User blog:Eikakou/Anne (CBC series), season 3, episode 9 - A Dense and Frightful Darkness review

A remarkable number of things happened this episode, with only one more left before the season finale!

And it feels like a rather appropriate title for the episode.

SPOILERS BELOW

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So there are several main threads this episode: Ka'kwet and the residential school; Anne and Gilbert's responses to what they think relationship is; and Sebastian and Hazel's relationship.

Anne is encouraged by Marilla to make her feelings to Gilbert clear, but it seems fate thwarts her at every turn. She arrives at Gilbert's house when he's away, and the note she leaves gets progressively and unwittingly destroyed, so he never receives it. She's away for two days to help Ka'kwet, so even Diana's increasingly attempts to tell her that Gilbert is going to propose to Winifred can't even help. By the time Anne learns that Gilbert has decided to move on, she steels herself to ask him herself... only to discover she's missed him at his house again.

Gilbert for his part seems very reluctant to accept it. He takes his time getting his affairs in order (like ensuring the apple export arrangement with the Barrys continues) and helps with rebuilding to the school. But for all the admiration from the other boys about marrying a beautiful city girl, Gilbert's distracted by thoughts of Anne. But it isn't enough to stop him from appearing at the Roses' house and being greeted by a smiling Winifred.

Meanwhile, Sebastian and Hazel continue to be at odds with one another. Hazel is convinced that it's only a matter of time, especially now that Gilbert is going to study in Paris, that Bash and his family are going to lose their home. Aside from the rare moments of being able to care for Delphine, it seems she's very strict and she's seriously considering leaving since Bash is making her feel so unwelcome. Sebastian decides to go back to his fishing hole with Delphine and ends up chatting with Miss Stacy again, but Hazel doesn't approve of Bash and Muriel's friendship. To Hazel, it seems Bash has no idea how much risk he's putting himself in. Bash thinks she's always shown more love to her white employers than him, compared to his father. But Hazel makes the heartbreaking revelation that Bash's father had been too ambitious for his own good - back in Trinidad, he had tried to get land and run a business... and he had gotten lynched. Hazel hardened her heart because she thought that being strict would make Bash strong enough to survive and would give him a sense of caution and warns him that being soft to Delphine will only endanger her. Instead Bash feels that it only forced to him become strong in spite of Hazel withholding the loving care and kindness he wanted.

And so we finally have Ka'kwet. Returning home to her family did not magically make everything better. The traumatic experience at the religious school has filled her with self-loathing and she lashes out with the same rhetoric against her confused siblings. She doesn't know who she is anymore. Her mother comforts her, knowing that Ka'kwet is deeply hurt and angry with herself, but any hope of healing is ruined when the residential school's hunters arrive at the Mi'kmaq camp. Ka'kwet is torn away, barely able to warn everyone else that the men are also thinking to stealing the other children away, as her father is shot in the arm. Ka'kwet's parents, Aluk and Oqwatnuk go to Green Gables for help, since Anne is the only person they believe they can trust. Marilla is terrified of the Mi'kmaq, but despite the language barrier, Oqwatnuk's pleas are just enough for Marilla to agree to let Anne and Matthew to help.

But the arrival at the religious school brings no positive results. Ka'kwet is locked up, unable to be heard by potential rescuers. The nun, Sister Maria, refuses entry to Ka'kwet's parents and then Matthew. When they refuse to leave, the hunters come out threatening violence. Perhaps not wanting to be blamed for letting violence to occur while she's in charge, the nun lies that she can't release any children - it's up to the priest, who is going to be away for the next two weeks. Matthew knows they can't stay because of the upcoming harvest, but Anne adamantly won't leave until Ka'kwet's parents tell her they'll figure out what to do. So while Anne contemplates writing an article to reveal the truth of the residential schools, Aluk and Oqwatnuk camp out by the school... only for the priest Father Beck to appear with two police constables, ready to use violence to subdue them, as the priest declares the vile litany all the residential schools so believe: that they'll kill the Indian to save the child. Aluk and Oqwatnuk anxiously pack up to camp further away, where the smoke of their campfire can be seen by Ka'kwet from her window.

So, maybe in the tradition of penultimate episodes, there's a lot of not so wonderful things happening here. When my brother and I were watching the parts with Ka'kwet, my brother is convinced that Aluk and Oqwatnuk aren't going to make it. The priest and nun will use the law and violence because to them, they're not dealing with other human beings, but animals. The police think that as well. The only little hope suggests the same scenario that Aluk and Oqwatnuk have brought up - once they rescue Ka'kwet, they'll have to go on the run so the white people won't abduct and abuse their children again. It's a reality that only some First Nations children were lucky enough to have - to be able to escape the religious residential schools and hide out with their families.

I don't have a lot of comments for Hazel and Sebastian because I think this episode is the first one that they've gotten to lay all their feelings out there and actually talk. Maybe it'll be a chance for a new start, now that they know why and how the other person sees the other.

On a smaller note, while Diana got a figurative kick in the shin by Minnie May over how Diana hides what she really wants under the veneer of what their parents expect, it seems Minnie May is still resentful. Diana's attempts to tell Anne about Gilbert are thwarted because Minnie May at her maximum brattiness, alerts their mother, who also criticizes Diana's choice of practice pieces... which she played at Minnie May's request. Also, Mrs. Barry's finishing school education apparently didn't include learning fractions and after being frustrated, and she orders Diana (delayed again!) to teach Minnie May in her stead. Perhaps these small things will encourage Diana to let her parents know she wants to choose her own future instead of the one her parents believe she should have.

And finally... Anne and Gilbert. It was definitely frustrating to see they were unable to meet face to face and actually talk to one another for the entire episode. It seems like a very poor (and impulsive) decision on Anne's part to leave a note and leave, at least without doing something like telling Hazel to give it to Gilbert. (Also, I'm not sure about her postscript, I think Gil would have either laughed or been disappointed because maybe she just wants her pen back.) And for all their missed opportunities, it does seem like talking to one another before Gilbert appeared on Winifred's doorstep would have made all the difference. Perhaps Anne will retreat into her vision of being a Bride of Adventure, having experienced what she believes is unrequited love? After all, she thinks she's holding Gilbert back from his dreams. On the other hand, Gilbert thinks vaguely told her she's worth just as much as the opportunity for those dreams to come truth... and she didn't give him a coherent answer, so it's a rejection to him. But while he certainly likes Winifred and her family, he doesn't seem to love her the way he does Anne. And given that timing seems to be Gil's biggest vice at the moment, taking the easy route isn't. The silver platter of marrying Winifred to go to the Sorbonne and become a doctor seems like the easy way. Studying at Queen's and finding his own way to become a doctor isn't. Also, whatever happened to Miss Stacy's friend at the University of Toronto? Wasn't that a possibility when the Sorbonne was so horribly out of reach?

There's only one episode left in the season! I don't know what to expect. While Anne's borrowed pen resurfacing be enough to make Gilbert think twice? While Diana finally tell her parents she wants to go to college? Will Ka'kwet be reunited with her parents (in tragedy D= )? Will Miss Stacy suddenly receive a response from her friend at U of T? Will someone, anyone, save the day? Stay tuned!