S03.E06: The Summit of My Desires

[OtterMommy]

Canadian Air Date: October 27, 2019

USA Netflix drop date: January 3, 2020

[Camera One]

It was nice to finally get an incident from the book, with the liniment cake, and they did a good job of placing it in the context of what's happening in the show.

The fair was fun to see.  I still don't really see Winifred as a real character, but maybe she's just meant to provide an obstacle for Anne and Gilbert.  It surprised me that Marilla agreed to a balloon ride to make Anne feel better, but it was nice to see the three of them happy together.

This season is overall more innocent, with a lot of cute romantic entanglements.  

I was afraid they were going to explore rape in the latter part of the episode, but thankfully, it didn't go that far.  I fully expected it to.  Billy was still as horrible as usual to spread the rumors.  I'm afraid of Anne making the situation worse though.  Confronting Billy at the fair in front of everyone might have made Josie feel worse.  I don't know if they're still going with the book and making them enemies.  And who knows what Anne plans to do with the newspaper.  I liked Anne standing up for Josie, but talking about "issues that concern an entire gender" took me out of the time period (plus the "a kiss is fun if there's consent").

I didn't appreciate the "shout out" to the character of Lavendar Lewis from the books as someone who had improper relations before marriage and had to move to Winnipeg because no one would marry her.  Sheesh, couldn't they have picked a random name or something?

I'm worried about Ka'kwet.  I hope that's addressed soon.

Edited October 28, 2019 by Camera One

[dubstepford wife]

I'm going to start calling this show "Anne With An Anachronism."  Because wow.  They're not even trying to hide the fact that this is being made in 2019.  

I don't know how much longer I can watch this.  The line about consent was so cringe-worthy.  Pick a time period, people, because it takes us out of the story to do things like that.  You can make a point about consent and how terrible things were for women back then while still being period appropriate.  And it made me think back to how Prissy Andrews left Mr. Phillips at the altar before; if a woman did that she'd be severely damaged goods.  And yet everything is fine because this show is basically just bad fanfiction.

There's no way they're going to redeem Billy.  He's just too far gone at this point.  I too thought they were going to explore the idea of rape, and honestly, they still might.

[Harvey]

6 hours ago, Camera One said:

I'm worried about Ka'kwet.  I hope that's addressed soon.

Yes. Next week.

It was interesting that last week these girls had no idea what sex is but suddenly they are very aware of the whole thing. Josie knew what Billy wanted from her, and it seems like Anne and the rest of the girls had some idea too, while referencing the rumors about the girl who had to move to Winnipeg. The show swings from one extreme to the other on the subject without retaining any consistency.

[SeanC]

I'm amused that the height difference between Diana and Jerry is such that when Jerry leans down to kiss her hand, she doesn't even really need to hunch or anything to turn it into a kiss on the lips.  I looked it up, apparently Dalila is something like 4'11, and considering she's 18, I'm guessing this is as tall as she's going to get.

[Kostgard]

8 hours ago, dubstepford wife said:

I'm going to start calling this show "Anne With An Anachronism."  Because wow.  They're not even trying to hide the fact that this is being made in 2019.  

I don't know how much longer I can watch this.  The line about consent was so cringe-worthy.  Pick a time period, people, because it takes us out of the story to do things like that.  You can make a point about consent and how terrible things were for women back then while still being period appropriate.  And it made me think back to how Prissy Andrews left Mr. Phillips at the altar before; if a woman did that she'd be severely damaged goods.  And yet everything is fine because this show is basically just bad fanfiction.

There's no way they're going to redeem Billy.  He's just too far gone at this point.  I too thought they were going to explore the idea of rape, and honestly, they still might.

Yeah, this has been my complaint about the show - and there's really no need for it. I thought it was pretty realistic that all the girls would decide that Josie's reputation was ruined while thinking nothing negative about Billy, with Anne rejecting that idea (and Diana too - especially considering she was also kissing a boy behind a building). I would even be okay with Diana saying something like, "No gentleman would kiss a lady without her permission." That would be more era- appropriate. But they had to have Diana say "consent" and it just...breaks the spell. You're taken out of the story with this giant reminder that you are watching a 2019 production aimed at teens. They should be able to trust their audience to pick up on the message without resorting to 2019 language.

But outside of that, I enjoyed this episode. 

Cute baby, cute baby horse. 

I really like what they are doing with Diana. She's far more interesting than past incarnations. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before this whole thing explodes, but I'm enjoying it while I can.

I also enjoyed Anne actually acknowledging her feelings for Gilbert, since that's something I haven't really seen before. Of course, she's going back to giving him the cold shoulder because of his fancy OLD girlfriend, so we're kinda back to canon, but nice that it actually happened. And I'm so glad that someone on the show acknowledged that Winifred looks and IS way older than Gilbert. 

I was also surprised that Marilla actually took that balloon ride.

Loved Miss Stacey's Annie Oakley performance at the shooting gallery.

Edited October 28, 2019 by Kostgard

[ruby24]

I liked this episode. I liked that Anne acknowledged having feelings for Gilbert. I was expecting that to continue going on for a while, so I'm glad that's out of the way. That made me think something might happen between them by the end of the season after all. And perhaps the show will go ahead and let them be a couple on the show and explore that, rather than wait until the series finale for them to get together. That would be a good change from the books, imo.

I don't think this Winifred thing is serious, if only because of her being so obviously older than him. It feels like you can't really take it seriously, they simply don't match. 

I've accepted them using words that would never be used back then, like consent. The show is just weird like that, imo. The anachronisms and occasionally odd tone are part of its DNA, apparently. I found that hard to get used to at first, but I still like the show in spite of its strangeness- and especially this season. It's much better than last season, I think.

Edited October 28, 2019 by ruby24

[lizzie3]

I agree with the previous comments about using the word "consent"; it was way too jarring and doesn't fit at all with the time period.  Paired with the inconsistency of the girls' apparent knowledge of sex (or lack thereof), it just didn't work at all. 

On a brighter note, I thought Marilla had a few hilarious lines!  My favourite being "we're literally going to hell in a handbasket", referencing the hot air balloon. (I doubt that Marilla would have used the word "hell", but the comedy value made up for it!).

[Cherry Cola]

On 11/1/2019 at 5:34 PM, lizzie3 said:

I agree with the previous comments about using the word "consent"; it was way too jarring and doesn't fit at all with the time period.  Paired with the inconsistency of the girls' apparent knowledge of sex (or lack thereof), it just didn't work at all. 

On a brighter note, I thought Marilla had a few hilarious lines!  My favourite being "we're literally going to hell in a handbasket", referencing the hot air balloon. (I doubt that Marilla would have used the word "hell", but the comedy value made up for it!).

Marilla saying that did make me laugh! 

The fair looked so fun and beautiful. 

Wasn't Moody chubby a few seasons ago? Is it the same actor? 

I love Diana and Jerry. 

[Camera One]

2 hours ago, Cherry Cola said:

Is it the same actor? 

Yes, it is the same actor.  He must have had a growth spurt.

[Cherry Cola]

1 hour ago, Camera One said:

Yes, it is the same actor.  He must have had a growth spurt.

Wow! I didn't think it was. I wondered where the chubby kid went! Good for him!