Anne (2017)

The series will be a joy both for “Anne” superfans and for anyone who likes heart-tugging drama.

A darker shade of "Green"? Yes, at times, grim realities are made a trifle more real. Does that work? Yes, often wonderfully well.

With an "e" for exceptional, Walley-Beckett got it right.

I wanted to tell the story in a different way, in a way important to a new generation. I read between the lines, to mine what isn't there but has been there all along. Themes of identity, gender boundary issues, bullying, prejudice, being an outsider, being unaccepted, what it takes to belong. Through the eyes of this accidental feminist, who has no boundaries for herself.

Anne with an E, while darker than previous adaptations, is still filled with moments of pure joy. Diehard fans of the book and previous adaptations may take issue with the change in style, but the heart of the story remains ever-present, so they'll likely ultimately forgive that.

To be fair, many diehard fans had doubts from the very beginning.

But once Anne dropped on Netflix, more people noticed that Walley-Beckett's adaptation was leaving a Bad taste in their mouths.

Still, none of the many, many other Anne adaptations stray so disastrously far from the spirit of Montgomery’s original books—and the result is a gloomy series with grim, life-or-death stakes draped over the bones of something beloved, warm-hearted, and familiar. The milestones are still there—currant wine, broken slates, puffed sleeves—but seen through a glass darkly. Brave as the concept may be, it falls flat—and feels particularly unwelcome in an already grim 2017.

Indeed, Smithsonian magazine reports, “This Anne endures abuse and gets her period, and the show’s theme song is by The Tragically Hip.” A post-modern Anne. But Walley-Beckett isn’t just making Anne timely, edgy, and hip; she’s Breaking Anne.

The result is part the “Anne” we know and love—apple blossoms and hard-won understandings, Cuthberts, raspberry cordial—and part untrustworthy stranger, not “Anne of Green Gables” at all.