After Anne With An E aired its third season on Canadian television, its Netflix streaming came with a blow: season three was the last. Fans haven’t taken that lightly, going so far as to pay for billboards to advertise the series themselves. Many hold out hope for a surprise pickup.
Season three was clearly crafted with the idea that there was more story to tell. The series, after all, only followed the Anne Of Green Gables chapter of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s original books. There are five more Anne books that can provide story ideas. If the series doesn’t get another season to close it out, fans will be left wondering about many of the plot points set up in the series - especially ones that differed from Montgomery’s novels.
Updated On August 23rd, 2020 By Amanda Bruce: With audience members still discovering Anne With An E on Netflix - and discovering the open-ended final season - fans still want more. New fans, and old fans rewatching the series, continue to wonder about plot points that could have been, and even more of those questions have now been added.
Will Any Of The Girls Learn To Sign?
The end of the third season sets up a few new characters for a potential fourth season. Two of those characters are at the house where Anne and her friends will be living when they attend Queen’s College.
While the house mother seems incredibly strict, she also makes sure to introduce them to the woman helping her keep the house up. The housekeeper is a deaf woman who knows how to lip read. This begs the question as to how involved this new character, created for the show, would have been. Would Anne and her friends learn some form of sign language to communicate with her and include her, or would she reveal some of their secrets because of her ability to read their lips?
How Will Gilbert Get Along With His New Mentor?
Gilbert learns a lot about the world when he travels with Bash early in the series. He learns a lot about himself and his potential career path when he studies under a doctor in Charlottetown. When he decides he wants to pursue attending a different university than initially planned, Miss Stacey sets him up to study under one of her friends.
Her friend happens to be a female doctor - not something seen in the series up to this point. While Gilbert has often been chivalrous, he’s also been a firm believer that women have the right to follow their dreams as much as men do. It would be very interesting to see how Gilbert would react to working under his new mentor.
How Will Anne’s Knowledge Of Her Parents Effect Her?
The season three finale sees Matthew and Marilla track down information about Anne’s birth parents for her. Anne is ecstatic to learn that her mother had red hair just like her, and she loves the book that belonged to her that the Cuthberts bring with them.
While Anne seems perfectly content once she learns what little information she’s given, Anne has spent her entire life wanting to know more about the family she could have had. Now that she’s on a more adult path in life, that chapter of her life might not be entirely closed.
Will Bash’s Mother Be A Permanent Resident?
Bash and his mother have a rocky relationship. When she’s first brought into the series, he holds a bit of resentment towards her because of the life he had as a child. When he needs help caring for Delphine, however, his mother is quick to be by his side.
With Bash being a character created for the series, there’s no frame of reference in the novels for his story, allowing fans to have a whole new story path to look forward to. With Bash and his mother resolving some of their differences in season three, seeing how their relationship progresses would have been a welcome addition to a fourth season.
What Roadblocks Will Anne And Gilbert’s Relationship Hit?
The path to love is not smooth for Anne and Gilbert in the novels. In fact, the series sees the two of them admit their feelings for one another even earlier than they do in the books.
There are a lot of misunderstandings between the two - like Anne believing he’s courting a friend’s little sister and another man showing interest in Anne when she just wants to be friends. Anne even initially rejects Gilbert’s offer of a relationship, briefly placing a wedge between them. When Gilbert gives up a teaching post so that Anne can have it to stay close to home, the two become friends again. With the show already following a different path for the two, fans could have had all new obstacles in their relationship.
Will Diana Ever Apologize For Her Treatment Of Jerry?
When Diana and Jerry first begin their courtship, it’s adorable. Diana has the freedom she craved and Jerry has a chance with the girl he’s idolized since season one. By the end of season three, however, Diana takes all of her anger at not being able to pursue her dreams out on Jerry.
Jerry wonders aloud, repeatedly, if he’s never been good enough for her. Diana then accuses him of being aggressive with her, which couldn’t be farther from the truth. She even throws the mementos of their relationship at his feet. It’s cruel and unlike Diana. She even explains to Anne that she liked the romantic aspects of the relationship, but didn’t feel anything for Jerry. That seems odd to fans considering how smitten she initially seems, so it’s hard not to wonder if they could even be friends again in a potential season four.
Do The Andrews Daughters Make Their Way In A Man’s World?
Despite Jane and Prissy seeming more old fashioned than some of their peers, the Andrews girls are more academically ambitious than many of their classmates. Their mother also wants a better life for them than simply marrying well.
When Prissy tries to pursue a professional life on her own, giving her father financial insight about the farm, he shoots her down and makes remarks about her being a wife one day. Jane and Prissy both pursue a college education at Queens. We have to wonder if either of the sisters will find a way to be successful in the ways they want to be, instead of the ways their father wants them to be.
Which Avonlea Women Will Be On The Council?
Rachel Lynde and Marilla Cuthbert orchestrate a win for the women of Avonlea in season three. While Marilla distracts the minister, Rachel blackmails the rest of the town council to allow more women to be involved. Just who winds up on the council is never addressed.
Easy additions out of the main characters would be Marilla, Miss Stacey, and perhaps either Mrs. Barry or Mrs. Andrews. Though any potential future of the series would likely focus on Anne at Queens, the writers would be remiss to ignore the goings-on in Avonlea altogether.
Do The Avonlea Girls Respect The Boarding House Rules?
One of the last times we see Anne with most of her Avonlea schoolmates is when they arrive at their boarding house in preparation for studying at Queens College. Anne, Ruby, Jane, Josie, and Tilly are all beyond excited to be there, even with the hefty list of rules they’re expected to follow.
The real question here isn’t whether they’ll follow the rules, but how many they’ll break. When in a large group, the girls continually broke rules and social conventions in Avonlea, even sneaking out in the middle of the night to meet up in the woods. Fans can’t expect them to stop now.
Does Miss Stacey Become Closer To Bash?
Sebastian LaCroix is a character created for the show. Montgomery’s novels, in fact, did not feature any characters of color as a result of her own beliefs, and the show’s inclusion of both Bash and Ka’Kwet enriches Montgomery’s story.
Easily noticed in season three is that Bash and Miss Stacey seemed to be friendlier than anyone thought. After Rachel trying to push both of them to remarry in the wake of their respective tragic losses, some fans believe they might find a new spouse in one another. The two becoming platonic soul mates, or kindred spirits as Anne describes herself and Diana, would be a welcome addition to the series as well.
Will Cole Find a Beau?
Cole is a breath of fresh air in Avonlea’s second season. His storyline reveals that Josephine Barry is a lesbian, something the books never addressed, and Cole comes out to both Aunt Jo and Anne as a result. To avoid the bullies and suffocating life on the farm, Cole leaves Avonlea and lives with Aunt Jo.
His storyline is sparse after that because the focal point is, of course, Anne. We do know that while living with Aunt Jo he pursues education in the arts, but he never gets to tell Anne more than that. With them both living in Charlottetown now, it would be nice to see Cole’s story expanded, and see him find happiness in his love life as well.
Will Ka’Kwet Survive The Residential School?
Ka’Kwet’s storyline pulls from a particularly dark chapter of Canadian history. Residential schools were set up across Canada to “educate” First Nations’ children, and the cruelty depicted in Anne With An E is accurate. While fans want a happy ending for Ka’Kwet, historically, that would be unlikely.
Ka’Kwet already escaped the school once and warned her family about what was happening. When last we see her, Anne wants to alert people to Ka’Kwet being held against her family’s will, but the government is on the side of the “school.” Just what Ka’Kwet’s fate would be, or if the show would address it, remains to be seen.
What Type Of Careers Will The Teenagers Pursue?
Most of the teenagers from all three seasons opt to attend Queens College to get a formal education. Gilbert elects to attend the University of Toronto thanks to medical research being done by a friend of Miss Stacey’s there.
Outside of Anne working as a teacher and Gilbert achieving his dream of becoming a doctor in the novels, readers don’t learn much about the potential careers of their classmates. It would be interesting to see if Gilbert chose a specific medical discipline, how quickly Anne decided she wanted to teach, or if Diana was inspired to take on a career path following her experiences.
Is Ruby Gillis Living On Borrowed Time?
The television series diverges from the books in a lot of ways, but still provides nods to much of the source material. There are some characters who don’t make it beyond the first few novels. One of the Cuthberts, for example, passes away, and Anne decides to return home to help with the farm instead of teach. Gilbert gives up his own teaching position in Avonlea so Anne can have the post.
Another character who passes away is the romantic and anxious Ruby Gillis. She does achieve her dream of becoming a wife in the novels, but tuberculosis takes her at 19. Ruby is a fan favorite amongst viewers of the show and Avonlea has already seen a fair bit of tragedy, so couldn’t she make it a little longer?
How Does Rachel Lynde React To The News Of Gilbert And Anne?
Rachel Lynde is Avonlea’s resident gossip. She can use her power for good or evil; she used it to blackmail the council. Rachel is one of the few who speaks openly about the previous relationship between Marilla and Gilbert’s father when they were young. She’s very invested in the love lives of those she cares about.
If Rachel learned about Anne and Gilbert’s decision to admit their feelings for one another at the end of season three, we have to wonder just how she would react. Better yet, how would she treat them when either of them were back in Avonlea? Likely, she’s already planning their wedding even though there’s been no proposal.
