(S07E06) In this episode of Gilmore Girls, kiddies, we have entered what is known as the Bizarro Gilmore World (maybe there there Rory's name is Yror). People talk and talk and talk but say nothing. Christopher and Lorelai act like lame Yale parents. Rory doesn't wear gobs and gobs of mascara. Emily and Richard are the most sensible people in the room. Seemingly reasonable swim coaches become nightmare dates in the span of ten seconds. And Sookie appreciates vegetables that come from someone other than her husband Jackson. Problem with Bizarro Worlds, though, is that they don't seem to ever make a lick of sense, and go about things the wrong way just because they can.Can you tell that I found this episode completely irritating?
This episode just seemed to be a lot of noise to me. Everyone was louder and more shrill than usual, saying things that either didn't quite make sense or were crowbarred into the script to make a point. This is one of those episodes where you can tell that David Rosenthal and his writers strain to make things very Gilmore-esque, and ultimately fail.
There were a couple of good moments: The open, where Lorelai tricks Emily by calling and leaving a fake phone message, even though Emily was on the other side of the phone (the CW ruined this by showing the whole thing in the promos, but whatever). Granted, it didn't have much to do with the episode's plot, but funny is funny. Seeing Lane interact with April was fun -- I liked how Luke said Lane was "hanging out" with his daughter, when really she was babysitting. Lane's interactions with April seemed natural, mainly because April's just a young version of her best friend Rory. And Paris' bragging about barely working but being on the front page anyway was classic Paris.But the rest of it? Pheh. So all of a sudden, Kirk is unhappy with Lulu and is happy to see Luke being a loosey goose. "No one cares where you are or where you're going!" he gleefully tells Luke. It might as well be a Bat signal to ol' Luke, telling him to move on with his life. Of course, he's not allowed to find a nice woman right away, so that's how April's swim coach turns from a flirty if clingy potential date into every bad dating cliche ever created. I've seen more subtle writing on Two and a Half Men.
And so what if Sookie used some other dude's vegetables? Is it enough to build an entire subplot around? I will say, the good thing about that plot is that we were able to see Jackson for the first time this season, if only briefly; I was starting to think that Sookie abandoned her husband and kids and just lived at the Dragonfly. Wonder if Jackson Douglas (who knew that Jackson was played by a guy named Jackson?) was pacing around his apartment for the first five weeks, wondering when Rosenthal was going to call him onto the set.
It was nice to see April calling Luke "Dad." But I just wish Luke and Lorelai would interact a little more. The more they remain apart, the more I start to wonder if The Powers That Be are ever going to put them back together. And, while Lor and Chris are cute together, it just doesn't feel right that Luke and Lor, who were such good friends, are spending what is likely the show's last season as far apart from each other as two people can get in Stars Hollow.
Notice I've been avoiding talking about the "Yale Parents Weekend" plot. That's because there's really not much to say. Lorelai thinks the weekend is lame but goes because Chris wants to be all Dad-like. Yawn. She sees Maw and Paw Gilmore, who have gone to this weekend every year Rory's been there, and gets jealous and angry. Double Yawn. And Chris goes crazy and tries to overcompensate when he feels guilty for not being the Dad some others at Yale were. Zzzzzzz....
Dunno... it just seemed like we've tilled this ground many times before. Nothing new, nothing that advanced the story. And really, not all that funny. Even Lorelai's attempts at learning French seemed like a tired TV cliche. When I went to Paris, I knew not a syllable of French beyond the usual greetings and words for alcoholic beverages, and I got along fine; Lorelai feeling the need to study French tapes for her trip with Chris seemed like an unnecessary flourish to me.
Oh, well. Rosenthal and company took a mulligan this week. Next week is the proposal (and, from the spoilers we've been hearing, maybe even more). How silly will Gilmore get? I'm curious to find out.
The TV Squad Podcast: Linda Purl talks about The Office, we talk spoilers, and more
Ask TV Squad: Ghost Whisperer and more!
The TV Squad Podcast: Bill Scheft of The Late Show, Cake Boss, Mad Men and more
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-07-2006 @ 11:45PM
Diana said...
I believe it's David Rosenthal, not Daniel.
Good to know others are negative about this current season as well.
Reply
11-07-2006 @ 11:50PM
Joel Keller said...
Thanks for pointing that out, Diana. It's been a long day in more ways than one, and I guess I just mentally combined "David Rosenthal" and "Daniel Palladino" by accident. Which is strange, since Palladino isn't even there anymore.
If you look at the other reviews, I get his name right.
I don't hate the entire season; but about half the episodes so far have left me cold.
Reply
11-08-2006 @ 8:10AM
courtney said...
The writers should be hiding out in a basement in shame...this is such a unbelievable trashing of a formerly warm, witty show. I feel for the performers who after years of having the gold standard of dialogue are now reduced to uttering this dreck.
Didn't feel a single real emotion throughout the entire mess. Loved seeing Luke again and glad he's bonding with April but all his dialogue was as flat and lifeless as the rest of the show.
Rosenthal should never have accepted to take on this show - he is just not up to the challenge and it's just so sad to see it turned into such crap.
And, next week's episode? Not enough money that could pay me to watch. I may tune in again sometime early next year when hopefully this creepy Chris/Lorelai thing comes to an end - if it does.
What on earth was Amy Sherman Palladino thinking when she abandoned her creation and left it in this guy's hands?
Reply
11-08-2006 @ 8:20AM
David said...
I think what was Amy Sherman Palladino thinking when she had Rory become an idiot that get's breaking up and getting back together with Logan. An even better question is what was she thinking when she gave Luke a 12 year old kid!?!
Reply
11-08-2006 @ 12:29PM
Allison said...
Agreed. This episode was subpar. I think Joel got it right when he said that nothing was subtle. I really think that is what is missing this season. Gee, Kirk's speech to Luke was there only to make him call the coach. It didn't feel real at all. I used to be amazed when an episode was over that an hour had gone by. This one dragged and I considered skipping the second half.
Reply
11-08-2006 @ 9:38AM
Pamela said...
Last night was just filler, no advancing the story line. But a few things stood out. Lorelei was a pain when she and Chris were in the lecture at Yale. He was interested and was trying to listen and participate, and she was just being disruptive and even was going to make a cell phone call (it's all about her). Lorelei went too far in taking Rory and her friends to the same French restaurant for lunch that she was going to be taken to dinner by her Richard and Emily that evening. Lorelei needed to upstage that, too. And why would she be so rude to her parents for coming to Parents Weekend? As Emily stated, they've been coming for years because Lorelei blows off this type of event. I'm beginning to think she is a psycho. All the fast talking babble is really getting to me. People don't really talk like that all the time. Poor Luke, after his date with goofy Swim Coach, he's probably ready to stay single forever. Chris is redeeming himself by his realization that he was an absentee father, and he's trying really hard to make up for it. But how could Lorelei be in love with him so quickly after just breaking up with Luke? Is she "acting out" by being with Chris?
Reply
11-08-2006 @ 10:49AM
ral said...
This is the most sad season so far for the Gilmore Girls. I agree with you entirely Mr. Keller. It seems forced and everything reminds me of those sci-fi shows where aliens take over people's bodies and try to maintain the normalcy but no matter what the town's folk realise something is wrong but can't place their fingers on it. Bizarro indeed!!!
Reply
11-08-2006 @ 2:56PM
jOHN said...
That staff writer that kept complaining about not ever tasting crem bruele was probably the most annoying for me out of the whole episode.
Reply
11-08-2006 @ 3:49PM
MrsEldubya said...
As hard as it was to watch Rory and Lorelai not speaking, it's worse to watch Lorelai and Luke not speaking. No interaction between the two is just horrible. They better fix this and quick. I can handle them just being friends if that is where this is going but no interaction between them is just killing me.
Reply
11-08-2006 @ 4:37PM
Kristine said...
I agree with everything that's been said already. So boring and pointless. Lorelai was definately grating my nerves, especially during the lecture. Everything has to be about her and she has to respond with a snotty comment to everything. If someone acted like that in my life, I would just walk away. You'd think that after all that's happened in the last seven years, she'd be a little less petty with her parents. I don't see how any one can be hard on Rory for her constant immaturity when this is her role model.
Reply
11-08-2006 @ 6:28PM
Campbell said...
Usually, even with the rapid-fire dialogue, the overall the show is still well-paced. But this episode was going way too fast. It was talk, talk, talk all the way through, and everyone seemed to be rushing their lines. There was no time to absorb what was being said or done. It would have been a far better episode if they took out a scene or two i.e. the Sookie subplot and the lecture (what's the point of that scene? To show us how annoying Lorelai is?)
Reply
11-12-2006 @ 1:21AM
ann said...
I found Lorelai so snide and superior to everything and everyone at Yale. I guess they could have played it off as jealousy or regret of her taking a different turn than what could have been IF they had not already built a case over the past years that she is perfectly happy with all that she has accomplished in her life and extra supportive of Rory in her higher education endeavors! Who was it, after all, that wanted Rory back in school more than Lorelai? No one (well, maybe Luke :) ).
She deserves better dialogue than snotty sarcasm and forced jokes. I think we do, too.
Reply
11-13-2006 @ 9:46PM
Stevie said...
am i the only one who thinks the dialogue has slowed down? the banter just doesn't have the "snap" it used to. it really seems completely watered-down.
and april calling luke "dad" seems completely weird to me. i know she showed up last season, but it still seems they haven't known each other very long. wasn't the rest of this episode trying to point out that there's more to fatherhood than sperm donation, that a dad is there for your whole development and plays a role in raising you? luke has not been that for april. so why is she calling him "dad"? even if it's because she really wants a dad, and luke is so crazy about her he doesn't mind, i think they should both seem to feel awkward about it. it is weird.
Reply
11-14-2006 @ 10:25PM
Gili said...
I come out every Tuesday night feeling more depressed each week and this week just did it for me. The writing has been going down hill from the beginning of the season and all I want is for the writers to bring Amy Sherman-Palladino back. Honestly, I think I could write better than Rosenthal. He's lost everything that has made Gilmore Girls what it is. The Chris-Lor relationship is so unbelievably sappy and the dialogue between them just doesn't fit Lorelai's character.
Reply