Anne Shirley

Episode 21

Somewhere in her heart, Anne knows. She knows that, as perfect as Royal Gardner looks – and even his name sounds like a character in one of her beloved sentimental novels – he's not actually her prince charming. You can see it in a thousand little thoughts and gestures, from the face she makes in the mirror when wearing his orchid to her quiet realization that her acceptance of his de facto proposal (more like an intention of courting, really) doesn't come with any of the markers she associates with love. She had more reaction to both Charlie's and Gilbert's actual proposals than Roy's honeyed words. He's perfect on paper, but he's not necessarily perfect for her.

And thus continues my least favorite stretch of Anne of the Island. That's not because it's not well-written, or, in this case, well-adapted. Ever since Ruby's death, Anne Shirley has been back in top form story-wise, deftly showcasing the emotional highs and lows of Anne's early adulthood. It's still skipped an unacceptable amount of story (some of which had to be done because of the excision of Aunt Josephine from Anne of Green Gables), but what it's adapting, it's adapting well. Anne is growing up in her own time and on her own terms, and that means making foolish decisions based on romantic notions just as much as it means slowly realizing what she's done.

Phillipa's story arc is mirroring Anne's, albeit in coming from the opposite direction. Phil's meeting with Jonas Blake, a young minister, is the exact opposite of Anne's meeting with Roy – it's mundane and full of little, normal-life moments. Phil doesn't fall for him because he's dashing and sends scads of flowers with cheesy little poems attached; she loves him because of his ordinary goodness. And a piece of her also knows that Roy is utterly lacking in that. She's the first person to voice that orchids don't suit Anne, and even though she doesn't fully understand what she's really saying, that Roy doesn't suit Anne, she's starting to realize. More importantly, she admits that she was wrong to be mad at Anne for refusing Gilbert; even if she hasn't recognized that what was wrong was to force something on her friend who gets to make her own decisions about her life, it's a good first step. And Roy is a mistake that Anne has to make all on her own.

Is Christine the same thing for Gilbert? It's hard to say, although from his expression when he saw Anne with Roy and when Roy asked to be shown around Avonlea (a clear indication that he plans on sticking around and wants to meet Anne's family), I'd say that if he's going with Christine, it's not necessarily serious. He clearly still loves Anne, and he's trying to give her what she said she wanted from him: friendship with no strings attached. It looks hard for him, but you must give him credit for trying.

Life always moves on, no matter how much you might not want it to. Anne learned that lesson with Matthew's death, and again with Diana's engagement and Ruby's passing. But I don't think it ever really occurred to her that Gilbert might move on, and that, along with her own romantic girlish notions of romance, are what are, if not holding her back precisely, then at least feeling like sticking points. She wants to move forward, but isn't fully sure. The conversation with Aunt Jimsie about whether she ought to sit inside by the fire with the cats or go out for a walk even though it promises rain is a beautiful symbol of that – and although she does choose to go out, to move forward, a piece of her perhaps wishes that she'd stayed safe inside, where Rusty and the walls of Patty's Place could protect her from the adult world outside.

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Anne Shirley is currently streaming on Crunchyroll on Saturdays.