(Original thread here.) Interesting note, Anne of Green Gables has 38 chapters, Anne of Avonlea which this season is based on has only 30, and Anne of the Island has 41. Personally I do think that makes Avonlea’s chapters feel a bit overly long.
The first season of this show had 47 episodes, and this season only has 30. I think that’s a really smart choice because honestly, Avonlea drags a bit as a book. This season also has a lot less filler than season one.
But back to the show. Episode 31 is a Matthew tribute episode as Anne visits his grave. It’s really sweet and I really appreciate the respectful way they filmed in a real cemetary. It’s a voiceover so no one’s talking and they don’t show other people.
They’re basically just quietly walking through it and filming, not being disrespectful at all. It’s just a little “I miss you” moment from Anne and it’s very nicely done.
Also Anne got into Redmond! Priscilla, Charlie, and Gilbert, too.
Apparently Marilla is a writer in this. She has a new book coming out about feminism and history. I like it.
Paul and Anne meet up in the cemetary, like in the book, and have a sweet moment. Them being much closer in the age really helps this relationship.
Episode 32 is a “Chatting with Paul” episode. Oooh, Paul is confirmed to be gay in this episode! Queer friends! Hell yeah. I really like that choice.
His grandmother keeps trying to set him up with basically every boy his age on the island. He calls it her “aggressive way of showing support”. Anne and I both find this hilarious.
Very cute episode.
Episode 33 – Diana’s back! Anne and Diana go for a walk in the woods together. Diana and Fred are basically dating, but Diana refuses to admit it, lol. Apparently Ruby’s hanging out with Josie Pye. I miss Ruby, too, aww.
Diana and Anne get lost and find Miss Lavender’s house. And they do indeed spell it Lavender, not Lavendar like in the book.
I accept this change with open arms.
The house is really cute. She has chickens and a greenhouse and a pond.
We don’t see Miss Lavender, but they make friends with her. Miss Lavendar is an artist now. I like that choice, too. Charlotta the Fourth is, hilariously, a cat. Like a Snowball II situation lol. Child labour translates less well to modern times XD
Episode 34 is a life update. Davy and Dora’s mother passed away and their uncle basically agreed the twins would be better off staying at Green Gables. Congrats to the uncle for getting to live in this, though.
Episode 35 is Anne telling a fictional version of what happened with Lavender and Stephen Irving. Like the fairy tale thing the book does, but with little paper cutouts. It’s cute and very much feels like something Anne would do.
Episode 36 is about Gilbert’s “Observer” notes. Still in the newspaper, called the Avonlea Chronicles now. And it’s all online now. It’s the same thing as in the book, basically, including the Uncle Abe storm prediction.
Aaaand they make a mistake here XD Anne says that she thinks Thanksgiving should be in the spring, not November. Canadian Thanksgiving is in October. They took this directly from the book, but the holiday has moved since the book was published.
I am available for hire to nitpick your Canada-set writing!
Episode 37. Gilbert: “So. Our joke was magic.”
Yup, storm happened. That’s all there is to this one.
Paul and Anne talk about visiting Miss Lavender. Paul feels a little awkward, like he’s rubbing it in her face that his dad married someone else. They really liked each other, tho. I really like the shy, kinda anxious thing they did with Paul.
His grief about his mother feels a lot more real and genuine, too. The aging up does a lot. I think he was a bit older than book!Paul when she died, and in general he’s a lot more of a complex character.
The way he feels about Miss Lavender is also a lot more complex. He feel guilty about how much he likes her, like he’s betraying his mom.
Paul ends the episode by asking if Anne thinks Miss Lavender would want to see his dad. Anne says it can’t hurt to ask.
Episode 39 gives us the answer that yes, it was okay to ask.
It went well😏
Miss Lavender is going to spend the summer in Boston with Paul and his father, and Paul is probably going to move back to Boston in the fall. Anne’s going to really miss him, but she’s really happy for him all the say.
Episode 40 is our season finale and it’s a Diana episode!
They graduated!! It’s the last summer before university for Anne.
Diana tells Anne that she and Fred are officially dating. I’m really glad they didn’t go full engagement. They’re too young!! Anne doesn’t see what Diana sees in Fred, lol, but she’s glad Diana is happy.
Anne also talks about how she’s excited and scared and happy all at once.
And that’s our ending for this season!!
Overall, I continue to be impressed by this webseries. From what I’ve determined, most adaptations either skip Anne of Avonlea or combine it with Island, so them doing a full season adaptation of it is really neat.
I liked how they handled the updating of things like making Anne a tutor instead of a teacher. And I really liked how they cut waaaay back on the Davy XD It continues to be a really fun adaptation. I would definitely recommend it.
And that’s going to be it for me for today! I’m currently working on my Anne of the Island notes so we’ll pick that up soon. Stay tuned!
Episode 21 is Anne talking about her “students”. She mostly just shares some funny stuff they’ve said. Not too much plot here to report, just some cute worldbuilding.
Episode 22 is called “A Chad Day” instead of “A Jonah Day” and I cackled at that. The opening is also really funny.
Anne: “I’ve done a bad, bad thing.”
We’re replacing toothache with killer cramps, also, which is fair, since we have, like, dentists now. I like the frank period talk, too. On this bad day, too, Anne also caused a small lab explosion.
And then Anthony Pye was Anthony Pye. He had the nerve to say to Anne: “You’re only here because you need money since your fake dad died.”
Someone give me a pointer and let me at him. I’ll do it myself!
Since it’s been a minute, I’m going to remind you that in this adaptation, Anthony is now only a year younger than Anne, physically a lot larger than her, and also a racist little prick.
Anne told him to hand his phone over and he refused – and then HE SPIT AT HER.
HE. SPIT. AT. HER.
So she slapped him across the face.
Good.
She’s upset, but I’m not. Should have slapped him again.
Episode 23 is “The Aftermath”. With bonus Paul! Anthony didn’t file a complaint and apparently likes Anne now. Like I said, should have slapped him twice.
Paul basically suggests Anne use Anthony as a personal bodyguard, lol.
Episode 24 is just like a little update. Apparently the school council is making prom a thing? We don’t really do prom in Canada. Like a couple schools here and there might, but it’s not a big thing like in the US. We mostly just do grad.
This is really just so Judson Parker can buy votes to be Prom King, but honestly not really a thing here, lol. I wonder if the actors just had finals or something and were too busy to film XD
Episode 25 is Gilbert, Anne, and Jane updating that with the whole “never mind false alarm Judson’s not doing anything” thing the book did. It’s not super memorable – I just got super confused by my notes LOL. But it is book accurate.
Episode 26 is about Dora going missing. Apparently she disappeared while Marilla was at the store and just like in the book, they find her in the shed. This episode seems to take this a lot more seriously than the book actually did. The episode is updated to be more about punishments and stuff than Anne trying to inspire Davy to be better through, like, whimsy XD
Also honestly there’s a TON less Davy in this season than in the book and I appreciate that lol
Episode 27 is another “Chatting with Gil” episode. They talk about Buffy and Firefly and I don’t care. I mean it has valid points about bi erasure and stuff, but I just don’t care XD Sorry but I’m not sorry.
Episode 28 is a montage of Anne taking care of her hair. It’s cute. She does some twists. This is not exactly a place where I have much to add for obvious reasons lol.
Episode 29 – it’s spring! It’s the woods birthday party. They explicitly confirm it’s Anne’s birthday, so it’s March. Party consists of Anne, Diana, Jane, and Priscilla. They goof around a bit and it’s cute. It’s basically the same as the chapter in the book.
And episode 30 is a Diana episode! I missed her.
This is the Charlotte Morgan plot! She was going to come for dinner but we know how that goes. Charlotte sprained her ankle, Priscilla’s text never went through because Avonlea reception sucks, and Davy ruined Anne’s spinach quiche.
Anne, Diana, and Marilla all added salt to the gravy, rendering it inedible, but they still served it before realizing. This is basically combining the liniment scene from the first book, but with Miss Stacey politely eating it anyways instead, which is cool. I like that they included that here, since it wasn’t in the first season. It’s a nice touch.
And, of course, Davy broke Aunt Jo’s platter that Anne had borrowed to show Marilla.
(Original thread here.) Episode 11 is another “Chatting with Gilbert” episode and the audio was awful. I honestly couldn’t hear most of it because it was filmed in a coffee shop and they’re just using the in-camera mic, and it picks up ALL the background noise. Luckily there are subtitles because I would have not gotten a THING from this.
Gilbert uses the term “first year” to refer to the students they’re tutoring, which is also a thing we don’t say in Canada, lol.
Honestly the tutoring plot doesn’t work great because they treat it as seriously as full on teaching, lol, and I just have trouble suspending my disbelief that afterschool tutoring is THAT serious. Otherwise, though, the convo is basically straight from the book. Davy and Dora also get their first mention in this episode.
Episode 12 has Anne mention “a creepy clown epidemic” and Donald Trump being a presidential candidate and my soul left my body for a minute.
Oh, Anne. You have no idea what’s coming.
But yeah this is just announcing Marilla is taking in Davy and Dora. Their mother is still alive at this point, just seriouly ill. And they age them up to eleven which I am SO very okay with. Davy is still “a handful” apparently, though.
Episode 13 is all about Davy.
I don’t care.
Episode 14 is called “Microaggressions”. Mr H still doesn’t like Mrs Rachel and he said something like, “Women like her are so prone to being aggressive.”
Remember, Anne and Mrs Rachel are the only two Black women in Avonlea.
So, yikes.
(Wait, should I be saying Mrs Lynde instead of Mrs Rachel in these posts? I always call her Mrs Rachel because the first book does and I think it’s cute but I don’t want to be disrespectful.)
Anne talks about microaggressions and how “racism can often be unintentional”. REALLY good writing in this episode. It really blends things like this with the book well. Mr H took it well, also, and basically said Anne was right and he should be more careful about what he says.
Episode 15 is another Q&A, this time with Paul!
Anne’s hair is really cute here.
Also her mug is so close to the ace flag on the bottom lol, that I honestly wondered if this was a pride flag I just didn’t recognize.
Episode 16 is a Student Council meeting, which is the AVIS replacement in this book. The hall paint job is “off-white” instead of “eggshell” now and also it’s the inside of a hall because, like, that’s the room they could use to film in.
Diana’s back, too! She was missing for a bit, and I missed her.
That’s it.
Episode 17 is a vlog from Diana where she finds Anne hugging a tree. It’s winter and it’s pretty. In the webseries canon they haven’t been able to hang out in a while – I’m thinking real world scheduling conflicts.
Episode 19 has Paul having a sleepover at Anne’s which really makes me continue to think Paul is queer. I can’t see Marilla allowing it if they could be romantically interested in each other, you know? But maybe they’re just European and less uptight XD
They talk about faith/religion and I continue to enjoy the way this series handles that. It feels very natural and organic. Honestly, aging Paul up and making him and Anne basically equal friends is just a good choice. He’s also shy now, especially about his writing.
This is a cool, low key video, two friends just sitting on the floor in the middle of the night in the almost dark, talking.
Episode 19 is Christmas shopping!!!
Someone drove this car a really long way from Finland to PEI.
No, I’m just kidding. It’s not like they could tell these people to leave.
This is just a cute little shopping in the city montage. It really looks like fun and all the stores are small and cute and I liked it.
Episode 20 is Anne talking about the year. Making friends, coming out as queer, Queen’s, working. Also there are fireworks because it’s New Year’s. New Year’s 2016. Boy that was a year.
She also mentions losing Matthew (aww) and her goals for 2017.
That’s a cute way to also wrap up this thread! Happy New Year! 2017 will be so much better than 2016!!
(Original thread here.) This season adapts Anne of Avonlea and is the only adaptation that doesn’t combine it with the 3rd and/or 4th books.
Episode One is a cute little montage of Anne and co doing summer things. I think we have a Gilbert with a face now! This little hat outfit Anne has on is absolutely adorable and very Anne-esque. This really does show, much like in the book, Anne’s fashion progression.
Diana got a cute haircut, too!
Also I don’t want to comment too much on how people look since they were teenagers making it, but I will say this. The actress(/co-writer) playing Diana is the only Diana I’ve seen so far who is anything but straight-sized.
She’s not really on social media as far as I know, so I don’t know if she’d call herself fat or not, and again, teenager at the time, trying not to be weird XD But I would consider her Diana an actually fat Diana, the first so far. And I like that a lot!
But yeah no plot in this one, just montage and dubstep.
Episode 2 is called “Chatting with Gil”. We do indeed have a Gilbert with a face!
Also we got new theme music which I’m not mad about after hearing the last theme song 40+ times.
Anne: “He was a dick.” Gilbert: “But I’m better now.”
His hair is kind of unfortunate but I like him and his portrayal of Gilbert.
He also apologizes again, but this time to us/the audience for how he treated Anne/being ignorant and racist. We like to see it.
Gilbert: “I might be a hopeless hipster, but, Anne Shirley, so are you.”
LOL honestly. Look at these two. He’s wearing plaid and suspenders, and she’s… Anne Shirley.
She lends him a book, they joke around, it’s really cute.
Episode 3 introduces Anne’s new neighbour, “Mr. H.” Anne finds him a nuisance, lol. Instead of cow selling, the first conflict is Anne accidentally sending a paper to his printer instead of hers.
Like six times.
They still include the part where he thinks Marilla is Anne’s aunt, which I think is cool because Marilla is still white in this. It’s just kinda nice that Mr. H. doesn’t assume it’s impossible for them to be related because Anne’s Black.
Episode 4!! Poetry Club has ended also, so Anne just shares some poetry she wrote with us.
I have to quote it.
“You call girls weak but I’m strong enough to grind your bones into powder and bury the rest into the forest.”
Very teen angst, lol.
Then she goes to print it. After a moment, she realizes it’s not printing.
I wonder why.
Anne: “So in case that wasn’t clear, I just sent a death threat to Mr. H.”
Anne ran over to apologize, Mr. H. was embarassed about his behaviour, and they bond. I laughed SO HARD about this episode.
Also, they still include the bird.
Episode 5 has Jane and Gilbert talking with Anne about the tutoring program. Apparently it’s tutoring other teens, which I did not expect. We’re rolling with it.
Anne’s very excited, Jane and Gilbet are more laid back. Jane plans to be fairly strict, which Anne is not into. It’s very by the book, but modernized aka no talking about hitting children.
Episode 6! Anne recaps her first week, in animation! Apparently she’s tutoring 16 year old freshmen. Which, 1, we don’t call them that in Canada. 2, they’d be like 14 in grade 9? Soooo…
She talks about the students, nothing super exciting.
The Donnells are twins now, which is amusing only to me. Apparently VERY WHITE Jacob Donnell says to Anne, “My brothers call me Slim Rizzle.”
I’m dead.
Anthony Pye’s still a dick, surprise. Not only is he still sexist, but he’s racist and homomisic, too. Gross!!
Paul Irving is still the best, obviously.
There’s no episode 7. Don’t ask me – I can’t find one and I’m not sure one ever existed.
Episode 8 is a hair update. Anne’s hair has grown back a lot and she talks about her hair routine. She also talks about how she likes her hair a lot more and dealing with internalized self-hatred. It’s a really nice follow-up to her previous arc that shows how she’s grown and how her self-love has increased.
I’m not the intended audience for this obviously, but I wanted to point out how good it was.
Episode 9 introduces Paul Irving and I try not to hate him on sight. No, for real, the actor is portraying him as kind of shy which I like a lot. I also appreciate them aging him up to sixteen.
They play “Would You Rather?” and Paul asks if Anne would rather marry Charlie Sloane or Gilbert Blythe. Exasperated, she says neither and half-sarcastically asks which he’d rather marry.
Paul, no hesitation: “Gilbert, of course.”
Queer Paul??
Episode 10 is a Ruby episode! I’m so curious about all this toilet paper.
I mean in 2021, this is just sensible, but this is still 2016.
Apparently they’re… selling it… door to door?? To raise money to repaint the school hall.
What?
I’ve heard of selling WRAPPING paper as a fundraiser, but toilet paper? Again, in 2016.
Also apparently Diana ditched Anne to go with Fred, which I think is a scheduling issue with the actors. Goes the same as in the book, mostly, though.
Episode 41 starts with Anne saying thanks to people (basically us, the audience) for being cool after the last video where she “came out”, though she’s not a huge fan of the term in general. She says, “I wouldn’t even have to come out of a closet, if it wasn’t built around me by people who assume me to be straight in the first place.”
(Ergo quotes on the term when I normally wouldn’t use them.)
Anne’s a bit bummed about the whole Diana crush thing, but she appreciates Diana’s friendship more and is generally fine.
Except. Turns out Mrs. Barry has been watching Anne’s vlogs and has banned Diana from seeing Anne “for her own good”. So Mrs. Barry can fuck right off with that bullshit.
Marilla is fully supportive, also, and tried to tell Mrs Barry off over it. 10/10 for Marilla
Episodes 42, 43, and 44 are a series of video “letters” from Anne to Avonlea while she’s at Queen’s. Basically travel vlogs. They’re sweet, especially the parts talking about Matthew and Marilla saying goodbye before she left.
It’s a fun way to adapt the Queen’s chapters.
Also, Anne’s outfit here is really cute.
There’s a mildly awkward conversation where Jane is like “so are you bi or what?” and Anne is like, “Can we not?”
We also meet Anne’s new friends Stella and Priscilla. Priscilla likes Charlie Sloane, I guess. It’s also kind of awkward lol XD
Also Aunt Jo is still fully Team Anne and called Mrs Barry a fool for being queermisic. We love her.
We’re going very by the book, including Anne being calm after the exam, but remember, we’re skimming for length here. Cut to Anne NOT being calm as Gilbert Blythe has won a bunch of prizes. But, of course, Anne has won the Avery scholarship!!
Episode 45 is an immediate mood drop. Matthew passed away a few weeks ago, and Anne hasn’t vlogged since. Obviously she’s devastated. It’s a really beautiful episode, really well-acted.
Marilla and Anne have grown even closer. Marilla has been telling Anne stories about when she and Matthew were little. Big props to them for this one, it’s really good.
Marilla is having money issues because of the bank (you know the drill) and might lose the house. Apparently local schools on the Island are implementing a tutoring program where high school students help kids who are struggling. Anne’s applied to several, but things are still uncertain.
Episode 46 is a “Dull Life Update”. Things are moving along how life tends to do. Not normal, but “a new kind of normal”. Which is a phrase no one in 2016 knew would be so loaded in 2021.
Recently on the way home from a church youth group thing, Anne ran into Minnie May Barry, who is 14 in this, and who was completely drunk. And not accidentally on not-raspberry cordial, if you know what I mean.
She was really out of it and not sure where she was or how she got there, so Anne took her home on the bus. The public transport in PEI must be really good because small town Saskatchewan does not have buses.
Or this was written by Europeans who have functional public transport and didn’t realize how rare that is in North America XD Who can say, really.
Anne got a tutoring job in White Sands which isn’t great with the bus trip, since she’s still in school herself. She’s going to be in grade 12 now, I think. They say junior and senior, which we don’t really do in Canada.
Gilbert, of course, got the Avonlea High job
And episode 47 is our season one finale!! And Diana’s back! Mrs. Barry sent a basket of muffins and let Diana see Anne again in gratitude of taking care of Minnie May that night. Diana’s still kind of mad at her mother, which, fair. Me too.
She tells Anne that Gilbert gave up the Avonlea position so Anne could have it.
And it ends there!! That’s the end of the season!! Nice little cliffhanger. This season is a really good adaptation of the first book, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.
(Original thread here.) Episode 31 opens with Diana forcing Anne to tell us “what happened”.
Also, Anne is wearing a cute little beanie and again I appreciate the continuity. It’s very impressive for a webseries made back then.
Diana asks what Anne and Gilbert talked about when he drove her home from the bus stop.
Anne: “Nothing, actually. It was quite an awkward drive. We sat there for ten minutes in silence and then he started to…”
Diana presses on this. Gilbert tried to apologize again, apparently, and turns out he’s been studying about modern day racism and white privilege.
Diana calls it romantic but I don’t think that’s his motive. I think he genuinely felt bad and wanted to do better. I also appreciate that he did all this on his own and didn’t ask Anne to educate him. It wasn’t just motivated by her, you know?
Anne isn’t impressed, which is fine. She doesn’t have to forgive him just because he read a couple books about racism. And she adds, “I don’t even like boys! Like him.”
Really now? 😛
Diana’s just done with her XD
Thirty-two is the first poetry club meeting and I really like Diana’s shirt. And her moon necklace, actually.
Jane apparently has a cold and couldn’t make it.
Ngl I put this episode on 1.5 speed because it was long and I don’t really like poetry that much. It was kind of boring XD
Thirty-three is the visit to Aunt Josephine! Look at this fancy ass couch.
There’s a fair, they go shopping and to Starbucks, and tbh that sounds like so much fun please take me with you!!!
Thirty-four is a “life update”. Anne, Ruby, and Jane are studying for the Queen’s entrance exam, which is now a three-week college prep course in Carmody. I’m fine with that. It’s a good update to make sense in a modern setting.
There’s some little rewards for who has the best final grades that give some money for college, and still the Avery scholarship which pays for your first year of university anywhere in Canada. Cool cool. That’s all that’s important from the update.
Episode 35 is another poetry club meeting. Jane is here this time, but not Ruby. I again put this episode on 1.5 speed. Next!
Episode 36 is another ode to nature video with growing up being a theme. It’s spring also. Character building, but nothing plot-related, really.
Thirty-seven is called “exciting news” and Anne’s in her Christmas dress. She got into the Queen’s prep course! They’re even having a little party to celebrate.
Anne tied for first, of course.
Thirty-eight is Anne doing a little recital all about how much she loves her friends. It’s very sweet. She also looks adorable. I try not to talk about the way people in this show look too much because… they’re children… but she looks very nice here.
SOMEBODY gives her a little standing ovation until Charlie Sloane yanks him back down
Episode 39 is another Poetry Club meeting. I appreciate them SHOWING it, but I honestly don’t care about these much lol. Nothing happens I need to report here.
And, our last for today, episode 40 is like a tiny Q&A with Diana. It’s only 3 minutes long so not a lot of questions actually happen. We see like, two or three.
Then someone asks when Anne is going to “confess your undying love for Diana” and Anne makes this face.
Diana makes a light joke about people always assuming close friends are dating which, true, but Anne seems… uncomfortable.
Diana: “The one Anne is destined to end up with is Gilbert Blythe.”
Anne: “Actually…”
ACTUALLY???
Diana: “Wait, really?”
Anne rambles that she’s not sure if she’s confused if what she feels is platonic or not because she’s never had a strong friendship before. Diana puts her hand on Anne’s shoulder like this and, more gently, goes, “Really? You have a crush on me? I had no idea!”
Diana says she doesn’t have romantic feelings for Anne, but she says how much she loves Anne and they hug and it’s very sweet.
Honestly, that’s cute and I like it. Like an Anne/Diana canon romance would be fun, absolutely. But this is good too. Canon queer Anne, a very accepting Diana, their friendship not being affected at all.
(Original thread here.) Our first episode is about Anne breaking her legs and props to them for this fake cast. It’s pretty good for what they were probably working with.
Starts about how you expect, party at Diana’s, with Josie Pye teasing Anne about liking Gilbert and then bringing up her hair.
And then she called Diana’s mother a bitch, and accused Diana’s father, who has to travel a lot for work, of having an affair.
Hey, fuck you, Josie Pye.
Also now we have Queen’s being a “college prep course” which Diana hasn’t applied to because her family apparently can’t afford it. I think she has a couple more siblings in this.
After Anne threatens to punch Josie’s lights out (lol), it goes how you expect with walking on the roof and Anne falling off aaaaand broken leg.
Twenty-two is an announcement of Anne and her friends making a short film for school.
Episode twenty-three is Anne talking about the woods in winter and nature and stuff. Character building, but filler for our purposes beyond her mentioning she still has her cast on. Next!!
Episode twenty-four is a “What I Got for Christmas” which I NEVER watch on Youtube. I’m not like the most anti-consumerism person ever, but it just reminds me of being 12 and poor, listening to people brag about getting cell phones in 2004
But Anne’s is more realistic than most. She’s also never really got Christmas presents before and it’s sweet how happy she is. Matthew even gave her a stocking from “Santa” which I find adorable.
She got a CD, socks, pens, books, an alarm clock, and a planner. All her friends gave her a gift.
And last but certainly not least, she got her strapless dress!!
It made her cry and Matthew thought she didn’t like it, but of course she loves it. Mrs Rachel helped him pick it out.
And Aunt Josephine sent these!
She’s so happy and it’s very cute.
Episode twenty-five is a “Story Time” where Diana paints while Anne tells a story she’s working on. Character building filler again. Next!
Episode twenty-six introduces the Poetry Club. Along with it being Anne and her friends, it’s now also an online club.
Episode twenty-seven is called “The Most Tragic Thing Has Happened to Me” and opens with Anne crying. She recently got a pop-up ad for a hair relaxer, and against her better judgement, bought it.
It made her hair fall out and she has a bunch of bald patches.
She says, “I just wanted to look pretty like the other girls. Normal, you know?”
Oh, Anne ❤ That’s heartbreaking.
Diana comes over to comfort her with a huge stack of printouts about how to take care of natural hair. Which I THINK is really sweet? I don’t think Anne has had a lot of people in her life to teach her how to take care of her hair.
It sounds like she’s spent most of her life living with white families or in majority-white group homes and I don’t think she’d ask, like, Mrs Rachel who seems to have a bit more of an old-fashioned view anyways. This seems like another “We’re going to use Diana to teach the audience something” moment, but I could see how it could come off a bit White Savior-y?
But this was written by a WOC (and in 2016) so I thiiiiink it’s a sweet moment?
What do you all think?
Anyways, it definitely makes Anne feel better and it makes her feel cared about.
Episode twenty-eight is clips from the Christmas concert!! Which happened a bit ago, but I guess Anne hadn’t “edited” it yet lol
It’s so awkward, oh my God XD We meet Jane for the first time, though!!
We hear Gilbert reciting a poem Anne insists he stole from her, but we don’t see him yet.
Episode twenty-nine is another Q&A and Anne is wearing a scarf over her hair here. We have some continuity!! That is seriously more than the 2016 movie did.
There’s one question clearly from Diana teasing Anne about Gilbert and we learn Anne’s goal is to get a scholarship for college, but the rest is just filler.
Then we have an unnumbered bonus episode that is the Lady of Shallot short film that Anne had been making with her friends before Christmas.
This is a heck of a view.
It’s about as high school student film as you’d expect it to be, but it’s clear they worked very hard on it.
I like the people just ignoring Charlie Sloane right now. This lady in particular is just like, “Ugh, kids. I just wanna go to work, can you not.”
Episode thirty is the “Behind the scenes” of the film. Anne’s still on crutches at the beginning of shooting, and her cast comes off in the middle, showing how long it took to make.
Seriously, nice continuity. I’m impressed.
They make fun of Ruby for not dressing warmly enough which is cute.
Also, this is confirmed to be Jane in this second picture.
I think a lot of this episode is the cast just ad-libbing so they’re very relaxed and it’s sweet.
Since it’s the middle of winter and this Youtube series can’t really have stunts, the lake/boat scene is replaced with Anne getting lost when they’re filming on the bus. She was supposed to ride to a particular point and then have the girls pick her up, but she ends up at the wrong stop.
Ruby PANICS, basically assuming Anne’s going to die, which is very sweet how worried she is, and very in book-character. Overdramatic, but sweet.
Anne ends up halfway to Carmody, stranded at a bus stop in the middle of nowhere with her phone dead. She ALSO assumes she’s dying and starts drafting her will.
And then who should happen to pull up asking if she needs a ride?
Well, we don’t really see who it is, just hear his voice. But when he asks what she’s doing, she sarcastically replies, “I’m hiking on my broken leg.”
Soooooo I have my guesses!
But that’s the cliffhanger I’m leaving YOU on til next week! Or, well, you could go watch it. I’d recommend it!! But if you want me to tell you, you’re stuck waiting til next week, lol.
(Original thread here.) I have a post on this adaptation’s first 10 episodes which you can check out here if you need to catch up.
Turns out, though, Project Green Gables is actually the ONLY adaptation to adapt Anne of Avonlea alone. Every other adaptation combines it with Anne of the Island and/or Anne of Windy Poplars, or skips it completely.
So let’s do a short recap of the first season to catch up!
As a reminder, this version has Anne be a foster kid. Anne’s red hair is now natural hair, and puffed sleeves are now a sleeveless dress. Anne has made friends with Diana and gone to her first party at Charlie Sloane’s house (instead of a church picnic).
Oh, and Mr Phillips is a creep.
Episode 11 talks about how Anne came to live with the Cuthberts, and it’s a great modernized but on-book scene, including the “we expected a boy” thing. Apparently the foster home told Anne they were willing to take her in until she was 18 (she’s 17 now) but the Cuthberts were told they were getting a 17 year old boy for TWO WEEKS. Emergency foster care, basically.
Somebody fucked up.
They even include Mrs Blewett and Anne says she looked like “a homeschool teacher” and I cracked up. I can picture it exactly.
She apparently has TEN kids and basically wants Anne for a nanny which. I think Anne being Black in this kind of changes that dynamic from the book. Like a white woman foster a Black teen girl SOLELY to be her childcare… that’s a yikes. Anne points out she’s heard that happens a lot, too, which I’m sure it does, and yeah. Yikes.
Episode 2 is called “Dicks Will Be Dicks” which I love so much
It’s our first Gilbert Blythe episode! Aka “Gilbert Goddamn Blythe”. Apparently he spent a year in England, and he’s back. Anne is not impressed at all.
This is when we get to the hair scene, which obviously has some different connotations. I’m gonna quote a bit heavily here
Anne: “He didn’t just touch [her hair]. He ran his eager little white boy hands through it and said, ‘Oh, it feels just like our dog!'”
Anne cursed him out, rightfully, and smashed his iPad over his head.
Diana thinks this was all hilarious but Anne is (again, RIGHTFULLY) furious. She points out how disrespectful it is to touch someone when they don’t want it period, let alone to touch a Black person’s hair without consent, and especially “to call them an animal because of the texture of it”.
Diana says he tried to take the blame and Anne says it’s still unfair SHE got detention. Diana also says he teases everyone, but has only apologized to Anne. Diana is really wrong here. Gilbert freaking microaggressioned Anne and SHE got in trouble???
Anne: “Diana, it’s dehumanizing. It’s different and you know it.”
I do want to point out that I think how they wrote Diana here is deliberate to point out that difference. Diana, again, is white. So I think they’re using her here as a white person who “means well” but still says something kind of shitty.
Also, Mr Phillips is probably racist (surprise) and Anne declares she’s quitting school. Diana says she can’t quit and Anne is like, fine, but she’s never talking to “that white boy again”. Fair.
Episode 13 is Anne and Diana having a sleepover and they do a best friends tag. (Remember, this is Anne’s youtube channel we’re watching.)
Look, cordial! Or, raspberry juice, but close enough. No one gets drunk.
Episode 14 is Anne reciting a LM Montgomery poem (cute touch) and talking about why she likes poetry. Cool but not exciting for this thread lol
Episode 15 is another sleepover, this time at Diana’s house. It’s been like 2 weeks since the last one. They also went to a concert in Carmody so they’re kinda wired. It’s cute.
Cut to them giggling uncontrollably in the dark – they absolutely just jumped on Aunt Josephine in the guest room. Piano lessons are kept, even! And Anne takes the blame. Nice.
Aunt Jo seems to like Anne, luckily. I like this!!
Episode 16 is Anne freaking out at 2am because they watched a horror movie (Diana loves them) and now she’s scared of Green Gables. It’s basically the Haunted Woods chapter!! Very clever.
Episode 17 has Ruby!! They do a tag about “first times”. She’s very cute. Ruby also recommends Anne get baby-sitting jobs in Avonlea since she has a lot of experience with kids, which is a nice touch.
Ruby talks about slutshaming a bit which, yes, thank you!! Down with shaming Ruby for liking boys. Or anyone obviously but I love Ruby.
Also I cackle about 2015 Youtube where a video that’s “a hundred years long” is 7 minutes
Episode 18 – oh my god. Mr Phillips and Prissy Andrews “got caught”. We’re not really sure doing WHAT/there’s no proof but the principal found out. General consensus is they were in a “relationship” and he’s very fired.
Prissy is apparently 18 but Anne points out it’s still illegal and an abuse of power. Nicely handled, honestly.
So now we have Miss Stacey!! Anne definitely comes off as having a bit of a crush describing her, lol. But in an appropriate way! Like it’s fine for students to have crushes on teachers. It’s not fine for teachers to reciprocate!
And there’s gonna be a Christmas concert! Anne’s going to be in the choir and Jane is giving a speech on gender equality. Anne’s also performing a poem she wrote
Episode 19 – Anne and Diana decide to bake a cake but Diana’s mother and Marilla both banned them from their kitchens so they’re doing it in a guesthouse on the Barry property (subtle way to show class difference, nice).
It goes well.
And 20 is a Q&A and Anne calls me basic for liking Earl Grey tea. I’m offended.
There’s nothing plot here except Anne really likes Kiera Knightley, and we all know What That Means.
Oh, and Miss Stacey is Indian so that’s a cool touch. It’s nice that Anne has a bond with another woman of colour, especially because Avonlea’s really, really white.
(Original thread here.) Today we’re going to take a look at Anne With An E’s second episode “I Am No Bird, and No Net Ensnares Me”.
When last we left, Anne had just been put on the train back to the Orphan Asylum.
As this episode opens, she gets off the rather gloomy train in Charlottetown.
And a creepy dude kinda of tries to kidnap her. Yikes.
Meanwhile, Matthew heads to the Bright River Stables in an attempt to rent a horse. Eventually he gets a ride with some dudes he knows. I like that they’re surprised at how worked up he is – it’s clearly out of character for him.
Also, this look real uncomfortable, especially for an older man.
Anne gets on the ferry alone and back at Green Gables, Marilla sees that Anne left the dress and the ribbon and it’s sad.
Anne reaches the orphanage but can’t bring herself to actually go in.
This episode uses voiceover flashbacks – like Anne remembers things Marilla said and also dialogue from the previous flashbacks and honestly that works a lot better! I think they honestly could have played the dialogue-only whole time and stayed on Anne’s face and it would have worked better. Amybeth McNulty’s face acting is REALLY good and it would have been a little more subtle.
Come morning in Green Gables, Marilla has Jerry hitch up the horse and starts to ride off to follow Matthew and Anne until Mrs. Rachel stops her. Thomas (Mr. Lynde) has already rode off to look for them, so she convinces Marilla that following them is not the best course of action. I like this, too. Marilla is worried and guilty, but she CAN’T really do anything at this point.
In Charlottetown, Anne has actually followed through on her sleeping outside plan this time, having been unable to make herself go inside. Pretty spot, but probably not the most comfortable sleeping on rocks.
When the milkman shows up, she hatches a plan to convince him to drive her to the nearest train station so she can go to Halifax where she was born. She lies her little ass off to convince him this was actually the orphanage matron’s idea, and claims a newly discovered wealthy aunt has sent for her and that’s why she’s going.
I actually love this.
One, the aunt story is totally something Anne would come up with. Two, the idea of Anne being a good liar is really interesting and compelling.
Anne is charming and persuasive and that COULD make being manipulative much easier. It’s an interesting look at what Anne could be like if she wasn’t a kind, caring person. It’s a cool exploration of an aspect of the character not explored much in adaptations.
Anyways, this is a pretty nice shot. Quite brown but it is a little market on the port, so it makes sense.
Matthew pawns his watch, a family heirloom, to get money for a ferry ticket and train fare. He’s a little awkward with it and seems a little uncomfortable bartering. Good characterization
Um. Shout out to climate change? Not super sure on the point of that, tbh.
Matthew thinks he sees Anne and this looks SO MUCH like 2016 Anne to me. Like does that not look like her bad dye job even?
He runs into the street and promptly puts his head through a carriage window and is knocked the fuck out.
This at least is not played for laughs like it would be with Martin Sheen, but I can’t say I was a huge fan. It’s a little overdramatic. I keep trying not to compare this to the 2016 movies but it’s hard – they were just so bad XD
Anne has completely charmed the milkman and he shares his lunch with her.
What a pretty house. Man this makes me want to go for a walk so bad. Maybe I will later before dinner.
Matthew finally wakes up and guess what, it’s 5 o’clock, when the ferry leaves. He’s a little concussed, I guess, but manages to make it just in time. Seriously it went from lunch to 5pm REAL fast.
As evening falls, back at Green Gables Marilla is stress cleaning, which is very book accurate to her character. She also stress bakes a bunch of pastries or bread, I’m not quite sure which. Editing Laina: Both. It’s both. She’s clearly working to try to keep from worrying, and I love it.
Matthew reaches the orphanage but it’s dark and locked shut, so he basically passes out on the step.
An orphanage worker find him in the morning and basically assumes he’s a drunk sleeping on their stoop. To be fair to her, he looks a little rough.
She forces him to get cleaned up and he kinda just goes along with it. While this is more talking to women than book!Matthew probably did in his whole life, it works pretty well. He’s clearly uncomfortable and uncertain, but this is an emergency.
Marilla brings Jerry a breakfast and just kind of thrusts it at him like this.
I quite like this, honestly. She’s awkward and not really sure what she’s doing. She’s not used to being around young people or with this kind of gesture in general.
Remember that, also.
I really like the idea of Marilla just kinda being a little awkward as a human being, too.
Matthew finds out that Anne’s not at the orphanage – which they just don’t care about because they suck – and happens to run into the milkman, who mentions Anne.
Meanwhile (there’s a lot of meanwhile in this episode) Anne is reciting poetry for people in the train station to earn money for train fare. This is, again, quite clever. It does seem very in character and like something Anne would come up with!
These two ladies are down and look at that hat placement. That’s a really nice touch of accuracy for the time period!
After a bit of poetry (Elizabeth Barrett Browning fyi), Matthew reaches the train station and spots Anne.
Anne, RIGHTFULLY, doesn’t forgive him right away. She, again rightfully, asks if they just want her back “so you can banish me whenever you feel like it?” Yeah, she’s not wrong! And “I’ve come all this way” is not an apology or even an excuse.
A thing I really like – Anne yells for Matthew to leave her alone and a random dude in the train station gets up and asks if Matthew is bothering her. Anne, a little dramatically, says, “This man is indeed bothering me” and train station guy goes, “Is that so?” and moves between them. It’s nice to see strangers making sure a young girl on her own is okay. Luce and I both appreciated this moment.
Matthew says, “She’s my daughter” and Anne gives him a big hug and cries some happy tears.
They come home and Marilla has cleaned Green Gables within an inch of its life. We even see her break down crying – she so clearly regrets her choice.
Also, cool shot. When Marilla sees them ride up to the ouse, we only see her reflection in the window.
And this starts a theme in the second half of this episode I really enjoy – look at the relief and joy on Marilla’s face here.
But Anne isn’t looking, and it only slips out for a moment before she pulls herself together. The first thing she does is SNAP at Matthew that, “Well, it certainly took you long enough to fetch her!”
And that is hilarious.
Then she says simply, “It’s nice to see you back” and Anne assumes this means she’s not happy to see her.
Meanwhile there’s a giant plate of scones (I think) and three loaves of bread on the table.
Marilla also left the dress and hair ribbon on Anne’s bed waiting for her, and I don’t think Anne gets quite what that means?
Marilla comes up to say something, but can’t find the words, and just says to come down for supper when Anne’s ready
Skip to breakfast and it’s awkward. When MATTHEW is the one trying to make conversation, you know it’s quiet. Honestly that’s kind of hilarious. Great choice.
Anne goes and hangs out with the horse for a bit which is cute. She is, however, immediately angered by Jerry overhearing her conversation with the horse.He slept in the barn last night because it got too late to go home, and he mentions how worried Marilla was
Anne, of course, doesn’t believe him.
Diana and Anne hang out and talk and Anne is totally convinced Marilla doesn’t care at all that she’s back and it was entirely Matthew’s idea to go after her.
Diana: “But Rachel Lynde told Mother that Miss Cuthbert was torn asunder after you left.”
Anne: “Not possible.”
Diana: “Miss Cuthbert was so upset, Rachel Lynde feared she’d take sick.”
Anne still doesn’t believe it and I kind of love this. It’s both a generational divide and a big personality difference, I think.
Remember back in the Anne in Japan thread I quoted someone who talked about how Japanese girls related to Anne because being unhibited with high spirits and opinions was frowned upon in both 1940s/50s Japan and Anne’s own Victorian society?
This is showing that kind of thing. Marilla, remember, is two generations older than Anne. She is old fashioned and she is absolutely not used to speaking about her feelings.
Anne is an expressive person who more or less wears her heart on her sleeve. I think she absolutely tries to stay positive as a coping method, but she’s an open book.
It’s hard for two people with such different personalities to communicate.
Anne: “Then why doesn’t she show it? It’s hard to believe she was sorrowful when she doesn’t seem to like me at all.”
This is tragic and I love it???? Marilla likes Anne very much, but Anne doesn’t really have a lot experience with BEING liked. She has to ASK if Diana could like her when she clearly does, and she doesn’t get how much even Matthew, a kindred spirit, cares about her until he calls her his daughter. She needs to be told or shown in a big gesture to really understand how people feel about her. And Marilla just doesn’t show emotion like that! So it’s harder for them to understand each other.
Anne says she’s still worried they could send her away at any moment.
Church picnic time!
And some great contrast between Anne and fam, and the Barry bunch.
Mr and Mrs Barry make some rude comments about the Cuthberts. Mr Barry really comes off as an asshole, but Mrs Barry seems pretty snobby, too. I do like her dress though. They also don’t let Diana go talk to Anne which kind of breaks Anne’s heart.
Mrs Rachel welcomes Anne back incredibly warmly which is very sweet, and calls the three of them a family. It’s a really nice moment. She ALSO mentions Marilla being worried literally sick about Anne.
This random dude makes a crack about the Cuthberts having “picked up a stray” and I don’t know who these people are but I’d put money on them being Pyes.
I could be wrong, but I get strong Pye vibes from them.
They stare at her and loudly gossip like assholes. Fucking MINNIE MAY starts calling her a “garbage girl” like. Hope you enjoy croup, you jerk.
Also I kind of like that this happens at the church picnic? Like the 2016 movie series is SO heavy on religion and it’s very idealized religion. Meanwhile bullying an orphan for being an orphan is kind of exactly what I’d expect from some Christians.
Anne, obviously, runs off after being fucking bullied and Marilla notices and follows.
This is a really pretty spot. 10/10 would selfie here.
Anne finally cracks and asks Marilla what the fuck. Marilla, very uncertainly, asks if Anne will forgive her and I like that they held the apology back a bit. She’s not UNWILLING to apologize at all – she’s just not good at emotional talks.
She apologizes and says explicitly what she did was wrong – assuming Anne took the brooch, yes, but also pushing her into lying, and she says, “What else were you to do?” She also says Anne is “a truthful girl” and takes full responsibility for her actions.
It’s a really good apology.
They change the next line just slightly here to “If you could find it in your heart to believe me and forgive me, then we can start anew.”
It’s very sweet and I think Anne likes the idea of a fresh start, that it means a lot to not have the past held against her.
Anne puts her head on Marilla’s shoulder and they have a nice quiet moment together.
New day! Marilla calls Anne down and they have the “just call me Marilla” conversation and it’s a nice way to show how they’ve relaxed with each other, as Anne has been calling her “Miss Cuthbert” up until now.
And that leads into an original addition that I just adore. Matthew and Marilla ask Anne to sign their family Bible and take their last name as a sign they officially adopt her.
Look, Matthew put on his good suit for it.
Oh, and we get some dates! Matthew was born June 15th, 1841 and Marilla was born December 29th, 1836. There’s also a Michael Cuthbert born Sepember 13th, 1833. Older brother? Interesting. This is very cool and I’m intrigued.
Marilla: “We hope you like the sound of Anne Shirley Cuthbert.”
This is so sweet. They have a glass of raspberry cordial to assaunge Anne’s desire for ceremony, and I get all sniffly. It’s such a good scene, and a great way to give Anne a sense of belonging.
And that’s the end of the episode and the end of the two we’re looking at for now!
Let’s talk final (at least for now) thoughts.
If you’re looking for a book to screen exact adaptation, this isn’t that. But we already have that in the 1985 adaptation.
If all you do is try to remake that, you end up with the 2016 movie series and no one wants that. TRUST ME, no one wants that.
When you make the… I think it’s the ELEVENTH screen version of Anne of Green Gables, you kind of need to switch things up. I think just adapting the book with no reason to do it again besides money is going to feel hollow (see, again, 2016 series). The 1985 miniseries is wonderful – so what do you bring to the story now?
We ALL know remakes for the sake of remakes aren’t good.
The Anne musicals tell the story in a whole new format, as do the webseries which both also use Anne’s story in a modern format to address different issues she’d face today. This series is more like Project Green Gables in some ways and I like that.
Now I don’t like EVERYTHING this series has done (enough with the flashbacks) but I enjoyed watching this and I like that when they make a change, they commit to it.
I’m very interested, too, in seeing what else they do. This is probably the adaptation I’m most interested in watching more of right now.
For me, it just comes down to what you want to see. If you want to see a book accurate one, just watch the 1985 miniseries. That one is both Luce’s and my favourite and honestly I think adapations trying to just copy it shows how good it is. You simply can’t, and the 2016 adaptation shows that. It ends up heartless and hollow and just bad.
However.
When I did my Anne book threads, I’d go off on tangents about how a subtext or alternate reading could be interesting to explore. Did you like that? Do you enjoy the idea of a story where the harsher elements of Anne aren’t glossed over?
This might be something you like, then!
It is pretty Netflix-y and it could be overdramatic, but overall it’s solid. And I get having the first episode being more dramatic. The Netflix audience and the CBC audience aren’t really the same. You gotta hook people
Anne works really well as a TV series because the book is pretty episodic and doesn’t really have a big overall plot, and these first two episodes almost work as like a movie prologue, which is cool.
It’s different and I get not everyone loving it, but honestly? After like 7 adaptations, it was nice to not just describe the same exact events again. That got a bit old.
This is almost more like the 2019 Little Women. If you liked that, watch this.
This series excites me and I want to watch more and I would recommend it. I have things I’d like to see more of – more colour, for one – but I’m very intrigued and interested in it. I want to watch more of this. Of the adaptations I’ve watched, the ones I want to see more of/the sequels to most are the 1985 miniseries, Project Green Gables, and this one.
And I will… after a little break. This has been a lot of adaptations, lol. And I would like to read the second book now.
I think we’re all cool with that?
Oh, my notes forgot – I took a few shots of fashion in these episodes, not a ton, but generally it’s really good. I get big 1890s vibes from this.
(Original thread here.) Bright and early in the morning, Marilla, after calling for Anne, finds her room empty and panics that Anne has robbed them in the middle of the night and taken off for parts unknown.
Nope, Anne has just been collecting eggs. She’s not afraid to touch eggs???? Wow. (Sorry, I’ll stop referencing 2016 Anne.)
Anne learns the prayer, and Marilla says she’ll make Anne a new dress, which Anne has never had in her whole life. She’s disappointed to hear no puff sleeves, but Marilla’s not wrong about how much fabric they could use. BIG puffs could almost be as much as a whole bodice! The colour doesn’t do much for her either.
Marilla also doesn’t just have a pattern for dresses in Anne’s size and uses her old dress for one. That’s a nice detail. Why would she have a child’s dress pattern?
In another movie, this cellar door is a murder waiting to happen.
Mrs Rachel comes over to poke her nose in under the guise of bringing scones and invites herself in. Anne runs down and Rachel immediately insults her. Sure is a way to introduce yourself. “Hello! You’re ugly!”
Amybeth McNulty does a good job with making it seem like Anne’s anger is building slowly til she boils over.
She runs off outside – in her undies, mind you – and Marilla scolds Rachel. “She’s never been taught what is right,” Marilla says. All of the dialogue here is straight from the book, too.
And a great outfit here on Rachel. I love this cool waistcoat thing.
Anne runs to… here, which is honestly gorgeous.
Matthew gets worried after a while but as Marilla says, “She’s in her under things, so she’s got to come back.” Which, true. I think this also reflects how Marilla would feel in this kind of situation. She’s a private person and would probably want time alone to cool off.
Anne comes into the barn and apologizes to Marilla for losing her temper and embarassing Marilla. I like that. Project Green Gables had Anne feeling embarassed once she cooled down, too. I like them showing Anne regretting her temper.
Marilla says Anne needs to apologize to Mrs Rachel which is where Anne draws the line.
This is a neat thing, after Anne says “Imagine how you would feel being called skinny and ugly”, Matthew brings up when “old Lady Adams” called Marilla gawky.
This is based on something Marilla remembers in the book and I really like its inclusion. It makes Marilla a little more human to us and shows Matthew is pretty observant to emotions. I don’t mind Matthew being in this scene because we don’t have Marilla’s POV to tell us this, so it helps us know Marilla better, without taking away from her relationship to Anne. If anything, it helps their bonding.
Anne is so dramatic XD And Marilla is just done.
Matthew and Marilla eat a very quiet breakfast before he goes upstairs to talk to Anne, and it takes him multiple atempts as it’s evening by the time he works up the nerve to actually knock. I’m happy to report that even with Anne in her nightgown, Matthew never seems creepy!
Honestly he sticks so close to the door that he looks liable to bolt at any moment.
He eventually convinces Anne to apologize and it’s a very sweet scene
Anne’s apology is super dramatic and really made me giggle. The phrase, “It’ll be a lifelong sorrow on a poor little orphan girl” is used. It’s from the book, but it’s very funny and McNulty’s delivery is wonderful.
Meet Jerry Baynard, who Anne immediately hates because she thinks they’re trying to replace her with him.
It’s interesting they’re about the same age – I honestly am not sure how old Jerry Buote was in the books. He was French obviously so he could have been young, or they could have been using “French boy” derisively. Hard to say. Expanding this character honestly is a cool idea and I’m interested to see where this goes.
Anne is quite rude to him, actually acting a lot like Mrs Rachel by immediately insulting him. I really am curious to see where they take this.
Foreshadowing! Matthew has a cough and rubs his chest. What is this subtlety??? If the heart pain doesn’t physically throw him over, how will I know it’s real?!?!??
Matthew also reassures Anne that them hiring Jerry isn’t about not wanting Anne to stay and gently hints Anne could help Marilla out, and she catches on and rushes inside.
Sudden this dude!
This is a very British Mr Barry, who invites Marilla and Anne to come for tea. He comes off SUPER snobby which is an interesting choice. He basically says they have to be sure Anne’s not a bad influence before she can Diana can be friends.
They’re definitely going with a “the Barrys got bucks” thing, which I personally don’t see as super book accurate, but why not?
When Marilla says the Barrys have two little girls, Anne, unhappily, asks, “Do they need help?” Poor thing.
Matthew and Marilla gently tell her no, Diana could be her friend. The way they both pause is so good. I like this scene a lot RIGHT up until this point.
Because this leads into yet another flashback, this one of Anne being bullied by other orphaage kids. It’s very unnecessary and this one is my personal least favourite. It includes a dead animal and just turns my stomach.
Brooch!
Anne’s new dress may be a bit drab, but it does actually FIT her with some room to spare.
It is an upgrade, even it’s not the most glamourous thing. Honestly though those pleats are a thing of beauty. Also Anne’s original dress didn’t have that cute little collar or the pleats on the front. Those are both details that would take extra time to add, but I think they may allow the dress to be let out as Anne grows so it’ll last her longer. It’s a very thoughtful dress from Marilla.
Marilla gives Anne a hair ribbon from when she was a girl and I aww.
Also Marilla’s hands shake a bit as she pins the brooch on and that could be foreshadowing too?
Oh, full dress shot and a pretty tree!
Holy house Batman! So we’re DEFINITELY going with rich Barrys in this one.
Comparisons! The Barrys definitely look more fashionable.
Anne is trying so hard to behave well that Diana thinks she’s shy and tries to draw her out of her shell. Their interaction is a little awkward but it’s sweet and I like it.
One shawl left on the chair later… okay, a quick try on, then Anne leaves it.
As Anne wraps up her prayers later that night, Marilla comes in to ask where her brooch is.
She eventually tells Anne to confess to taking it… so Anne does, because Marilla says she’ll be sent away otherwise.
And Marilla looks kind of heartbroken.
She tells Anne to pack her things and you can tell how much it hurts her that she thinks she can’t trust Anne. We know she doesn’t like lying already and this is something that meant so much to her.
They just send her off on a random wagon for some reason?
Marilla takes some linens up to her room and look what she finds.
The way they set this makes a lot of sense if you think about it. It was dark when Marilla was looking for it – and possibly her eyes are starting to weaken, even. Maybe her night vision isn’t so good.
She makes this face and you can see the immediate regret.
Matthew rides off right away and that’s when we come full circle to the first scene of the episode.
Lots of dramatic horse shots and train shots, but he’s too late to catch Anne.
And that’s the end of the first (double length) episode! We’ve got one more (regular length) to look at and that one is very off book so it’s going to be a lot of fun.
Laina Has Too Much Spare Time 