Joseph DeMartino
Senior HTF Member
Hey! How about a spoiler box? Yeah, I figured Rory would get whacked in the end. I just thought she was going to take Lorelei down with her.
Joe
This was the highlight of the episode, and made me laugh out loud, but it also felt big and broadly sitcom-y, when the absurdisms of the earlier seasons felt small and specific and truly eccentric.Loved the bit with Kirk turning Taylor's '64 T-Bird into Luke's diner.
This is exactly how I felt. The new showrunner mostly got the supporting characters right, but he didn't get Lorelai right. She was a reactive character the entire premiere, when she has always been forcefully and irrepressibly proactive by nature. She didn't dominate conversations like she normally would, and when she did get monologuing her jabber didn't have the same sharpness and her cultural references weren't quite as diverse and on point.Some of the verbal exchanges felt on par with previous seasons of GG, but others were not as tight, and did run on too long.
While there are numerous episodes where Lorelai has to be the firm parent putting her foot down -- and does -- this is the best description of Lorelai Gilmore I've ever read. She has assembled her perfect little storybook universe around her, and she expects it to operate according to her whims. A character who I love to watch, but would hate to have to live with.From the beginning Lorelai has been in many ways the child in her and Rory's relationship, complete with the associated egocentric behavior. She's intelligent, charming, and has good breeding, which the show relies on heavily, and basically a decent person, but the world is very often her very large and complex dollhouse.
I think retconning in April as this artificial obstacle between Luke and Lorelai was perhaps the crucial mistake of Season 6, but the execution was what made it frustrating. I don't believe that Lorelai would have just kept her mouth shut as her resentment and frustration built and built. The pre-April Lorelai would have found a polite way to explain what her needs were for each new development. That whole long stretch of Lorelai biting her tongue felt completely out of character.In regards to Luke and April, I'm surprised Lorelai held up as long as she did. She tried being what she considered supportive, though it's hard for her to get outside herself and see what supportive really is. HINT: It isn't just shutting up and accepting whatever, giving the impression you feel other than you do. It's understanding what the other person is going through and talking through (working through) things over a period of time.
I will admit that I had that exact thought watching that scene. The biggest problem was that Lorelai's breed of crazy didn't assert itself, so Sookie's breed of crazy filled the space and overstayed its welcome.The scene with Sookie in the kitchen screamed, 'let's try and do that GG thing where people prattle on and on while Lorelai stands there looking pensive, and fail utterly.'
Me too. It was a scene that I don't think ASP or her husband would have written, but it felt completely right to me. Given everything Luke's been through since April showed up in his diner, I think he was entitled to one inappropriate outburst. My favorite part was the satisfied way he marched back to the elevator after landing the blow, mission accomplished.I loved seeing Luke punch Christopher... even if it was a sucker punch and completely unfair.
I enjoyed the scene, but I was definitely startled by the sheer cruelty of it. Kirk is pretty oblivious but even he wouldn't be that oblivious. It was one of those scenes that had the rhythms of the first six seasons down but not the integrity of the first six seasons.Kirk became a truly blathering idiot in this episode. It was just awful. There's only so much you can stomach when a character acts so dumb and clueless of the impact of their actions before you just write them off as being absolute time-filler of the worst degree. This new writing regime is not off to a good start.
Agreed! It's worth knowing that the writer of the second episode, Rebecca Rand Kirshner, was one of the few other writers under ASP. She wrote or co-wrote two episodes in season five and two episodes in season six. It was smart of Rosenthal et al to preserve as much continuity as possible.After last week this episode felt more like the show I've known and loved, at least in terms of pace and rhythm.
Seconded on both points. This was a really good Lane episode, and she's a character that the show has sometimes shortchanged in the past. I don't know that I loved the show playing into the trope of a young woman getting pregnant the very first time she had sex, but I loved her take on sex and that, awful circumstances aside, maybe it's not something that she's going to love.My favorite part was Lane's "I hate sex" rant. Rory's rebuke came in second.
I loved that detail too. It almost felt like a meta commentary on the show's own situation, with "Kirk's" as a poor knockoff of Luke's as an acknowledgment that some people would consider the show under the new regime a poor knockoff of what had come before.I think the 'no cell phones' poster tacked up in his 'diner' put the scene over the top.
A wonderful moment that called back to more innocent times in their friendship. And a barrage of pop culture references that were 100 percent on point and mostly held up now a decade later.I particularly enjoyed Lane and Rory making fun of celebrities kids names.
I thought Charlotte, the little girl who was being personally tutored by Emily, was a bit too precious for the show in a way that took me out of it. But I completely agree that the little girl who could be a future Lorelai made the subplot worthwhile, especially because they kept her firmly in the foreground and spent just enough time and provided just enough details, like the hot pink tennis shoes, to get the point across. I also adored how much Michel adored the cotillion.I liked this week's episode quite a bit. And the cotillion stuff was at least worth it to see the little "rebel" girl who could be a future Lorelai.
Well said. Three episodes in and, while it was most problematic in the season premiere, it's still not quite up to the standard set by the first six seasons.The biggest problem with the dialogue is that it just isn't as intelligent or interestingly obscure as it should be. And correct me if I'm wrong, but that kind of banter should be mostly between Loralai and Rory - not every character on the show.
I had the same thought. As cool as that date was, a drive-in movie in a classic car, the gaps between the boards on the side of the barn would have driven me nuts the entire time.Couldn't Christopher at least put a white sheet up on the barn? You could see the planks lol.
Everything about that subplot was wonderful. Every moment rang exactly true, and Lorelai's reaction was true to form in the best way. And I appreciated that Emily used Lorelai for her phone call instead of Richard even though she knew it would result in ridicule, because she didn't want to ruin his afterglow after his first day teaching.Emily getting picked up for yakking on a cell phone and driving almost salvaged the episode.
This was probably the part of the episode that was the least successful for me. It seemed pretty clear that they were going for a new Madeline & Louise, to expand Rory's social circle beyond Paris at Yale now that Logan (along with his circle of friends) has graduated. But while they're artsy instead of flirty, they feel like calculatedly colorful TV characters instead of people.VM's Gia on GG? That was a surprise. It was weird to see Rory blow off Logan so casually for a pair of female artist acquaintances.
Me too. Now that April is freed from being a plot device to wedge Luke and Lorelai apart, I could invest in the bonding going on between father and daughter. I've read the criticism that she's just a shoddy knockoff of Rory, but I don't see it. They're both smart, intellectually curious, driven young women, but that's where the comparison ends. When Rory was April's age, she was into literature more than science, and her tastes in pop culture aligned closely with her mother's. April is much nerdier, and much less socially-adjusted. The dynamic between Luke and April is tentative and sweet. Here is a girl who never needed a father, never really wanted a father, but is growing to love the one she's found herself with. They're redeeming some of the problematic choices made last season. And I was glad Luke shot down April's attempt to set him up with her science teacher. That would have been a sitcom plot, and was wisely avoided.Loved April moving in with Luke, I like their repoire.
I also wondered that. But then I figured, since Christopher's rich now, he paid someone enough that they were willing to sit in the dark on the damp grass for hours with the sole task of firing up the projector once the car pulled up and parked.And who started the film projector?
I interpreted this plot development as repairing some of the damage from Season 6: The reason everything went bad between Luke and Lorelai is that Luke kept the existence of April a secret for two months, and then Lorelai bit her tongue with each new increasingly uncomfortable development vis-à-vis April.Well, it's not just about "dropping off" Gigi, but making sure it really is a good situation. I really didn't understand Lorelei's explanation at all, especially when there was a much simpler one: Lorelei just cannot understand the idea that Christopher would be willing to send his kid away for months based on a heartfelt letter, and has a hard time respecting anyone who would even consider it.
Even though I really like watching Rory and Logan together, and even though I think Logan really does love Rory, I kind of hope she doesn't end up with him. If this episode showed anything, it's that he's quickly taking on the mantle of the Huntzberger name and becoming the man his father wanted him to be. If Rory settles down with Logan, she'll have to be okay with assuming some version of the role that Emily fulfills for Richard. He's going to be conquering whole industries and buying and selling the world, and she'd be pleasant and well-educated company along for the ride. I want to see the able young woman who was going to conquer the world herself, dream her own dreams, and succeed on her own terms.I am hoping that Rory doesn't go down the same path as her idiot mother. I'm hoping she realizes that she can be her own person and isn't destined to be Lorelei. I think Logan is good for her. I hope they pull together even stronger and that Rory can move passed her insecurities.
I really enjoyed that scene, because I've always felt like everybody's let Christopher off easy for not being a hands on father while Rory was growing up. It was nice to see him confronted with real fathers.Christopher is a lunkhead, especially at the the parents day function when he finally figures out that he's been an absentee father. Duh.
This subplot was the weakest of the episode for me. On one hand, I'm glad that the show isn't embarking on an ill-fated romance between Luke and April's swim coach. On the other hand, I feel like I've seen a lot of shows where single dad goes on date with crazy woman who rubs him the wrong way. It felt disappointingly obvious the way this season often has, and in a way that earlier seasons hadn't.Luke and April are funny together, but that date with the swim coach screamed "crazy eyes" to me.
Yeah, but Melissa McCarthy acted the crap out of Sookie's guilt at utilizing another man's vegetables. though. I seem to half-remember an episode from one of the early scenes, before Sookie and Jackson were married, where they had a fight about her sourcing vegetables from another supplier. Felt like the show might be repeating itself a bit.Sookie and Jackson's impending vegetable spat isn't that interesting.
That cold open definitely was the biggest laugh of the season so far for me.This ep did flow like earlier eps it's true, and I loved the opening with Lorelai pretending that she got Emily's answering machine which both baffled and frustrated Emily lol.
Part of the problem is that it was so obviously shot on the Warner Bros. backlot with computer-composited background plates of Paris location photography. And I'm pretty sure their 4 AM stroll through Paris was the European Street on the Universal Studios backlot.How can you send Lorelai Gilmore to Paris and not have anything fun happen?
That cut away was my favorite thing in the entire episode.I thought that "Don't worry about Brian" and the cutaway to Brian eating dinner with all of the Koreans was a riot.
This was my number one problem with the ending of this episode. There's just no way in hell that Lorelai would get married to anybody without Rory in attendance. And when I don't believe a character would do something, the whole plot crumbles.Not only did this ep drag but it was also unbelievable from a character standpoint, I can't believe that Lorelai would get married without Rory there. If I were Rory, I would be pissed off beyond imagination at her for getting married without me there, something that Lorelai is obviously worried about, as well she should be.
I would have agreed before the whole "Lorelai waking up in bed with Christopher mere hours after breaking up with Luke" stunt they pulled in the sixth season finale.Obviously, and that's why this thing is even more obnoxious - it's an obvious roadbump that's going to have to be undone, and that just strikes me as sloppy writing. I can almost guarantee that the Palladinos wouldn't have gone this route had they been in charge; they may have their faults, but I can't recall many developments under their watch where the characters would have had to move back before moving forward.
I think they're supposed to fill the hole left by Logan's remoteness. But they still feel like stock TV characters instead of anything approaching real people.The parts that bugged me the most about this episode were the scenes with Rory's new friends. Who are they and what is the point of including them? They're not interesting or essential to anything (unless Rory is meant to steal Marty away). I'd much rather see Rory hanging out with Paris or Lane. Their interactions are far more interesting.
There were far too many scenes in this episode where the characters were too direct in expressing their feelings. This is always a show that has approached sentiment indirectly, and it feels artificial and fake when the characters wear their hearts on their sleeves.Lorelai and Christopher in Paris was just damned excruciating to watch. It certainly proved that NYT article true: I love you! No, I love you! No I love you...
Yeah, me too. I did appreciate that, while the people present were so rich that they didn't realize how extravagantly rich they were, they weren't dicks about it. Even with the obscenely wealthy guy building his island paradise on that sand bar, when he came back from talking with the other woman building nearby, he was as excited to share her story as he was his own.I actually liked most of the dialogue in this episode, but could go without ever having to deal with Logan's stuffy parties.
I really liked that this episode's peek into Luke and April's life together was about real parenting, where he had to make decisions she didn't like and then endure a situation of true helplessness where he'd done all he could do and just had to wait. That, along with the fact that April's calling him dad now instead of Luke, shows that he's becoming a real parent instead of just her pal.Luke and April's scene about the kissing was raw but funny in terms of emotions at odds with one another.
I would have thought something was off if Rory had had any other reaction. For most of her life, it was just her and her mom. The idea that Lorelai would get married without her present is pretty much unthinkable, as many mentioned in reaction to the previous episode.Rory's reaction to the marriage was odd, almost childish, but I guess Rory's still baking on the inside.
I love that in that moment of crisis, Luke called Lorelai without even thinking about everything that had gone down between them, and I love that Lorelai rushed to the hospital to support him. And everything was as it should be until the doctor's confusion over the ring.I always find Luke's parenting funny. I liked that Lorelai was concerned enough about April and Luke (even as a friend) to see him at the hospital.
I absolutely loved it. Not only does it keep a little hope alive for the Luke/Lorelai endgame (since Luke is clearly not over Lorelai), but it honors the show's fondness for classic pop culture of all stripes. It was just perfect.So what did people think of the ending scene? A bit more subtle than the show has been this season.
While I'm still not sure that I believe Lorelai would get married without Rory present, this episode at least provided a rationale I can swallow. And it was very interesting that during her telling Rory that she didn't want to be talked out of it, it sure sounded like she was talking about her and Luke until the very end. Clearly this elopement was a tactic to ward off having what happened with Luke happen with Christopher.Lor knows deep down that this marriage is not going to last, but she's going through the motions for now.
Absolutely. Even thought the roots of her family tree got a little bit twisted on the way down to her, she is the progeny of two fairly prominent blue blood old money families. And over the course of the series, she has become fully immersed in that world. You don't get to pick and choose your privilege, or put it aside when it's inconvenient. If Rory wasn't a Gilmore, her relationship to Logan probably wouldn't have gotten started in the first place. I'm definitely on Logan's side of the argument here.I was actually laughing when Logan was ripping Rory a new one about her own access to wealth, even though her mom took great pains to shield her from it until her sophomore year in high school. So, on one hand, Rory never had the spoiled life of being a blueblood, her family ties have allowed her to some prime educational opportunities, and without them, she never meets Logan and doesn't have a nice swanky LoganLair to hang out in. Logan was right to throw her article back in her face.
One thing that's very telling is how both Lorelai and Rory put on a front to tell Christopher what he wants to hear. That's a legacy of his very occasional status in their lives for the past two decades -- you're always a gracious host for visiting relatives -- but it doesn't work at all if they're going to be a full time family. The fact that Rory waited until Christopher stepped out to the garage to be honest speaks volumes about her relationship with her father.However, Christopher is such an idiot. He can't seem to see right through Lorelei like everyone else can ( even Suki senses when she is ready to throw in the towel when it comes to relationships).
I think Lorelai actually made the right call there. She knew Rory was upset, knew Rory had a right to be upset, and knew better than to upend Rory's stake in their family further until they knew that she was on board.Chris wanting to change Rory's room was just the starting point to the count down of the relationship ending.
Succinctly (and accurately) stated. He completely missed that the journey at least as much the point of these town fundraisers as the destination. Throwing his money around completely killed the fun.Christopher is the guy who lets the air out of the balloons.
I really don't think Rory does want Marty. She just wanted things to be less awkward since they're in a situation where they're going to be spending some time together.Rory wants Marty, but Marty got too drunk and put his foot in his mouth.
The Luke/April relationship has been the beating heart of Season 7 for me. They took a storyline that didn't quite work in Season 6, and turned it into something I'm really emotionally invested in.I felt bad for Luke for almost every scene he was in and was happy to see him come back and kick some butt (figuratively) at the end.
I really liked that scene too. Emily and Lorelai are at odds for so much of the show that the moments where Emily reveals herself to be a caring mother really stand out and have greater impact. And her advice to Lorelai spoke volumes about how she views her own marriage to Richard, even though Richard is in many ways a much better man than Christopher.One pleasant surprise tonight was Emily there at the end, i've never heard her utter wiser words than she did there, Lorelai would be good to listen to her mother for once.
I still don't know what the point of this subplot with Marty is or where they're going with it. Yes, it definitely was a dick move for Logan to pull the stunt he pulled. But he was right to be weirded out a bit by the situation. I'm a bit weirded out by the situation. But nothing about this storyline has felt organic or essential. Things happen because the writers need them to happen. And poor Marty has lost all of the qualities that balanced out his loser in love nature.I liked the Rory/Logan story in this episode. I've finally warmed up to Logan but he was a jerk to spill the beans... at least at that moment.
As funny as that fight was, I was completely turned off from a story standpoint. Here Luke's just been told that any custody fight is likely to get dirty with each side digging into the other's past for any dirt that can be found. Given that, there's no way I believe that Luke would get into a public brawl that could be used as evidence in court that he's unfit to be a parent.That fight was some funny shit. I rewound it and watched it 3 times.
That definitely seems to be the way they're heading. But I don't think it's a case of Christopher getting cold feet and yet again running out on his commitments. I think he's all in when it comes to Lorelai. But after seeing the way she was with Luke's baby niece, and what an idyllic family scene they presented outside Doose's, it left him really questioning Lorelai's commitment. And I think he's right to question it.I was talking about this ep with my best friend Wendy and she came up with the thoery that Christopher will be the one who decides to leave Lorelai, that's a sound theory IMO because he does have a history of abandonment.
I know there's little point in addressing a point of confusion nearly 10 years later, but the person in question was actually asking Luke how April liked having another cousin.It seemed like they pulled a case of not remembering from scene to scene what everyone has for relatives - in an early scene, someone asked how April liked having a cousin, and then they actually mentioned Jess (if not by name) later. Kind of like a couple years ago when Rory acted like she didn't have a sibling.
I actually liked this storyline a lot. Television, and television comedy in particular, doesn't tend to do pregnancy well. Lane's reaction to being THAT pregnant rang true to her situation, even if her shortness with the customers at Luke's felt a little over the top. The conversation in the center of town with Zach really put things into perspective: She spent so many years trying to be a dutiful daughter, finally liberated herself from her mother's rules, and barely got to enjoy her freedom before she got pregnant.Lane's pregnancy crabbiness was grating on my last nerve, props to Zack for keeping it together and seeing the positives out of the situation. Having Sebastian Bach do a cameo and keeping it real with pregnancies and nursing was a good decompressor of that subplot.
The storyline with April sort of left me uneasy the whole episode, because I kept waiting for Anna to burst in and think Luke was conspiring to kidnap her daughter or something. I'm glad it didn't play out that way, and it was nice to see that April is on Team Luke (and knows more about the pending court case than Luke thought). I also really appreciated that he consistently put April's needs first and tried to do what he could to make her more okay with New Mexico even though he wasn't happy about the move himself. He was also careful not to badmouth Anna, and when April suggested more clandestine meetings, he refused to go behind Anna's back any further -- not least of which because it would affect his chances in court. This is the Luke I've known for the past six and a half seasons, not the guy who brawled with Christopher in the center of town.I did like most of the Luke and April subplot, and then the bit at the science store with them and Lorelai and Rory.
I had the same reaction. They'd missed Christmas, and they were overcompensating trying to make up for it. It was also a reminder to Christopher that Lorelai and Rory had this whole life together that didn't include him in it.I bought Lorelai and Rory's banter. They're trying to get into the Christmas spirit after the season and are going crazy trying to do so. I noticed that as the episode progressed, their conversations got less wacky.
I believe before the Paris episode that it was mentioned that Gigi would be staying with Sherry for two months. So I assumed the two months were just up and she was back living with Christopher (and, by extension, Lorelai).Was there any mention of why Gigi wasn't in Paris? They spent so much time getting her there, it seemed odd she just showed up in Star's Hollow with nary a mention of what the arrangement is at all.
Me too! I actually wish the custody case had gotten more screentime this episode, since it's the storyline I'm most invested in this season. Given the way Anna's lawyer was trying to make him look like an uninvolved parent, I really would have liked to see him testify and show just how well he's gotten to know April since she came into his life.Yay! I'm so happy for Luke!
I agree with you completely. And the fact that Loralei hid the letter from him is an indication that she knew he'd have reason not to be okay with it.I don't think Christopher is mad about the letter as much as he is mad about what the letter reveals about Lorelai and her feelings for Luke. Personally, I can't blame him for being angry over being Loreali's second choice. Presumably, he loves her and wants to be married to her and she's in love with another guy but married him anyway.
This was the first episode where Lucy felt like a real human being instead of just a stock character.I really enjoyed this episode. Mostly because something positive happened for Luke. There were a number of good Paris moments and I dig the Lucy character too.
Obviously watching the show from 2016, I know Richard will be alive through the end of the series. But seeing him collapse now, and knowing Richard will have passed when the revival picks up, made me unexpectedly emotional. One area where the show has fallen short this season is that Richard and Emily really haven't had a lot to do; they've mostly just been reacting to Lorelai and Rory's storylines. So by giving Richard a health crisis, it gives Richard and Emily their own storyline again.Richard better be OK. I'm good with characters dying on some shows but I hope that they realize that Gilmore Girls is too light hearted of a show to have a major character die.