‘Anna’ Recap: ‘Cats Are Superior’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Five of ‘Anna’.
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There is a prevailing belief in our world that children and teenagers, simply don’t understand the heavier stuff that adults do and there is merit to that belief. After all, kids and teens, simply don’t have the emotional or physical or mental development to really comprehend say… the nature of death and what it means to live a full life. Which is why we spend so much time as adults, doing our best to teach young ones what all of that means, so they can properly handle such matters when they arrive in their lives. But what’s fascinating about this belief, is that it isn’t entirely correct. For children and teens… have a tendency to understand more than they let on, especially when they’re forced to grow up quickly.
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If anything, the reality of what kids and teens understand is relevant to our discussion today, simply because it was put on display in the next episode of Anna. For ‘Cats Are Superior’ saw an old friend of Anna’s, face death and comprehend its complexities, shortly after the whole mess with Angelica was finally resolved. For Katia and Anna decided that if someone was going to die in this mansion, it needed to be the little monster at the top. Which is why they put together a plan that would catch Angelica off guard completely, so that they could isolate her and attack her… and subsequently end her life. Allowing for a changing of the guard to take place at the mansion since Katia took over while Anna returned to the world.

Wherein she learned that Astor never made it to Pietro’s lagoon getaway, mainly because he had discovered a new friend that helped him to play all day long, and she also came to discover that Pietro was dying. For the Red Fever took hold at last and well, that motivated Pietro to leave his creature comforts and visit a place that an old friend spoke of, the Mount Etna crater. For he was taught by this old friend that this was a place where the souls of the departed collected one last time before using the volcano’s throat to travel to the next plane of existence. A belief that seemed grounded more in the fantasy worlds that we believe children and teenagers spend their time buried within. But a gentle and heartbreaking set of moments proved instead that Pietro understood plenty about death and the gravity of the end.

Because Pietro took the time to ponder upon his life and where he’d been in his short time on this earth and whether or not he’d led a full life after all, since he understood fully that was the point of living on this tiny blue rock we call home, and that was quite the profound set of statements to hear come out of his mouth and it helped to prove that people of that age, know more about heavier concepts than we know. And his final moments in this life, helped to reinforce that. Because his request to have Anna describe to him the sight of souls entering the volcano, served to remind us of how we are desperate to recapture our youth and what brought us joy when we know the end is near and that made for some powerful moments for certain, the kind that ended in sorrow when Pietro finally asked Anna to end his suffering. A request she was reluctant but able to grant.

In the end however, this really was quite the incredible story for certain. Because it truly put the power of the human condition on display by showing us how there are things in our life that are so profound and so powerful… that we understand what they mean at any age and that adds depth and perspective to those big moments and leaves all of us pondering… if perhaps we need to have more mature conversations with younger folks in regard to such matters. Since they do indeed comprehend the bigger stuff and might benefit from a genuinely honest chat. Plus, another reason this episode takes one’s breath away… is because, it ends in such a lost and hopeless manner. For Anna is on her own and far from home and her brother is lost to her and that leaves one to wonder, how exactly this first season is going to end. Since there is no greater challenge at stake here, just a broken and desolate world where young ones are waiting to die, and it will be quite interesting to see how this brilliant series uses that bleak reality to bring this season to a close. Until next time.

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