(S07E19) Rumors have been flying around for years that Lauren Graham and Scott Patterson don't get along really well off the Gilmore Girls set. I've always wondered how things between them might go when the cameras weren't rolling. Would they be cordial to each other? Painfully polite?Well, I'm wondering no longer. All I had to do was watch those first awkward scenes between Luke and Lorelai in this episode, and I now I have a pretty good idea how things are between this show's stars (if those rumors are true of course).
It was great to see Lorelai make the the first move and go into Luke's. Despite Kirk's usual over-anal documentation of how and when her old counter stool became his counter stool, the scene had a satisfying feel to it, as if the writers were gluing the largest piece of a broken lamp into place. Of course, not everything could go back to normal right away, as the former couple chit-chatted about how warm it was. But that was to be expected. What was even more uncomfortable was the beginning of their car-shopping trip. I think I've had more engaging conversations with dental hygienists cleaning my teeth.
But instead of showing us where the conversation turned, we just get back from a commercial break and see the two of them arguing like it was Season Four all over again. That was refreshing. I had almost forgotten how exasperated the two of them got with each other when they were just friends, but seeing that argument brought it all back. Even Lorelai knew, as the smile she gave while Luke was lecturing her about her "feeling" about cars indicated.
Of course, that led Luke to go the extra mile, something he used to do with regularity before the break-up. Though it's too bad he arranged that "Wrangler to Wrangler transplant," though, because Lauren Graham looked so utterly adorable riding that bike.
Speaking of which... I thought last week's episode was heavy on the symbolism, but this one beat it by a country mile. When Lorelai cites the old saw "it's just like riding a bike," we all know she's not referring to that bike she got twelve years ago. Sookie also wasn't really referring to Lorelai's busted dollhouse when she told her friend, "Everything can be be fixed, huh?" By the way, the writers went a long way to get to that line, didn't they? Sookie sends Jackson to Lorelai's so he doesn't get chicken pox. Jackson has fun when out from under Sookie's jack-booted reign. He breaks Lorelai's dollhouse. He and Sookie make up. Sookie says "Everything can be fixed." My, my. I haven't seen such an elaborate lead-up like that since Frasier went off the air.
On to other matters... It was good to see Paris get significant screen time this week; Liza Weil has been underused this season, but she's been funny whenever she was on-screen. This week was no exception. When I talked to Rich about this episode, he seemed to be skeptical that Paris would have realistically made it into all of the law and medical schools that she applied to. But I think that's completely within Paris' super-achiever character, and, as we found out, it came back to bite her in the ass. Sometimes, there's just a thing as too many choices, know what I mean? It was odd, though, that she'd have a lucky letter opener or find Rory to be lucky; Paris seems like the type who would dismiss luck as a tool of the ignorant or something. At least she decided to factor Doyle into her life, or rather Doyle decided to factor himself into her life. The hard, robotic Paris needed to become a well-rounded human at some point.
Of course, Paris is always there to speak the truth to her best friend. Despite her despair over breaking up her relationship, she managed to show Rory that she's factoring in her career over her relationship with Logan. The whole thing with Rory does seem odd, though... the Rory Gilmore of a few years ago wouldn't have based all of her hopes on a single opportunity. I guess that's why the writers decided to give Paris a wealth of choices; they wanted the stark contrast to Rory's decision to put her eggs in a New York Times-wrapped basket. As we saw at the end of the episode, doing that wasn't the best way to go.
One more thing... Michel drives a Golf? You'd think that he'd at least drive a Jetta; a sedan seems more appropriate for him.
It was a pretty solid episode. The fact that Luke and Lorelai are back into their old rhythm made it a very satisfying one, as well. Like most of the good episodes this year, this deserves a 5 on our 1-7 scale. Three more episodes left. Will they be the last three ever? If so, time's getting short, isn't it?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-24-2007 @ 11:48PM
Ryan said...
Liza Weil was absolutely fantastic in this episode. I vote to end GG this season and give Paris a spin-off. Just brilliant.
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4-25-2007 @ 12:09AM
Steve Shickles said...
I agree.
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4-25-2007 @ 12:12AM
amanda said...
I am tired of Paris' shrill diatribes all of the time. Lessen her face time and give us all a break. Amanda
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4-25-2007 @ 12:14AM
daverrr said...
This episode was all about LL's low cut dress.
How does a hottie like LG with itty bities a/b boobies get that much cleavage?
It seemed like this will be the end of GG, LL is back to her quirky self and Rory's is in need of some motherly love and support.
A good open ended final would at least open the chance that a made for TV special could be in our future.
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4-25-2007 @ 12:21AM
Tammy said...
What I still miss is the little tidbits of trivia that Lorelai and Rory would throw around. Tonight Lorelai referenced Jack Bauer.... Lorelai of old would have never referenced something so mainstream and easy to understand.
It seemed way too forced for me tonight, way too heavy handed. Now the only thing that seemed right, was the Wrangler to Wrangler transplant so she could keep her old car. Rory wrote her name in marker in it. :)
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4-25-2007 @ 12:39AM
Bill said...
The Golf seems appropriate for Michel. It's like... dainty and European.
http://popculturejunk.blogspot.com/
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4-25-2007 @ 1:23AM
runescape said...
brilliant star.i love her too ~~
runescape money
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4-25-2007 @ 4:10AM
Joseph said...
I know Gilmore Girls isn't really the show to be nitpicking this kind of thing...
But there's no way the cost of an 8 year old Jeep bought from some guy plus all the work necessary to replace an engine could come NEAR the price of those new cars Lorelai was looking at. No way.
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4-25-2007 @ 7:32AM
courtney said...
How shabby for you to once again bring up what you even acknowledge is rumor - that SP/LG have issues with one another. The only time I ever hear about this is when reporters or critics bring it up and refer to the "rumor" - maybe until you all confirm it or not, you should lay it to rest already.
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4-25-2007 @ 8:21AM
Charles said...
when you have large dogs for pets, you want something wagonish.
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4-25-2007 @ 8:22AM
Barbara Johnson said...
Any hope of GG extending? It is too good to end.
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4-25-2007 @ 8:58AM
Bash said...
First of all I think the episode was glorious. I'd give it a 9 out of 10, which on your scale would be an even 6.3 *snicker*
Ok let's just say I'd give it a dumb-rating 6 out of 7.
The reason behind that decision is that for the first time in a very long while I actually was able to smile and feel warm inside because of Luke and Lor. And I hate you for telling me those two don't get along in real life. What's that supposed to help me with? I am turning on the TV to live a life I don't live so don't tell me it's all just a show and not real. As long as I believe it's real, it is so don't ruin my fun.
That said I think that the "everything can be fixed" wasn't anywhere close to the hay-maze last time when Logan went with Rory to the right when they had to chose where to go. That was symbolic in a door-in-the-face kind of way.
Anyway I still love this show very much and I actually can't think of a reason why we should not see a married Luke and Lor together with their girls and maybe a baby on the way in an 8th or 9th season. The only reason for The CW to take this off the air would be budgetary, nothing else. With 7th Heaven gone and hopefully put to rest with a stake to the heart they need to at least carry SOME things over to the next season. With Smallville losing a major character this week I can't see what's left that's good on The CW except maybe "The Game" and that ridiculous model show who's name I won't mention out of spite :-)
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4-25-2007 @ 9:39AM
Brandi said...
Was I the only one that got grossed out after hearing Michel's speech about used cars?
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4-25-2007 @ 12:55PM
Dorothy Evins said...
Why didn't Jackson stay at the Inn since Sookie is part owner .
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4-25-2007 @ 1:33PM
MAB said...
Hey Ryan (#1) was there a full moon out last night or what ??? ... My hubby and I were also talking about all the potential GG spinoffs last night during and after the show. How cool would it be to follow the antics of Paris and Doyle as they respectively move on thru med school and a newspaper job and balance a love life ? ... and What about Lane and Zach raising their twins with the (aggravating but hilarous) help of Mrs. Kim as they also try to keep Hep Alien playing with Brian and Gil ? And let's not forget odd couple Michel and Sookie - I could watch their hijinks all day working at the Inn .... We didn't even get to talk about Richard and Emily but what a showcase pair they would be .... I haven't heard any word on any GG spinoffs for the future but we can't believe that the thought hasn't crossed CWs minds - especially with the gold mine of quirky characters Stars Hollow has to offer. Later guys !
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4-25-2007 @ 3:56PM
Kerri said...
Dorothy, Sookie mentioned in that scene that the inn was full and that's why Jackson couldn't stay there.
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4-27-2007 @ 1:30AM
Rob said...
Well I just got to the show tonight and I gotta say,.. things are getting better.
Regarding the symbolism,.. Did anyone catch Lorelai's rant when she was checking out the new Jeep on the lot? The more she protested with Luke about how it was the same, but it just didn't feel right, the more I was wondering if she was really talking about their relationship. All of the sudden I realized that the writers could very easily make the show end up with them just staying friends.
Maybe it was just me, but it seemed a subtle way of foreshadowing the demise of any possible future relationship with Luke.
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4-28-2007 @ 8:31AM
courtney said...
The show's not ending with Luke/Lorelai as just friends. Thankfully.
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4-28-2007 @ 11:43PM
Patty said...
I absolutely love the Gilmore Girls. Everything about it is excellent, from the acting to the writing to the direction. But I must say that up until the last few episodes, I have not been very thrilled with this season. It doesn't seem as if much is 'clicking'. I really would like to see it continue on for many more seasons and after watching the last few, I'm sure it can.
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4-30-2007 @ 4:02PM
DeAnn said...
I thought this was a rather aggravating episode, but I did love that Luke and Lor are back to bickering and caring about each other. And to those who don't want to know if the actor and actress get along, while I can understand you wanting to keep the facade of the show intact, you have to realize that the real people, the actors, are going to shade their acting with their own real feelings. So if Scott hates Lauren Graham in real life, the love scenes between them aren't going to be too realistic, because its hard to do that much acting to get over how you really feel about a person. So, while I hope its not a true rumor, I see the need to put it on the TV squad blog. I think that Luke and Lorelai might get back together at the very end of the season, but not before. And I hope they don't spin off a show about Paris and Doyle, though I love those characters. But a little bit of Paris goes a long way, folks. That rapid-fire angst of hers would probably send me into a panic attack if I had to watch it for more than a few minutes.
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