Anne has finally broken up with Roy and returned to Avonlea. And between then she attended Phillipa’s wedding only to come back home, and learn that Gilbert is fighting for his life from a thyroid fever.
Admittedly it was frustrating that it took the freaking news of Gilbert’s life at peril to serve as the catalyst to finally get Anne to face her feelings for him! Because amazingly, even after Anne had broken up with Roy, she still hadn’t acknowledged her feelings for Gilbert. It was only when Davy tactlessly dropped the bomb that Gilbert was dying that it all came crashing down on her that she really did love Gilbert, and couldn’t imagine a world without him.
Perhaps the silly thing about is, this wasn’t the first time she had been forced to imagine such a thing. The first time was after she had rejected his proposal. But today, the stakes couldn’t have been higher when was walking a fine line of life and death. And since everyone was saying things were not looking bright for him at the time, Anne was so devastated that we saw her briefly have a suicidal thought, as she had momentarily considered just throwing her in the rushing river (I can’t remember if she ever did learn how to swim, but basically she was prepared to drown herself in her sorrow, literally). She knew she has nobody else but herself to blame for it, and in that moment she hated herself for it. To her own detriment, Anne repeatedly failed to heed the lessons of other people’s mistakes, such as Marilla’s and Lavender’s respective regrets.
But in that moment of weakness, you could say she was graced by God (or more specifically, Matthew watching over her and Gilbert for that matter) when an old man who was neighbour’s gardener with Gilbert carrying a handful of flowering branches of an apple tree. He purged her suicidal thoughts by sharing the news that Gilbert has gotten past the worst of it, and is confirmed to be okay.
Some time after that, Gilbert comes by to visit her and ask if she’d join him to visit their favourite apple tree in the forest. Anne initially said she was too busy with fixing her dress for Jane’s wedding later that evening (which I’m sure made everyone, myself included scream: GURL!), but she quickly realized that waiting till tomorrow is too long or could be too late and decided to just drop everything to put Gilbert first– AND THANK GOODNESS FOR THAT.
And finally… When Gilbert musters up the courage to ask for her hand once more… this time Anne says yes!
At long last, Anne and Gilbert are finally together, but the journey to get here was certainly a long one! Gilbert has long loved Anne since childhood, from the very moment she freaking smacked him on the head with that writing slate no less! That’s certainly… an unique way to fall in love, I suppose that’s young love I guess! It’s why he had always believed they were truly meant to be best friends, and in many ways, he was right. After Anne finally forgiven him and moved on from that incident– once the they became friends, they two were basically inseparable, even more so when they studied at Redmond together! One has to admire just how patient he had been, withholding his feelings for many, many years.
And during the times he felt like he really wanted to consult her about it, he still held back when he saw Anne really didn’t want to touch the subject of love with him. But when he finally did, he didn’t hold it against her when she rejected him. So it was a good thing they were apart for a time after that. They really needed room to breathe and process their respective feelings and situation. And it did pay off, because while things were rocky at first, they were eventually able to be more at ease with talking to one another again.
It also helped by the time the two of them reunited, that the two of them were dating… or at least one was thought to have been. As it turns out, Gilbert and Christine were never dating in the first place! They were merely friends through her brother, whom had asked Gilbert to simply look out for his sister. And on top of that, Christine was in-fact already engaged to someone else! So the whole thing about Gilbert and Christine announcing their engagement at the graduate after-party was nothing more than muddled gossip! But at that point, Gilbert was so heartbroken, he didn’t care about the rumours since Anne had told him she could never love him, and who could blame him for it!
But if there’s one silver-lining to this whole misunderstanding, it was because Anne (and others) believed this, it made it much easier for the two of them to start hanging out with each other again. It kind of served like an invisible line they knew better not to cross lest they fear ruining any hopes of salvaging what was left of their cherished friendship.
So it just makes it all the more heart-wrenching to know that Gilbert has been single for the past two years since, and had been struggling to let go of his feelings for Anne– especially after hearing she was dating Roy. But still, he couldn’t let go and truly did his best to hide the fact to not burden her further. And thanks to Phillipa’s letter informing the fact and encouraging him to try again, he mustered up the courage to ask for Anne’s hand in marriage once more. Truly, I don’t think patience can even begin to describe what Gilbert endured keeping his feelings to himself all this time!
In many respects, Anne did finally get the most romantic proposal she had always dreamed of. To be told she had been loved since childhood, and realizing just how foolish she had been and how unbelievably lucky she is to have been loved that much and for that long. And the beautiful thing about this confession, is that while Gilbert was a little worried he doesn’t have much to offer her at the moment, Anne assured him she doesn’t care, she just wants him, and I thought that was the most romantic thing about it. They won’t get married right away though, in fact they’ll have to wait three years since he needs to finish his medical studies he had just begun. But nothing else matters as they are finally officially together now!
Final Thoughts
I thought this was a great adaption of Anne Green Gables. There were some things omitted for the better, while at times some things were rushed, but ultimately I found they managed to nail the important things that really mattered. Anne’s turmoils and mistakes are all the things that reminds we can’t take things for granted. Life can be so terribly short (Ruby), and death can happen so suddenly (Matthew), and life will always throw you curve balls when you least expect it. So cherish what you have and your loved ones, for which you never know how much time you have left.
There’s a reason why Anne as a character to me, can stand to the testament of time. She’s a deeply flawed character, but that’s what makes her feel so real. Old habits die hard, and some of them certainly come back to bite her time and time again (ie: being stubborn like a bull, resistant to change), but she’s also kind, imaginative, and not a pushover. For me, when I was a kid, Anne was a very relatable character, a little girl with vast imaginations and love for nature and stories, along with great love for her friends and family.
Among the cast, Marilla, Matthew and Gilbert had always been my favourites. Matthew being that quiet dad who dotes on his little girl, giving the best advice and serving as a mediator when needed. Marilla being the absolute best mom, not putting up with shit when she sees it, and having so much patience and love for Anne whenever she made silly or crazy antics.
And then of course Gilbert, the textbook sweetheart– albeit after his introduction haha. He showed tremendous humbleness and patience when it comes to befriending Anne, and even selflessly looked out for her even when they weren’t mutually friends with each other yet. One may think it was quite dumb or unrealistic to wait that long, but in Gilbert’s case, his earnest perseverance to earn Anne’s forgiveness and trust certainly did pay off. I loved how he didn’t force his feelings on Anne, and the moment he did finally decide to confess his feelings, he didn’t push it further when she turned him down. He simply sought for insight on how she felt, and made it clear at that time, it was simply too hard for the two of them to be just platonically friends. Gilbert working away for a while, and Anne dating Roy ended up helping mend their friendship as it gave them healthy time apart so sort out their feelings. In many ways, the two of them are lucky it worked out like that considering they could’ve fared a lot worse had either one of them handled the post-rejection any differently.
Overall I absolutely loved this adaption and it was true treat and delight to be covering it every week, even at the times it made me cry. Although there’s still more story to tell, and as much as I’d like to see more, I kind of have my doubts we’ll see a second season since it covers the next stage of Anne’s life, her marriage with Gilbert and the family they have together, along with the impact of World War I on their lives. So I do think ending it here is probably a solid place to wrap it up!
With that said, I hope those of you who experienced Anne of Green Gables for the very first time enjoyed it as much as I have!
Final Score: 9/10
