Two years ago today the announcement came that the excellent Anne with an E was cancelled. The cancellation still is definite, and yet I still wish for that fourth season, even if there is no real hope for that left…
Even The Guardian, in an article from only two months ago, regrets that there is no season four. The petition to renew Anne is at over 1,5 million signatures…
I’ve made fan videos, I still return to bits and pieces of Anne and I still try to stay abreast with what the cast is up to, in the hopes of hearing some unexpected good news. Two years without Anne is far too long, so on this sad anniversary let me just call yet again on the powers that be to renew Anne with an E! Not that the powers that be ever read here, but I can at least put it out there, maybe it can help create some positive karma.
… Anne with an E was completely unexpectedly cancelled and since then fans (including myself) have been fighting to have the show renewed for at least a fourth season. The show was meant to last for five seasons but very unexpectedly got cancelled just hours after the final episode of season 3 was aired in Canada a year ago.
I admit, I have become much quieter about it in recent months, but that doesn’t mean I feel less passionately about this. I still post an occasional #renewannewithane tweet and yesterday the phrase “One year without Anne” trended on Twitter and I again joined in. That also inspired me to finish this post, which has been sitting in my drafts folder for many months now.
I have to say I was caught by surprise at the visceral, overpowering love I developed for Anne with an E. Often it is an actor who makes me feel that way and while I love the Anne actors (these young but also older actors all do such a phenomenal job on the show!), the love I feel is all about the whole show and not particularly about one actor in it. Something just clicked for me, especially in that third Anne with an E season. Rarely, if ever, have I been so devastated over the cancelling of a show.
Why do I love this show so much, I keep on wondering? It’s tied to a love developed in my youth, I guess. I first encountered Anne of Green Gables in the mid 1980s through the very famous and popular Canadian TV films with Megan Follows, Colleen Dewhurst, Richard Farnsworth and Jonathan Crombie.
I loved Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Green Gables, the Sequel. I read the books, watched the two TV films endlessly, adored Megan Follows in the role and years later even watched the somewhat unfortunate Anne of Green Gables, the Continuing Story, even though the storyline didn’t fit the timeline of the original series at all and was a bit over the top.
I just loved the character of Anne, who triumphs despite being different and having a difficult childhood, who has a rich fantasy life, loves books and disappearing into stories like I do, who likes to right wrongs, who is chatty and warm, who isn’t perfect, has a bit of a temper. All of these strengths and weaknesses put together make her such a great character. I also love the adoption storyline, as that is close to my own experience in life (I have four adopted siblings).
After the glorious Megan Follows as Anne movies, there was a new PBS Anne of Green Gables film in 2016 with two sequel films. I thought I’d give those a go as well, saw parts of them, but those felt all off and too fluffy for me. Anne is not only chipper and imaginative but also gritty and this Anne didn’t seem to have that. Despite that, Ella Balentine as Anne was alright. However, especially Martin Sheen as Matthew and Drew Haytaoglu as Gilbert felt completely wrong. I quite like Martin Sheen, love him in Grace& Frankie, but he just is too garrulous and prominent to be a good Matthew, who is supposed to be shy, a still water and a man of few words. And Haytaoglu is just too young and childish to be the somewhat more grown up Gilbert all the kids look up to.
In fairness, I haven’t seen enough of these films to give a proper critique. They just felt too off so quickly, I couldn’t do more than skip through them. It didn’t feel like the Anne character I knew and it couldn’t in any way live up to the Megan Follows films, which were (and still are) embedded in my heart.
Then enter Anne with an E. About three years ago we started our family Netflix subscription and I saw Anne with an E advertised. I just knew that had to be a new Anne of Green Gables adaptation. Again, I was sure that it would not live up to the Megan Follows version and, after the previous adaptation’s experience, I didn’t want it to spoil Anne for me. I held off watching for a bit but then decided I couldn’t resist taking a peek after all.
This Anne version was very different from the 1980s one and from the PBS version. This Anne (played by Amybeth McNulty) was grittier and darker, dealing with the childhood trauma of her experiences as an orphan. She was annoying in a way, definitely ‘different’ and yet she was also so very Anne Shirley, who used her fantasy life to escape reality and used big words.
Matthew Cuthbert (played by R.H. Thomson) is the sweet, shy man of few words I had expected and has such warmth in his eyes and expressions! His sister Marilla Cuthbert (Geraldine James) is the gruff, emotionally closeted woman who slowly warms up to Anne and learns to show her heart reluctantly.
When I started Anne with an E I expected Gilbert to make an appearance in the 90 minute pilot episode, but he didn’t. The pilot and second episode focussed on Anne finding her place with Cuthberts. I was sold during the second episode, with Matthew finding Anne after she had run away, Marilla warming up to Anne and admitting fault and Anne being adopted into the family. The ending of the second episode is just achingly beautiful.
For me the complete success of Anne would also depend on the casting of Gilbert Blythe. He made an appearance in episode 3 and he certainly did not disappoint.
Anne with an E‘s Gilbert has a different back story from the books and 1980s Anne of Green Gables, but he is the same idealist, more worldly than the other kids, and has the same fascination for Anne, precisely because she is different. Gilbert is much more fleshed out in this series, with his own sorrows and trauma, and I really like that. I instantly liked Lucas Jade Zumann as Gilbert, just as I had instantly liked Marilla and Matthew.
Anne’s BFF Diana Barry is played by Dalila Bela, I also liked her…
… and I loved the range of girls that became Anne’s friends. All characterisations were there, from mean girls like Josie Pye (Miranda McKeon, second from left) to dreamy, naive ones like Ruby (Kyla Matthews, third from left).
Especially Ruby and her puppy love for Gilbert just cracks me up.
And Rachel Lynde (Corrine Koslo) is also excellent. I love the contentious friendship she has with Marilla and there’s a lot of humour between them as well. Also, she has a flirty relationship with her husband, which I love. Yes, even older women can have good, sexy relationships!
Season two brings a whole new character, who is not in the books, called Bash, short for Sebastian. Bash (Dalmar Abuzeid) becomes the brother from another mother for Gilbert and has become one of my fave characters on the show.
His character brings in a storyline on racism in Canada, also shown through the character of his whirlwind love interest Mary Lacroix (Cara Ricketts)
Season two introduces an LGBTQ storyline with Aunt Josephine Barry (Deborah Grover) and a new character called Cole (Cory Grüter-Andrew).
Teacher Miss Stacey (Joanna Douglas) enters the scene at the end of season two and is a delightful, emancipated young woman who captures her students’ hearts with her unconventional ways.
The third season brings a heartbreaking native Canadian storyline with Ka’kwet (Kiawenti:io Tarbell), a Mi’kmaq girl whom Anne befriends.
So, yes, the story does diverge from the books somewhat and brings in new characters, but the original characters are who they are supposed to be in essence. Anne is the liberal heroine of the story, of course, and yet even so has her faults, as all the characters do. No one character is all good or all evil and all of them are so very relatable. I related to the teenagers in the story, reminding me in many ways of my own younger years, but I could also really relate to Marilla who struggles with parenthood sometimes and Matthew’s warm diplomacy reminded me of my own father in a way. Even Rachel, who can be very prejudiced and judgemental, has moments I absolutely love.
I think this Anne version shows how very different people are and yet how they can still find a way forward together. I also love all the issues that are addressed, they seem modern but really are timeless and fit into Anne’s world very well. This billboard that was up in Toronto expresses it perfectly…
Season 3 tied up relatively nicely but also left more than enough questions for a season 4 follow up. When the finale ended I found myself already looking forward to that fourth season. No one expected the cancellation and when it came a day after the euphoria of the finale, the blow seemed extra hard. I’m a 50 year old woman and it may be ridiculous to love this show so much, which is principally about teenagers, but I really do. I love it for all the characters in it, young and old, I love seeing that time period (late 1890s) come to life and I love all the issues it tackles.
So, yes, I love this Anne, just as much as I love 1980s Anne. Two very different adaptations and both of them very good in their own specific ways. By the way, the two Anne-actresses filmed a movie together last year, with Megan Follows directing and Amybeth McNulty acting…
Anyway, a year on I am still rooting for Anne with an E to be picked up again so that it can get the conclusion the makers had originally envisioned. There is no sign of a renewal, all those involved have said that it is sadly the end, and yet I still decide to nurse a flicker of hope for a renewal, as hopeless as it still looks now.
Anne with an Ewon 5 Canadian Screen Awards last night! I’m especially pleased with Dalmar Abuzeid winning because he just gives such a stand out performance as Bash…
His journey has been heartbreaking in season 3 and happily by the end of the season he seems more at peace. Dalmar deserves every award he gets for his portrayal of Bash! I have a very hard time picking my favourite Anne with an E character but from the moment he graced the screen at the beginning of season 2, Bash has been one of those favourites.
On a side note: an award should have been given to baby Delphine for being the cutest baby on a TV show ever…
I’m also very pleased with the cinematography win, because the cinematography is truly beautiful on the show.
… which is also wholly deserved because the costumes are beautiful! There is a little video about that on the CBC website but I can’t embed it here so click on this link if you’d like to see a little two minute video about the costumes and the details that went into making them.
There was an award for best original music (also beautiful!)…
… and for best production design, also awesome because everything has been built and made with so much scope for the imagination (to quote Anne herself)!
There’s a 2 and a half minute video about that as well here. In fact, there are many more behind the scenes videos for season 3 that show all that went into making the series. Watch them all here if you like.
Of course Anne should have won many more awards (there were 17(!!) nominations) but I take what I can get here and even being nominated is very cool. 17 nominations and 5 wins is quite something and also a testament to the quality of Anne with an E. So, my congratulations go out to everyone involved with making such a great show!
We are now 6 months into the cancellation and I still can’t grasp why. A season 4 is sorely needed! So, please, please, renew Anne with an E someone…. anyone…
My mother finally got around to watching Anne with an E after I had recommended it to her, oh, a long while back! I only found out she was watching it yesterday during a phone call with my brother who’s staying with her during this corona crisis. He too likes the show and thinks that Amybeth McNulty who plays Anne is really good. They were already halfway through season 3 when I talked to him yesterday afternoon. Then, this afternoon my mother called me and asked me, “Is this really the end of Anne with an E? They go to different colleges and that’s it? And what about Matthew? Doesn’t he die in the book and in that other show we watched in the 1980s? What happens with him now that he doesn’t die? Are there really no more episodes?”
I could hear the disappointment in her voice. Turns out she had binged the rest of season 3 yesterday evening until midnight and now she wants more.
And it’s not only Anne she loves, she is very enamoured with Matthew (“such a sweet, gentle man of few words”) and she loves Marilla too (“a stoic woman of farming stock with a hidden soft core”). She just doesn’t want to let these characters go yet either. Oh, how I can understand her feeling of loss!
Alas, I had to give her the bad news that the show was prematurely cancelled by Netflix and CBC. I also told her there’s a fight going online to save the show and, although I have campaigned less in the last few weeks due to other priorities, I am still definitely rooting for and fighting for a renewal of Anne with an E! My mother is 84, not internet savvy and social media is beyond her – she can just about follow what’s happening on our family WhatsApp and on Facebook but she has never posted anything herself ever in her life. Even so, she does want in on the fight to get Anne renewed and I told her I could pass her message along.
So, here is my mother’s message to the powers that be: “I am devastated (her word!) that there are no plans to renew the show for a 4th season. How can that be? It cannot end here, the story isn’t finished yet! You just have to renew Anne with an E!”
And hey, CBC and Netflix, you wouldn’t deny an old and great mother, would you? She has the biggest heart but she can be stern too, so if my mama says Anne with an E should be renewed, you’d better listen!
Very busy here of late and in the evenings not in the mood for mystery show The Stranger, even if it has Richard Armitage in it! Mr Esther and I have seen the first two episodes this past weekend, but since then he and I have not had the energy or time yet to watch the rest together. Mr Esther isn’t quite convinced yet but curious enough to watch at least one more episode. Even though it does look good, this sort of thing isn’t normally my genre, so I really need to be in the mood and even Rich can’t quite entice me yet. He will, though, and I will watch in time! Until then I am avoiding most The Stranger blog posts in order to avoid spoilers.
As I’m not posting about Richard or The Stranger, I was looking at some of my draft posts and saw this one sitting there. I’d been collecting some Anne with an E billboard images over the last few weeks and have added on a few more this evening. So an Anne post it is!
Yes, I am still following what I can and tweeting here and there in my own effort to get the wonderful Anne with an E renewed. Other fans have been way more active, though, and some of them have been crowdfunding to get billboards up with the renew Anne with an E message! The first one went up in Toronto some weeks ago.
Melanie Nicholls-King, who plays Bash’s mum Hazel, also went to see the New York billboard, totally pleased and on board with the renew Anne with an E message.
In addition to New York, new billboards went up again in Toronto.
We are so happy to say that we have two billboards in two different countries. Anne nation is all around the world and we are a strong fandom. Congrats to you all! This wouldn’t have been possible without your passion 🙏🏼💗 #awaebillboard
— AWAE Fan Projects Official 🇨🇦🌏 (@awaefanprojects) January 25, 2020
Lead actress Amybeth McNulty, who happens to be filming again in Toronto with none other than director Megan Follows who played Anne in the 1980s TV series…
… went to see the Toronto billboard for herself together with two supporting cast mates.
Some photos for you all before @AmybethMcnulty, Stephen and Glenna post about it on their accounts. So proud of us all for what we accomplished, not only did we made the news today but some of us met with our beloved cast. That two month anniversary isn’t that bad!#awaebillboardpic.twitter.com/nz5HinBFJb
— AWAE Fan Projects Official 🇨🇦🌏 (@awaefanprojects) January 25, 2020
They came across some fans in Toronto and posed with them too.
— AWAE Fan Projects Official 🇨🇦🌏 (@awaefanprojects) February 4, 2020
Besides the billboards, there’s also a petition to save Anne with an Ewhich is up to over 168.000 signatures. On Twitter the hashtag #renewannewithane is up to almost 7 million (!!) tweets!
There is no reaction whatsoever from Netflix or CBC to all of this. Where at the beginning cast and crew and Netflix and CBC were big on announcing that Anne had ended, now they are completely schtum and the words ‘final season’ have not been used anymore. Cast and crew are liking renewal tweets and billboard tweets but they say nothing else. I hope this means that things are happening behind the scenes. Alas, Netflix hasn’t answered my question about renewal, so I don’t know…
The Book of Esther 