Episode Guide for Return to Cutter Gap
Written by Tom Blomquist

Christy Huddleston
Dr. Neil MacNeill

Swoon, swoon, swoon

Summary: Even though both MacNeill and Christy each suck face with another member of the opposite sex at one time in this movie, it is quite apparent from their actions that they both have the permanent hots for each other. Not only that but there are such choice moments as Christy's jealousy at MacNeill's interest in another woman, Christy becoming upset when she discovers the woman at MacNeill's, MacNeill chasing her and catching her and then expressing his frustration at her, Christy being told by another woman that MacNeill wants her, & likewise, Christy being told by a miffed David that it's obvious that she wants MacNeill. This is a great movie for the couple because here they get more scenes and great lines together than ever before!

MacNeill and Christy down by the river

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Return to Cutter Gap Artwork
What is going on here: At its heart, this movie is about the threat of progress to the community of Cutter Gap and how the mountain people resist change by clinging to tradition and the way things have always been. As such this becomes Christy's struggle as she attempts to bring new ideas to the community and still be accepted and valued. Yet ironically what fascinates the most about this movie is that for someone as progressive and forward thinking as Christy, she demonstrates a stasis here of her own in her romantic life. Emotional and sexual maturity appear to be the kind of change she is personally frightened of in much the same way the families of the cove are worried about the new road and outsiders. It is as if Christy has become stuck in time herself in not knowing which way to turn or which man to choose. And in this movie, that unwillingness to commit to one or the other of the two men in her life is starting to cause her and them real problems. Not only that but it is the appearance of a stranger from the outside, a symbol of the modern era whom Christy warmly welcomes into the community, that poses a real threat to the young school teacher on a very personal level.
The Details: This movie is set near the end of Christy's first year of teaching in Cutter Gap and the story resumes the romantic triangle in the midst of Christy's indecision. Return to Cutter Gap is a story told through the eyes of the now eighty year old Christy Huddleston who has returned to the mission property accompanied by her middle aged daughter, Catherine. Now just in case you thought you were going to find out exactly which man Christy had married by listing to the dialog in these opening and closing scenes of Christy with her daughter, guess again. There is nothing definitive said in the conversation between the two women that identifies which man Christy married, yet in the opening scene of Return to Cutter Gap, this viewer speculates what message we can read in that our first glimpse of Christy's daughter shows her to be a redhead ;-)

Best swoon moment: I have two favorites here and would be hard pressed to choose between the two. But since this is a full length movie, then you are going to get both of them!! The first one is the chase scene down by the river near MacNeill's cabin when Christy tries to run from him after spying Harriet Quimby on his porch dressed in one of his shirts. If this scene doesn't show Christy's feelings for MacNeill, then Lundy isn't a bully and Ruby Mae doesn't cook possum! Christy's facial expressions and her body language broadcast her anger, jealousy, vulnerability, and desire even when her words say otherwise. And when he tells her, "I am not a monk, and I'm tired of behaving like one," well that pretty well puts her on notice for what he has in mind. It is one big extended swoon from the moment MacNeill says, "Damn it!" and tears off after Christy until the scene ends with him standing alone watching her leave.

And then there is the scene between Harriet Quimby and Christy when the aviatrix apologizes Christy reacts to what Harriet tells her! to Christy for flirting with MacNeill. Harriet tells Christy that nothing really happened at MacNeill's because his heart was elsewhere, "It's you he wants, Christy". (My bet is that Christy swooned at that moment, and we were all swooning along with her.)

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