Diana and Anne reaffirming their relationship.
Diana and Anne: Kindred spirits forever

Lack of sex education makes an upcoming dance tricky, as does Sebastian relying on two older women to take care of a child.


Community Rating: 0.00% (0) - No Community Ratings Submitted (Add Yours Below)

Read our Editorial Guidelines regarding how posts are written and rated and our use of affiliate links.


Lack of sex education makes an upcoming dance tricky, as does Sebastian relying on two older women to take care of a child.


Network
CBC, Netflix
Director(s) Paul Fox
Writer(s) Naledi Jackson
Air Date (CBC) 10/20/2019
Introduced This Episode
Charlie Jacob Horsley
Aluk Brandon Oakes

Images and text in this post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase, we may earn a commission or products from the company.

Recap

This Is Too Much: Rachel, Marilla, Sebastian

Delphine is only a few months old, is teething, and being that Rachel and Marilla are past 50, dealing with a child screaming all day, trying to play with it, and then take care of their duties at home, it is too much. So, Rachel, being the sometimes callous woman she is, she recommends Sebastian remarry or give up Delphine for adoption. Being that neither option is something he’d want to do, he instead sends a letter to his mother Hazel. Perhaps hoping, after years of taking care of others, she may be able to take care of her own.

Question(s) Left Unanswered
  1. How old is Marilla, Rachel, and Hazel, at this point?

The Birds, The Bees, And Someone Being The Bee’s Knees: Charlie, Anne, Jerry, Diana, Ruby, Gilbert, Muriel

Being that sex education was non-existent in the 1800s for girls, of course there is a lot of misinformation. Be it Ruby’s belief touching can cause pregnancy or Charlie telling Anne that a woman with too much on her mind, a wild imagination that is, will become barren. All of this scares the girls, and while Gilbert, in a rather uncomfortable moment, tries to ease the girls’ anxieties, as does Muriel, they can only do so much.

After all, Gilbert is a teenager, and he didn’t really study sex but being a general practitioner. So while aware of what happens after a woman is pregnant and helping to deliver a baby, the process of getting pregnant might be as unknown to him as the girls. Just, with him being a boy, he doesn’t get toxic and ridiculous warnings about pregnancy.

A handkerchief Diana embrodded.

But, on the positive side to things, Jerry and Diana are making progress. He gets out early from work to walk with her, shares his Frankenstein book, and she even makes a handkerchief for him. Though with there being around 120 days before she is off to Paris, it appears Diana is going to enjoy Jerry’s attention while she can. While hiding what is going on from Anne, by the way.

Though, after dancing with Gilbert, Anne might be in her own world. For something awakened in her during that dance, and Gilbert as well, as they touched hands, really looked at each other, and didn’t trade quips. With only the sound of music, they appeared to have found a way to forget their banter and just be with one another and perhaps see one another as more than a friend.

Question(s) Left Unanswered
  1. How much is Diana’s interest in Jerry about rebellion?

4/6/1899: Gilbert, Sebastian, William, Eliza, Anne

With Mary’s death only being a few months, around 2 or so, naturally everyone is still mourning. So, between Anne and Gilbert, they come up with an obituary for Mary and, with Sebastian’s permission, post it. This becomes the talk of the town after Sunday church, but most notably Eliza and William, Diana’s parents, find themselves talking about it. Mostly Eliza, due to feeling guilty about rejecting Mary’s various invitations. So, to compensate, they speak on perhaps including the apples of the Gilbert/Sebastian household in their exports.

Collected Quote(s) & .Gifs

Attraction – yes, it’s important. But love… that’s what truly matters.
— Sebastian

Other Noteworthy Facts, Moments, and Random Thoughts

  • What are the chances Matthew thinks Anne did Jerry’s handkerchief?

Review


Community Rating: 0.00% (0) - No Community Ratings Submitted (Add Yours Below)


Highlights

Anne & Gilbert

Gilbet and Anne holding hands

While they both remain at the point of being unwilling to admit their feelings, we found them experiencing another crack in their armor. For just the way Gilbert was looking at Anne during that dance, with a bit of devilish charm, it had her stunned and looking at Gilbert in ways she tries to avoid. But, one thing not asked is what does this mean for Ruby and Winifred? We know Ruby doesn’t stand a chance, but Gilbert has had dates with Winifred and has invited her over. Though, with Gilbert, shyly, talking to Bash about his feelings of attraction, does this mean Winifred was a passing thing pursued out of convenience?

Jerry and Diana

This has been a long time coming but is finally happening! And what makes them cute is they are from completely different worlds, yet Diana is enchanted by his. Also, as much as Diana is going through a bit of a rebellion phase, it seems clear that Jerry is more of a choice of attraction than to get a reaction.

Which is probably why she is hiding what is happening from Anne. Being that Diana’s life is so controlled by her parents, with Anne being the little bit of an escape she has, being with Jerry means another source of expressing her autonomy. One which Anne may not approve of since she is still uncomfortable with being attracted to people or the thought of someone being attracted to her. Add in Diana being gone in around 4 months, she doesn’t want anything to drive her and Anne apart.

A Reminder That Sex Education Has Come A Long Way

Can you imagine a world so conservative that teenage girls believe touching someone could get them pregnant? Fun fact, in certain places, this still exists. However, in the late 1800s, there wasn’t any real means to counteract that thought. Schools didn’t teach about sex, and, as shown by Ms. Stacy, at most your instructor may skirt around it just so that you don’t have an anxiety attack. However, due to social norms and religious beliefs, doing anything beyond that could have you considered a pervert, unfit to be around children, and beyond.

So let’s be glad there are options now. Even if, for many, that other option is the misinformation or way too much information, the internet can provide.

Anne Exposing Gilbert, And The Others, To the Mi’kmaq

One of the keys to making people less ignorant is exposing them, early on, to how diverse the world is. In the case of Anne with an E, it is showing how the Mi’kmaq people, and in extension the rest of the indigenous nations, may live differently, but that doesn’t mean they are savages or out of touch. As shown by the medicine woman and Aluk, Ka’kwet’s dad, they can be around people who aren’t from their nation, dress in clothes, just less boring than the intruders, and have medicine, among other practices.

Aluk (Brandon Oakes) talking to Anne.
Aluk (Brandon Oakes)

Heck, considering what Gilbert learned about honey, it forced him to realize, contemplating his time with Dr. Ward, his mentor doesn’t know everything. On top of that, while a kind and more open man than others, he also is willingly ignorant to different ways of doing things. But, thanks to Anne, it seems learning the use of honey in the Mi’kmaq nation has renewed Gilbert’s passion for medicine. It’s just not he’ll focus on the research than the patients.

Mary’s Obituary

I still find Mary’s death unnecessary, but I’m glad her absence isn’t being swept under the rug. Also, that obituary had me tearing up.

Sebastian Understanding Elijah

But perhaps the big benefit of her death is the possibility of Hazel coming around, and Sebastian maybe getting to understand how Elijah feels. After all, Hazel didn’t really get a chance to raise Sebastian. So him seeing her loving and attentive to Delphine, it might help him understand why Elijah acted so aversely to Delphine and Mary’s new family. For while Sebastian may not get the feeling of being replaced, he can experience the mindset of someone getting what wasn’t afforded to you due to the circumstances of your youth.

[ninja_tables id=”39645″]

Sebastian Understanding Elijah - 85%
Mary’s Obituary - 84%
Anne Exposing Gilbert, And The Others, To the Mi’kmaq - 86%
A Reminder That Sex Education Has Come A Long Way - 83%
Jerry and Diana - 86%
Anne & Gilbert - 87%

85%


Listed Under Categories:


Follow, Like and Subscribe


What Would Your Rating Be?


One Comment

  1. I was almost in tears when Aluk spoke of Ka’kawet. I think that Diana likes the idea of a secret forbidden love – that the relationship may lose something if it were out in the open. Even Jerry’s Frankenstein quote was supposed to cast them as Romeo and Juliet.  Diana also romanticizes Jerry’s life – looking only at the aspects of it which are freer than her own life. Diana doesn’t know life without servants.

    Rachael was stating the usual options available to men whose wives died leaving behind small children – they either got married or put the child in an orphanage. The book author, Lucy Maud Montgomery was two when her mother died and lived with her maternal grandparents until her father called for her. Since his new wife basically used her as free labour, LMM ended up back at her grandparents again until her deaths. If Bash were to put Delphine in an orphanage, Delphine would be like Anne and not know either of her parents so a part of her identity would be hidden from her. 

    This season is about identity. Anne’s own search to find out about her own parents is about uncovering a part of her identity. Elijah has a spoiled identity being born out of wedlock, so, besides the usual feelings, Elijah feels jealous of Delphine for having an unspoiled identity since her parents were married before she was born. You have an attempt at stripping Ka’kwet of her identity. Diana’s pedigree is about the limits of identity. The bonfire was about redefining one’s identity as a woman. Mary’s death impacts the identities of those she leaves behind – even Bash’s shift of identity from married to widower.

    Bash’s beef with Elijah is that Elijah hurt those Bash cared about – Mary and Gilbert.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.