What We Have Been Makes Us What We Are is the ninth episode of the second season of Anne. It premiered on Netflix on July 6, 2018,
Synopsis[]
A brand-new teacher brings unconventional methods - and a motorbike - to Avonlea. Gilbert's plan to speed up his studies leaves Bash feeling lost.
Plot[]
The episode begins with the introduction of Miss Muriel Stacy, the new school teacher in Avonlea. She is seen busily decorating her new home, enjoying her creative success while losing track of the time. Meanwhile, the Progressive Mothers (PMSC) group is waiting for her, anxiously watching the clock. When Miss Stacy realizes she is late, she frantically jumps on her motorbike and begins towards the meeting, passing Matthew, Marilla and a thrilled Anne. After some technical difficulty, she makes it to the meeting, late and unkempt, beginning the Progressive Mothers suspicion towards her.
In the schoolhouse, the students wait with anticipation to meet their new teacher. While many of the girls begin building opinions based on the rumors they've heard, Anne encourages them to have open minds. Anne's attention moves to Moody and Billy, who is carrying a gun, when she overhears their plan to shoot a fox that has been stealing chickens. When Miss Stacy arrives at school, she comes off as lighthearted but firm when she corrects Billy Andrews after calling her "little lady" and tells him that he cannot have a gun at school. While Anne is eager, the class has mixed reactions when Miss Stacy asks them to sit on the floor, and when the girls observe she is not wearing a corset. In the schoolhouse, Miss Stacy leads the students in an activity to get to know each other. Anne clings to her new teacher and is eager to please and help her, but is reprimanded for gossiping and is then flustered when her turn to introduce herself comes.
At Green Gables, Matthew and Jerry work on a trap to catch the fox, hoping they can make money off the pelt. Marilla is inside baking when Rachel Lynde enters, startling her. She announces that she has heard rumors about Miss Stacy, and while Marilla initially shows no concern, her attitude changes when Rachel expresses that the new teacher might corrupt her students. They make a plan to visit Miss Stacy after school. Next door, Bash struggles against the mud and snow while trying to fix a broken fence.
After school ends, Gilbert approaches Miss Stacy to discuss getting extra help. She is encouraging and takes his aspirations seriously, unlike the previous teacher. In this conversation, Miss Stacy mentions her late husband, when Anne interrupts awkwardly. After Gilbert leaves, Anne approaches Miss Stacy to discuss getting extra help as well, but embarrasses herself again when she is asked to write an essay on gossip. Walking home from school, Anne discusses this with Diana but can't be consoled for making such a terrible first impression. She also reveals some of her competitive nature against Gilbert. Arriving at the clubhouse, Anne's frustration and disappointment in herself are mounting when Cole takes her to a scenic cliff to gather inspiration for her essay.
Arriving at Miss Stacy's house unannounced, Rachel invites herself in while Marilla is more hesitant. They both observe Miss Stacy's home, where she is working on her motorbike indoors. Rachel makes various comments about Miss Stacy's marital status and implies that she disapproves of her pants and lack of corset, though Miss Stacy deflects her comments. Rachel also brings up Marilla's unmarried status as a warning not to become a spinster, which offends Marilla. Miss Stacy learns that Marilla is Anne's adoptive parent, but the conversation quickly turns back toward Rachel warning Miss Stacy to remain conservative to keep her position.
Returning home from school, Anne is alarmed when she notices the trap that Matthew and Jerry set. She approaches Matthew with her concern, but he insists the trap is necessary. That night, Anne works on her essay about gossip by lantern and listens for the fox so that she can shoo it away from the trap if needed. Falling asleep at her desk, she wakes in the morning and scrambles to get up for school, accidentally knocking her papers and oil lantern to the floor, which catch on fire. She quickly puts out the fire but her essay for Miss Stacy is ruined. She fakes being sick to avoid the consequences, but Marilla quickly realized something happened and agrees to escort Anne to school to explain things. Before leaving the house, Anne is horrified to hear from Jerry that they want to sell the fox's pelt.
Meanwhile Miss Stacy contemplates wearing a corset while getting ready for another school day, but stands firm in her decision not to. As Gilbert and Bash prepare for the day, Bash is upset that Gilbert's plan to work the farm for two years has changed. While Gilbert is at school, Bash continues to do work he is unfamiliar with, including tack up and ride the horse. After Anne arrives at school with Marilla and explains her accident, but is further embarrassed when asked to write the essay again and takes it out on Gilbert. Marilla is invited to stay and watch the day's lessons, which is about energy and electricity. During a demonstration using copper wire, nails, potatoes and a lightbulb, Marilla is impressed to see Miss Stacy's engaging methods. However, this moment of success is short lived when the Progressive Mothers enter and see the students gathered around glass and electrified wires, which they see as hazardous. This is made worse when Moody touches his tongue to a wire and electrocutes himself, breaking the glass lightbulb.
Rather than taking the train, where he has previously faced racism, Bash takes the horse all the way into Charlottetown to visit the laundry again and hopefully see Mary. The two go for a walk, where Bash talks out his frustration with Gilbert and feeling directionless. They discuss the community that can be felt in The Bog, but the difficulty of living in a marginalized community. They share a brief moment of closeness before Mary returns to work.
On the way home from school, Anne walks part way with Marilla and Miss Stacy before asking to meet Marilla at home. After some resistance, Anne insists that she has an important task and invites them to come along. She then stops by her clubhouse to feed her lunch to the fox, hoping it will keep him away from attacking chickens and getting trapped or shot. Miss Stacy is impressed by the creative space that Anne has made, and she and Marilla go inside with Anne. They admire the items that Anne and her friends have made, reversing some of Anne's initial awkwardness with Miss Stacy as they bond over their commonalities of creativity and imagination.
Anne begins to talk about Cole after both women notice his sculptures, but she is hesitant to gossip again. Miss Stacy asks for more information, teaching Anne that discussing Cole not gossip if it can be helpful. She shares that Cole recently experienced bullying at school and dropped out before making Marilla and Miss Stacy swear not to share what they know about the clubhouse.
Returning home in the evening, Gilbert brings a crab for Bash to cook with, but finds a note that Bash is in Charlottetown, where he and Mary are enjoying a cozy dinner at Mary's house. That night, while Billy and his friends are hunting for the fox, they stumble upon the clubhouse in the woods and cruelly destroy the small shelter and all their creations.
Before school the next morning, Miss Stacy is offered a ride by Mr. Andrews to visit the Mackenzie family. When the two ride past Rachel's house, it fuels her tendency to gossip and her dislike for Miss Stacy. At the Mackenzie's, Miss Stacy discusses Cole's experience at school and reveals that he has not been to school, which Cole's friends were keeping a secret. With his mother upset that he has been lying about school, Cole is told he will stay home and work if he isn't going to school. He runs out of the house frustrated. At the same time, Anne accidentally sets off the trap outside the chicken coop while doing her morning chores. She screams, alarming Marilla and Matthew, and runs away. Both Cole and Anne run to their clubhouse to find refuge but discover it has been destroyed. While both are upset and Cole yells at Anne for revealing his secret, Cole finds Billy's scarf in the wreckage of their clubhouse. He heads toward the school, where Miss Stacy enters deflated and unlike her usual self. Cole bursts in through the door and attacks Billy, knocking him into the wood stove where his ear is badly burned. This causes the class to erupt into chaos, with Prissy, Diana and Gilbert stepping in to help Billy as Cole runs away from the school.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
Recurring Cast[]
Guest Cast[]
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