This reimagining of the classic book and film is a coming-of-age story about a young orphan who is seeking love, acceptance and her place in the world. Amybeth McNulty stars as Anne, a 13-year-old who has endured an abusive childhood in orphanages and the homes of strangers. In the late 1890s, Anne is mistakenly sent to live with aging siblings, Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, who live on Prince Edward Island. Anne, who proves to be uniquely spirited, imaginative and smart, transforms the lives of Marilla, Matthew and everyone else in their small town.
| 1.07 Wherever You Are Is My Home | Air Date: May 12, 2017 |
Refusing to accept acts of charity from worried neighbors, Marilla is made to reluctantly fire Jerry, as they no longer have the money to keep him on at the farm; however she offers him a day’s pay to escort Anne to Charlottetown, where she is to sell the family valuables to pawn shops. Diana meets Anne as she is leaving Green Gables and donates an expensive hairbrush for Anne to sell. Upon arrival in Charlottetown, Anne returns her dress to Jeannie, who recognizes it and asks what is wrong at Green Gables. After hearing of Matthew’s illness, she secretly gives Anne much more money than her dress was worth in order to help. Anne pays Jerry his last wage and he wanders Charlottetown as Anne haggles with the shady pawnbroker over treasured possessions. By coincidence, Gilbert, who had been working on the docks in Charlottetown, catches a glimpse of Anne and watches, confused, as she trades. He greets her as she leaves the pawn shop and they have lunch together in a nearby cafe, where Anne explains her predicament and Gilbert tells her he is soon to find work on a steamer, and that he wants to see the world before returning to Avonlea. Anne tries to apologize to Gilbert for what she said after his father’s funeral, though Gilbert thinks he should be apologizing to Anne after being so rude when she was only trying to comfort him. Back at Green Gables, Matthew is devastated that the family is selling their possessions in order to pay off his loan, and he feels he is a burden to both Marilla and Anne. Acting on impulse, Matthew struggles out of bed and takes a gun from the locked cupboard in their living room; he tries to commit suicide but is caught last second by the shocked Mrs Lynde, who had stopped by to see Marilla. Marilla is heartbroken that Matthew would even think of killing himself and scolds him about what his death would have done to Anne, making him see that what he tried to do was wrong.
Meanwhile in the alleys of Charlottetown, Jerry is beaten up by two men and robbed of his money; he sees Anne and Gilbert leaving the cafe and pushes Gilbert away, thinking that he is trying to rob Anne as well. Anne is appalled to hear Jerry’s story and tells him that it isn’t his fault that he lost the money. Jerry, feeling vulnerable and unsafe, wants to get back to Avonlea and Anne and Gilbert exchange a long and heartfelt goodbye, in which Anne tells him to come home someday. Marilla finally agrees to accept charity in order to keep Green Gables and the family is able to pay off their loans.
| 2.08 Struggling Against the Perception of Facts | Air Date: July 6, 2018 |
Gilbert chooses his college vocation – medicine. However, when he approaches Mr Phillips to ask for extra help in his studies he is left feeling frustrated and disappointed in his teacher’s lack of interest. Cole, now remarkably chipper after finding his truth at Aunt Josephine’s party, starts a clay workshop in the woodland hideaway. While participating in punishment exercises at school, Cole shares strange moments with Mr Phillips that are filled with seemingly romantic tension. However this makes the contemptuous teacher afraid of what he could be, and he proceeds to punish Cole more harshly. Billy takes clay from Cole’s possession and throws it, breaking a window. Because the clay was his possession, Mr Phillips blames Cole unfairly and tries to issue physical abuse as punishment, but Cole, fed up of being hated, refuses to comply and angrily leaves the classroom. Anne meets up with Cole in the woods after school and he confides in Anne with the secret of his sexuality. Honored to be trusted with such information, she responds with support and encouragement. The two make a pact that if the time comes where neither of them has found true love, they will marry each other to remain free and true to themselves.
In pain with a toothache, Bash uses string and a door to pull out one of his teeth, and he encounters racism in Avonlea when trying to buy salt in a local shop. He learns of a place called ‘the Bog’ – a slum on the outskirts of the town where all the black people in that region seem to live. After all the doctors in their area refuse to treat Bash, Gilbert tries to take him to see a reliable doctor in Charlottetown; Bash is nearly refused entry on the train but is saved by Marilla, who was on her way to see an oculist with Mrs Lynde. Gilbert has trouble convincing Bash to see the doctor when they arrive, as he is so desperate to see ‘the Bog’, but he eventually agrees. Gilbert faints when the doctor tries to give Bash an injection, causing him to wonder if he should pursue medicine after all. Nonetheless, he makes arrangements to receive tutoring from the doctor. Gilbert helps clean up, while Bash takes a tour of ‘the Bog’ – he meets a woman named Mary who works washing people’s clothes, and is immediately smitten. Marilla is given reading glasses, and buys back a number of her family heirlooms that she sees displayed at a local pawn shop. After being told by Mr. Phillips that she cannot go to college after they are married, Prissy starts having second thoughts about their marriage. Her mother, a prominent feminist, tries to hide her disappointment but ends up telling Prissy that she is capable of so much more than just being a wife, and reminds her that it isn’t too late to back out. This combined with a comment from Anne about achieving her dreams on the morning of Prissy’s wedding, makes her realize that she wants to go to college and that she doesn’t want to marry Mr Phillips and be just someone’s wife. Prissy leaves him at the altar, running from the church laughing with relief.
| 3.08 Great and Sudden Change | Air Date: January 3, 2020 |
The town elders secretly burn down the school and take their printing press. Mrs. Lynde realizes that they did it, and threatens to tell everyone unless three more women are added to the town board. The students sit for the Queens entrance exams, including Diana, who is encouraged by Aunt Josephine to take it. Upon finishing their exams, the class excitedly sneak a bottle of moonshine to a hidden place called “the Ruins” where they proceed to let off steam dancing around a bonfire and getting drunk. Ka’kwet runs away from her boarding school and returns back to her village. Bash’s mother comes to Avonlea to help take care of the baby. Mr. Rose gives permission to Gilbert to marry his daughter, and intimates that he will help pay for his medical education in Paris. Though he feels he does indeed care for Winifred, Gilbert is hesitant to propose as he thinks he has developed feelings for another girl. Gilbert arrives at the Ruins and speaks with Anne to see if she might want to be with him, but Anne, in her drunken state, freezes up, unsure what to do, and she apparently dismisses Gilbert, to his disappointment. Diana and Anne make up and become friends again. Through advice from Aunt Josephine and Diana, Anne realizes that she is in love with Gilbert.
| 3.10 The Better Feeling of My Heart | Air Date: January 3, 2020 |
Gilbert tells Winifred that he cannot marry her as he now knows he has fallen in love with someone else; Winifred is heartbroken and Gilbert promises her two weeks to move to Paris before he breaks the news. Back in Avonlea, the class wait anxiously for the arrival of their Queens’ academy entrance exam results, but Gilbert and Anne appear distant after her apparent dismissal of his advances. Most of the class get into college, including Diana who does not yet have her parents’ approval, while Gilbert and Anne tie first for highest test score – they exchange congratulations before Anne is called away by the rest of the girls. Gilbert asks for Miss Stacy’s help in getting into the University of Toronto last minute, as Winifred’s father will no longer be paying for him to be schooled in Paris. Anne is confused and frustrated that Gilbert did not acknowledge the letter she wrote to him, though he never saw it at all, and she assures Diana that her parents will understand and accept her wish to go to college. Diana’s parents, however, are not understanding and harshly insist that she goes to finishing school in Paris so that she will marry well; Diana runs to her room, crying. At Green Gables, Anne, the Cuthberts, and Jerry are harvesting in the fields when Matthew, who is secretly dreading Anne’s departure, suggests that they make room for Jerry to stay with them, as they will need more help once Anne is gone. Hurt and confused, Anne rushes back to the house where she finds a letter from Gilbert that he left while she was out working. The letter was a confession of Gilbert’s love for Anne, but, in the moment, Anne is so angry that Gilbert didn’t face her in person that she tears up the letter and throws the pieces out of her bedroom window before she could get a chance to read it. Realizing her mistake, she attempts to piece the letter back together but rearranges the words to say that Gilbert doesn’t love her after all, and she immediately rushes out to tell Diana the news. Anne finds Diana in “the depths of despair” having given up any hope of ever going to college. Mary’s son, Elijah, returns to Gilbert’s house and is met with hostility by both Bash and Gilbert. He tries to explain that he’s a changed man and he wants to be part of Delphine’s life, while giving back a watch that he stole, which belonged to Gilbert’s father. Out of compassion for Mary, Bash lets him stay in the barn for the night and allows him to visit her grave, but says he never wants to see him again after that.
The day of Anne’s departure has finally arrived but, while getting ready to leave, Anne is mournful for Diana and still hurt from Gilbert’s “letter” – she cries to Marilla that she no longer wants to go. Anne delivers her heartfelt goodbyes but Matthew is still emotionally absent and refuses to show Anne how much he will miss her. Elijah arrives at the orchard while Gilbert, Bash, and his mother are harvesting the apples, wanting to help them. Bash decides to give Elijah a second chance and lets him help with the orchard. The girls arrive at their college accommodations but while the other girls are giddy with excitement, Anne longs for Diana. Marilla talks with Mrs Barry and convinces her that if she doesn’t let Diana chose her own path then she might lose her all together. Gilbert is accepted into the University of Toronto and the Cuthberts receive a letter from Scotland concerning Anne’s parents – they make plans to see Anne at Josephine Barry’s house the next day. Anne reads the letter and calmly relays that there was no further information regarding her family, but on the inside she is devastated. Diana’s parents finally agree to let her go to college and she runs into Gilbert on the train where she discovers he is not engaged but that he is also not going to Queens. While exploring Charlottetown, Anne runs into Winifred as she prepares to leave for Paris. They exchange polite small talk but Winifred, hurt and angry that Gilbert chose Anne over her, coldly accuses Anne of coming to gloat. Anne, though confused, senses Winifred’s hostility and abruptly ends the conversation. As she leaves she passingly wishes Winifred a happy life with Gilbert, and Winifred reveals that he wouldn’t propose because he was in love with her. At the same time, the enraged Diana scolds Gilbert on the train about how he has always been in love with Anne and that he should have said something sooner. She then remarks about how he cruelly ignored Anne’s confession of love and Gilbert, astonished, leaves the train at Charlottetown and desperately runs to find Anne, while Anne packs her bags to leave for Toronto to find Gilbert. They meet each other outside of Anne’s accommodations and they embrace and exchange confessions of love; they promise to write to each other through college. Diana arrives and both she and Anne are ecstatic. Meanwhile, the Cuthberts had been paying a visit to Anne’s first home, where she lived in the custody of the elderly Mrs Thomas. They recover a book written from Anne’s father, Walter Shirley, to Anne’s mother, Bertha Shirley, which reveals that Anne’s mother was a teacher and had red hair like Anne. The Cuthberts rush to meet Anne and the book satisfies her need for lineage. The series ends with Anne writing a letter to Gilbert stating that she looks like her mother.
