User blog:LilyLacreag/The True Seeing Is Within: A Review

After a short hiatus, I am back with another review. I am busy with my summer job, writing my thesis and my series of unfortunate events continues too! We have some troubles with the internet connection and it takes a long time to load the editor, that’s why it is a bit complicated for me to be around (not to mention other things I use the internet for and cannot do right now...) I managed to watch episodes 203 and 204 last week and here’s my review!

The third episode of this season begins with Anne saying goodbye to Marilla and Matthew as she leaves with the Barrys to Charlottetown – to see aunt Josephine and discuss the gold business with her. Anne also wants to send her letter to Gilbert and believes that aunt Josephine might help her track him down.

The Cuthberts stay at home and discuss how long the boarders need to stay. Both feel that there is something wrong going on with Nate and Mr. Dunlop. Marilla and Matthew are right. Mr. Dunlop steals Matthew’s gun from the drawer and tells Nate that he intends to stay in Avonlea after their deal is over. Marilla becomes suspicious when she takes Nate’s potty out to the latrine and discovers a flask full of booze. She confronts Nate about it, but he denies it and blames his culprit.

Meanwhile, Mr. Barry tells Anne about the financial transactions concerning the gold business. His wife is surprised as he never discusses finances with anyone. It is mentioned that Mr. Barry would give his money to Nate (who collects the fees from all the Avonlea residents taking part in the gold testing). When they arrive in Charlottetown, aunt Josephine orders her butler Rollings to track down Gilbert. Overtired Mr. Barry believes that Anne’s letter is, in fact, the certificate shown by Nate. Mrs. Barry is embarrassed to see her husband drunk and she excuses the whole family. Anne and Diana tell aunt Josephine about the gold rush and she recalls a similar case in Cape Wolfe when a whole town went crazy and eventually lost their savings.

Back in Avonlea, Nate takes the booze to the barn and encounters Jerry. He forces the hired boy to drink from the flask and promises that it will make a man out of him. Jerry refuses as his Catholic family doesn’t keep alcohol in the house and he fears Nate. Matthew later finds him crying over the money he lost back in Charlottetown – if he hadn’t lost the money, they wouldn’t have taken in the boarders.

The next day (while shopping with Mrs. Barry), Anne and Diana decide to sneak out of the store and find the old newspaper stories about Cape Wolfe. The receptionist tells them that he has no archive of old editions, but the journalist who covered the case can be found in the tavern. The girls meet Malcolm Frost who is said to live a reclusive life after the Cape Wolfe incident. Mr. Frost ignores them, however, when Anne mentions that she couldn’t see the gold under the microscope he sits up. He explains that if there was any gold, she would see it – implying that Nate is a fraud and their foolish town would only repeat the history.

Anne realizes that the truth was in front of her eyes the whole time. She recalls Mr. Barry mistaking her letter (written on Nate’s sheet of paper) for the gold certificate (shown by Nate), finding the embosser in his room, the secrets surrounding his digging, and the well-loved chapter about gold in his geology book. She concludes that Nate forges the certificates and wants to deceive everyone. Before they leave, Mr. Frost gives her a blank notebook to explore the world and trust her instincts. They meet Mrs. Barry outside the tavern, to her disbelief. She doesn’t want to hear a word and threatens that their friendship might be over for good.

Back in Avonlea, Mr. Dunlop seems to be in everyone’s way. After talking to Jerry and their own recent findings, Matthew and Marilla realize that it is time for the boarders to leave immediately. Mr. Dunlop mentions buying a land and building a house not far from Green Gables, so they could remain neighbours and friends. However, the Cuthberts insist on both of them leaving as soon as possible.

In the morning, Mr. Dunlop tries to impress Anne with a special pie. As Anne gets off the carriage, she sees Mr. Barry giving Nate 1,700 dollars and feels helpless as nobody wanted to hear her out. Marilla notices that something is wrong as Anne is holding her hand and seems to be afraid of the boarders. They realize that Anne and the Cuthberts know the truth and they must leave. On the run, Mr. Dunlop throws away the apron given to him by Anne. They encounter Jerry in the woods who suddenly remembers that they are the robbers from Charlottetown.

After a fight, Jerry ends up knocked down on the ground. Suddenly, Mr. Dunlop points Matthew's gun at Nate, demanding the money and the life he wanted to have in Avonlea. Nate throws him into the pit he dug up during his research. Anne and Marilla are tied up on the floor at Green Gables. They manage to get outside and ring the bell to get help. Matthew, Thomas Lynde, Mr. Barry and other residents dash to catch the thieves, but it’s too late. They find wounded Jerry and Mr. Dunlop lying in the pit and realize that Nate got away with their money. In the end, the Cuthberts pack the stuff left by the boarders and realize that there will be tight times for the whole Avonlea.

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We can say that this episode revolved around the gold rush storyline and there was no place for any B-story. However, the main issue is a little bit complex. There are several themes which cover the gold rush from different points of view.

1. Alcohol – Remember, it’s the late 1890s and alcohol is extremely unpopular among the residents of the United States and Canada. Drinking was against the teaching of the Protestant church (as well as Catholic) and had a bad connotation due to the mass migration from Ireland and later from the Eastern Europe (Austria-Hungary and Russia). Women of that era used to be members of Temperance unions. That’s why we see Marilla shocked when she finds a flask of booze hidden in the latrine. Jerry (being a Catholic) mentions that they don’t keep alcohol in their house. Mrs. Barry is embarrassed when her husband becomes overtired and urges him to go to bed – excusing the whole family from aunt Josephine’s company.

2. The gold and the grand escape – With this episode, the gold rush story arc ends. The masterplan was clear from the first episode and ended up pretty much how I had expected. The need for gold and fortune is understandable for people of this era and they simply had to learn their lesson for being naïve and greedy. It doesn’t matter if it’s Cape Wolfe or Avonlea, only a few people could resist the temptation.

It was interesting to see Anne and Diana investigating the old Cape Wolfe case and talking to Mr. Frost, especially their discussion about (not) seeing the gold under the microscope. That particular scene in the earlier episode reminded me of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Emperor’s New Clothes. The dressmaker in the story claimed that only the important and wise people could see and admire the clothes. Of course, the emperor and his servants couldn’t see the non-existing dress, but they pretended to like it – so they would not be considered stupid and unworthy. Anne practically did the same thing. She didn’t want Nate to think of her as a silly child, that’s why she pretended to spot the golden particles.

I have to admit that the grand escape of Nate and Mr. Dunlop was too spectacular and didn’t have the spirit of the earlier episodes nor the original novel. It reminded me of Road to Avonlea and its storylines. I enjoyed the ending, but… it simply wasn’t Anne for me, it felt like a completely different show. Marilla and Anne being tied up on the floor and ringing the bell to get help was too much for me to handle, even though the scene was not bad when it comes to the acting, cinematography, editing and technical stuff. Sadly, the spirit of Anne just disappeared for a while.

I quite liked how the issue ended up. One of the boarders got caught and his dream of settling down could not be fulfilled. The other got away with all the money. The Avonlea residents lost their savings and learned their lesson. The ending was not black or white. I am glad we didn’t get the cliché happy ending (both boarders being caught, and the money saved) nor the big disaster (the boarders getting away with the money without being punished).

3. The Barrys – It is interesting to watch the storyline revolving around the Barrys. Mrs. Barry feels left out and is surprised to see her husband discuss his financial matters – with Anne! The gold rush showed the greedy part of Mr. Barry’s nature and his desire to earn more money. Eliza feels helpless, ignored and embarrassed by her husband’s behaviour at his aunt’s house. The next day, she goes shopping – according to Diana, her mother has a sudden desire to redecorate the house whenever she is frustrated. When she later sees Anne and Diana leaving the tavern, her Season-1-self shows up again – she doesn’t want to hear their explanation and threatens to end their friendship for good. In the ending scene, Mr. Barry suddely realizes that he lost all the money he invested in the gold business. In the following episodes, he and his wife will have to find a way to cope with it.

4. Mr. Frost – Malcolm Frost is certainly a memorable character. His backstory is intriguing, and I liked the actor’s performance. I will mention Road to Avonlea once again – it was very RtA-like that he changed his mind the very minute he met Anne (after living a reclusive life for the past 13 years). But it’s him who tells Anne to trust her intuition and that any gold mining in Prince Edward Island is just not worth the effort. I hope that Anne will remember and take his advice as it is quite a good one.

This episode is the end of the gold rush story arc. As I mentioned, I am quite satisfied with its outcome. Nate won, Mr. Dunlop got caught, the Avonlea residents lost their money and they must come to terms with it in the following episodes. And even though the Cuthberts didn’t lose anything (well, they enjoyed their own financial difficulties in Season 1), they must cope with the aftermath of the gold rush. They are responsible for bringing the boarders to Avonlea in the first place. And after being infatuated by Nate, Marilla went through a traumatic situation – being tied up on the floor with Anne. We will return to these issues in the following episodes and see how they’ll resolve them.

But even though this episode had an interesting plot and closed the story arc, it lacked the spirit of Anne and in many ways reminded me of Road to Avonlea. I just cannot believe that such drama could ever happen in the original Books universe. I repeat once again – I am OK with original and additional material as long it doesn’t contradict the behaviour of the characters as we know them from the novels. And as long the spirit of the novels is present in the episode. Unfortunately, even though it was not bad, this episode lacked that spirit.

8.5/10