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'Anne with an E' Season 3 Episode 3 review: The Mary-centric episode is both heartwarming and heartbreaking

As heartbreaking as Mary's death is, the fact that she was able to bring together communities that had never trusted each other speaks volumes about who she is as a character and what she represents — and, that has been the success of 'Anne With an E'

Major spoilers for Season 3 Episode 3 of 'Anne With an E'

'Anne With an E' has been full of heart since the very beginning, and yet, Season 3 is taking it to heights we did not know possible.

The series has never felt it necessary to treat 'Anne of Green Gables' by Lucy Maud Montgomery like the Bible, and yet, it derives its inspiration from the books and keeps the spirit of the books alive.

We know Anne (Amybeth McNulty) to an adventurous girl who challenges the norms from 'Anne of Green Gables), and in the series we see her doing just that even though the situations she is confronted with are unlike anything we have seen in the books. 

Season 2 of the series had introduced a new group of Black characters who we meet through Gilbert's (Lucas Jade Zumann) journeys after his father's death.

And, even though, they are introduced to us as the characters in Gilbert's life, we quickly went on to love them, and they became the main characters in their own rights.

This is exactly why Mary's (Cara Ricketts) fatal illness took a toll on us. As heartbreaking as her death is, the fact that she was able to bring together communities that had never trusted each other speaks volumes about who she is as a character and what she represents — and, that has been the success of 'Anne With an E'.

While Anne continues to be the hero of our tale, the people around her are also equally important and so are their stories.

Mary was able to make a family out of her husband Bash (Dalmar Abuzeid) and Gilbert before she left. She became a sister to Gilbert, who had no one left in the world, and she made friends with Marilla (Geraldine James), who had never befriended a Black person before. 

Towards the end of her illness, we see that the friendships she created during her time at Avonlea, brought people from various walks of life together. They came together as a community, which is something she had always dreamed about and she was overwhelmed with happiness.

While the community is weeping together for her ill fate, they also find comfort in each other, and this is the same community Mary hopes will come together to raise her infant daughter after she is gone. We cannot help but weep in equal parts joy and heartbreak over the events of Episode 3. 

Season 3 Episode 3 of 'Anne With an E' narrated possibly one of the best stories in the series, and we could not recommend it more. All of Season 3 is available for binge-watch on Netflix since January 3.