S02.04 The Painful Eagerness of Unfed Hope

[OtterMommy]

Quote

Anne writes letters as an "agent of romance" while Diana trains at home to be a lady. A life-changing encounter steers Gilbert toward his destiny.

 

[Brn2bwild]

I wonder what the back story is for this version of the Barrys.  In the book, they were just farmers like everyone else.  Mrs. Barry mentioned being "stuck" in Canada and never returning to England -- did they come there and buy a farm hoping to become rich landowners?

[Llywela]

6 hours ago, Brn2bwild said:

I wonder what the back story is for this version of the Barrys.  In the book, they were just farmers like everyone else.  Mrs. Barry mentioned being "stuck" in Canada and never returning to England -- did they come there and buy a farm hoping to become rich landowners?

That's the impression the show seems to be giving, yes - it is one of the changes from the source material that seems oddest, to me. I mean, I get that the writers wanted to flesh out the characters, I just can't see the rationale for giving them such an utterly different backstory, especially given their situation and connection with Josephine, etc. Surely they could have been written as snobbish social climbers, if so desired, without changing their nationality? I mean, in the books they are one of the wealthier families in the village, without having to have immigrated with money from 'the old country' to achieve that status.

[Camera One]

I don't understand their backstory either, and without the details, this subplot rang hollow.  It sounded like Mrs. Barry was from England, and Mr. Barry was from Canada.  I'm not sure how the viewer can be affected by Mr. Barry's "I just want to do something that mattered for once" when we don't even know the context.

I was disappointed in how they dealt with the fall-out from the last episode.  The Barry's don't have to change their lifestyles.  For a show that's supposed to be grittier and deeper, it was ridiculous that suddenly by the end, the family was throwing leaves at each other.  They didn't act that way before so why would they act like that now?   It was very unearned.

Overall, this episode was a mixed bag.  Anne writing letters pretending to be Matthew was a very LM Montgomery-esque storyline, and the actress did a good job of being devastated when Matthew was mad at her.  I don't buy that Matthew can't date because he has Anne in his life and wants to spend his remaining time with her.  

My favorite scene was probably when Marilla was trying to comfort Anne.  Her comment about hurting other people without meaning to mirrored her feelings of guilt about bringing the boarders on.  Though I was surprised we didn't see any members of the town and their anger... in that sense, this show doesn't show much of the community.

So was that it with the nonstarter of the Lily Maid situation, or will we see Anne actually enact that out at some point?

Gilbert successfully delivering a baby - a breached baby, no less - was laughable.  I guess it's good to give him reasons for becoming a doctor but that scenario was ridiculous.

[ruby24]

Oh, I totally agree about the breached baby. That was nuts! They said he'd only delivered cows on the farm, but now this 16 year old boy can actually turn a breached baby around from an actual woman? Yeah, that was crazy. 

[KarenX]

On 8/25/2018 at 3:57 PM, Camera One said:

I don't buy that Matthew can't date because he has Anne in his life and wants to spend his remaining time with her. 

Oh, I don't buy it, either. I never read the books, but...

Matthew and Jeannie (?) had this conversation while: 1) crossing a bridge; 2) Matthew looked backwards a few times, overtly, you know, the way they had come; 3) she asked him if he wanted to go home or see the very beautiful trail ahead; 4) Matthew said he wanted to see what was on the trail ahead.

They are totally going to date.

[MrHammondsGhost]

My view is that it is best to just skip the first three (3) episodes and start watching at this S2-E4.

By binge watching the show I quickly figured out that E4 was the real beginning, while the first 3 were insane.

AnnE writing the letters to Jeannie was a clever way for the show to put AnnE in the middle of Matthew with his lost GF.

The title of this episode = "The painful eagerness of unfed hope." comes from a line in a book by George Eliot (aka: Mary Anne Evans) called Middlemarch.

I too saw Gilbert helping the woman give birth as excessive, but later Gilbert telling Bash that his Mom died giving birth to him - that added a lot of substance to the story.

Dianna and Minnie May walking in with books on their heads was simply adorable, and it builds on the premises that Minnie May was a little wild.

It is comforting to keep seeing the Barry's as a loving family because that love was the thing that Dianna so graciously gave to AnnE from the beginning.

[Blackie]

On ‎8‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 6:57 PM, Camera One said:

Gilbert successfully delivering a baby - a breached baby, no less - was laughable.

I thought the horrible CGI scenes of Trinidad were bad enough but that took the cake! This show really is bad, I think I am out......will wait for Call the Midwife .

[Roseanna]

On ‎26‎.‎8‎.‎2018 at 1:57 AM, Camera One said:

Gilbert successfully delivering a baby - a breached baby, no less - was laughable.  I guess it's good to give him reasons for becoming a doctor but that scenario was ridiculous.

I totally agree.  

On ‎26‎.‎8‎.‎2018 at 1:57 AM, Camera One said:

I don't buy that Matthew can't date because he has Anne in his life and wants to spend his remaining time with her. 

I don't think it was meant in that way but only that there are many kinds of love.  

Matthew simply wasn't interested in that lady, otherwise he wouldn't have answerer her.