User blog:LilyLacreag/A Secret Which I Desired to Divine: A Review

I know, I still haven’t covered the remaining 7 episodes of Season 2. My bad. It’s been a busy year. And I have to admit, I like this weekly format a lot better. The expectations, the excitement and mainly, the ability to write down one’s thoughts without knowing what happens next. I quite like the style I used for Season 2’s reviews, dissecting the episode and analyzing its themes, so I will use it this year as well. Let’s start with the first episode of Season 3, "A Secret Which I Desired to Divine".

1. Family – The concept of family is one of the key themes of this episode (and I dare say of the whole season as well). As Anne comes of age and the upcoming birthday remind her of her late parents, she finds herself observing the families around her. Ka’kwet’s language doesn’t use any English-style words to recognize the relations between her family members. She says they know they belong to each other based on the similarities they share. Marilla and Matthew also have their habits. Even though Anne accepts them as her adoptive parents, she realises she doesn’t have some things in common with them.

At school, Diana gives a rather extensive presentation on her family tree, which reaches back to the 14th century and includes several aristocratic ancestors. When asked by Miss Stacy to tell them something about her own family, Anne jokingly says she’s a mystery. How could she know anything about them, considering she’s an orphan? The teacher says they might have some records on her case in the orphanage. (Even Belle the horse is expecting a foal - she’s practically starting her own family.) With her birthday approaching and the bugs put into her head by Kak’wet, Diana and Miss Stacy, Anne decides to trace down her roots and find out where she came from.

The Cuthberts learn about her determination and a need to know her roots at the least appropriate moment - during Anne’s birthday celebration after she received wonderful gifts from Marilla (the loveliest cake) and Matthew (a bracelet to remind her of the Anne she used to be). It might feel like an ingratitude from her - they are her family now, they accepted her and they love her. Why would she try to find someone else?

I completely understand Anne. Some people just have the desire to know who came before them. Where are they from? Where are their roots? Who were their ancestors? What were they like? I became passionate about genealogy roughly 10 years ago during the visit of my great-grandma’s brother who told me about 4 generations before him. Suddenly, I saw myself in a different context, as a part of a chain of generations and specific people who are responsible for my existence. Two years ago, I started my research in the old archives and I managed to find out even more information about all the branches of my family. Matthew and Marilla realize it is important for Anne to find out the same things. They are both worried, though. However, for different reasons. While Matthew is concerned about Anne and the potential heartbreak and pain she could experience, Marilla is a bit selfish. She is afraid that Anne will discover a living relative who could take their claim and take Anne away from the Cuthberts.

But this episode doesn’t only show the concept of family in relation to Anne. It rather focuses on the variety of families of Avonlea - a traditional and conservative one (the Barrys), a pair of siblings with an adopted daughter (the Cuthberts), a tribe community posing as a big family (Mi'kmaq) and of course, the unprecedented Blythe-Lacroix household. Even though Gilbert now shares the same fate with Anne (remember Episode 6?), he has already found his own place in the world, at least for now. After he moved in with Bash back to Avonlea in Season 2, his house welcomed two new members - Bash’s wife Mary and their baby girl, Delphine. Gilbert practically became a member of the Lacroix family, even though he still has some autonomy with his extra classes for Queen’s and weekend medical course in Charlottetown. The birth of Delphine also makes Marilla a frequent visitor of the Blythe farm. She comes over to help Mary with the baby girl so the latter could have some time for herself. Despite having no children of her own (and therefore no grandchildren), Marilla poses as sort of a grandmother to Delphine and she seems to enjoy her new role.

2. Diana – While Anne wants to find anything about her origin, Diana knows her own family all too well. With her family tree reaching back to the 14th century, how couldn’t she? It is the heritage of being related to the English nobility and higher class that prevents her from living the life of her Avonlea peers - choosing a partner from the available young men, pursuing higher education at the Queen’s Academy, and avoiding the obligation to attend the finishing school in Paris. Anne and Diana count the days left until Anne leaves for Queen’s and Diana is shipped off to France.

It is interesting to see this adaptation’s rendition of the Barry family. In the books, it is implied that the Barrys are better off than the Cuthberts or some other families in Avonlea (they have a maid, they are sponsored by aunt Josephine). The decision not to let Diana go to Queen’s is made because it is felt she doesn’t need to get a higher education, but focus on becoming a good housewife. She eventually marries Fred Wright, who is not exactly the Prince of Wales. The CBC Barrys practically live in a mansion (which seems a bit odd considering the nature of Avonlea community) and Diana’s parents are determined to send her to finishing school in Paris for her to become a proper lady. This would make more sense if they lived in England. But I don’t know how common it was to send girls from Prince Edward Island across the ocean to France. What does Mrs. Barry expect, anyway? Does Diana need the Parisian education if she’s to come back to PEI? Who are the potential suitors for a girl with that sort of prestige, not to mention her father’s wealth? Certainly not someone as common as Moody or the fan-favourite Jerry, God forbid. However, it is nice to see this Diana fight back and resist her fate.

3. Love is in the Air – The kids of Avonlea are becoming young adults of Avonlea. Like Tillie said, at this age (15-16) they all should be promised to someone. Sure, if you are supposed to court for a reasonable amount of time and get married at 18. The hormones-fueled hunt for their significant others is sparked by the re-appearance of the take-notice board, which is meant to tell someone you’re interested in them without having to say it aloud to the person in question.

Josie Pye is interested in Billy Andrews (I guess it makes sense? I mean, who else if not her?), much to Jane’s disgust. Ruby is still obsessed with Gilbert and even though he shows no interest in her, she twists the reality to suit her conviction that he is indeed in love with her. Moody tries to impress Diana, but as Josie notes, Diana is too rich to be a minister’s wife. (Seems like this Moody will become a minister, just like his book counterpart.) And just like in the books, Charlie tries to speak to Anne. His attempt is not successful and will be followed by many more, I’m sure of it. Tillie gets the attention of both Billy’s pals Pauls (fitting names indeed) and is delighted by the fact she has to deal with two boys at once. Jane, posing as a reluctant chaperone to Billy and Jane, doesn’t seem to be interested in anyone. One of the reasons (apart from her preoccupation with her brother’s relationship) could be the of productional character - they simply don’t have more male characters we are familiar with within the Avonlea school.

The only ones (not counting Jane) who are not interested in this love drama, are Anne and Gilbert. Anne focuses on pursuing her academic career, writes for the school newspapers, and becomes concerned with the lack of information about her family. We all believe Gilbert IS interested in Anne, right? Although he doesn’t show it that much as Jonathan Crombie’s Gilbert, he still has a fair amount of chemistry with Anne during their conversation about the take-notice board. For a short moment, Gilbert believes Anne is perhaps finally interested in him and gives him a suggestion he should post a note expressing his feelings for her. To his surprise and disappointment, she only tried to make him express his (non-existing) feelings for Ruby. Gilbert quickly dismisses this idea, claiming he’s not that kind of guy.

And don’t forget Rachel Lynde’s determination to find a suitable man for Miss Stacy, despite her claims she enjoys living alone - but sometimes misses her late husband’s company.

4. Indians, Mi’kmaq, First Nations, Native Americans, Indigenous People… Or the world of Ka’kwet – (We live in a world where the PC language is advised and I’m not going to object - even though in my language the word “Indian” is still widely used. Having had a Canadian history class at uni, I very well know the chaos regarding the names for the indigenous people - as some groups accept one name, but don’t identify with the other. First Nations, Native Americans, Eskimos, Inuits, Métis… Things can be quite confusing when you dig deeper. For the purpose of my reviews, I’m going to use the word “indigenous”.)

Even though they are never mentioned in the books, this series decided to explore what it meant to be an indigenous person back in 19th century Canada. Those who know something about Canadian history are aware it was not a happy period for the indigenous tribes across the country. In one of the opening scenes, we see the Avonlea boys trading for hockey sticks with an indigenous man name Aluk who shows up with his daughter Ka’kwet. We can see the different ways boy behave towards Aluk - some slightly treating him in a demeaning way, some being exceptionally rude (Billy, of course), and some being a bit awkward and unsure (Gilbert). The only one who seems to accept the indigenous people and be genuinely interested in them, is Anne. She follows Ka’kwet’s flowery instructions on how to get to their village and observes their way of life, their relations, their lack of worldly goods (such as a mirror). The indigenous language reminds Anne of her own way to express her imagination - and that’s due to its nature. Instead of having specific words for objects, they use several words to describe their features. Anne, fascinated with what she saw in the village, writes an article about the Mi’kmaq village. Miss Stacy finds it impressive and doesn’t seem to have anything against the tribe. Marilla, on the other hand, calls them heathens and doesn’t want to interact with them.

So far Ka’kwet and her family seem nice and Anne managed to find yet another kindred spirit. However, I am a bit worried about what is going to happen in the following episodes. Billy and Marilla already have a negative attitude towards the tribe. Ka’kwet mentions more people coming to the area by trains and less food for the village. But most importantly, the description of one of the following episodes mentions Ka’kwet travelling to school. Could it possibly be one of the boarding schools for the indigenous people where the kids were sent for re-education after being removed from their own communities? I believe it is.

It is interesting to see Anne as a 16-year old young woman. We can see she has already matured in comparison to the previous seasons - as you can see during her prayer. She is calmer, less childish, more independent. I like Amybeth’s performance and you can see she enjoys playing the character.

Minnie May is still one of my favourite characters! I mean, look at her during Anne’s birthday party! Which reminds me… both of the birthday parties were just adorable! With Marilla and Matthew pretending to forget her birthday (and Matthew having the newspapers upside down), with the prettiest cake ever (all credits go to Marilla - I mean, those snowdrops and pinecones!), with equally pretty bracelet, with hilarious Jerry and Diana’s acting performance, and with having a lovely time with one’s friends!

There is one thing I didn’t mention regarding the Lacroix family. It was amusing to see Mary and Bash enjoy the few minutes they had for themselves, with Delphine asleep and Marilla and Gilbert being gone. Firstly, because it is true to life. Secondly, because I don’t think we have ever had such a scene in any of Anne adaptations. Does it feel a bit modern in comparison to the good manners always depicted in the other universes? Yes. Is it appropriate for an Anne adaptation? Not sure. I mean, I didn’t mind. It’s 2019, after all. It just isn’t something we are used to seeing on Anne.

Jerry continues with reading! And the book of his choice is Frankenstein - coincidentally, the episodes of this season are named after the quotes from Frankenstein.

I’ve always been a fan of the series soundtrack and I really like the new theme with indigenous influence in it.

I guess that’s all for today! I have many more thoughts on this episode, but it would only make the review much longer. So let’s end it here. I have to admit I enjoyed it and I liked it more than the episodes of Season 2.

9/10