Flawed episodes seem to give us more discussion fodder, but maybe this will be the week of perfect and fireworksy. The WB sez:
Always a Godmother, Never a God. Missing Rory (Alexis Bledel), Lorelai (Lauren Graham) tries to call her and is upset to find that Rory’s cell phone is no longer in service. Sookie (Melissa McCarthy) asks Lorelai and Rory to be the godparents to her two children in the hope that they will reconcile when they see each other at the ceremony. However, mother and daughter end up fighting when Lorelai realizes that Rory gave her new cell number to Sookie but not to her. Logan (Matt Czuchry) learns that his father expects him to graduate this year and enter the family business. Wanting to break free from family pressures, Logan whisks Rory off to a weekend in New York.
Scott Patterson, Kelly Bishop, Keiko Agena, Yanic Truesdale and Sean Gunn also star. Robert Berlinger directed the episode written by Rebecca Rand Kirshner.
I believe they are giving more solo writing credits without a Sherman or a Palladino or a Sherman-Palladino this season, but it’d be hard for me to believe ASP is not still giving it all a polish. See you later, alligators.
Well, I thought this was a fabulous episode. Worth it for the Beau-scapades alone. Just overall really, really funny. I loved Rory and Lane’s awkwardness and how they punched through it. And any episode with so much Sookie and Jackson is good.
Some nice set-up in terms of Logan being pressured by his family, Lorelai obviously softening and pining for her daughter, and Rory both nailing the socialite gig and missing her mother. I’m still SO conflicted about the Rory/Logan relationship. She’s just such a doormat around him — letting him be rude to the old ladies, not telling him she wasn’t pleased he had his buddies over, and, most of all, gushing to Lane about him and saying practically nothing about herself.
Next week looks interesting, with the Return of Papa Huntzberger and Richard and Emily finally buying a clue.
The gushing to Lane was brilliantly written and really creepy, because it was so forced and yet so realistic. I’ve been that girl, the one who’s in a relationship that’s supposed to be really good but secretly kind of sucks, and when someone asks you about it you find yourself saying all these cliched over-mature weird-sounding things with this creepy unreal enthusiasm.
SCHISM!
I found the whole episode kind of “meh”.
I think the only time I laughed was Luke’s line about not drinking out cans.
The last scene was nice, and it looks from the previews like next week will be ace, but most of this episode felt to me like we were drudging through some more set-up beats that had to be hit so the characters would be where the writer wants them.
Beau was annoying. The actor did a perfect job, but the role he was doing perfectly was annoying.
I liked the ep, too, but wanted to kill my local WB… they aired a bunch of commercials *over* scenes, so I didn’t see the green dress scene or the corresponding Rory scene or the ending until I borrowed a friend’s tape. (In fact, I was really confused when I saw the Rory scene because it picked up when she was walking to her closet. I had no clue who she was talking *to*.)
I thought a lot of good set up for the future was being put in place here, though I wish they would quit assassinating Sookie’s character. She already knows why Lorelai doesn’t want to set a date. I like that she wants to get something done, but harrassing Luke and being super bossy isn’t the solution, and she’s shown real insight in the past. Being shrill about the date, per se, isn’t really what she should be focused on, but finding ways to really listen to Lorelai. I keep waiting for her (or Luke) to point out to Lorelai that her “tough love” stance is just as manipulative as what Emily tries to do with her disapproval. That when a kid makes a decision, you can disapprove of the actual choice, but still keep the communication open and the relationship good. Shutting down completely, cutting Rory off from coming home until she does what Lorelai thinks is best for her (no matter how right Lorelai may prove to be) is a parallel to Emily, which would horrify Lorelai.
(I’m not entirely sure if ASP realizes this parallel. I hope so… I think so… but I can’t tell yet.)
I wasn’t impressed with the Beau scenes. For one thing, it’s a stereotype — and inconsistent. Beau was a very sour curmudgeon when he was there for the baby’s birth, not at all like the hick version of “player” he was there. (I would have bought it if he’d been like that earlier.)
What I am loving, though, are the little ways ASP and Co. are showing a real relationship between L/L. Right after they got back together, they didn’t even look like they were dating, there was such a lack of chemistry. Now, we see each of them reaching for the other when the other gets up out of bed; we see a lot of playful banter that includes sexual banter, a lot of understanding going on, real communication about problems, and Luke waking up in Lorelai’s bed (finally).
I’m really looking forward to next week’s ep.
Agree with much of what’s been said here, though I come down a little closer to the “meh” than “fabulous” end re: this episode; I liked but didn’t love it. Hard to judge where the show is at while we’re in the thick of the SCHISM, because a lot of what I’m feeling as wrongness is just the inherent wrongness of the situation. For example, seeing Rory do the Emily party thing is a neat bit of storyline — she’s running from who she is and in a weird way, she’s experimenting with other ways of being grown up — but it’s wrong for Rory, so it feels off.
I thought Lorelai and Rory taking the babies outside in the middle of their baptism was a cheap bit, I mean this is pie-in-the-face wacky hijinx, and yet I liked watching it simply because it was the first time in a while that we’ve seen L&R acting with a flash of their old harmony. The way they understand each other, the two of them doing their thing on a different wavelength from the rest of the world. So even though that bit was kind of dumb, I was so happy to see the old dynamic at work for a minute!
Logan I see as very much in tune with Rory’s desire to escape herself and her reality. I love where they’re taking that relationship, because it makes sense and feels true to the characters. She’s losing herself in every sense, including in the relationship, and I look forward to finding out how she’s going to find her feet without her usual identity props around her.
So psyched for next week’s episode!
For some strange reason, I’ve always liked the expository/interstitial episodes on this show a ton. I do think I’ve had enough of dumb color characters and would prefer a return to weird local ones instead.
But I still loved this episode! I’m going to have to watch it again.
I keep missing the teaser for each episode because I get off work at 7:30, so the final scene made absolutely no sense to me until I asked my mom about it. Without the set-up, it seemed rather random.
I know that the schism is between Rory and Lorelai, but what I’m really missing are the scenes between Emily and Lorelai. And I am really looking forward to next week’s episode, as well!