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stahlop · 5 years

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Once Upon a Time 1x18 “The Stable Boy” Review

Reviews 1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05 1x06 1x07 1x08 1x09 1x10 1x11 1x12 1x13 1x14 1x15 1x16 1x17

It’s finally here! The episode that tells us why the Evil Queen hates Snow so much! And, I get it. I do. Regina was in love and a Snow inadvertently caused her love to die. But Snow was a child. And children don’t know how to keep secrets, so why Regina has harbored this hated toward Snow for so long is just baffling. Also, put the blame where it belongs, Cora. I will be referring to Enchanted Forest Regina as young Regina for the flashbacks since she is not yet the Evil Queen. Hold onto your hats because this is a long one.

Summary: In the EF, a young Regina saves a young Snow from a runaway horse and is rewarded by her father, King Leopold, asking her to marry him. Snow discovers Regina is in love with the stable boy and plans to runaway with him. In Storybrooke, Snow talks to the DA and makes a grave mistake, but something is discovered that will change everything.

Opening: Regina riding her horse

New Characters:

Daniel: Poor, sweet Daniel. All he wants is to be with young Regina, but her mother has other plans. He and young Regina have a very Princess Bride romance going on, where she is rude to him in front of her parents, but completely in love with him away from prying eyes. He makes her believe they are True Love and that is the most powerful magic of all. He and young Regina make plans to run away together since Cora is insisting on young Regina marrying the king but of course, Cora thwarts that. Then Cora makes it seem like she’ll let Regina run off with Daniel, but takes his heart and crushes it instead.

Cora: Wow! Regina’s mother is a piece of work. The thing that gets me the most with her relationship with young Regina is how much young Regina does not want to be her. Cora is all about power and doing anything to get it. Daniel mentions she was the miller’s daughter and should understand all about a person of status marrying someone beneath them. Also, this completely solidifies the theory that Cora was the girl from the original Rumplestiltskin story, read that here. Cora is all about presenting oneself as proper and using power, not love to get what you want. She also has magic, although it appears Regina has not inherited or learned this trait. Cora criticizes everything young Regina does under the guise of helping her, but it just makes young Regina walk away. We see Cora has magic at this point when she forces young Regina back to her and Cora basically tells her she needs to be obedient and then uses the horse reins to tie her up. After young Regina whispers she’ll be good Cora is happy and lets her go. Very abusive relationship going on here. I can see where Regina gets everything from. She was either going to be completely opposite of Cora or turn into her, and it looks like she went the latter route. We next see Cora when the king comes. She changes young Regina into a very frilly dress (it’s in what I would consider Cinderella blue) to present to the king. It’s King Leopold, and he’s come to propose to young Regina because she saved Snow’s life. Cora, of course, accepts the proposal for young Regina. Then we see Snow and Cora talking. I’m not sure if Cora is specifically manipulating Snow or that the opportunity of manipulating just happens, but either way, she manipulates Snow into telling her young Regina’s secret by playing on Snow’s need for a mother figure in her life. Cora goes on and on about how she and young Regina aren’t close and how happy she is that Snow has already formed a bond with her. Cora just wants to know why Regina has pulled away. Cora claims she’d do anything to make young Regina happy. So, of course, Snow wants Regina to be happy and not lose her mother like she lost her mother. So she divulges young Regina and Daniel’s secret to Cora, hoping that will make Cora and young Regina close again. Cora goes off and catches young Regina and Daniel trying to leave. She uses her magic again to lock them in the stable. Cora claims young Regina doesn’t know what she wants when she tries to plead her case. And that she’s made too many sacrifices to get where she is and to get young Regina the life she wants for her. Young Regina just wants to live her life and Cora tells her she’s a foolish girl, because it’s Cora’s life. She’s the one who had to make the deals to get them to where they are today. I see where Cora is going with this. She made a lot of sacrifices and probably did many things she was ashamed of in order to secure young Regina into a position where she wouldn’t have to worry about any of that, and wanting to run off with a stable boy is like a slap in the face to her. But she goes about letting young Regina know that in the wrong way. Cora is pretty much it’s my way or I’m going to use my magic to make you listen (abuse). So now she changes tactics. Cora tells young Regina if she loved her she wouldn’t run away. Young Regina just wants to be happy and Cora does not provide that for her. Cora resorts to her magic threats and young Regina finally stands up to her. So it seems as though Cora has relented to giving young Regina her happiness. She takes Daniel aside to give him some motherly advice; always do what’s best for your children. Daniel says he’s glad Cora is doing that for young Regina now. Cora agrees, and I’m not sure if this is where she makes her decision or if she intended to double cross young Regina all along, but she looks sad and then plunges her hand into his chest, takes out his heart, and crushes it while he dies in Regina’s arms. Regina, of course, is horrified, but Cora tells her love is weakness. Love fades and all that’s left is the power and power endures. Well, now we can see where Regina’s morals come from. Regina tells her she ruined everything and Cora said she’s going to be queen and to basically get over herself and the fact that she just killed her fiance two seconds ago. Later on, Regina questions whether Cora set up Snow’s run away horse after Cora tells her how proud she is of her. Cora denies it, but at the same time, her face doesn’t look convincing. Barbara Hershey is perfect as Cora and I can’t wait to see her again, because I’m sure we will see her again. She is amazing as the abusive mother who claims she’s doing it all for her children.

DA Spencer: So we’ve seen King George, but this is the first time we’ve seen his alter ego of District Attorney Spencer. He’s questioning Mary Margaret for a pre-trial interview. He basically asks a lot of leading questions and badgers her until she admits she wanted Kathryn gone. I’m pretty sure none of that would hold up in court. That’s all we see of him, but I’m sure he’s probably in Regina’s pocket.

Character Observations:

Young Regina/Regina: First off, bravo to the makeup, hair and costume departments for making Lana Parilla looks about 20 years younger. I’m assuming she’s supposed to be around 18-20 here, especially since Cora calls her an old maid and I’m sure the girls were married off pretty young. Young Regina is riding her horse through an obstacle course and she’s good. Henry, Sr. is there and cheering her own. She’s pretty proud of herself, until Cora comes along and berates and belittles her for not being ladylike and how no one will want to marry her if she acts like a commoner. Young Regina is a bitch to the stable boy when he tries to put the saddle on her horse. Cora continues to criticize her and eventually we see just how abused Regina is when Cora stops her with magic and young Regina is on the verge of tears and has to tell her she’ll be good in order for Cora to let her go. Young Regina runs off to the stables and apologizes to Daniel and then they kiss. We later see young Regina ride out to meet Daniel who wants to take her out for a picnic dinner, but she has to be back in an hour. Daniel wants young Regina to tell Cora about them but she is scared of her mother. And with good cause. Daniel gives a whole True Love conquering all speech when they hear a scream. Young Regina saves young Snow from a spooked horse. She tells Snow she needs to face her fear about horses that she has now and basically, just get back on the horse. Snow turns out to be the king’s daughter and he wants to meet young Regina and apparently propose marriage because she is interested in his daughter and not him. Okay, that very non-romantic and kind of insulting. He doesn’t even try to court her first before proposing marriage? Or maybe arrange the marriage with Cora instead of just asking her? The whole thing is strange. Young Regina is in shock and Cora answers yes for her. Young Regina goes to Daniel because she is obviously upset that her mother just agreed to marry her off to the king. She proposes marriage to Daniel and wants to run away. Daniel pulls a rivet off a saddle and uses it as an engagement ring to give to young Regina. They kiss and Snow catches them. Young Regina runs after Snow, most likely so she doesn’t reveal her secret to her either Cora or the king. Snow’s understandably upset as young Regina is supposed to marry her dad and become her new mother. Young Regina tries to explain that she’s in love with Daniel. She explains all about true love and how it’s magic and makes you happy. Is this where Mary Margaret gets all her optimism from? Did it bleed through from her young Snow personality? Well that’s interesting. Snow says she should marry Daniel and tell her father. Young Regina doesn’t want to do anything yet because of how Cora would react, so she asks Snow if she knows what a secret is and if she can keep this one. So, we now know what the secret is. But seriously, that is a lot to put on a, what, 10-year-old. Please don’t tell anyone that your potential future step-mother is in love with another man and will not be going through with her marriage to your father. But Snow tells the secret. Young Regina and Daniel meet up to run away and Cora catches them. She is pleading with her mother to let her be happy and live her own life but Cora isn’t having it. Cora finally relents but ends up taking and crushing Daniel’s heart. Young Regina is horrified by what her mother has done (I also understand now why she seemed so upset when she crushed Graham’s heart, probably reliving her mother’s treachery), and being queen will not make up for the death of her love. Young Regina is being fitted for her wedding dress and is staring off into space. Snow comes in and tells her she’s the fairest of them all (ha!). Young Regina is only half listening to Snow when Snow starts singing Cora’s praises and how she knew Cora would let her and Daniel get married. This gets young Regina’s attention. She realizes Snow didn’t keep the secret and, in her mind, is responsible for everything that happened. Snow asks if young Regina is mad at her, and this is where young Regina starts to become like her mother. She calms herself down and tells Snow that Daniel ran off and what they had was an infatuation. That she loves the king and loves Snow and that makes what they have all the more special. This scene is so creepy because young Regina’s eyes don’t move at all. She has facial expressions, but she’s almost robotic in what she’s saying and how she acts. She looks almost psychotic and it’s scary as hell. Also, I hate her hair in this scene because it being up with the lack of makeup that’s supposed to make her look younger, actually makes her look her age, so the contrast looks really weird. But back to psycho young Regina. Cora comes in and Snow leaves and Cora tells young Regina she is proud of her. Young Regina almost looks happy about this, until the thought comes to her that her mother orchestrated the whole thing with Snow and her run away horse. Cora denies it, but young Regina says she should have let Snow die on that horse. Damn!

Regina, on the other hand, is having a grand ole time in Storybrooke. She’s finally getting her revenge on Snow though the framing of Mary Margaret. We see the deal she made with Gold. After his arrest for beating up Moe French, Gold wants Regina to get the charges dropped. Gold suggest framing Mary Margaret for Kathryn’s death. Of course, this will come back to bite Regina in the ass later. Mary Margaret wakes up in her cell to see Regina staring at her. Regina quips that only the guilty can sleep well in jail. Regina wants Mary Margaret to confess so they can save the town a lengthy trial. Right. Mary Margaret reiterates that she didn’t kill Kathryn. Regina says Mary Margaret is leaving Storybrooke, confession or not. Mary Margaret wants to know what she did to make Regina hate her so much. Regina watches the DA interview. Again, is that legal? Does being the mayor mean that legalities don’t apply to her. We next see Emma with a search warrant to search Regina’s garage. But Regina has been tipped off and replaced the shovel that Emma is there to get. Emma defends Mary Margaret, but Regina says she’s a liar and a murderer and will pay for what she’s done. She goes to visit Mary Margaret in jail again. Regina tells Mary Margaret justice is finally being served. Mary Margaret says she’s innocent. Regina mocks that she’s always seen herself that way. Regina is just dripping with hate and this is probably the happiest we’ve ever seen her in Storybrooke. Mary Margaret is hysterical now and apologizing for whatever wrong it is that Regina feels she’s done against her. Regina won’t accept it. Mary Margaret says she doesn’t deserve this and she’s innocent. Regina finally tells her she knows she’s innocent, but she does deserve this. Chills, I tell you. Chills at this scene and performance from both actresses. Regina is talking to Daniel’s ring and telling him they finally got her. But as we find out at the end, Kathryn has come back alive!

Snow/Mary Margaret: Oh baby Snow. The actress they got to play a young Snow is absolutely phenomenal. Not only does she look like the actress, but sounds like her and has all her mannerisms. We first see her clinging to her horse that has been spooked by something. Young Regina saves her. She swears she’ll never ride again after that ordeal. Young Regina gives her a literal get back on the horse speech. Snow looks to be around 10-12 at this point. I’d go with 10 because of her naivete though. We next see Snow when she discovers young Regina and Daniel kissing. Snow runs off and young Regina runs after her. Snow doesn’t understand how young Regina can be kissing someone else when she’s supposed to be marrying her father and becoming her step-mother. You can see Snow’s desperation here. She is desperate to have a mother that it doesn’t seem to matter to her that young Regina could be unhappy about marrying her father, because it’s what would make her happy. It’s probably the same principle when children want their divorced parents to get back together. It would make the kids happy, but not the parents. Young Regina explains about true love and Snow is determined that young Regina must marry Daniel. Because now she understands that young Regina wants to be happy and it’s not all about her. I’m not saying Snow is selfish, but she’s 10. She doesn’t understand the complexities of love yet. But she does understand being happy. Snow wants to tell her father right away so young Regina can live out her happiness, but young Regina is afraid to tell Cora. She asks Snow to keep it a secret, specifically from Cora. Snow agrees. But of course, Snow is 10. And as with most 10-year-olds, they can’t keep secrets. Especially 10-year-olds who have mommy issues and just want all mothers and daughters to be happy. Cora manipulates Snow into telling her what she and young Regina may have talked about by telling her she just wants young Regina to be happy and she’d do anything for that to happen. So Snow asks her not to have young Regina marry her father because she loves someone else. But she just can’t bear for young Regina to lose Cora because they plan to run away together. We next see Snow when young Regina is getting fitted for her wedding dress. Snow tells her she is the fairest of them all and that she knows she and Daniel will be so happy together. Young Regina is confused, but Snow says she knew Cora would rather her be happy than make her marry the king. Young Regina asks Snow if she told Cora. Snow says yes and young Regina is doing her best to mask her fury, which Snow sees because she’s on the verge of tears saying she didn’t want young Regina to lose her mother like she did. She hopes young Regina isn’t mad at her. Regina reins in her anger and tells Snow she is marrying her father, gives her some BS line about she and Daniel just being infatuated with each other and that Daniel ran away, and that her love with the king is even more special because she also loves Snow and they will be a family. Snow is ecstatic about getting a mother.

Poor Mary Margaret. This whole episode is all about her defending herself to Regina and crying. Really it is. Regina visits her twice in her cell to either get her to confess or to gloat about things and Mary Margaret can only protest her innocence so much. She’s also badgered by the DA into a false admittance of harm. I mean, Mary Margaret held her own pretty good, but Spencer kept coming after her. By the time she does say she wanted Kathryn out of the way, it’s very sarcastic and doesn’t sound serious in the least. All she had to do was add ‘But it’s not true” after the “Is that what you want to hear”. But I don’t think the coercion would be admissible in court anyway. Mary Margaret has no idea why Regina hates her so much but is in complete shock when Regina admits that she knows Mary Margaret didn’t kill Kathryn. Let’s just hope that she doesn’t get too close to the town line when they have to call the deputies back because Kathryn has been discovered alive.

Emma: She is grasping at whatever she can to save Mary Margaret. She tells David that Mary Margaret needs a miracle. Gold wants to do a pre-trial interview between Mary Margaret and the DA, but Emma wants to go after Regina. She doesn’t have enough evidence to go after Regina though. At the pre-trial meeting, Emma watches Regina’s reactions a lot of the time. It’s subtle, but it’s there. She’s watching for her reactions. Emma reads through the story book at the docks. August comes by and asks what she’s doing. Emma is doubting herself and admits her superpower isn’t working (well, good, she finally admits that it doesn’t always work). August tells her to look at things from a different perspective. When she first started it was a missing persons case, then a murder, then a cover up (has Emma been telling August about the investigation, because that’s not professional). Tells her to look at it from the perspective change. Emma goes back to the toll bridge and happens to find a shard of from the shovel used to bury the jewelry box. Ok, this is a pretty large piece of shovel. How was this not found before? Emma doesn’t even have to dig around for it, she literally dusts some dirt from the hole and finds it. Also, shouldn’t the hole be covered up? Couldn’t things get in there and contaminate evidence left open like that? Henry lets Emma into his garage while Regina is in the shower and finds the shovel immediately. Because that’s not something Regina would’ve gotten rid of for some reason? Emma gets a search warrant to check Regina’s garage (again, who are they going through for this stuff), and she’s so smug about it, so sure she’s finally got Regina where she wants her, but of course the shovel’s been replaced. Emma defends Mary Margaret to Regina but Regina just tells her Mary Margaret will pay for what she’s done. Emma is convinced that August tipped of Regina because he was with her when she found the shard and when she went snooping into Regina’s garage (unprofessional!), but he says he wouldn’t betray her. Emma accuses him of lying, but he says he’s not a liar. The deputies come to take Mary Margaret away. Emma’s pissed off at Gold because he was supposed to help. He tells Emma there’s still time for him to work a little magic. Emma throws the vase of flowers Sidney gave her in frustration and discovers a bug. That’s how Regina knew about the shovel and the warrant. Emma apologizes to August and says she should have seen that Sidney wasn’t being honest. August says sometimes it’s hard to see what is right in front of us. Yes Emma, remember that. They hear Ruby scream and find Kathryn, alive!

Gold: We find out what deal he made with Regina, but it begs a lot of questions. Did he go into the deal specifically to set up Mary Margaret or to set up Regina? We know he wanted to get himself out of trouble, is this something he foresaw? Or is he flying by the seat of his pants? He obviously doesn’t want Mary Margaret to go to trial, whether that’s because of the curse or other reasons is to be seen. He tells Emma that there’s still time for a little magic when Mary Margaret is taken, and then Kathryn is discovered alive, so I feel he had something to do with that.

Henry, Sr.: He doesn’t say much, but he still says volumes. He loves young Regina so much. You can see that in how he praises her, but he fears Cora. When Cora uses her magic to stop Regina he reaches out to stop her, but thinks better of it. He looks at young Regina as if to say he’s sorry, but there’s nothing he can do. What can he do when he has a wife who uses magic as abuse? We finally get some insight as to why he is always at Regina’s side, even if she has clearly gone crazy once she becomes the Evil Queen. He is making up for all the times he couldn’t be there for her because of Cora’s control.

Questions:

Are people in the EF born with magic or do they have to learn it? Cora has it but at this point in the story Regina doesn’t. We don’t know if Cora was born with it, but Regina seems to have not inherited or learned it.

How does Storybrooke have a DA’s office but not a court? Mary Margaret was being transported out of town for the trial, but George has to live and work in Storybrooke.

Are we ignoring the fact that Mary Margaret broke up with David after Kathryn found out about them and slapped Mary Margaret at the school? Or did Mary Margaret, David, and Emma just forget this detail when the evidence started to point to Mary Margaret?

Is there a rhyme or reason to the order of the storybook? Why do we have pictures of Snow and Charming’s wedding, the Huntsman, and Hansel and Gretel all near each other and one page of story to go with them (and from what I can tell, the stories don’t actually match up with the pictures).

Why is Snow going for a ride late at night when she catches young Regina and Daniel together? It’s dark out. Why would Snow be going for a ride?

Why does Cora assume that young Regina has told Snow secrets? Or is she just hoping that Snow has some information that she can use.

Why does Emma go straight for the shovel when she has the warrant to search Regina’s garage? That basically tells Regina she’s been in there before. You’re not supposed to let Regina know you know where her things are Emma. Play it cool.

I thought strangers couldn’t get into Storybrooke? Who are these officers coming to bring Mary Margaret to wherever she’s being taken for the trial?

If love is weakness does that mean Cora doesn’t love Regina or Henry, Sr.? Has she ever loved them?

Whose heart did they test if Kathryn is alive? Was it actually hers out of her body or was it one of Regina’s other hearts? And does that mean Regina tampered with the tests?

Observations:

Regina still has the ring Daniel gave her.

Daniel mentions taking Regina to Firefly Hill on a date. This was the same place Dreamy met Nova on their date.

Not once did Emma’s lying superpowers kick in when she was talking to Sidney.

Pictures in the storybook that we see: Charming’s sword flying at Regina at the wedding, the Huntsman, Hansel and Gretel.

How long did young Regina wait to tell Daniel about the engagement? The king proposed to young Regina and it was daytime (you can see the light streaming in through the windows) and then when she runs into the stable to tell Daniel it is night time.

I wonder what sacrifices Cora did in the past. I’m assuming the original Rumplestiltskin tale is one of them.

Once Upon a Time Firsts:

Love is weakness

Timeline Issues:

In The Thing You Love Most Maleficent makes a comment that Snow is around the same age Regina was when she was supposed to be married. But Snow had to be around 27-28 when she and Charming married because they are around the same age as Emma (who is established as 28).

This whole episode is a wild ride. But I’ve gotta tell you, the fact that Regina went evil and vowed revenge on Snow was basically because she was too chicken to tell her mother about Daniel and trusted a 10-year-old not to say anything is kind of messed up. After the 10 years or so after it happened she was still so pissed off that she cursed everyone is just ridiculous. But it was great to see Lana Parilla acting as an innocent wide-eyed girl, and Bailee Madison as young Snow was a delight.

Please leave comments and reblog! Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future reviews.

@searchingwardrobes @thisonesatellite @justbecauseyoubelievesomething @laschatzi @profdanglaisstuff @mariakov81

#once upon a time #once upon a time review #once upon a time 1x18 #once upon a time the stable boy

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truthbeetoldmedia · 6 years

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10 Best Moments from Season 1 of “Anne with an E”

Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Canadian children’s series, Anne of Green Gables, has been adapted many times in the more than a century since it was first published. When recreating a story that has been part of the childhoods of Canadians and other children around the world for generations, there are certain elements that must remain the same and others that can be invented or updated to keep the story fresh and captivating.

Anne with an E (or just Anne, in Canada) is the CBC’s most recent adaptation of the classic, in partnership with Netflix U.S. It stays true to the essentials of the original work with pristine casting, beautiful cinematography, plotlines and dialogue that are lifted right from the novel. But it also took the chance to modernize the story in a way that makes it relatable and necessary in today’s world, by including a “Progressive Mothers Sewing Circle” and multiple conversations and conflicts around feminism, choice, and education.

Here are 10 of the best moments from Season 1 of Anne with an E:

Anne’s journey to Green Gables - 1x01 “Your Will Shall Decide Your Destiny”

Anne Shirley’s (Amybeth McNulty) romantic descriptions of Prince Edward Island throughout the series made it an ideal place in the hearts and minds of many young readers, and the sweeping shots and attention given to Anne’s enrapturement as she travels with Matthew Cuthbert (R.H. Thomson) from Bright River to Green Gables capture this sense of wonder beautifully.

This journey also introduces us to Anne, through the eyes of Matthew: she’s talkative, full of big words and bigger ideas, and in possession of an imagination of the likes Matthew — nor anyone in Avonlea — has ever seen before.

All of this is perhaps best captured as Anne and Matthew ride down the Avenue, a lane shaded by drooping cherry trees blooming with white blossoms, which Anne promptly renames “The White Way of Delight.”

Of course, Anne’s overwhelming happiness at finding a home in the most beautiful place in the world is overshadowed by the viewer’s knowledge that Matthew and his sister Marilla (Geraldine James) had expected a boy instead, something Anne has not yet realized and is sure to ruin her dreams of feeling wanted and loved.

“She’s my daughter!” - 1x02 “I Am No Bird, and No Net Ensnares Me”

If this moment didn’t melt your heart, you’re made of stone.

After Marilla sends Anne away for theft — which they soon learn was a wrongful accusation — Matthew chases her to Bright River, then to Charlottetown, then across the strait to Nova Scotia; he sustains an injury to the head upon almost spotting her in Charlottetown and he fruitlessly looks for her at the orphanage, before finally finding her at a train station where she’s collecting money by selling stories for a ticket to Halifax.

Anne is unforgiving when she first sees Matthew again, understandably hurt and unwilling to give him a second chance. A well-meaning stranger gets between them, worried that Matthew means her harm, but Matthew quickly dissipates the situation with a single sentence: “She’s my daughter.”

They’re words that Anne has been longing to hear and believe her entire life and she forgives Matthew immediately, wrapping her arms around him in a hug, and together they return to Avonlea.

Marilla talks to Anne - 1x02 “I Am No Bird, and No Net Ensnares Me”

Marilla is not one to wear even a sliver of her heart on her sleeve, and talking openly to Anne — who is so different from Marilla that she doesn’t even know where to begin — doesn’t come easily to her. Anne has no idea how her brief absence affected Marilla and instead assumes that Marilla doesn’t want or even like her, and it’s only because of Matthew that she concedes to keeping the child around.

Marilla does her best to smooth over her rocky beginning with Anne, in a speech made even more sweet by how obviously difficult Marilla finds it. “Anne, will you forgive me? I am very sorry, Anne. [...] You’re a truthful girl, Anne, even now, and that is an admirable quality. This was my fault. And all that you went through because of it. It’s a wonder you came back to Green Gables at all.”

An adult admitting their wrongs and asking a child for forgiveness is refreshing to see, especially given the time period. Proving that she does have a heart, and a heavy sense of remorse, does much to repair Marilla’s relationship with Anne, and although Anne will never feel the same sense of kinship with her as she does with Matthew, they grow to love each other deeply.

The PMSC (Progressive Mothers Sewing Circle) - 1x03 “But What is So Headstrong as Youth?”

Now that she’s adopted Anne, Marilla is invited to join the PMSC by several other mothers of young girls, a society that discusses and believes in progressive matters, such as girls’ education and equality between women and men.

It’s a clever opportunity for the show to discuss modern ideas in a 19th century setting, and Marilla, an older woman with a conservative bent, is a good viewpoint to see it from. At Marilla’s first meeting, the women discuss books and feminism and being a modern women in a modern world. Marilla is quite out of her depth, but is more than willing to listen and learn and even change her own ways of thinking.

Later, Marilla has a lively debate with her neighbour and friend Rachel Lynde (Corrine Koslo) about the PMSC, of which Rachel is no big proponent of, asking if the women “took turns shouting atop a soapbox” (a common misconception of feminism, even today).

“There was a lot of civilized talk about women’s education and social reforms,” Marilla replies.

Even Matthew chimes in on the discussion when he comes in to tea: “I reckon every new idea was modern once, until it wasn’t.”

Gilbert’s introduction - 1x03 “But What is So Headstrong as Youth?”

In almost any iteration of the Anne of Green Gables series, Gilbert Blythe (Lucas Jade Zumann) is nearly as essential to the story as Anne herself is. For generations, his character has been the object of countless fictional crushes and Anne’s relationship with him is a main driving force of the plot; such a character deserves a hero’s introduction.

And a hero’s introduction he receives. Anne’s on her way to school when she’s confronted by Billy Andrews, who threatens her for unintentionally spreading rumours about his sister. That’s when Gilbert appears, who immediately diffuses the situation by greeting Billy as a friend and suggesting they get to school, while Anne looks on in (surprisingly) wordless shock.

Anne runs from Gilbert and they’re not properly introduced until they reach the school, where she finally finds her tongue, tells him her name, and realizes that he’s the famous Gilbert Blythe as he’s immediately swarmed by his admiring classmates.

Gilbert has always seen Anne differently than everyone else, and feels a pull to her from the start. Where everyone else — including Anne — believes her to be homely and judges her harshly for coming from an orphan’s asylum, Gilbert says, “Why do I care where she’s from? A cute girl is a cute girl.”

(Later, when the class laughs at Anne for her dramatic reading of a poem, Gilbert only sees it as admirable: “She’s good. Invested.”)

Anne and Marilla discuss Anne’s future - 1x04 “An Inward Treasure Born”

After several weeks off, Anne is ready to go to school again. But she’s still concerned about what the minister told her earlier in the episode, about her not needing to go to school and becoming a wife instead. Ever since she heard that, Anne has been contemplating what it is she would like to be when she grows up.

Marilla is progressive enough and loves Anne enough to view the minister’s thinking as old-fashioned, and tells Anne that she should decide for herself what she would like to be and set her mind to it.

Gentle moments like this one between Marilla and Anne are rare, which makes them all the more touching when they come along. Marilla is new to parenthood, and while she certainly struggles with some aspects of it (and Anne is no easy child to raise, either), this is something that comes surprisingly natural to her. She always seems to know just what to say to ease Anne’s mind, and her unwavering faith in Anne’s intelligence and goodness is raw and honest, when she chooses to express it.

“You’ve got a good and nimble mind, Anne. I don’t see why you should limit it. In my day, we didn’t get to choose. I think you should make your own decision.” This statement means a lot, especially coming from Marilla, who wasn’t given the opportunity to choose her own path due to her family situation.

Anne saves Minnie May’s life - 1x06 “Remorse is the Poison of Life”

Anne’s experiences as an orphan prior to coming to Green Gables have her poorly adjusted for many things, but have taught her many things no child should be expected to know — including how to deal with croup.

When her dearest friend Diana’s little sister, Minnie May, falls ill on a night when both her parents and half the town are in Charlottetown to see the premier, Diana (Dalila Bela) goes to Anne for help. Anne immediately sends Matthew into town to fetch the doctor, while she accompanies Diana back to the house.

What follows is an extremely tense scene in which Anne does everything in her power to save Minnie May’s life — including employing remedies from old wives’ tales — while Diana and her Aunt Josephine (Deborah Grover) look on in shock.

The moment Minnie May coughs and breathes again after several minutes of choking silently on phlegm is an exceedingly powerful one. Anne’s role in saving the little girl’s life — when the doctor arrives, he confirms that Minnie May would have died otherwise — causes Diana’s mother to forgive her after the unfortunate currant wine incident of a month before and allow the two to be friends again, and raises her esteem greatly in the eyes of Aunt Josephine.

Anne and Gilbert talk about grief - 1x06 “Remorse is the Poison of Life”

For several months after the incident in which Gilbert called Anne “Carrots” and she responded by smashing her slate over his head, Anne holds to her promise not to have anything to do with him unless absolutely necessary. It’s not until Gilbert’s father dies and Anne feels that this is something she can relate to him about — after all, now they’re both orphans — that she makes any effort to actually talk to him.

Unfortunately, Anne isn’t a natural when it comes to sympathizing and not only does she not pick up on the fact that the last thing Gilbert wants is to talk to someone, but she manages to say exactly the wrong thing.

“Being an orphan has its challenges but you already have so many advantages, you’ll be much better off than I was. And...I didn’t know my parents. They died when I was a baby, so I couldn’t fend for myself the way that you can. And I don’t remember my parents at all, but you’ll always be able to remember your father. You know, when you think about it, you’re really very lucky.”

Later, Anne realizes that Gilbert has lost someone in a way she never has since she never knew her parents and thus never mourned them; however, when she arrives at Gilbert’s house to tell him this, he has already gone.

“I choose myself. That way I’ll never be disappointed.” - 1x06 “Remorse is the Poison of Life”

While out on a walk to “take advantage of the winter air,” Aunt Josephine comes upon Anne in her clubhouse, yelling aggrievedly to no one about Gilbert Blythe.

“What you heard just now had nothing to do with romance,” Anne assures the old woman, which leads into a discussion about Anne’s future and how all the other girls at school dream only of becoming a wife, and Anne herself has so many other ambitions.

Aunt Josephine is perhaps uniquely situated to give Anne advice, having never gotten married herself but spent her life living with the woman she loved (a relationship Anne hasn’t yet realized extended far past the realms of friendship).

“I have the following thoughts to offer,” Aunt Josephine says. “First, you can get married any time in your life, if you choose to do so. And two: if you choose a career, you can buy a white dress yourself, have it made to order, and wear it whenever you want.”

Aunt Josephine’s words do much to improve Anne’s mood, and she promptly exclaims, “I’m going to be my own woman.”

Gilbert and Anne meet in Charlottetown - 1x07 “Wherever You Are is My Home”

While in Charlottetown pawning goods in the hopes of saving Green Gables, Anne runs into Gilbert, who’s there to work on the docks. Anne is inexplicably happy to see him again, and the two go for coffee together.

Anne finally gets the chance to apologize to Gilbert for what she said after his father’s death, even if it’s an apology he doesn’t need to hear. The two strike up a truce and at last seem to form the beginnings of a friendship — with Anne even admitting that she’s missed him (although, supposedly, only in school).

Neither of them seem quite prepared to leave the other without knowing when they’ll see each other again (even Jerry notices the long looks that pass between them) and when they do eventually meet again, it’s easy to assume that a fundamental aspect of their relationship will have changed.

Season 2 of Anne With An E premieres September 23 on CBC in Canada, and is already available on Netflix in the U.S.

#Anne with an E #Anne #Season 1 #Anne Shirley #Gilbert Blythe

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