This episode also brings back a beloved character from the Anne of Green Gables miniseries: Miss Muriel Stacey- played by the same actress, which is a big plus. She will be making periodic appearances on Road To Avonlea from here on in. Miss Stacey and Hetty are complete opposites in temperament and teaching styles, as is made hilariously clear at a tea hosted at Rose Cottage where one of the ladies- Mrs. Potts- gleefully reads aloud from a well-intentioned but rather unfortunate article written by Olivia for the Avonlea Chronicle, comparing/contrasting Muriel and Hetty. I've mentioned it before, but the background character work in this show is just excellent; characters like Mrs. Potts and Abner Jeffries, for example, frequently add another layer of humour to the episodes that they're in, making them even better than they already would be. Miss Stacey is just how she was in the Anne series- warm, understanding, and good humoured- and she genuinely likes and respects Hetty, though she's sometimes exasperated by her stubbornness and hidebound methods.
When this rivalry ceases to be funny is when it hurts Gus. At first, Hetty's interest in getting him into school isn't completely unselfish; she wants butts in seats to prove to Muriel that her school is a success. But regardless of her motivations, she's willing to fight to get Gus into school; when the cannery owner threatens to fire Gus if he starts attending school, Hetty stands up to him and shames him for trying to deny Gus the opportunity to learn to read and write, forcing him to back down. Also, as she sees Gus' willingness to work hard and his aptitude for memorization, Hetty's instincts as a dedicated teacher kick in and she becomes genuinely invested in his education. Unfortunately, her desire to prove herself to Miss Stacey, and the stress of preparing the students for the upcoming Lieutenant Governor's reception combine to make Hetty issue a hasty and ill-advised order for Gus to stop the fiddle playing as she thinks it's a needless distraction for him. In her worked up state- and, later, her painfilled state- she doesn't realise how cruel this is until it's emphatically pointed out to her by Muriel. To Hetty's credit, once she realises the error of her ways, she doesn't hesitate to go to Gus and apologise, encouraging him to take up his music again and return to school. Which, happily, he does.