"Kindred Spirits"
Anne with an E adapts Lucy Maud Montgomery's beloved novel into something darker, more modern, and deeply resonant. Anne Shirley (Amybeth McNulty) is an orphan mistakenly sent to aging siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, who wanted a boy to help on their Prince Edward Island farm. They get Anne instead—a redhead with a vivid imagination, an endless vocabulary, and a heart determined to find family.
The show doesn't sugarcoat the source material. Anne's past in orphanages and abusive foster homes is rendered explicitly. The trauma of being unwanted, of being passed around, shapes her character. Her imagination is survival—a way to transform bleak circumstances into beauty. When she arrives at Green Gables, she's desperate to belong, terrified of being sent back, and fiercely loyal to anyone who shows her kindness.
Amybeth McNulty is perfectly cast—gangly, fierce, emotional, articulate. Her Anne is not just cute; she's complicated, sometimes exhausting, always endearing. The supporting cast expands the world: Gilbert Blythe (Lucas Jade Zumann) as Anne's academic rival and eventual love interest, Diana Barry (Dalila Bela) as her "bosom friend," and the town of Avonlea as a community that slowly accepts the strange redhead in their midst.
The show tackles themes the novel only hinted at: Indigenous displacement, racism, sexism, and the rigidity of small-town society. Some purists objected, but the expansion makes the world feel real rather than nostalgic. This is 19th-century Canada with all its prejudices and possibilities.
Cancelled after three seasons despite passionate fan campaigns, the story is incomplete—but the 27 episodes we have are beautiful, heartfelt, and emotionally true.
Characters & Acting (9): Amybeth McNulty's Anne is everything the character should be—passionate, strange, brilliant, and deeply human.
World Building (8): Prince Edward Island is gorgeous. Green Gables feels like home. Avonlea expands beyond the novel.
Resolution (5): Cancelled after three seasons. The story is incomplete. Fans are still demanding a continuation.
"Your Will Shall Decide Your Destiny" (S1E1) — Anne arrives. The mistake. The first night.
"I Am No Bird, and No Net Ensnares Me" (S2E1) — Anne returns to school. The world expands.
"The Better Feelings of My Heart" (S3E10) — Season three finale. The farewell that shouldn't be the end.
US: Netflix
UK: Netflix