4.2304964539007 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Rating 4.23 (282 Votes)
Episode 7.1: Out of the Ashes - 4.2 out of 5 based on 5 votes

Felicity and Stuart McRae help turn the run-down Lloyd estate into an orphanage and their collaboration results in a romantic relationship.

Writer: Marlene Matthews 
Director: Stefan Scaini 
Special Guest Star: Gema Zamprogna as Felicity King 
With: David Ferry as Stuart McRae and Marilyn Lightstone as Muriel Stacey 
Original CBC Airdate: January 14, 1996 
Time Frame: Summer 1911

Highlights/Analysis

The startling moments that closed the sixth season are echoed in the beginning of what would be Avonlea's final season.

Felicity sinks deeper into depression while stewing over the memory of Gus.  Felicity is standing alone on the beach, calling for Gus to come back. Stuart McRae appears on the hillside and we learn that he has been boarding with the Kings and is the new town banker.

Stuart discovers that Margarett Lloyd, the spinster from the episode Old Lady Lloyd, has died and has left her estate in the hands of the town. Stuart arranges a town meeting to determine what to do with the property.

Felicity is surprised to find that Seth Prichard has remarried a woman named Mavis, shortly after the death of his former wife, Colleen (6.12: A Time To Every Purpose). At the meeting, Mavis volunteers Felicity to assist her on a committee to assess the condition of the Lloyd estate.

During the assessment, Felicity finds several orphans inside the house and tries to comfort them. Stuart and Felicity plan to open the former Lloyd estate as an orphanage. The new project helps Felicity take her mind off Gus's tragedy.

Stuart calls on Felicity and in an effort to remain an eternal bachelor, mistakingly asks her about Gus Pike. Felicity is still haunted by Gus's memory and startled by Stuart's forwardness.

Eliza helps convince Felicity that she shouldn't let her first love be her last. Stuart plans to leave town after believing that he has hurt his relationship with Felicity; but she stops him from leaving.

Criticism

There is really no explanation for Stuart's relationship with the King family, other than they offered him boarding.  Stuart is about as likable as the old butcher Lazar Wolf from Fiddler on the Roof.

Rhetorical Questions

Can you believe Felicity touched that bread in the Lloyd estate?

Isn't it kind of eerie for Stef Prichard to get a new wife so quickly after Colleen's death?

I wonder what ever happened to Sylvia Gray?

Memorable Quotes

"Let her do it. It's the best medicine in the world." -Alec King

"Such dreams Felix. Where do they go?" -Felicity King

Sap Meter: 4 

Eliza retells her tale of lost love and advises Felicity that she shouldn't let her first love be her last.

Notes

(1) Enoch Caine was originally supposed to be Felicity's romantic interest in the seventh season.  Caine was manager of the PEI Provincial Bank and offered Felicity unspecified employment at the bank in Homecoming. When the actor wasn't available, Enoch Caine was replaced by Stuart McRae.

(2) David Ferry, who plays Stuart McRae, was originally cast as Harmon Andrews in the first season's Felicity's Challenge. Yes, that's right. He was the old guy watching the young Felicity bob for apples. David Ferry made his first television debut when Gema Zamprogna was only three years old.

Grade: A-

 

 

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People in this conversation

  • Newbie

    "Such dreams Felix, where do they go?" Well, apparently nowhere. Their dreams are exactly the same. Felix wants to be rich and Felicity wants to be married/a homemaker.

    I'm unsure of the timeline of this episode. It could be days or weeks or months? Stuart is a little hasty, regardless.

  • aboll_

    I want series road to avonlea

  • Rebekah

    aboll_

    I believe it’s Alec who mentions in passing that it’s been a year since Felicity got the news about Gus, so it’s been longer than a year for Seth Prichard.

  • You're right Rebekah. Season six ends around Early 1910 and season seven picks up in summer/fall 1911. Timeline. By the way, lots of people hate Stuart, but look at note #2 above. Felicity was originally supposed to get with Enoch Caine. Can you believe it?

  • Rebekah

    Timothy

    Oh nice! Thank you, I hadn’t checked out the timeline yet! Very nice. I just finished rewatching the series, it had been a while. Enjoyed seeing from an adult perspective as well as reading trivia on episodes as I went along, this is a very fun website. Thank you!
    I see I replied to the wrong comment above, failed at the Internet lol!
    It was strange but I found I had the most nostalgia and fond feelings towards the episodes of season seven but I guess that’s probably as I was finally old enough to be aware of watching them and remembering them (I was born in 1989) as they came out. Most of the previous episodes I would have watched most likely out of order as reruns.
    When I read the note about Enoch Caine I was horrified. I feel like that’s not even a strong enough word hahaha. I had to go on IMDb and make sure I was thinking of the right character. Bleccccch.
    I guess watching this as a child when everything is so black and white it was so obvious to me that Stuart was blah and Gus was the dreamboat that Felicity should end up with. (Honestly didn’t really notice the age difference...was shocked to see the actor in the previous infamous apple bobbing episode and equally shocked to find out that the actor was 25 years her senior) but on my rewatch I had more sympathy towards Stuart. Especially when they were in the carriage and he confides how he never had a family meal like that growing up I felt a pang of sadness for him, knowing the outcome of the season. Like oh dang, you’ve had a sad upbringing and not long from now you are going to get dumped by your fiance. Let’s just add to the tragedy of his life!
    That being said I did laugh out loud when he was all depressed with his hair combed forward in the woods after he is too forward with her? Lol what a weird scene. Overly dramatic and didn’t play well in my opinion.
    Ok this is getting to be a very long comment I’d better stop ?

  • I wished season 7 would've spent more time on the orphan Dean siblings and watching them emerge out of dreadful circumstances. Their refuge in Old Lady Lloyd's abandoned home reminds us that there was a fragile safety net for children at that time. Families could be struck down by disease in an instant, as was the case here. Poignant moment for me was Davey and Dora telling the Dean siblings, "We thought we were goners for sure," but thanks to Marilla and Mrs. Lynde, "We've been real lucky." Luck runs out for fans of the show as Felicity disappears (I thought she said she was moving into the Foundling Home). She finally returns for the last two episodes where the storyline resumes to conclusion. It should be noted that March 31, 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of the airing of Gus and Felicity's wedding, Aunt Hetty's Ode to Avonlea oration, and the finale of our beloved show.

  • Macy

    The age gap between Felicity and Stuart kind of creeps me out. He's definitely old enough to be her father lol. I guess this was probably normal back then (but still creepy tho). I didn't think it was weird for Seth to get remarried so quick. Really, waiting a year to do so seems odd when you think about the time. My great-grandfather got married really quick after his first wife died.

  • Amy

    I never liked the Stewart character even when I was a little kid and watched it. I thought I don’t see someone like felicity being with a guy like that because both of them don’t seem compatible. Also I think she would think he was too old for her. Just like when Sarah was fascinated with Zac Morgan in Moving on felicity says he so much older. I also felt like since the show was ending the series decided to jump the shark by adding a character nobody liked or care for.

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