’s character, a crisis management executive at an oil company, is the heart of Landman, which follows Tommy as he navigates various professional and personal crises. Ali Larter plays his ex-wife Angela. Michelle Randolph plays his daughter Ainsley and Jacob Lofland plays his son Cooper. Mad Men’s Jon Hamm portrays Monty Miller, a conniving oil company exec, who is married to Cami (Demi Moore). Kayla Wallace plays Rebecca Falcone, an oil company attorney.

New episodes of Landman drop weekly on Sundays on Paramount+. The show’s 10th and finale episode, “The Crumbs of Hope,” will arrive on the streaming service on Sunday, Jan. 12.

Will there be a ‘Landman’ Season 2?

As of now Paramount+ has not officially confirmed if Landman will return for season 2. But audiences seem to love the show, which suggests that odds are good it will be renewed. And Moore hinted months ago that a second season is in the works.

“I thought we looked really good,” the Golden Globe winner said when discussing what it was like to work with Hamm with reporters at the Cannes Film Festival in May (via Deadline). “He was lovely and I’ve known Billy Bob Thornton for a long time. I’ve already completed the first season and I’m excited for us to start the second which will be at the beginning of next year.”

Randolph has said that she and the rest of the cast would be thrilled to continue the show’s story in a sophomore season.

“I think there’s so much more of the story to tell, so if we get to do a season 2, I know that for a fact that everyone would be overjoyed to do that,” she told Newsweek. “I don’t think anyone wants to stop telling the story.”

Landman is streaming on Paramount+.

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‘American Primeval’ Explores 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre

Megan Elliott — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 14:04:00 +0000

Netflix’s newest drama draws inspiration from one of the bloodiest episodes in American history. American Primeval is a gritty historical Western from director/executive producer Peter Berg. It takes the Mountain Meadows Massacre as its jumping-off point. The show opens with the horrifying 1857 attack and uses it to explore the “violent collision of culture, religion, and community” on the American frontier.

‘American Primeval’ draws from real-life history

American Primeval is fiction. But the Mountain Meadows Massacre was a real event – one with which many viewers might be unfamiliar.

The massacre took place on Sept. 11, 1857, in Utah Territory. Mormons led by Brigham Young (portrayed by Kim Coates in the Netflix show) had claimed the region for their own after being driven out of Illinois. Young served as the territory’s governor, which he ruled as a theocracy. That led to conflict with President James Buchanan, who wanted to assert federal power in Utah. In 1857, Buchanan ordered federal troops to the territory, alarming Young and his followers.

Caught in the middle of this simmering conflict were wagon trains of emigrants traveling from the eastern U.S. to California. When one group from Arkansas, the Fancher Party, made their way through southern Utah, the Mormon Militia attacked, along with some members of the Paiute tribe.

More than 100 people were killed in the Mountain Meadows Massacre

The Fancher party fought back when attacked, leading to a stalemate. After a few days, the Mormons offered the emigrants a truce. But rather than allowing them safe passage, they turned on the members of the wagon train, slaughtering more than 100 people, including women and children. The Mormon militia members then attempted to cover up their role in the attack, instead blaming it solely on the Paiutes. Ultimately, just one man, John D. Lee, was convicted for his role in the massacre. He was executed in 1877.

Young was the leader of the Mormons at the time of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, but the degree to which he knew about or was involved with the attack is a matter of historical debate. The show explores the complexity of Young’s role in the settlement of Utah. Coates said in an interview with Netflix’s Tudum that he tried to craft a nuanced portrayal of a complex and controversial historical figure.

“As an actor, you have to make choices,” he said. “Things start at the top and filter down, and we mustn’t shy away from both the nastiness and the goodness in our history. And this particular story has some of both, and it has some lessons that we can and should learn from. But boy, it was tough to survive in 1857. I don’t know how anyone did.”

For Berg, the fictional story told in American Primeval was a way to explore America’s difficult history.

“You get a little bit closer to some of the origin stories of how our country was formed,” he told the New York Times. “Those origin stories are very violent.”

American Primeval premieres Jan. 9 on Netflix.

Sources: American Experience, History

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Big Changes Ahead For ‘The View’: Why It’s Airing 7 Days a Week and Who’s Hosting

Lucille Barilla — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 13:50:38 +0000

There are big changes ahead for The View. Not only will the series air original episodes Monday through Friday, but it will also air on the weekends.

‘The View’ will air 7 days a week

According to an ABC press release, The View will now air seven days a week. The daytime talk series expands into weekends with a new streaming series called The Weekend View.

The 30-minute weekend series will be hosted by the talk show’s Friday panel, including moderator Joy Behar and co-hosts Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Ana Navarro. Whoopi Goldberg, who typically does not work on Fridays, will not be a part of the weekend series.

The Weekend View will focus on the biggest stories in entertainment and social media news. There will also be new “Hot Topics” for the panelists to discuss.

Additionally, the series will include “Behind The Table” segments with the show’s executive producer Brian Teta. In this segment, the co-hosts will dive deeper into pop-culture stories from the week prior.

Teta said of the new series, “In addition to having its most-watched linear season in four years, The View is finding success meeting viewers wherever they get their content, from podcasts to YouTube and now with new exclusive streaming content for the weekend on ABC News Live.”

‘The View’ continues an upward ratings tick

One of the series co-hosts, Sara Haines, announced the weekend installment on a recent episode of The View. The weekday panelists include Haines, Whoopi Goldberg, Sunny Hostin, Joy Behar, Ana Navarro, and Alyssa Farah Griffin.

As The View celebrates its 28th season on ABC, it remains a ratings winner. Currently, the series is enjoying its highest ratings in four years.

A press release states “The View ranks No. 1 in households and total viewers among all daytime talk shows and news shows for its fifth consecutive season.” The series ranks ahead of NBC’s TODAY Third Hour, TODAY with Jenna & Friends, and NBC News Daily.

“The Weekend View will feature more of the ‘Hot Topics’ our audiences can’t get enough of. Delivering original content for the weekend with a focus on what’s trending,” explains Robin Hommel, executive broadcast producer of the long-running daytime talk series.

When did the series first air?

The View was created by journalist Barbara Walters and her longtime producing partner, Bill Geddie. Walters wanted to feature a panel of diverse women from various generations engaging in lively discussions about the topics of the day.

The series debuted on ABC on Aug. 11, 1997. During its first episode, Walters shared her thoughts about the program, saying, “I’ve always wanted to do a show with women of different generations, backgrounds, and views. This is that show. We call it The View.”

Along with Walters, The View‘s other original cohosts were Star Jones, Joy Behar, Debbie Matenopoulos, and Meredith Vieira, who moderated the panel. Throughout its 28-year run, The View has welcomed 24 permanent co-hosts.

The Weekend View debuts Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, at 7:30 ET on ABC News Live, available on Disney+, Hulu, YouTube, ABCNews.com, the ABC News and ABC News Live apps.

Lori Loughlin’s New Show ‘On Call’ Is a Complete Departure From ‘When Calls the Heart’

Megan Elliott — Wed, 08 Jan 2025 22:05:00 +0000

Lori Loughlin has traded prairie dresses for a cop’s uniform. The Full House alum is back on TV in one of her first major roles since the 2018 college admissions scandal derailed her career.

Loughlin’s involvement in the scam – which involved parents’ paying money to ensure their children would be admitted to elite colleges and universities – led to her being abruptly fired from her role on Hallmark Channel’s frontier drama When Calls the Heart. She eventually served two months in prison for fraud. Since then, Loughlin has been relatively under-the-radar, taking on just a handful of TV roles, including a brief stint on Blue Bloods and several TV movies for Great American Family. But she’s poised to make a splash with a recurring role in Prime Video’s gritty new cop drama On Call.

Lori Loughlin plays a no-nonsense cop in ‘On Call’

On Call is Law & Order and Chicago Fire producer Dick Wolf’s first foray into streaming. The intense, 30-minute drama follows veteran cop Traci Harmon (Troian Bellisario) and her rookie trainee Alex Diaz (Brandon Larracuente) as they patrol the streets of Long Beach, Calif. Loughlin plays Lieutenant Bishop, Harmon and Diaz’s no-nonsense, F-bomb dropping superior officer.

The role is a major departure for Loughlin, who cut her teeth on the 1980s soap The Edge of Night and became a TV icon due to her turn as Aunt Becky in Full House. Later, she played the sweet-tempered mayor of Hope Valley in the gentle drama When Calls the Heart and portrayed an antique dealer with a knack for solving murders in Hallmark’s cozy crime series Garage Sale Mysteries. Her On Call character is tougher and rougher around the edges. Bishop doesn’t hesitate to call out her officers when she’s not happy with their work.

The ‘When Calls the Heart’ alum ‘shocked’ herself with ‘On Call’ performance

Viewers who hit play on On Call when it debuts on Jan. 9 might find themselves doing a double-take when Bishop first pops up on screen, and not just because of her simple hairstyle and makeup-free look. The character is intense and hard-charging. Even Loughlin was surprised when she saw her performance.

“I think I shocked myself,” Loughlin admitted in a recent interview with the AP. “When Eriq showed me the first episode, he screened a rough cut for me, and when I came on the screen it took me a moment [to realize] ‘Oh, that’s me.’ So I do think it’s very different from anything I’ve played. And I do think it will be surprising to people.”

“People weren’t expecting this side of Lori,” her co-star Eriq LaSalle said. (LaSalle is also one of On Call’s executive producers and directed several episodes.) “But she has it. She has that talent … she got it and she devoured this character.”

All eight episodes of On Call premiere Thursday, Jan. 9 on Prime Video.

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Nathan Fillion Feels ‘The Rookie’ Is More Real Than Other Cop Shows

Antonio Stallings — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 00:54:00 +0000

For actor Nathan Fillion, The Rookie is a show that keeps earning its title and its popularity after every season. And despite its initial promise, Fillion believed The Rookie might’ve been one of the most authentic cop shows on air.

Nathan Fillion felt ‘The Rookie’ leans into the harsh reality of policing

Nathan Fillion | Evans Ward/Getty Images

As unbelievable as its premise might sound on the surface, The Rookie is actually based on a true story. The Rookie is based on the life of William Norcross, who left his family’s business at the age of 44 to join the LAPD. Speaking with The New York Post, Norcross revealed the steps he took to change his life.

“[Law enforcement] was something I had always thought about in the back of my mind … then, all of the sudden, I wake up and I’m 40-something years old and I figured if I was ever going to make a change, that now was the time to do it,” he said. “I looked around; I always thought about LA — the LAPD has no age limit, as long as you can pass the requirements — and I saw they had expedited testing where you can cram a couple of months of testing into one week, and that’s how it started.”

Fillion’s character in The Rookie, John Nolan, has the same epiphany when he decides to embark on a Law enforcement career. Seeing as the show started off grounded in some truth, Fillion felt the series managed to maintain its authenticity throughout its first season. Fillion even considered it the most accurate cop show on television.

“I really enjoy the idea of the accuracy of our show” Fillion said in an interview with Local Syr. “We’ve been sold television shows before, cop shows before, but they’re always that heroic trope that we know of bending the rules to get the bad guy, but the reality is a little bit different, and we try to lean towards the reality of policing.”

The show’s creator, Alexi Hawley, echoed the sentiments of his rare leading man. Hawley felt his series presented a type of cop show that hadn’t been seen in a long time.

“Network television is full of investigative shows, but there hasn’t been a big, fun patrol show in a long time. The Rookie stands out because it tells diverse stories about our uniformed cops as they patrol the streets of Los Angeles — going from intense situations to comedic or emotional ones,” Hawley told TV Bizz.

Nathan Fillion was happy to play a character that was more down to Earth for a change in ‘The Rookie’

Fillion’s John Nolan couldn’t have been further away from some of the character he’s played in the past. Before The Rookie, he was coming off eight seasons of the television show Castle. The show may have taken place in a real-world setting, but its premise of a millionaire author investigating gruesome crimes was different from Rookie’s grounded approach. It might’ve been one of the many reasons he preferred his Rookie character over his Castle counterpart.

Similarly, other roles he was most famous for like Firefly were sci-fi adventures that weren’t rooted in the real world at all. At one point, Fillion even had a reputation for being a sci-fi actor, which he strongly disagreed with.

For the most part, The Rookie was about a regular guy, a role Fillion gravitated to after years of playing extraordinary characters.

“You know what’s nice is that John Nolan is more reality-based than what I’ve been playing for awhile. It’s nice to get back to a little bit of drama, yeah,” Fillion once said in an interview with Assignment X.

3 Things We’d Like to See in ‘When Calls the Heart’ Season 12

Megan Elliott — Sun, 05 Jan 2025 18:10:00 +0000

Hallmark Channel is headed back to Hope Valley. When Calls the Heart returns for its 12th season on Jan. 5. The latest chapter of the frontier-set show will surely deliver more of the cozy, heartwarming drama, gentle humor, and sweetly romantic moments fans have come to love.

What can Hearties expect from the new episodes? Hallmark has shared some details about the coming season. After finally declaring their love for each other in season 11, Elizabeth and Nathan will embark on the next stage of their relationship. Lucas and Lee team up on a new project as the former tries to move forward after the dramatic events of last season. And Rosemary will put her investigative skills to work as she and Bill try to find out who is responsible for a train robbery.

As we look forward to the When Calls the Heart Season 12 premiere, here are some of the things we’d love to see in the new episodes.

A short courtship for Elizabeth and Nathan

Elizabeth (Erin Krakow) and Nathan (Kevin McGarry) are finally a couple, much to the delight of many fans who’d been longing to see Hope Valley’s schoolteacher in another romance with a Mountie. The couple’s new romance will undoubtedly take center stage in season 12. But will it be a long courtship or a short one? A trip to the altar seems inevitable for the pair, especially considering that Elizabeth has already broken off one engagement. Our hope is that wedding bells start ringing sooner rather than later for the couple.

Elizabeth was married once before, but her time with her first husband was tragically cut short, so fans have never really seen her as a happily married wife and mother. We’ve witnessed her long courtships with both Jack and Lucas. While Elizabeth and Nathan certainly deserve time to enjoy their newfound happiness, it would be more interesting to finally allow her character to move forward to a different stage of life. An engagement – or even a wedding – by the end of the season opens the door to stories that explore Elizabeth and Nathan’s life together as husband and wife, their efforts to blend their families, and perhaps their decision to welcome a child of their own.

A new love interest for Lucas

Elizabeth’s happiness with Nathan came at the expense of her former fiancé Lucas (Chris McNally), whom she dumped at the end of season 10 just days before their wedding. The newly elected governor went through the wringer in season 11 as he recovered from an assassination attempt, navigated the heartbreak of seeing Elizabeth move on with someone else, and faced obstacles in his efforts to develop a resort near Hope Valley. At the end of the season, he discovered that his one-time flame Jeannette (TK) had actually orchestrated the shooting that nearly killed him. The resulting scandal threw his political future into question.

What’s next for Lucas? Our hope is that he catches a break in season 12, both professionally and personally. At the end of last season, he agreed to work with Lee (Kavan Smith) to create a national park near Hope Valley, though he also said he’d need to spend more time in Capital City to make that plan a reality. Fortunately, it doesn’t sound like McNally is leaving Hope Valley for good. In an interview with Swooon, he said he’d still be around in season 12 and hinted that his character might have a new love interest.

“Well, there is one of the new characters that’s coming to town who represents a fairly strong opposition to Lucas, and I think within that is a spark of chemistry, and we will see where that goes,” the actor said.

A new character moves to Hope Valley, permanently

One of the charms of When Calls the Heart has always been the side stories involving the town’s many residents. Over the years, we’ve seen characters come and go. And while goodbyes are always hard, the arrival of new faces helps breathe new life into a long-running series.

For season 12, we’d love to see some new characters make their home in Hope Valley. The last major addition to the show’s cast came in season 9, when Mei Sou (Amanda Wong) moved to town. Prior to that, Minnie and Joseph Canfield (Natasha Burnett and Viv Leacock) and their family put down stakes in season 8. While adding new characters could mean reduced storylines for some old favorites, it also has the potential to move the show in interesting new directions. In the season premiere, Nathan takes a new Mountie trainee (Jacob Shoemay) under his wing. Will the new cadet make the town his permanent home? We’ll have to wait and see, but his arrival could open the door for a new generation of Hope Valley stories.

When Calls the Heart Season 12 airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on Hallmark Channel. Episodes stream the next day on Hallmark+.

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Scott Patterson Admits He Once Tried To Get His Own ‘Gilmore Girls’ Spinoff

Andrea Francese — Sat, 04 Jan 2025 16:59:45 +0000

Scott Patterson has been a vocal proponent for more Gilmore Girls content. The actor, who spent seven seasons portraying Luke Danes on the iconic dramedy, recently implored fans to “manifest” another revival. Patterson, apparently, was so attached to his character that he even advocated for his own spinoff series. There is a good reason it didn’t happen, though.

Scott Patterson wanted to do a ‘Gilmore Girls’ spinoff about Luke’s Diner

Gilmore Girls ended in 2007, much to the chagrin of fans and the cast. For years, fans have always wondered why a true spinoff attempt was never made. It wasn’t for lack of trying. During a recent chat with E! News, Scott Patterson revealed he lobbied for a Gilmore Girls spinoff focused on Luke’s Diner as the series was coming to an end. The network didn’t bite, but for a good reason.

Luke Danes and Lorelai Gilmore | YouTube/Gilmore Girls

Patterson revealed that a former Warner Bros. executive, Peter Roth, shot down the idea of a spinoff and explained why it wouldn’t work. Patterson recalled Roth telling him that the vibrant residents of Stars Hollow made Gilmore Girls what it was, and focusing on one character, like Luke, would leave fans wanting for the familiarity of the other residents.

There were attempts to make a new show happen, though

It might come as a surprise, but there was one serious attempt to launch a Gilmore Girls spinoff series and another discussion about a spinoff. Neither came to fruition. The series included a backdoor pilot if you look carefully enough.

Jess and Luke | Saeed Adyani/Netflix

In season 3, Jess Mariano leaves Stars Hollow when he learns he will not graduate on time. He travels to California to reunite with his father, who left him and his mother when Jess was just a baby. If we are being honest, The episode feels a bit contrived and out of place.

A Gilmore Girls writer, Stan Zimmerman, told People that the spinoff never got off the ground for various reasons. In September, Zimmerman said that Amy Sherman-Palladino, the creator of Gilmore Girls, brought Jess out to Venice because she loved the area and wanted a completely different vibe for the potential spinoff. That decision may have been the reason it didn’t work out. While Zimmerman claims the spinoff never “gelled,” several sources claim the cost of filming on location was a dealbreaker.

Lorelai and Rory Gilmore | Netflix

For years, there have been rumors that a Gilmore Girls spinoff focused on Rory Gilmore’s post-collegiate life was considered. Still, it was a brief discussion, and nothing ever came of it.

‘The Way Home’ Season 3 Premiere Features a Long-Awaited Reunion

Megan Elliott — Sat, 04 Jan 2025 03:10:00 +0000

The Way Home is back on Hallmark Channel. Season 3 of the hit show premiered Jan. 3 with an episode that featured some intriguing twists for the Landry family. “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” also delivered an emotional and long-awaited moment for two of the show’s key characters.

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Way Home Season 3 premiere.]

Jacob returns to the present in ‘The Way Home’ Season 3

In The Way Home Season 2, Kat (Chyler Leigh) reunited with her missing brother Jacob (Spencer Macpherson) after she used the pond to time travel back to 1814. Jacob had vanished decades earlier and had spent most of his life in the past. Despite Kat’s pleas, he was reluctant to return to the present. But in the closing moments of the season 2 finale, Jacob emerged from the pond. He and Kat then prepared to enter the Landry farmhouse and give an unsuspecting Del (Andie MacDowell) the shock of her life.

The Way Home Season 3 premiere picks up immediately after the end of season 2. Kat and Jacob enter the house, where their mother is sitting at the kitchen table.

“Mom,” Jacob says.

Del is overcome with emotion as she embraces the child she’d long ago given up for dead. But she has some questions. Kat finally explains the truth about the pond to her mom, who has been completely unaware of all the time-traveling happening right under her nose. She’s stunned – and a little hurt she’s been kept in the dark – but she’s willing to believe the seemingly unbelievable.

Jacob struggles to adjust to his new life

Jacob might be back in his original timeline, but adjusting to his new life isn’t easy. He was a child when he vanished, but now he’s an adult man used to making his own decisions and living independently. But to Del, he’s still a little boy. The pair face some bumpy moments as he struggles against her impulse to smother and protect him. Plus, no one in the Landry family wants to explain where Jacob has really been for the past 24 years. They cook up a hard-to-swallow story about him being taken in by a kindly couple who lived off-the-grid.

Surprisingly, the world seems to accept the Landry family’s story about Jacob’s disappearance. But nine months after his return, Del is still intent on keeping him close to the farm, especially because she’s started to receive anonymous letters threatening to reveal her secret. And Jacob himself doesn’t seem eager to venture too far beyond the farm’s boundaries.

Kat learns the real reason why Jacob returned to the present

While Kat swears to Elliot (Evan Williams) that her heart is in the present, she can’t stop thinking about the people she left behind in 1814. She decides to travel back to the 19th century to let Elijah (Stuart Hughes) and Susannah (Watson Rose) know that Jacob is OK. But when she returns, she gets some shocking news.

“[Jacob] didn’t want to go. But he had to,” Elijah explains after Kat tells him that he’s living happily in another time.

Though Cyrus Goodwin had said he would not go after Jacob, he reneged on that promise, Elijah explains. After Kat returned to the present, Cyrus turned Jacob over to the British. To escape imprisonment, he used the pond to travel back to the present.

Kat’s stunned and hurt by this news. When she returns home, she confronts Jacob, who admits that he fled to save himself but says that he’s happy he’s back with his original family. But navigating his new life is a challenge.

“I’m a coward here,” he says. “I am. I was a man there. I had duties and I had responsibilities. God, this is so much different than the life I lived. An independent life … I’m worthless here. Trapped in memories I don’t understand. Living with a mother who treats me like a child.”

Del overhears their conversation, forcing her to confront the way she’s been treating Jacob. At the end of the episode, she vows to give him more space and to push him to interact with the modern world.

Jacob’s sure to encounter more hurdles as he builds a life in the present. But that’s not the only challenge ahead for the Landrys. Jacob is beginning to remember some strange conversations with his dad (Jefferson Brown) from before he disappeared, which suggest he also knew about time travel. (Viewers already know Colton was aware of the pond’s unique properties, but the show’s characters are just beginning to figure it out.) Plus, when Kat listens to an old demo her late father recorded in the 1970s, she realizes her daughter Alice (Sadie Laflamme-Snow) is singing on the track. Meanwhile, Alice has followed a mysterious figure down to the pond. As she stands on the shore, an unseen person gives her a shove, sending her tumbling somewhere in time.

Who pushed Alice? And where in time will the pond send her? (The 1970s seem like a good guess.) And who was the couple who left a baby in a basket by the pond’s edge in the episode’s opening sequence? For now, the only thing we know for sure is that the pond hasn’t given up all of its secrets.

The Way Home Season 3 airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on Hallmark Channel. Episodes stream the next day on Hallmark+.

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