Yikes, Anne sure found herself in a mess this week!
Anne was supposed to meet Roy’s mother and his sisters on Saturday, but lo and behold they showed up a day early on Friday instead! Unfortunately for Anne, she couldn’t have been more unprepared given the house was a mess due to Stella’s intense studies, Prissy just literally dropped her chocolate cake on the sofa, and Phil was too stubborn to answer the door when it rung the first time, and Anne having to run to her room to hastily make herself look presentable. Talk about setting the first impression off on the wrong foot!
The reasoning of their appearance on Friday was suggested to be a miscommunication, contrary to Dorothy (Roy’s nice little sister) insisting that it was in-fact supposed to be a Saturday meetup. Needless to say, neither his mother nor other sister Aline seemed to be taken to Anne, if anything they disapprove her. Anne had tried her best to ease the tension between them by saying she was thankful that they showed up on Friday instead. Way to spin that around. But it was an attempt nonetheless that appeared to have paid off, since Stella later points out Anne did managed to win Mrs. Gardner over at some point later on.
But something that was interrupted when Anne first met Mrs. Gardner was when she had asked how she felt about Roy. Anne didn’t get to answer as she was cut off by Aline falling onto the chair that was smeared in Prissy’s chocolate cake spill. However while she wasn’t able to answer then, she did eventually find herself forced to confront it once more when she caught herself realizing she keeps comparing Gilbert to Roy. At the very least, in this instance on her way back from the second family meeting, it finally registered to Anne that the way she keeps thinking back to Gilbert is a sign of things not being right between her and Roy. NO MORE DENIAL!!!!!
Although it certainly took longer than any of us would have liked, at long last Anne has finally come to terms that she doesn’t truly love Roy the way he loves her, and turned down his hand for marriage. Though I do pity the guy because Anne really could’ve nipped this in the bud when he proposed to her the first time. The fact she harboured doubts at the time, yet continued to go along with it was not only a big mistake, but it really wasn’t fair to Roy either.
Among Anne’s friends, it was surprisingly Stella of all people, who knew that Anne was not going to accept Roy’s proposal. And honestly, regardless how good of a guy Roy is, anyone who paid attention to how Anne acted when talking about him compared to how she thinks about Gilbert should have seen the writing on the wall. I think the one I’m most surprised with is the fact Phillipa (who has been the romance-guru of the group) didn’t pick up on it sooner. I suppose she’s too preoccupied looking forward to her own wedding though…
But still! The most glaring moment that Anne’s heart was not on the same page, was the way she prioritized Gilbert’s flower over Roy’s for their graduation ceremony. She admits that she didn’t understand it herself, and yet she tries to reason it with how she and Gilbert had both pictured this moment when they were little. On one hand, it’s proven to be true as Gilbert did in-fact gift her their promised flower, but other hand– she’s desperately trying to justify her actions despite knowing she did mess up. That’s why she got quite a (justified) scolding for it, and Gilbert’s actions was frowned upon for it too considering she’s engaged.
And the thing is, if this wasn’t so much about her heart wavering for Gilbert, this could’ve been less messy had she consulted her decision to wear Gilbert’s flower with Roy prior to the graduation ceremony. Because Phillipa was right. Contrary to Roy saying he wasn’t angry, it was clear seeing his face in the crowd that he was hurt and jealous (which was the only thing he admitted to feeling). I mean let’s be real here: Who wouldn’t be hurt after getting blindsided with your fiance wearing a flower from someone else instead of the one you given them without any explanation for it?
Anyhow, if there’s one interesting thing that sort of got glossed was the whole the rumour circulating around that Gilbert’s and Christine’s engagement was going to be announced at the party. But in the end, it never happened, to the point I harbour doubts it was ever going to be a thing. There’s a lot of reasons for doubt, especially given it’s been Gilbert who has really been extending the olive branch to Anne since she refused his proposal. From the graduation flowers, to asking her for a dance… It’s hard to imagine there had been any plans of announcing his engagement with Christine. Either way, Anne had chosen to decline is offer in consideration of Roy. But one can’t help but wonder if she might have taken his hand if the girls hadn’t scolded her over the flower spectacle.
With that said, everyone has finally graduated from Redmond! Now Anne is set to return to Avonlea, sadly without Rusty because Marillia hates cats. But at the very least he’ll be in good hands with Aunt Jamesina and in company of the other two cats.
Next week is the last episode! Makes me a bit sad because I’ve really been enjoying it~ We’ll find out next week if there’s more to come or not, because there’s still more story to tell!
Scheduled Maintenance Update: Due to encountering more frustrating issues emerging with the server move preparations, maintenance originally scheduled for Monday, September 22nd has been postponed until further notice. Therefore there will be no downtime or changes in our release schedule in the meantime!
