Anne Shirley

Episode 5

I was going to rate this episode a bit lower because, my goodness, is the story flying along to the point where I daresay it's noticeable to everyone, even if you haven't read the book. But what saves this adaptation is how right it gets the little moments – Matthew realizing that Anne is the only girl without puffed sleeves and trying to rectify it, Josie Pye's obnoxiousness, immediately understandable even though her character has been largely absent from the show, Miss Stacy's ebullience…there's a real love for the source material here, and that's worth a lot, particularly when we consider that adaptation is far more art than science. I may not approve all of the alterations, but I do appreciate the attention to detail.

This episode covers chapters twelve through fifteen of the novel, and one thing I find interesting is how it mentions but ultimately skips over a plotline with the new minister's wife. Marilla talks about inviting her to tea, but we don't see that happen. It's a bit too bad, because Anne flavoring a cake with liniment instead of vanilla is one of her more memorable (and relatable) blunders, but it does fit in with the way that this version has largely been avoiding the more religious elements of the book. And really, Anne's ridgepole stunt is much more exciting, even if it did encourage me to make a similar attempt, thankfully from a lower roof. (No, I wasn't any better at it than Anne was.) It's very notable that Ruby, Jane, and Diana all rush to Anne's side and visit her while Josie Pye does not; we don't have to have seen her in action before to get her measure. While I don't love the way she's physically depicted here, as it leans into bad old stereotypes, it is in line with how Montgomery describes her, saying in chapter twenty-four, “whoever heard of a fairy queen as fat as Josie?” Perhaps we're seeing one of the reasons the trope exists in the first place.

But who cares about Josie when we have Matthew? He's usually in the background, quietly doing his own thing and rarely saying anything about it, like last week when he just got up and left without a word, and Anne understood he was going to fetch a doctor. (Not, it must be said, Dr. Abraham Lincoln who attends Anne this week. I can't be the only one who saw a resemblance?) It's equal parts keeping his word to Marilla that she should have the raising of Anne and his own nature, so that he takes the initiative to procure Anne a dress with puffed sleeves is major. Not only does he attempt to buy one at the store, he also goes to Rachel Lynde because he knows in his heart of hearts that Anne deserves such a dress and that Marilla is likely to get stubborn about it. In his own quiet way, Matthew makes sure that his daughter is taken care of, and there's a real beauty to that. Yes, the dress is a bit too long – skirts were let down and hair put up around age sixteen – but Anne feels beautiful in it. Giving her that dress means more than just the obvious act. It's a sign of Matthew's love and how much he understands Anne, something that's mutual, as we can see when she panics at not being able to spot him and Marilla in the audience at the Christmas concert. We've seen them as a family before, but this moment truly drives it home.

Anne's recitation is a real poem, incidentally, one written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1793. “To the River Otter” is a nostalgia piece about yearning for childhood, so, significantly, Anne has chosen to recite it while wearing her first long dress. As she notes earlier in the episode, she's twelve and growing up. There's likely only about four or six years between Anne and Miss Stacy, something the show does a very nice job of demonstrating in the way Miss Stacy moves and talks. Her leap across the stream is inappropriate for an adult, but that's why she relates to her pupils so well. Unlike Mr. Philips, she understands what it's like to be a student, possibly because it hasn't been so long since she was one herself.

For the other title mentioned this week, that's not a real book but rather one by an in-world author, Mrs. Morgan. It is, however, likely a call out to the works of authors like Mrs. L. T. Meade and Nora Perry, neither of whom wasn't above using the word “rosebud” in their girls' fiction.

Anne Shirley isn't perfect, but this episode shows that its heart is in the right place – unlike poor Gilbert's, whose heart doesn't appear to be making much progress towards the girl he likes. But they're all growing up, as Marilla's mention of sending Anne to Queen's (college prep, basically) indicates. Who knows how things will change?

Rating:

Anne Shirley is currently streaming on Crunchyroll on Saturdays.