This is a very good first season episode of Road To Avonlea, adapted from L.M. Montgomery's short story Aunt Olivia's Beau in her book Chronicles of Avonlea. It is alternately funny and touching, and introduces us to a couple of new characters while giving us fresh insights about the recurring ones. Also, I don't think I've mentioned this before, but one thing which makes Road To Avonlea so great is the presence of so many great side characters- town residents like Clara Potts, a gleefully malicious gossip- who add so much to the show. They're out in full force in this episode.
Last night we watched the first season Road To Avonlea episode Aunt Abigail's Beau. Abigail is Janet King's spinster sister who still lives at their family home where she cared for their father until he died. She's become very set in her ways and is known for keeping the cleanest house in Avonlea- and for her award winning pickles. Out of the blue Malcolm McEwan arrives back in Avonlea. He grew up there in a poor family, attended school with Abigail, and was always in love with her. When old enough, he began to court her and eventually asked her father for permission to marry her. It was refused; her father said that Malcolm had no money and no prospects, and to come back when he had made something of himself. Determined to do just that, Malcolm left the Island and went to the north to prospect for gold. It took years, but he eventually struck gold, is now extremely wealthy and has returned to Avonlea to win Abigail. She is shocked yet happy to see her old beau- who left town without telling her- but he explodes like a bomb in her tidy, well-ordered life. Never exactly suave to begin with, years of living in mining camps haven't done much for Malcolm's social skills. He's brash, boisterous, knocks into things, and- to Abigail's horror- doesn't wipe the mud off of his feet when he comes into the house. Also, anxious to show everyone that he's now worthy of Abigail, Malcolm talks frequently about his new found wealth and splashes money around town. He means well but it comes across as crass and sometimes a bit obnoxious. He manages to irritate Alec who, though usually easy-going, is smarting a little because the children are all agog with Malcolm's tales of adventure in the north. Alec tells himself that his life has been boring and conventional; he stayed home, took over the family farm, and has never been any farther than Halifax. This inner irritation flares into outright anger when, at an auction, Alec bids on a bed which he thinks Janet would like. Malcolm casually outbids him, offering an amount for the bed that Alec can't possibly afford to beat and then jovially says to a disappointed Alec that he never could resist a challenge, and wasn't that a lot of fun. Malcolm quickly proposes and, swept up in the moment, carried along by his boundless enthusiasm, Abigail accepts. Almost right away though, she starts to have misgivings. She fears losing her independence and is frequently dismayed by the chaos which Malcolm brings to her life with his outsized personality and loud uncouth ways. Their engagement is in jeopardy as it becomes doubtful if either one of them will be able to change enough to suit the other. This is a very good first season episode of Road To Avonlea, adapted from L.M. Montgomery's short story Aunt Olivia's Beau in her book Chronicles of Avonlea. It is alternately funny and touching, and introduces us to a couple of new characters while giving us fresh insights about the recurring ones. Also, I don't think I've mentioned this before, but one thing which makes Road To Avonlea so great is the presence of so many great side characters- town residents like Clara Potts, a gleefully malicious gossip- who add so much to the show. They're out in full force in this episode.
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