(S07E15) Perhaps Emily Gilmore should drink more often.That's the take-away I get from this episode. When Emily drinks, she's warm and open, and almost forgiving of her "wayward" daughter Lorelai. When she doesn't drink, she's prickly, mean, and prone to judge everything and anything, including how her daughter is managing her life.
If I were Lorelai and I had the choice, I think I'd take drunk Emily any day of the week. And I think Lor realized that as she walked out of the Gilmore family dining room at the end of this episode.
This episode kind of felt like a nice old shoe, know what I mean? There wasn't a lot of "townie" stuff, at least beyond Babette and Miss Patty talking about the "hen" and the "beagle" (Lor and Chris, respectively), as well as the fact that the "hen" should be with the "rooster" (Luke). Kirk chimed in with his goofy "that's unnatural" talk, but all of it felt like it was an obligatory townie "throw-in" to prove that they're all still there. But the rest of the episode felt natural, more natural than the first dozen or so episodes of the year. Sure, it didn't have the zippiness and flow of the peak Palladino years, but at least the characters were acting like themselves, something we haven't seen for a while.
The only part of the episode I hated was Liz and T.J. I'm sure Michael DeLuise is a fine actor. But whenever I see his name pop up in the credits as a guest star, I cringe a little. We know what we're going to get when we see T.J.: Michael Scott-level inappropriateness paired with Luke using all his strength to resist the urge to smack the guy upside the head. At this point, Liz and T.J. are only around to be the voices of Luke's conscience. "Call Lorelai", they say. Well, at least Liz is saying that. She's the angel on Luke's shoulder. T.J. is the devil, saying that Lor and Luke were never good together. But both think he's lonely for some reason. No matter what they said, they're both annoying.
It's interesting that both Lorelai and Rory felt that the Chris/Lor relationship didn't feel right. Just like last week, it seems like the characters are voicing a frustration that the fans have been expressing since the season started. Which makes me wonder: was that "not quite right" feeling I had all season about Chris and Lor something that was purposely written into the storyline, or did the writers put those words in the characters' mouths because they were listening to the fans? Maybe they wrote the storyline with the best of intentions, but it also felt off to them, so that feeling ended up being transferred to Lor and Rory. The process is fascinating to think about, though.
So Emily is a canoe and Lor is a kayak. That's what Emily came up with while the two of them were drinking and working on Quicken (sounds like it was a heck of a night). It was a good time for Lor to tell her mother about her breakup with Chris, even though Emily's sympathy and admiration -- Lor's flinch when she got some unexpected physical affection from her mother was priceless -- wouldn't last long. That has always been one of the most brilliant things about this show; we know that, deep down, Richard and Emily are proud of their daughter, but we never see any more than flashes of that, especially with Emily. It's almost as if she can't admit to Lor that she's a little jealous that her daughter is a smart, independent woman, while she is fully dependent on her husband to do just about anything.
Oh, and way to go with the sympathy for the patient. When my dad had a bypass, he couldn't eat much for a few weeks, either. The appetite just isn't there, which makes sense considering his chest had recently been ripped open. I can see Emily wanting things to get back to normal quickly, but you'd think that even she'd have more patience than what she displayed in this episode. Though I did like the low-talking maid, and the fact that both the chef and nurse stood up to the Gilmores. You should always quit before you're fired, right?
Mitchum Huntzberger is quite the prick, isn't he? He thinks that he and Rory are on "Team Logan," and now he's going to reward Rory's help in "reforming" him by giving her a job at any of his papers. Nice. This was a case where Rory was right in fully disclosing things to Logan. Something tells me that Rory is going to "get Huntzbergered" a few more times before this season is out, especially now that Logan's lost his entire trust fund. You knew that was going to happen, right? He took a big risk, and now some sort of patent dispute is going to sink the company he just sunk all his money into. When he got that call, I almost felt bad for the guy. How this is going to change his relationship with Rory is unclear right now, but you just get the feeling that the smoothness that we've seen for most of the season is going to be short-lived.
So, we're left with Luke picking up the phone to call Lorelai -- he downplayed his knowledge of the Chris breakup, but you know he's thinking about her again -- and Lor realizing that she can make it on her own, even if she has to remain by herself for the rest of her life. It's a stark realization, but maybe she realizes now that the leaps of faith she had been making haven't been working. The breakups seem to be less devastating as time goes on, if you notice, so maybe Lor is realizing that she needs to be by herself for a little while. No matter. Next week is Lane's baby shower/delivery (Luke's wearing the blue hat again in the preview... hmmm....), so that ought to distract us for a little while. But there isn't much time left.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-21-2007 @ 12:05AM
Alexis said...
...and here i was, thinking i was the only person who thought that Luke's blue cap held significance. :)
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2-21-2007 @ 12:26AM
Diana said...
The one thing that bothers me after every episode is how little time is left. Most likely the show won't return for an 8th season and yet so much of the new episodes are still filler.
Decent episode this week but Rory grows less and less interesting every episode.
http://www.mediaobsessed.com
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2-21-2007 @ 7:19AM
butterfly said...
I love love this show, I hope it goes on for another 7 years. Well at least until Rory gets married and has her first child. I would love to see Luke and Lor get back together. That is what seems right and what has seemed right for 7 seasons.
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2-21-2007 @ 8:14AM
Alissa said...
Lorelai bought the blue hat for Luke after her fathers first "heart attach." After they broke up he stopped wearing it. Now that he sees an opening he is wearing it again. I think Luke should be with Lorelai. The show can't end unless they get their happy ending. I agree about Rory. They need to beef up her story line.
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2-21-2007 @ 8:34AM
Deb said...
Lor independent?? Mom, can you pay for Rory's high school? I'll allow you co-sign a loan for me but look very put-out about it. Luke, will you lend me $30,000.00? I could be independent with family and friends like that! Oh, I'd put up the same fuss as she does and still take the money, like she does but I hope I wouldn't act like a 14 year old spoiled brat to her parents as she does.
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2-21-2007 @ 9:07AM
courtney said...
The shot of Luke in the promo is from an episode in season six, the one where Sookie comes in and is showing him the wedding topper for their wedding cake and is going on about his butt.
This show is so clearly on its way out - couldn't have been more boring. These writers don't know how to write Luke - they have him dull - no more wit, no more grumpiness or rants. Everything that make Luke such a great character has been stripped from him.
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2-21-2007 @ 10:03AM
gadlaw said...
You know, I've been one of those loyal viewers who stopped watching this show with that soap opera ending of last season. I mean, the show left me before I left it and I hadn't even so much as peeked at an episode til last week. Seeing last week's episode and this week's show I can see there's a spark of life in there. The promise of evil lowlife Christopher getting bounced was enough to interest me into tuning in. And watching Lauren Graham as Lorelai being her enchanting, angst ridden, complex character for me is like those moths circling the flame. It's hard not to be drawn back in for those few episodes like the last two which are tolerable. I can watch that show even if Rory isn't there next year if they steer to the Northern Exposure type quirkiness with Lorelai and Luke and townfolk stories, I mean those are the fun charming bits of the show I love along with Lorelai and her mom and her dad and pretty much every scene with Lorelai and everybody else. I mean, keep the show fun and don't turn it into a soap opera crapfest and I'm good to go.
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2-21-2007 @ 1:44PM
LMc said...
I Love this show, and have been a loyal viewer from the beginning, I refuse to give up on it!
When Lorelai and Emily were "bonding" I thought it was one of the sweetest moments I've seen, when Lorelai said "Thanks Mom" I almost cried!
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2-21-2007 @ 5:22PM
Stevie said...
holy crap i didn't hate this one! it's true -- drunk emily is awesome! why? because kelly bishop rocks, that's why. oh, and i didn't get the idea that richard wasn't hungry; i felt he was rebelling against his diet and being treated like he's sick (the fact that he IS sick doesn't matter considering he's used to getting his way all the time).
i really don't understand what makes people see chris as an "evil lowlife." lor has bailed on him as many times as he's bailed on her. this one really took the cake -- we're supposed to blame him for the fact that she married him? she said yes! she's supposed to be the independent one. yes, she was coming off a breakup, but that shouldn't be a license to stomp all over people, or use them, or whatever. she just never takes responsibility for anything because no one ever makes her. i totally agree that it would be nice to see her single for awhile. not dating other guys, just totally single.
oh, and they could make every episode center around logan saving the lives of puppies and babies and old people, and i would still loathe him. he is nasty and creepy and so's his old man.
also agree with how annoying tj & liz are, esp tj. just shut him up already.
but hey, all it took was one great scene in one not-as-crappy episode for me to care about this show again! yay!
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2-21-2007 @ 6:05PM
jOHN! said...
I think this is how Rory and Logan break up. Up until this point, he's been using his money to put Rory at ease with him being so far away. Now that he doesn't have any money, he'll be a total work horse. She'd want to be with him, but he'll have to work. He doesn't have the luxury anymore to charter flights or helicopter rides just to be with her.
Rory loves the attention that Logan gives to her, and Logan knows that makes him seem like more of a great guy.
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2-22-2007 @ 4:56PM
Mike said...
Man, I'm apparently the only person in the universe who likes the TJ character. I can't get enough of that guy.
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2-23-2007 @ 12:21PM
Judi said...
omg--LMc--I about cried too! As much as I adore Lauren Graham, I find myself annoyed with her acting, especially in emotional scenes, but the "thanks mom" was lovely. Just lovely.
Also I would love to see Rory and Logan married before the show ends, in an eloping fashion no less. Rory will now be the breadwinner and Logan will remain as sweet and secure as ever. Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?
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2-24-2007 @ 10:53AM
Megan said...
I really enjoyed tonight's episode. Any GG episode that gives Lauren Graham and Kelly Bishop a lot of time to work together is all right by me. They're the best duo on TV!
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2-24-2007 @ 12:22PM
Tammy said...
I must be one of the few who has actually liked Logan from the start. You do have to take into consideration his position in life, having a ton of family money, being able to do what he wants, when he wants. Maybe people just hate the fact that he was privileged. But he actually does love Rory and has shown that many times. The attraction all along has been that she's not like the females he was normally around. She has those small town roots, the family money, the Yale smarts, the knowledge of all things trivial, etc. She understands responsibility and she understands blowing things off too. I thought that has been the point all along, Rory has some of Emily and Richard in her as well as Lorelai. She has the Gilmore pedigree as well as Stars Hallow quirkiness. Why wouldn't Logan love her?
Anyway, I still see Logan and Rory staying together. Rory is the combo of Lorelai's past and present. She's suppose to be able to handle it both. Sure Logan is a little bit of Christopher and what girl doesn't want to find some of Dad's good qualities in a man. But he's now showing the responsibility that took Chris much longer to find. He's trying to be his own man.... something Lor did years ago too.
To me Lorelai has to end up with Luke because he represents the life she has chosen. Chris was her past and Lor can visit her past with Friday night dinners but she can't live there. Her choice is the inn and Stars Hallow and that means Luke. (My only acceptable change would be if Max came back because I always liked Max!)
Rory has embraced her past and her mother's past and Logan fits with that. Marty had a problem with money. Dean was too small town and Jess was too much of a rebel. Logan is a blend of all the aspects of Rory's life and now that he's broke... he should be able to understand Lorelai a bit more and the choices she made years ago. It will be interesting to see if he turns his back on the family money and tries to still build something on his own or not.
Sorry for the book.............
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2-26-2007 @ 4:40PM
DeAnn said...
I agree with Tammy!Rory and Logan need to be together, and now she can be the breadwinner, and they can get married and start a family, which will really fry that bastard Mitchum H's buns! What a controlling jerk that guy is! I hope that Logan and Rory are able to just totally disconnect from him and prove that they can make it on their own, without the trust fund and the rest of the slimey Huntzberger clan (his mother is no prize,either! I love that Emily called her a two-bit gold-digger from nowhere!) And I also agree that Lor and Luke need to get back together before the end of the show. I don't think there will be another season, but I won't feel so bad about that if they end this season with Lorelai finally happily hitched with Luke. And yeah, Peter Deluise is annoying, but that is part of his charm. His father and brothers are hilarious comedic actors, and Peter has been a producer for this show for awhile, so I figure if he wants to play a minor annoyance on the show, let him.
I loved the drunken Emily/Lor learning to use the computer stuff, too. That was awesome. Emily is usually such a controlling, mean wench, that it was nice to see her try to reach out to her daughter for a change. And to that person who thinks Lorelai is somehow ungrateful to her parents, you are nuts. She has thanked them many times for helping her put her daughter through high school and college, and you have to know that she wouldn't have borrowed money from them for any other reason than Rory, because she didn't want all the controlling, nasty crap from her mother. I don't blame her a bit. Her parents are snotty and judgemental and mean, in addition to being controlling. Lorelai just wanted to live her own life and raise her child herself, without having her mother force her to do things she didn't want to do. She didn't want to be a doormat or a puppet, and that makes total sense. I wouldn't want to be a slave to Emily Gilmore, either, no matter how much money she loaned me. And that is another point, Lorelai PAID BACK the money that she borrowed for Rorys education to her parents. Rorys dad paid for the rest of Yale, so Lorelai doesn't owe them for that. Its not like she just took their money and didn't return it. She did, which is amazing of her, considering they are rich and she works for a living. And Rory offered to pay them back for the part of Yale they paid for, too. So Lorelai doesn't owe them a thing, so Emily can't hold all that over her head and use it to manipulate Lorelai into doing what Emily wants.
I can't wait for the next few eps to see how things work out.
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