Oh, the times we had in the old Gilmore threads at ye olde blog. We even had one for what we called the LAST Gilmore Gossip Circle. But now there are new episodes! So, just in case anyone wants to discuss, I’m putting this thread here for the Netflix reboot. Spoilers welcome IN THE COMMENTS. I haven’t started watching yet, but I will soon!
p.s. Most of the old Gilmore threads are at this search tag.
Finished them this afternoon. Some good things, some things I could have done without., some things I wish had been resolved, and a cliff hanger I’m still not sure about. Interested to hear others feedback.
One thing I think they did beautifully was Emily’s arc. She loved Richard, and part of loving Richard was becoming the sort of wife that a man like that was expected to have. By making it clear that, in an ideal world, it isn’t necessarily the life she would have chosen for herself, it recasts her relationship with Lorelai in an interesting way. And Kelly Bishop is always phenomenal.
I broke down during the scene with Sookie. I was near tears for a while, but that’s what did it.
Just finished (though I will rewatch 2-4 with C, because he’s not a marathoner). I really really enjoyed seeing everyone back again and the rhythm of the show felt just right. There were definitely off moments here or there, but overall I was happy with all three of the core arcs. I was surprised by Rory’s revelation at the end, but in retrospect now I can’t imagine it ending any other way. Mostly because I was really worried about what she would write about after she finished that first book — now we know, right? It’ll be a sequel about motherhood, although wow, I’m not sure how I feel about the clear echoes of Lorelai’s own life; will Logan turn out to be her Christopher and Jess her Luke? Clearly set up that way. And while I’d have been just fine with zero romantic intrigue for Rory at the end, that was always so woven into the fabric of the show.
The Sookie scene absolutely made me cry. Also the scene where Lorelai calls her mom from the overlook. And the pig! I loved the pig. And the dog.
Ducking back in to say I think the ending would have landed completely differently if Rory had been 22 instead of 32 for it. And I’m ready to hear arguments for why it is the worst ending ever! 🙂
I have so many FEELS. On balance, I really liked it. I didn’t love Rory’s aimlessness though. She was far too passive for me, and I disliked how someone was always on hand to rescue her and no one called her on her stuff. They treated her like the Golden Child she’s always been but that doesn’t look good on her and I felt like she was too infantilized. And I didn’t like the whole cheating-on-Peter thing. I think it was supposed to set up the funny gag for the arc but it just makes her look bad. And I felt like the pacing on the town musical was waaaay off. It went on forever. I love Sutton Foster, but this was too much of a good thing. I loved Emily’s arc. I loved Luke’s speech to Lorelai in the kitchen. I love that she’s going to expand her business and keep Michel. Sookie was perfect. As far as that ending: so much of what fans love about the show is the romance of it. We kind of forget that the romances are always imperfect and often unresolved. And yet I still feel shortchanged. Like . . . I wanted a neat bow for Rory, not ASP’s arty resonance. I am obviously very miffed. There has to be more to Papa Huntzberger’s careful study of Rory in the family restaurant, more to Jess’s longing look. I’m hoping this was to give Lorelai her neat bow and we get another 4-episode arc for Rory’s bow. She can’t be doomed to repeat her mother’s bad timing with both Chris and Luke for as long as Lorelai had to live it, is she?
I’m not in disagreement with any of this, though I think leaving Rory’s relationship status unsettled worked better for me than it did for you. I’d love to see another four-ep or whatever arc focused on Rory. I’ve always felt like Rory had a little less character to her than Lorelei after she left high school. The golden child who kind of is both in her mother’s shadow and in her image, but who as a grown-up became steadily less interesting to me even though she should be my perfect kind of character. I could see this being a very interesting journey for her and deepening her character in some ways? And I like that she tells her mom at the end, and we know that Lorelai isn’t going to kick her out of her life; this isn’t going to be a repeated story, it’s a circle but not necessarily a pattern. Though the pattern is definitely there — I would also hope Logan is a better guy than Chris (I’m sure he is, but I need to rewatch that scene between Rory and her dad; it has a new context now) because I’m kinda leaning team Jess — he was the only person in her life who actually gave her advice that helped her SEE a new purpose for herself.
And agreed on the cheating — handled awfully casually. At least it’s not Wookie Man’s baby, right? ;p
Oh, that’s SUCH a good point about the scene with Christopher! I think knowing the ending will give a lot of scenes a different resonance.
And I am so glad Rory is 32 instead of 22 when she gets knocked up. Those are two very different stories to tell, and being 32 myself, I am way more interested in how an older Rory handles motherhood. I would love see another arc featuring her.
And the Paul stuff was just so terrible. It feels like a gag out of HIMYM or The League, and beneath GG, though you can make the argument about whether that’s because it’s women vs men characters being terrible. I watched it with three friends, and everyone Rory started doing something romance-related we just shouted “break up with Paul!” at the tv.
Paul served exactly no purpose! A gag is exactly right, and one that took up far too much precious time. Why not have Rory actively pretending she doesn’t have a love life instead or something more character revealing (and not in a bad way)? It feels like a joke about a friend’s boyfriend that they wrote in and were far too in love with.
I loved it.
I know some of it wasn’t perfect but honestly, a lot of it echoed with me especially the frustration in her 30s of not knowing what to be and fighting to so hard to find out and the Lorelai’s struggle in her late 40s with finding herself as well. All I can say is that it really really seemed real to me.
And the Logan thing made sense to me also. He was a gorgeous glorious screw-up relationship-wise. He has always loved her, but just not in the big and wonderful forever kind of way that she needs. I don’t think he even knows what that is, which is why he could cheat so easily on his fiance. (And yeah – she should have been good enough not to do that but he’s her glorious screw-up.)
It will be Jess. We always knew it was Jess. And I’m totally fine with it being Jess.
All I can say is that I need this so much – soooo much!
PS. And can’t say enough how much I loved every bit with Emily! That scene in the DAR! Kelly Bishop SLAYS!!!!
Should read “I NEEDED this so much”! Lost the past tense in there and didn’t want you to think I was leaving my husband to go find myself on the PCT! ha!
I feel EXACTLY the same — imperfect though it is, I loved going back to this world and these characters and just the rhythm of it.
I thought it was pretty perfect, or at least as perfect is it could have been– and much better than I expected it to be. They did a great job of not making it not too depressing, which is to me the biggest potential pitfall for this kind of reunion show. Ultimately it felt like the same show, with all the same flaws, but also all of the charm. And actually, it felt much more focused and purposeful than a lot of the Yale seasons.
I still felt like they struggled to figure out what to do with Rory, but that has always been a problem for this show. Because of the way they baked perfection into the character from the start, it seems they can never figure out how to give her problems and flaws without making her seem spoiled and horrible. (And I don’t think Alexis Bledel is a strong enough actress to give the character the impression of intelligence she needs in order to really work.) Anyway, Rory still seems spoiled and clueless at 32, but it didn’t bother me very much– she has never been the strongest part of the show anyway. The cheating thing did not bother me one bit.
If they struggle with what to do with Rory, the same goes triple for Lane, whom they probably should have written out after the first season but have insisted on dragging along all those years despite the fact that she’s never had a single thing to do. And still didn’t. Oh well– I guess by now it’s just tradition.
The big production numbers were pretty painful. Fake parody musicals have been done to death, and done much better than this. The Beatles thing was completely mortifying and made no sense. The wedding number was a bit much, but not so bad.
Kelly Bishop stole every single scene and is an amazing treasure.
Lorelai has gotten a bad rap in the years since the show has been off the air, and it was nice to be reminded that she’s really a pretty great character. She may be annoying at times and sort of self-centered, but Lauren Graham has so much charisma, and gives the character so much warmth and depth, that Lorelai just feels real and well-rounded, not to mention– dare I say it?– likeable. (It’s too bad Alexis Bledel isn’t really able to do the same for Rory.)
I’ve always thought Sookie was irritating but I thought it was kind of sad that she couldn’t have been more present here. Although maybe having her around would have mitigated some of the poignance of Lorelai’s story.
I could have used more Paris too.
As someone who has always shipped Luke and Jess, I was happy that they got to have a tiny bit of sexual tension in the final moments, even if it was slightly gay panicky in traditional Gilmore Girls fashion. (I do not think all those muscles suit Jess, but I guess no one can stay a twink forever.)
The “last four words” worked beautifully for me, even if they were really only two words. (I figured out that Rory was pregnant when she went to see Christopher, though, so the only surprise was that they waited to the very end to reveal it.) And despite the cliffhanger I sort of hope this is the last of we see of this crew– it was a proper send-off.
Totally agree with your overall take (though I always loved Sookie). The critiques of Lorelai’s characterization over the years have usually made me draw growly comparisons about how terrible a male character would have to be to get the same commentary.
I had a moment’s fantasy during the band’s performance that Paris would decide to manage the band and that this would also bring her back into Doyle’s orbit somehow. I would watch that show in a heartbeat. Lane deserved so much better!