In 1814, Susanna Augustine concocts a medicine by using herbs as Kat watches close by in the basement of the Landry house. They head upstairs and join Elijah just as Cyrus Goodwin rides up on horseback; Susanna tells Kat to go to the pantry and stay there. Cyrus inquires how they’re doing with harvesting the crops without Jacob, and asks for them to send word when Jacob’s home. Susanna walks Kat back to the woods to get to the pond.
In 2002, Young Elliot shows Alice his new cell phone as he walks her back to the pond. He tells Alice that his summer job house sitting at Lingermore paid great, which Alice clocks as Evelyn Goodwin’s estate. Elliot tells Alice that the summer of 2002 has been rough and he just wants to get through the Founder’s Day Festival, for which he and Kat always used to decorate the gazebo.
In 1814, Kat arrives at the pond to see Thomas Coyle bathing. He knows that she is Jacob’s long-lost sister and says that Jacob is a friend of his. Kat accuses him of playing both sides of the coin and calls him a liar and a thief, but Thomas tells Kat not to make assumptions about people she doesn’t know, as she might disappear. He says he’s working on getting Jacob back. Paintbrushes fall out of Thomas’s bag, which Kat notices. He moves to leave and says to Kat, “The pond is yours, ‘My Katherine.’”
In Port Haven town in present day, Rita tells Del to have some fun before post-summer responsibilities. They talk about the town’s 200th Founder’s Day, an annual town tradition where they pay tribute to Port Haven’s founding in the 1800s. Rita pulls out her big Founder’s Day ribbon pin that says, “Ask Me About My Family.” They see Sam Bishop talking to a woman, and Rita comments to Del that Sam is desperately making his way through all the women in town.
At The Point, Alice offers herself as a volunteer to Monica to decorate the gazebo for Founder’s Day. Elliot enters, and Monica asks if he’s ready for the festival’s Augustine spotlight. She gives him his coffee and one of the pins, which he is less than enthused about receiving.
At the Herald, Kat’s intern Casey tells her that they’re behind on booking interviews for the Founder’s Day edition. With summer ending, Casey reminds Kat that it’s their last week. Casey also tells Kat that they’re upset because Rita asked them to present the Goodwin family’s check for the new library at the festival, but Casey’s upset as they don’t know much about their family.
At Elliot’s house, he holds the pin Monica gave him and has a flashback to the 2000s with his dad, Victor. Victor angrily tells Young Elliot that Founder’s Day is the one day they get respect on the Augustine family name.
In present day in Alice’s room, Kat tells Alice that someone in 1814 told her that if you mess with the wrong people, they can make you disappear; she worries that this happened to Jacob. Kat also asks Alice to tell her if she sees anything unsettling in her trips back to the 2000s.
Elliot calls upstairs that dinner is ready in the Landry kitchen, and Alice reveals she invited him. Alice, Kat, Del and Elliot discuss Founder’s Day over dinner, and Alice tells the group that Monica roped her into volunteering to decorate. Kat reminisces how she and Elliot used to decorate when they were teenagers.
On the porch after dinner, Kat asks Elliot why he didn’t tell her that Alice was there – in the past – during that whole “mess.” Elliot says that the pond is taking Alice there for a reason and they can’t avoid it. Elliot tells Kat that he found the ship manifests from the past, but Jacob wasn’t listed on any. Kat tells Elliot to check for the name Thomas Coyle instead.
In Del’s bedroom in present day, she has a flashback to Colton putting the pin on her. The two reminisce about their first Port Haven Founder’s Day; she tells Colton she hated her first one and that she felt like a total imposter then. Colton tells her that she’s a Landry all on her own and always will be.
At the Herald, Casey tells Kat that they found execution records that detail how people were shot in town for treason. They also researched Cyrus Goodwin and learned that he was close with the British in The War of 1812, so much so that he built ships for the navy and sent them to Canada. Kat realizes that this is what Jacob was involved in. Casey relays that in return, the British gave Cyrus a ‘Letter of Marque,’ which allowed him to steal and pillage anything, all in the name of war. Casey is upset that this is what their family is built upon, but Kat reminds them that they don’t have to let their past define their future. Casey thanks Kat for the summer at the paper and they take a picture together.
At The Point while Alice is working, she talks with Noah from school as she gets a text from her mom. Alice told Kat that Elliot is in for volunteering with the gazebo, and that he specifically asked if Kat could help. Kat agrees because she believes Elliot asked for her to, and Alice tells Monica the news. Monica sees what Alice is up to and tells her she’s all for it.
Elliot scours the ship manifests he has from the 1800s. As he does, he has a flashback to being with his dad in the 2000s, when Victor found Samuel Augustine in the history records. Victor tells Young Elliot that their founding fathers came over with the rest of them, and that the Augustines are just as good as the Landrys and the Goodwins. Victor appears to write something down in the manifest, telling Young Elliot, “You just wait. It’s our turn now.” When Elliot comes out of the memory and returns to present day, he finds Thomas’s name on the ship manifest.
At the gazebo at night, Kat thanks Elliot for volunteering to help, and Elliot tells her that Alice said that Kat needed help. They both realize they were set up. Elliot fixes the lights and the two of them share a moment as the band arrives for sound check.
Alice goes to the Wally’s food truck in town to see Noah as he’s been working double shifts. He brings her fish and chips, and she learns that he works there for his grandpa to help, not because he wants to be a chef. He didn’t get the swimming scholarship for college he thought he would, so he’s just figuring things out day by day.
At The Point, Monica gets Del a piece of pie as Sam enters with Rita. Sam asks if Del wants to join them, which Rita discourages. Monica notices Del’s awkwardness as she asks Monica for her pie to go.
At the gazebo set up, the band plays a slow song and Elliot asks Kat to dance. As they dance, Kat reveals to Elliot that she told Susanna about her time travel. Elliot accuses Kat of using another one of his family members, and tells her that bringing Susanna into this will ruin her life. Kat tells Elliot to stop taking his family’s insecurities out on her. Before storming off upset, Elliot tells Kat that he did find a Thomas Coyle on the ship manifest; it was called the Belladonna, and it came into port on the first day of harvest in 1814.
In Kat’s bedroom, Alice finds Kat looking at the ship manifest. Kat tells Alice that this means Jacob is coming home, but that she can’t go back to 1814 yet as Del wants them at Founder’s Day. Kat asks Alice why she set her and Elliot up, and Alice tells her mom that she really wants her own purpose. She feels that Kat has her purpose in finding Jacob, and Alice feels confused about why the pond is sending her to 2002. Alice thought it was trying to reveal that she should try to get Kat and Elliot back together.
In present day as Del gets ready for Founder’s Day, Colton appears in her imagination. Del says that she feels like an imposter again, like she’s letting Colton down and that he wouldn’t be proud of her. She doesn’t feel like she can call herself a Landry when her Landry is gone, but Colton says he’s proud of her every day.
The three Landry women attend the festival together. Alice tells Kat that it’s okay if she chooses to go to 1814 today over this event. Rita takes the stage and welcomes Casey, who has the Goodwin family check in tow. Kat briefly sees someone from behind that looks like Susanna, but it isn’t. Kat then sees a man who appears to be Thomas Coyle, but he disappears. Elliot sees Kat and assumes she’d be at the pond already; with that, she heads to the pond.
Back in 1814, Kat finds Thomas and asks him why Jacob would use his name on the ship. Thomas says that Jacob couldn’t afford the passage home, so he paid for it under his name. Thomas tells Kat that it’s the first day of harvest, and Kat realizes that this means Jacob is coming home today.
In present day at the festival, Rita calls Elliot up to the stage to give a speech. Elliot is flustered, and sees Young Elliot in the crowd as he has a flashback to his dad interrupting Colton on stage at this event in the 2000s. Victor makes a scene, claiming that the Goodwins live up in their mansion, the Landrys have their acres of land, and the Augustines have been left to suffer. Elliot comes out of his flashback to present day on stage and gives a speech about how the Augustines have always been observers. He says that by writing the story, they record what matters, and that being an Augustine is both a responsibility and an honor.
Back in 1814, Kat finds Elijah, Susanna and others harvesting crops in the fields and joins them.
At The Point in present day, Del signs copies of the book, “The Founding of Port Haven,” by Samuel Augustine. Sam walks in and asks Del if she’s all right; she tells him she’s tired of all of this, of playing a role. He tells her to stop – to take the button off and just leave. She claims that she doesn’t have the luxury to do whatever she wants and that it isn’t that easy for her, but he convinces her that even though it isn’t easy, she can do it. They leave together.
In 2002, Alice goes to Elliot’s house and runs into his dad, Vic. As Young Elliot comes outside to join them, Vic makes an unsavory comment about Elliot seemingly scoring Alice. As Alice and Elliot leave, he asks her not to tell Kat about how bad his dad is, as he doesn’t want Kat’s pity. Alice promises to keep his secret.
In 1814 as Kat works in the fields harvesting crops, she finds clothing buried, including Young Jacob’s red shoe. A child announces that there is a boat in the harbor, and everyone drops what they’re doing to run to shore.
In present day, Sam and Del sit together at The Cove. Del asks Sam if he brings all his girls here, and he tells her that he dates around because he needs to dip a toe in the water before he swims. Sam takes his clothes off and runs into the water, beckoning Del to join him. She finally relents, takes off her clothes, and runs in to join him.
Back in 1814, Kat, Elijah, Susanna and others see a boat coming into shore from the beach. Thomas Coyle runs out of the woods and waits on shore, too. A man turns around on the boat whom Kat recognizes as Adult Jacob, and she begins to call for him. Officers on horse storm onto the beach, knocking Elijah to the ground and Kat into the water. They arrest Jacob for treason and drag him away, leaving Kat and Elijah distraught on the beach.