Emily of New Moon Episode 8 - Mother’s Room

Emily writes a letter to her father, describing how quiet the Autumn in New Moon is, especially when there’s no one else in their house. It’s in this time that she goes to look at her mother’s room, which has been locked up for ten years since her mother Juliet left New Moon. Emily has been longing for the day she’ll finally be able to enter this room, and she could simply see the room from afar, looking at its window from outside their house.

Emily shares about the dream she had of her mother that morning to Ilse and Teddy, and despite the fact that she can vaguely remember what her dream exactly was, she’s certain that it was about her mother. She also tells them about her mother’s room which has a beautiful view that she looked at the other day, and gets saddened by the fact that she can’t see how that view is like from that room’s window, since it’s been locked up by Elizabeth for years. Emily explains to Teddy that the reason why her mother’s room was kept locked was because of the fact that her mother left to marry her father despite Elizabeth’s disapproval, making her angry and locked the room so she won’t be able to go back again (or so that’s what they think). Teddy was surprised that Elizabeth would do this to her sister’s room, and Ilse explains that it’s because Elizabeth is hard-headed.

Emily wonders how she’ll be able to enter the room, and Ilse says the answer to that is easy, she just have to sneak and find the key to the room, which she thinks is hidden in the box where she keeps her hats. Emily refuses to do this because it’s a cowardly thing to do, and Teddy comments on how this decision is certainly expected of Emily. Just then, Teddy’s mother arrives to pick him up, concerned that he’s spending time outside when it’s really cold. Teddy tells her not to worry about this since spending time in summer running around with Emily and Ilse helped make his health better, but his mom can’t helped but get worried and takes him home, totally ignoring Emily.

It starts raining in this autumn season, and both Laura and Jimmy thinks about how nostalgic this is, remembering that “day of the rainbow” with Juliet twenty years ago. Jimmy turns to Elizabeth and says that perhaps it’s time to allow Emily to see her mother’s room, considering that she’s not even eleven years old yet, and is certainly yearning for her mother’s warmth. Elizabeth however doesn’t seem all happy with this reminiscing about Juliet, and decides to spend some time alone in that rainy autumn day.

Emily goes home and lies in her bed, thinking about what Ilse told her about searching for the key. She resists the urge to heed Ilse’s ‘advice’, but ends up giving in as she reaches for the box where she suspects the key is hidden. Instead of finding the key however, what she finds is an emerald jewelry, then finally rids herself of thoughts of finding the key.

Elizabeth on the other hand takes out a blanket from the drawer where the key to Juliet’s room is, together with a letter she sent that Elizabeth hasn’t opened yet. She remembers the time Juliet left New Moon because of her refusal to have her marry at a young age, and much more marry Douglas who their family can’t accept. It has been ten years since that happened, which also marks the time Juliet’s room has been kept locked.

Emily once again looks at her mother’s room, and takes a peek through the keyhole. Elizabeth sees Emily, who gets embarrassed and tries to find the words to explain what she’s doing. Emily tells her that she was just wondering what her mom used to do in raining days like this, if she’s weaving, reading books, or looking outside the window, and then remembers what her father used to tell her, that her mom loved looking at the rainbow through the window of her room. Elizabeth stops her from saying any more and leaves, when Emily pleads her to let her see her mother’s room, even for a little while. Elizabeth however refuses to do this, saying that there’s no need to remember things about the past because Juliet’s no longer around (or that she’s no longer in this world), and that opening the door of this room will simply bring back memories that shouldn’t be remembered anymore. Emily can’t help but cry at the cold words of her aunt, thinking that Elizabeth must hate her mother so much that she doesn’t even want to remember her anymore.

Emily spends some time in the barn to wallow in her sorrow, and Jimmy keeps her company. Elizabeth goes back to the living room (?), and sees Laura who was surprised that Elizabeth took out the blanket and the last letter from Juliet she kept throughout these years. Meanwhile, Jimmy tells Emily about her mother Juliet, how she loves the rainbow and believes that wishing upon this rainbow will allow one’s wish to come true. Juliet has already decided on what she wants to wish for, but decides to keep it a secret from them until the next rainbow comes. The entire Murray family loved Juliet, the youngest in their family, and her father especially gave the best room in the house to her because of her frail body.

There was a time when Juliet was struck with a serious cold because of the chilly weather that autumn, and she never woke up throughout the two days of rainfall that time. The entire family ceaselessly prayed for her to heal, but were already losing hope that she’ll still be able to open her eyes again. But a miracle happened, as she finally wakes up the day after that rainfall, right in time when the rainbow appeared. Juliet finally reveals her wish to her family, that she wants to grow up, and someday have a daughter. After sharing this story to Emily, the rainfall that day stops as well, bringing with it a rainbow just like that time with Juliet.

Emily runs off to tell Elizabeth about the rainbow, asking her to look at what she considers to be her ‘mother’s rainbow’, and for a moment when Emily entered the room, Elizabeth saw Juliet in her, who told her those very words about looking at the rainbow as well. Emily asks her aunt to remember about her mother, then Elizabeth finally decides to let Emily into her mother’s room, and both of them gaze at this rainbow from the window. Emily remarks how her mother must’ve looked at the rainbow like this too, and says that this rainbow is what she treasures most in this world. Elizabeth says that it’s not quite true, since what Juliet treasures most in this world is no one else but Emily, as stated in the last letter she gave Elizabeth. Right at that moment as Emily is reading the letter, the voice of her mother resounds in the room, asking for Elizabeth’s forgiveness and tells her how happy she is for having Emily in her life.

Thoughts

This episode certainly brought me to tears… seeing how Elizabeth was finally able to open up to Emily about the past, and openly embrace both the memories of Juliet (which proves to be very painful for Elizabeth, considering how much she loved her little sister), as well as Emily. It’s quite clear that the reason why Elizabeth showed this somewhat ‘cold’ attitude towards Emily is because of the connection she has with Juliet, and seeing Emily can’t help but make her remember Juliet who she didn’t want to remember anymore (or so she thought). I believe that Elizabeth locking up Juliet’s room shows how she ‘locked’ her heart (and became really strict) as well. Elizabeth was even reluctant to open the letter she gave (and Elizabeth most likely knows what this letter contains, and it’s the very reason why she didn’t open it), and having opened and read this letter, as well as open Juliet’s room, simply shows how Elizabeth has finally accepted the decision she made before.

Emily pretty much understood Elizabeth’s situation for not wanting to remember about Juliet, knowing how her aunt was really against the decision she made of marrying Douglas. Emily was mature enough to understand that it was painful for her, and it’s the reason why she didn’t complain much about Elizabeth locking Juliet’s room and preventing her from seeing it. But of course a child will certainly yearn for her mother, especially for Emily whose mother died when she was but a little child. She wanted to know about her mother, and was really hurt when Elizabeth told her those cold words about not wanting to remember any more about Juliet.

It’s great that Jimmy was there to keep Emily company, and actually share about her mother, who was loved by their entire family. She was able to understand Elizabeth’s situation and was so excited to even tell her about her mother’s rainbow. The rainbow seems to hold a deeper meaning in the lives of the Murrays… for Juliet, it’s a symbol of hope, that will be able to grant one’s wish. For Elizabeth, Laura and Jimmy, the rainbow also symbolizes how Juliet was brought back to their lives again after thinking she won’t be able to survive the serious cold she had. Just as the rainbow appears after the rain has fallen, it symbolizes the hope this ‘new day’ brings, after a time of sadness and grief (the ‘rain’), and together with this, comes the acceptance of Elizabeth of Juliet and Emily (also symbolized by the letter she opened - as though she ‘opened’ up her heart as well).

We saw a brief scene with Emily, Teddy and Ilse, and it seems that Teddy’s mother still doesn’t accept them as Teddy’s friends, seeing how she simply ignored Emily when she smiled at her. I think she still regards them as a bad influence for Teddy, and that’s why she doesn’t like seeing Teddy becoming close to him (because it will endander his health, and influence his personality perhaps). I’m thinking that the reason why she simply ignored Emily and not confront her about being a bad influence on Teddy, is because Teddy was right then and there. Perhaps given a situation where his mom will be able to have an encounter with them, and Teddy’s not around, she might frankly tell them how she feels about this. Looks like this is some problem that will have to be resolved later on, but not yet in the next episode, since it looks like we’ll see some of Emily and Ilse’s diamond-hunting adventure next week :p