#the way he treated my man luke and poor poor rory :(

[sopefulheart]

marriage in ‘gilmore girls’ (pt. 1)

in this post, i'm gonna talk about how marriage/proposal is used to sweep problems under the rug in 'gilmore girls.'

wow, what a cheery topic!

1x21 - love, daisies, and troubadours

to recap, lorelai and max are fighting before a date about luke of all people. luke has just left lorelai’s house after telling her that rachel has left again. max is jealous because he thinks luke is an ex from their time apart. understandable.

max says, “why do we always do this, lorelai? when it’s just getting good again?” or whatever

they both conclude that it never ends up working out when they get back together. they both conclude they need a solution.

lorelai says “let’s break up.” max says “let’s get married.”

oh wait, but-

a few episodes back, lorelai had said to max, “i don’t ever want rory to feel unsettled in her life.” she said that was the reason she chickened out and ran. fine. this is the first time you’re dating with rory around.

you getting married after breaking up with the same man every five minutes over two months seems quite contradictory to me…

but anyway, don’t even get me started with when she called off the wedding on the fly because she realized she didn’t love max and then rory was extremely confused. that’s rory feeling unsettled.

like hello??????? i would’ve run away too.

(i know rory ran away before lorelai and max got engaged but rory was feeling unsettled way before that because of dean as well)

but okay i gotta give it to them because the thousand daisies lorelai found at the independence inn were cute.

honestly, i love max.

lorelai treated max so horribly and don’t get me wrong, her being confused was valid but taking time to figure it out instead of rushing into marriage would have been better than ghosting and hurting that poor man. AND THEN SHE COMES BACK AND KISSES HIM IN S3.

this is just one of the reasons why i don’t like season one all that much. i start my rewatches with season three because i am personally a team jess girl.

anyway, then there’s christopher. he’s a whole other post.

i’m just gonna talk about one of the times he proposed here.

1x15 - christopher returns

“lor, i wanna marry you.”

that whole conversation was insane.

to recap, chris and lorelai are standing in the kitchen discussing what had happened the night before. on emily and richard’s balcony. i shall say no more. lorelai very clearly regrets it and expresses her desire to never ever do that again with him. his first thought is to get married-

that's not even the bad part. he then says:

"c'mon, we're already a family"

WHO'S WE? you deign to show up for once for thirty mins and suddenly oh my god we're all happy and together?????

no. that doesn't make up for the 15-16 years rory didn't have a father involved in her life. you don't just get to show up and act like everything is all hey howdy doody. AND HE ALWAYS DOES.

he always just shows up when he wants to.

with gg, he couldn't escape that because she didn't have a mother either, so he had to be her father. he had the choice to either raise gg or abandon her. thank god it wasn't the latter because i- yeah. he finally understood what lorelai went through even though it wasn't totally the same because she was 16. that's one of his only shining moments when he admits what he did with rory was wrong, so i'll give him that.

this is just one facet of his personality that i very much loathe.

oh! here's my personal favorite: dean telling rory he’s getting married to lindsay :) but that’s in part 2.

see ya hehe

****i can't decide whether this is rambling or not but this is what this whole thing is for

[bellamysgriffin]

just started gilmore girls s4 and i know jess is gonna come back at some point and i just gotta say (sorry to some of my moots) he is REALLY gonna have to win me over after his truly horrible behavior last season..... 

[love-geeky-fangirl]

Every time any Dean stan is in any way confronted with the fact that he willingly cheated on his wife with Rory and was even willing to continue having a full affair with her, to the point where Rory had to step up and tell him to go and focus on his marriage, they either just ignore it or conveniently try to deflect any blame that Dean should even have on it by either saying he was the victim of "poor writing", or he was just a young man, or that he wasn't the only person who started the affair. It's as if him being 19 should absolve him of any blame when in the same breath they go and blame Jess for all the things the show not only was honest about with him, but also had him go through a pretty terrible period of homelessness and being cut off from Luke and his family because of his direct actions, in comparison to Dean who just......got divorced and moved back in with his family and just had Lorelai forgive him for taking her daughter's virginity while making her the other woman in his marriage. Then the whole "poor writing" excuse is just ridiculous considering how the entire season made it clear that Dean was not only still in love with Rory, but even pined for her while being married. And my favorite one has to be "well he wasn't the only person in the affair", he was the one who was married out of the two. He went to Rory's house with the intention of lying that he and Lindsay are over in order to sleep with her. He wasn't the "only one to tango" but he's the one who initiated and had no trouble with continuing the affair!!! If Rory who is the other woman in this situation has to be the one to step up and break off anything between them, then Dean is legitimately the bigger guilty party here! Not to mention the way he treated Lindsay terribly while she tried to save their marriage more than he ever did, and he was the one who proposed to her in the first place!

I agree with everything except that Lorelai should've been mad at Dean for "taking Rory's virginity" because it was her decision to sleep with him and the whole concept of losing/taking virginity is outdated and mysoginistic, but you're right, that was the time to let Dean off the giant pedestal she put him on and stop defending and praising him. The fact that she still thought he was a good guy, even after that baffles me.

But what's even more baffling is that some people in the fandom defend him after that and try to make Rory the villain in the entire relationship. "She was the one who didn't love him, broke his heart, then wrecked his marriage and ruined his life." Sure.

I wholeheartly agree with you that "He was young too! He made mistakes! Why do people excuse Jess's leaving with being young but not Dean's cheating?" is stupid and a totally false equivalency. Jess was essentially kicked out by Luke (although I don't believe he would seriously kick him out, he was just angry, he would definitely change his mind when he cooled down a bit but Jess had already left and it was too late) he had no choice. I doubt anyone forced Dean to propose and get married. It wasn't like Lindsay was pregnant and their conservative families forced them to get married quick quick quick. We don't even know for sure why he decided to get married so young.

And don't even get me started on the way he treated Lindsay. He proposed to her while he was still in love with Rory and even invited her (his ex!) to the wedding. When Lindsay expressed that she's not comfortable with him still being this close to his ex what did he do? Did he take her concerns seriously? No! Instead he waited for Rory in a dark alley to tell her that they have to hang out in secret from now on and made Lindsay seem like this controlling shrew that dictates who he can be friends with. Then he proceeded to spend evenings in an arcade making eyes at Rory across the street or hanging out with Rory in pubs and at Yale instead of being with his wife. And then he CHEATS on her and when he comes home from CHEATING on her he yells at her for answering his phone and tells her that she "doesn't respect him". Honestly, gross. I don't understand how can anyone like and defend him after that.

[whitters23]

I didn't send that ask as a request for an explanation, to me the affair made it clear that even in their 30s, Rory and Logan are unable to properly communicate even when it's absolutely necessary for them to. And I'm sorry, but a guy in his 30s like Logan gets no excuse for 'heartbreak' when he had no trouble breaking Rory's heart in her graduation. Like I said, you can be biased without making up excuses.

Hmmm… well if you are not looking for an explanation of my feelings on the matter, I’m not sure why you’re in my inbox to begin with. I assumed you were wanting to have a discussion. If someone sends me a message and I feel like I have something to add to the conversation, that’s what I’m going to do. If I feel like answering with a knock-knock joke, that’s what I’ll do, whether you requested it or not. I wrote a post on the fact that Logan did not cheat on Rory. You messaged me with the counter argument that even if he didn’t cheat on Rory, he is still a cheater… which I agreed with. He was a cheater in AYITL, nobody can deny that. You also said he had the capability of breaking it off with his fiancé and that he should have stopped treating Rory like a mistress. I agree that he could have but gave you my opinion and reasoning behind why I think it is more complicated than that. I wasn’t trying to excuse their cheating. 

Now to clear some things up, since you went there….

First of all, I’m not biased towards Logan. I am perfectly able to see his many flaws that go along with his attributes. I like to keep an open mind to all characters and view them as real people. Real people are not so cut and dry. There are good and bad parts to them. And I think that’s why Gilmore Girls is so popular even 20 years later. The characters are complicated. For that reason, I dislike very few people on the show… like 3, tops (and they are minor characters). Also, as an empathetic person by nature, I tend to imagine myself in the characters shoes, and therefore even if I don’t agree with their actions I can understand why they might have made certain choices.

Just throwing a shot in the dark, but I’m assuming that you are someone who prefers Jess with Rory. That might not be the case, but often the people that are so vehemently against Logan are the ones that are big Jess fans. You might be surprised to discover that I also love Jess. I think he’s a complex character and I especially love how he bonds with Luke and how that relationship helps form him into a better man. I used to be exclusively a Jess/Rory shipper when I was in high school. It was only once I watched the show all the way through as an adult that my views on their relationship changed, but he will always be a special part of GG for me. My ability to have compassion and empathy for Jess is the same ability that helps me have compassion and empathy for Logan. It’s not being biased. It’s just being open minded.

Whether or not they have good communication skills seems irrelevant to my original post or to my response to your message, but since you brought up... I just want to touch on that for a moment. I agree that in AYITL they were poor. I already discussed my views about fear possibly being the main reason behind this in my response to your last message. However, you said “even in their 30s they are unable to properly communicate”, implying that they have never been able to properly communicate. Here I have to disagree. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I believe in the original show, Logan and Rory actually display strong communication skills. Stronger than we see with most of the other couples in the show, especially all of Lorelai’s relationships. It’s really interesting that you brought this up because it’s something that has been on my mind for a few weeks as I make my way through my most recent rewatch. I think I am going to tackle it as its own post in the future. Honestly, as someone in their 30s, that is now one of the things I appreciate the most about Logan and Rory’s relationship. They certainly aren’t always great at communicating. There are several times I can think of off the top of my head where they could have done better. Often during their biggest communication breakdowns it’s Rory just flat out refusing to address the situation (something she does with Lorelai too), but sometimes it’s Logan, like when he took off to Vegas after his financial blunder. But I appreciate that they try, even when it’s a tough conversation to have.

Heartbreak is not exclusive to young people. People in their 30s are just as capable of experiencing heartbreak as people in their teens, or 50s or 80s. Just because you are 10 years older doesn’t mean you have life figured out either. I think that’s pretty clear with Rory’s story line in AYITL. And ‘he broke her heart at her graduation therefore he has no excuse for his own heart break’ is an odd thought process. I’m not even sure what to say about that. I will say that I don’t think it’s fair to say “he had no problem breaking her heart”. I think it pained him very much to walk away but it was what he felt was the right move at the time. His pride and heart were hurt and I think he took her refusal to mean she didn’t love him as much as he loved her. Same goes for Rory. It pained her to break his heart too, but she did what she felt was right at the time. It breaks my heart too but I can’t fault either of them for the way things ended.

Finally, I find it strange that you keep talking about everything like they are things Logan is doing to Rory, like she is just someone who has things happen to her and is not responsible for making her own choices. They are equal partners in this affair. She made herself a mistress (for a second time) by having a relationship with a soon-to-be married man. She knew what she was doing. She could have ended it at any time by either pulling the plug or telling him she wanted more.  And they were equal partners in doling out the heartbreak at her graduation too. She said no to marrying him. She broke his heart too. He was just as hurt as she was.

[missallycat]

Once in the friendzone always a Martyzoned

I don’t like Marty. I don’t understand how is “Team Marty” a thing, how it’s even in existence.

Let’s start with who is naked guy... I’m sorry but so many people insist he was treated badly and I have to say BY WHO?? Other than Colin a couple of times (because they only see each other a couple of times) when was he treated badly? By Logan because he didn’t remember him? They weren’t friends, my guess is they didn’t have classes together since Logan was a year or two ahead in school and lets face it, Logan when he first shows up he partied hard, why did he have an obligation to remember a guy he had hired to work at a party? The “I’m seeing a uniform” thing... I don’t know if it was offensive or him just being “high” lol actually I could be wrong but when Logan first shows up I didn’t like him as much although he did make me laugh, and I really thought he was high lol the way he walked and talked in that first encounter, the squint saying I’m seeing a uniform of some kind... Or maybe he simply didn't remember because why would you if you only see them in a specific context sporadically, why would you remember someone who wasn't your friend or classmate? I get it can be seen as mocking but I honestly thought it was more for the viewers to mock Logan as “frat boy probably high or drunk out of his ass in broad daylight, doesn’t even remember his own name”, than for Logan to mock Marty. Other than that, Marty was always treated with courtesy by Logan (he offered to treat him and that wasn’t meant to be offensive, why would Marty agree to go to the friggin chinese restaurant KNOWING how these guys spent money, when he didn’t have money to pay for himself!? who was to guess he didn’t have money? Why is it so horrible to offer to treat him, is it because it was another guy? because he was interested in Rory? I thought that one was bad on Marty). Colin not so much, but I always thought Marty had a deep inferiority complex. Colin insulted again and Logan gave him a look, again saying although non verbally this time, "don't be an ass". But this time Marty was out of earshot.

Why is it assumed that because a guy is interested in you, and is apparently nice to you, you automatically have to fall head over heels for him??? Why?? Because he happens to be a guy and you’re a girl so you have to take the first dude who happens to be civil because otherwise you’re at risk of what... the big bad wolf? Of actually dating someone you’re... what’s that word again, oh yes ATTRACTED to?

Don’t get me wrong, when we first met Marty (I mean really meet him not naked drunkard passed out in the hallway nor trying to humiliate Rory in her pj’s and bringing her to his creeper friends who say “oh yes nice robe we all took turns trying it on”, seriously? that’s how you try to win a girl?) despite the trying to humiliate her, I liked him, I thought HOW COOL!!! Now Rory can have an actual GUY friend, someone who will be like the male version of Lane, a masculine (softer lol) counterpart for Paris. Other than Michel (but in a little aspect as much as I positively LOVE him, he doesn’t count, I’ll get to it in a sec) the Gilmore girls don’t have any guy friends, straight guy friends who aren’t romantically involved with their closest girl friends (I love Michel but not only was he Lorelai’s friend not Rory’s and older than her, he was also gay so in the not attratcted to them part he’s already not attracted to women), men who while unattached, instead of drooling over them choose to be just friends with them, men who could be into them but really aren’t. 

We saw Rory get rejected by William the laundry guy (now him I thought looked cute too bad nothing but humiliation afterwards came from that, for Rory lol) but we don’t see either Rory or Lorelai have actual guy friends who aren’t into them. Lorelai and Luke were friends for years but there was always this undercurrent of “more” between them. So when I saw Marty appear and I thought FINALLY a new kind of friendship. And at first things seemed to go very well, they were friends and he was funny and they had movie nights and they’d study that was fun

lol I mean he would even try to go head to head with Paris (losing of course but one had to give it to the guy for the sense of humor). 

Two things were perfectly and absolutely clear from day one

1. Rory had ZERO romantic interest in him whatsoever  

2. Marty never made a move for Rory. 

Yes we saw that Marty started taking SOME interest in Rory, asking her if she had a boyfriend, and trying to see how that was doing, but seriously dude? seriously? That’s how you work it? You’re just cowardly feeling out the land to see if she might reject you before you even try? We, viewers saw that, but Rory just saw her friend, a guy to talk to. 

Say whatever you like about the Rory boyfriends or crushes even if you like them or not EACH OF THE GUYS: from Dean to Tristan to Jess to Logan (heck even poor one date Trevor), they all made their intentions perfectly clear once they were into her. Even Logan, he didn’t want to make an actual final big move because he didn’t want a relationship but he flirted with her, he always was very clear like he was interested in her and after that, they started being together and then they got in a relationship. 

Marty was sort of a pet, a lapdog (I love dogs, I have a lapdog, is not an attractive quality outside the canine world) and a sort of a doormat, always ready to be at her feet at her side, at her beck and call.

Why must she owe him anything simply because she was his friend and he felt something else? Facts are:

- Dude never ever asked her out on a date

- He never ONCE said he was interested in her (before it was SPELLED out to him that she wasn’t during Chilton’s little Anna visiting

- In fact when he asked her if she was with anyone, he said I’m just curious, which prompted her to go looking for who? Oh that’s right, NOT Marty ;)

- He was a sort of a lapdog poor thing. 

I feel bad saying it but he was always at her beck and call always around her yet never actually trying to get her attention, never even trying to flirt with her or complimenting her, never ONCE even attempting to ask her out. He was a bit of a doormat, always ready to be relied on, stepped on, never saying no, never denying anything, never having anything else to do but be around her... She liked him as a friend, she considered him a good guy, but he was always going to be a friend and nothing more because he put himself in that spot all on his own and then actually got mad because he had it spelled out.

I mean the guy had clearly SPELLED OUT he was considered a friend, and at first I felt sorry for him. I felt really bad for him because he had been sort of a pet, not really considered a guy not even considered a best friend...

But then this “wonderful” friend decides to simply bolt, he dissapears after sending Rory back in a taxi during the whole Anna debacle and he doesn’t talk to his friend. Same friend he used to visit and talk to daily, he just stops showing up, and so when she suddenly sees him outside decides to try and talk to him, invite him to watch movies, to hang out as they used to, to try and reconect their friendship, and is perfectly clear she was still treating him as a friend, Rory was always a little self centered to notice and honestly, which one of us at 19 in that situation would have noticed the very subtle signals almost non existent that Marty had? And what signals were those? He was at her beck and call, that’s friendship, rather too “doormat-y” because he’d never say no to her, he’d never hang out with other people and her, just always hovered around her, he came running when she called and he asked if she had a boyfriend “just out of curiosity”... are those signals? 

See, I’m one of those people who think men and women can be friends if they want to, no extras whatsoever just friendship, I have guy friends who are my closest friends who treat me like another guy sometimes or sometimes like a sister depending if they’re being annoying or protective. I’m an adult yet I jump up and down while grabbing my best friend’s arm (a guy) while he indulgently rolls his eyes at me (lol) and tells me to calm down. I would hug my guy friends or hang of their arm WHEN is someone I really see as a friend. I don’t see how watching movies with a friend or studying with him, even having her feet on his legs for a while (at 19 I really don’t see the bad of it) I don’t see how that is leading him on. Why? Because she’s a girl and he’s a guy? I’d put my legs up on my best friend’s bed (girl this time) or on top of her legs while watching movies, if she was gay or we were both gay then I’d be leading her on? Or is that only because it was Marty on the recieving end and Rory on the unconscious end? Will it be the same if Marty hadn’t been interested and Rory had, would people still assume he SHOULD have gone out with her? he SHOULD have been interested in her?

I always thought Rory treated Marty as a friend, why shouldn’t she try and invite him to watch movies (Duck soup) when she didn’t know why he had briefly lost touch with her? He only stated he was into her when it was perfectly obvious, after she had already SPELLED IT OUT loud and clear in his face that he was nothing more than a friend to her, when it was clear to a blind man that she was already involved with Logan, that’s when this great friend decides to make a move on her? Why? because that way he can have the excuse to be butthurt and bolt.  See that’s my problem with Marty, I think with friends like that, who needs enemies?.

Marty is this guy who constantly put friendship coins in the little “relationship with Rory” machine, and when “love” or “sex” wouldn’t come out he got offended, angry and left his friend. If it was only that, I’d probably still feel only mildly annoyed over Marty and a little sorry for him and that would be that, but on season 7 he had to show up again... why, Marty? why didn’t you stay doing musicals?

He shows up and instead of being for example “oh hey yes I knew you, you know life, work, school crazy stuff how have you been haven’t seen you since freshman year” or such “crazy how people can lose touch huh?” I mean that would have been a lie but he wouldn’t have seemed like this sad little character who didn’t get over his one sided crush with Rory EVEN while being in a relationship with someone else! WHY??? He could have been awkward but over her, but no, Instead he pretends he doesn’t know her and becomes monosyllabic idiot who grunts and makes Rory uncomfortable. (I’m not defending Rory in this little part, she should have said something after the initial shock, she should have spoken up and confronted him and told Lucy but I’m not talking about that right now) I never understood why he came back? to create a conflict between Rory and her new friends? To make a fight between Logan and Rory? I stopped being sorry for Marty right after Anna shows up to break havock at Yale and I started REALLY hating Marty when he came back in season 7. If only he had stayed as a friend, if only he hadn’t come back as this pathetic little man with a huge inferiority complex, reverse snobbery and still drooling over some girl who had only ever treated him as FRIENDS! from day one!!!! They didn’t even become an item or even kissed, nothing, he was this sad little man still hung up on a first year crush. Oh Marty, you could have been as cool as Lane, but you had to go and ruin everything. For all of the above I just really really REALLY don’t like Marty

[celerylapel]

I watched the Gilmore Girls Revival last night.  As I shared in an earlier post, I absolutely adored it!  Here are some thoughts I jotted down while watching:

Episode 1:  “Winter”

While it started off a bit clunky, this episode improved by the end.  The performances felt a little stiff, almost as if the actors had some difficulty getting back in character after nine years.  I’m not sure if they filmed it first?  It felt like it.  Some delightful highlights for me:

*Emily in JEANS (OMG, do I LOVE her); Emily’s role in this episode was magnificent.  She was one of the few who didn’t need to “warm up” in her role; she gracefully stepped back in.

*Paul Anka dressed as Luke! With an order pad and pencil!  Adorbs.

*Alex Kingston doing her dramatic best!

*Jason came back for a nice little cameo. We know he’s a decent guy since he came back for Richard’s funeral after the way the family treated him.  I smiled when I saw him.

*Michel is married to a man.  Hell yes, Gilmore Girls finally acknowledges Michel’s sexuality.  I wish we got to meet his husband, though.

*Kirk and PETAL the PIG

* I really liked the way they incorporated the flashback’s to Richard’s funeral.

Off to a promising start! 

Episode 2:  “Spring”

This episode really hummed along nicely.  It felt like a regular episode of Gilmore Girls:

*Wait…there’s a MR. KIM?!?  How was he not at Lane’s wedding, at the birth of Lane’s children, how was he never mentioned at all before this?  I’m assuming this was just an inside joke.  I confess I laughed.

*The cameos keep coming: Mr. Huntzberger!  I laughed again at the ridiculousness of his appearance and the way he then popped back out.

*Kirk’s second film.  OMG.  Poor PETAL.

*It was nice to see Chilton again and the headmaster.  I found myself wistful for the early days of the show.

*It was good to see Doyle.  Paris is still Paris and AMAZING.  She hasn’t changed at all; she’s right up there with Emily in her performance.  And I loved her short hair do – it suits her!

Episode 3 – “Summer”

*April is back, and she doesn’t look much different.  I thought her brief appearance worked well, even though I’m not a big fan of her character.  Her comments about smoking pot were hilarious.  “I ate so much cheese afterward and had an anxiety attack.”

*The Thirtysomething Gang – OF COURSE. 

*The Secret Bar and the hilarious attempts to hide it from Taylor!

*The Stars Hollow Musical – While I felt this went on too long, it was pretty darn funny.  Especially the beginning part.

*JESS is back!  And he’s aged very darn well, if I must say.  I’m so happy to see him getting along well with Luke and Rory.  He seems much less angry and is just doing his thing.

*The Honey Badger (aka Leland Palmer) – this was a crazy surprise!

Episode 4:  “Fall”

*I love Lorelai’s first hiking hat

*Jess is back again!  Yay! I’m so glad that his role wasn’t just a cameo. 

*Emily’s DAR rant – GOOD FOR YOU EMILY!

*The return of Miss Celine and her amusing old Hollywood anecdotes!

*Christopher looks EXACTLY THE SAME (is there a portrait of him in the attic a la Dorian Grey?)

*The return of Sookie!  I’m so happy Melissa McCarthy could make it back for one episode

*Emily terrifying young children at a Nantucket whaling museum!  Buckets of blood!

*I adore Jess’ interactions with Luke – they are so father/son like, and you can really tell that Jess has grown up.  The scene with Luke in the wedding suit was sweet.

*THE LOOK – Oh, Jess, honey, she doesn’t see you that way.  BUT WAIT…if they make more episodes, will he be her Luke? I almost had trouble catching my breath!

*Paul Anka and PETAL sleeping… Awwwww

*Lorelai’s phone call with her mother.  I couldn’t stop crying from this moment on.

Some general thoughts outside of my earlier post:

I loved the fact that all of the Stars Hollow regulars made appearances in the revival.  I recognized even some very minor players.  Great job for continuity!

Rory’s general sense of feeling lost rang true to me.  She had always been a high achiever and hadn’t faced real disappointment outside of Season 6. 

Luke and Lorelai’s difficulties also seemed believable. I’m very glad they didn’t drag this out too much and gave them a GOREGEOUS and intimate wedding.  And I’m delighted that Rory got to join them.  That felt right.

I have a feeling Paris and Doyle will get back together.  They thrive on the drama.

Emily’s evolution has been fascinating to watch.  From having the large picture of Richard in the living room of the mansion, to her embracing of a new maid and her family, to her liaison with the honey badger, and finally her decision to strike out on her own with a more reasonable reminder of Richard, I cried.  I’m so happy for her. She’s coming into her own.

The revival paid a nice tribute to Richard.  Rory’s vision of him at his desk again had me sobbing.

I hate to end my review on a down note, but while it was nice to see a grownup Logan, I wasn’t a fan of his and Rory’s arrangement, mainly because he was engaged to someone else.  And Rory’s cheating on Paul was treated so comically that I found myself becoming a bit irritated.  I can definitely see Rory doing all of this of course, it’s consistent with her character.  I just don’t buy Logan going along with it.  If they had made him not engaged but merely hung up on Rory and having them meet up occasionally, I’d be fine with it.  I didn’t see the need of having Odette and Paul in the picture.  It was an icky note for an otherwise lovely revival.

Since I hate to end my review on a down note, I won’t.  I just want to say how incredible it felt to watch Lorelai, Rory, and Emily figure out their relationships to each other.  The mother-daughter-grandmother-granddaughter bonds were portrayed with such love, nuance, and realism.  I couldn’t believe what I was watching on my screen.

And hee hee - Gypsy is Berta!  OMG!!!!

WHAT A FANTASTIC SHOW. 

I WANT MORE.

Tagging @zacscottysnl and @loosey-goosey for obs reasons.  ;)

[darklingichor]

Gilmore Girls Ep. 18-20

Racing the storm here but I wanted to get episodes 18, 19, and 20 out of the way. I am terming these three episodes “The Rage Trilogy”. If ever there was a time that I was going to turn this show off and curse the creators’ names to the muses Calliope and Thalia* it was when I was watching these episodes. However, I am not going to beaten by a show where two of the most emotionally stable people are a couple who needed cooking oil to get their 30-something cat out from under the house.

*The Greek muses of epic poetry and comedy. Those names have been rattling around in my head since I took a Greek history class and I finally get to use them. All right! My student loan debt is justified!

Episode 18 – Again, let get the stuff out of the way that I liked. I liked that Paris went to Rory for her date prep. Paris has a kind of vulnerability and I think that Rory is good for her. Much better than the bubble-head twins. I get why Paris was angry when she found out that Rory talked Tristan into going out with her. Rory was playing a dangerous game there; all be it a well-intentioned one. But, you can’t tell me the that Tristan was innocent. If that douche canoe didn’t realize that that information would upset Paris, I am seriously doubting the education these kids are getting. I liked Emily being twisted up by her mother- in- law. I loved any scene with Michel. Ditto for anything Sookie says. That’s it.

The rest – yeah, so wanted to slap everyone and it was exacerbated by the fact that this episode has NO LUKE.

I couldn’t get mad about Trix. She’s the standard stock rich relative/ mother-in-law character you see in every show. Annoying, but to be expected. But Emily and Lorelai? They need a fucking time-out.

Frist off, can Emily be more manipulative?  Planting all of those doubts in Lorelai’s head because she didn’t want to lose her hold on her? This just confirms what I’ve been thinking for a while. Those dinners might as well be hostage situations!

Seriously, she’s acting like a Bond villain. I’m half expecting her to shackle Lorelai and Rory to the dinner table and announce that the Friday Night Dinners were really just a ploy to get the secret stash of plutonium that is located under Stars Hollow and Sookie’s Magic Risotto recipe. The cost of Chilton was a small price to pay for world domination and risotto based immortality!

Emily would rather ruin her granddaughter’s opportunity for a comfortable future just so she can continue to erode her daughter’s self-worth? No wonder Lorelai would only spend time with her if she had to. Why would anyone willingly submit to that kind of abuse? It’s like paying for someone to continuously kick you in the head when that really isn’t your thing.

Emily’s about 85% evil, we knew this; and while it is frustrating to see her emotionally flip-flop like a dying carp, I should expect her to be a raging bitch. However, this is the first time I’ve been pissed at Lorelai.

I knew she could be selfish, but I didn’t know she could be THIS selfish. She knows that Rory wouldn't blow through the trust fund money but she doesn’t want to take it because she doesn’t want Rory to leave?

WHAT?

I mean, I get it, I’m supposed to see a parallel between Lorelai and Emily, but it’s stupid!

One, at this point she and Rory have a good relationship. Rory would have no reason to run away like Lorelai did. Two, so what if Rory goes to Europe without her? Yeah, it would suck and it would hurt but that is not a reason to turn down the opportunity to have your daughter’s schooling paid for!

“Let’s not set up your future, Rory because I might be left out when you go have fun.”

Yeah, that’s not irresponsible and absolutely trucks with the character who is putting her mental health at risk so her kid can have the best education she can get. I’m surprised Sookie didn’t slap her and tell her to get her head out of her ass!

This episode was insane and put me on a low simmer, the next episode turned up the heat.

Episode 19 – This episode should have been called Lorelai is the Victim of Passive-Aggressive Behavior. Granted after the last episode I was almost willing to see it, but it wore pretty thin.

What is with this Rachel chick? Why did she put a picture of Lorelai and Luke in front of them and ask Luke entrapment questions? Does she think she’s being subtle? Just talk to your boyfriend! Though I did like that she seems to appreciate that Lorelai puts the effort in to keep her and Luke together.

As before, prior to getting to the part that made smoke come out of my ears, I’ll look at the happy making stuff.  

If Rune is going to be a reoccurring character, I hope we get more back and forth between him and Michel. A sarcastic desk clerk and a humorless handy-man? I smell a sitcom!

As always Sookie was adorable and so was Lane.

I loved that Rachel took Lorelai to The Dragonfly and that Lorelai and Sookie are envisioning the future.

The back and forth between Luke and Lorelai was gold, but he is doing a poor job of hiding how desperately in love with her he is. It is also sweet that we get more glimpses into Luke’s sentimental side. He lives in his dad’s old office, and I am willing to bet that those frilly curtains were picked out by his mom, grandmother, or sister.

And now, another look at Emily’s “How Petty Can I Be?” log.

See that daughter lived in a shed with granddaughter. Rather than examine why my teenaged daughter with a baby found this preferable to living with me, spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars to design granddaughter a room. This room is not a good-will gesture, the purpose is to encourage a rift between daughter and granddaughter.

Petty Level: 2000

Excellent.

Seriously, is Emily twelve years old?! Think about the concentrated passive aggressiveness it took to make that room just to shove the past in Lorelai’s face. It is almost frightening.

You know, I thought she was being sweet at first? I figured that Rory already had a room at her grandparent’s house. Seemed reasonable in a house that big. I thought that seeing where they use to live made Emily think that since she can’t go back in time and make Lorelai comfortable, she could make Rory comfortable. This was why I think it was weird for Lorelai. Everything in her childhood had to be a reflection of Emily. I got that idea early on. At the twin wedding when she relates to the little girl who was told that she couldn’t mess up her dress. She couldn’t be herself. I would put money on the idea that those posters up in Lorelai’s room lead to an argument between her and Emily. So the fact that Emily decorated a room to Rory’s taste was unexpected. She even apologized for not being more delighted.

But no, this wasn’t a nice thing for Rory, this was yet another way to rag on her daughter. I get it, she was hurt by the fact that Lorelai ran away and would have rather lived in a shed. But shouldn’t she have asked herself why?

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all Emily and Richard’s fault but instead of just throwing up her hands and declaring that Lorelai is unfathomable and her actions insane, maybe look at why a little rich girl would rather be a maid and work her ass off to support herself and her kid, than live at home where all of her and her baby’s needs will be met. Could it possibly have anything to do with how you treated her? And the fact that she didn’t want you to treat her daughter that way?

Add to this that Emily seems to have a long-term plan to drive a wedge between Lorelai and Rory so Lorelai can be hurt like she was. This is really sinister considering she’s doing this shit to hurt her daughter and isn’t considering the fact that her granddaughter will be hurt too.

At this point, I hate her so much and am trying to figure out if we later find out that she has been a serial killer all this time because these are the actions of someone who is calculating enough to be criminally insane!

Episode 20 – Although there were parts that I really liked in this episode (Lorelai buying Rachel’s presents and clothes for Luke) I’m not even going to look at them because this episode turned me into angry Hades from Disney’s Hercules.

Okay, Rory’s stressed. I don’t do romantic relationships but I understand that one ending is devastating, especially for a teenager. I was the organizer of too many ice cream sessions and on the other end of the phone for too much sobbing (all the while planning the downfall of the person who made my friend cry like that) not to know that heartbreak feels like it sounds.

She was at her breaking point, I understand. That being said, here’s how that situation would have gone if I were Lorelai.

Rory left without leaving a note, which is something weird for her. Sure we argued but my first thought would not be that she left, my first thought would have been that she didn’t make it home. Cops would have been called.

I would have asked Max if anything happened at school. He would have told me about him butting in. I would put a pin in that and talk to him about it later.

The conversation with Emily would have ended with me talking to Rory because I would not have put up with that smug, self-satisfied tone and her telling me I can’t talk to my kid.

After talking to Rory and telling her she can stay the night if she wants (she needs to cool down), and calling the cops and my search party to let them know that she’s safe, my next call would be to Trix.

I would tell her that Emily crossed a line, that I no longer want to be indebted to her. Talk her around, it won’t be hard considering how much Trix doesn’t like Emily.

The trust fund would be set up under the condition that only money for school related costs can be taken out for the first year, this includes paying Emily and Richard the loan back.

When Rory came home: I would talk to her. Tell her that Max was way out of line talking to her about Dean. (Seriously, does this man not understand “time and place”?) That I was sorry for not telling her about Max. She can talk about Dean if she needs to and that I understand she’s hurting and that she needed space.

However, you do not just run off! You leave a note; you make a call. I don’t care if we had an argument. I don’t care if you lost your voice and your fingers fell off, send a telegram with your nose if you have to just get in touch.

Then, Grounded into Oblivion.

At least when Lane went out she didn’t leave town and was planning on coming home.

As soon as everything with the trust fund was set up I would call Emily and tell her that because she thought it was her right to almost gleefully (she really sounded happy, it was disgusting) deny me the ability to talk to my daughter while I cried from absolute terror, the agreement was canceled, the dinners would stop and a check would be in the mail.

I would also tell her that while I wouldn’t keep her from seeing Rory, she better damn well understand that it is not within her rights to call the shots when it comes to her. For as long as Rory is grounded, Emily and Richard can come to Stars Hollow but they will respect me in my own house or out they go.

This episode made me so angry. I hate the fact that both Rory and Emily got out of this consequence free. I hate the fact that Lorelai was never told that Max talked to Rory.  I hate the fact Max butting into Rory’s personal life, in school no less, didn’t lead to an argument between him and Lorelai. That was really inappropriate and certainly not something the mother’s “kinda, sorta boyfriend” should do.

I hate the fact that even in Lorelai’s little love speech it still came off that it the break up was Rory’s fault. Dean gets off the hook ‘cause he says he loves her? Um, no. He was the asshole’s asshole. You don’t pressure someone like that and then dump them because you tried to dictate their emotions and it didn’t work. That’s a really nasty thing to do and you don’t get to be the victim because you “love” them.

Doesn’t anyone get that if Rory would have said it back after all of the pressure he put on her, it wouldn’t have counted? It is like a confession given under duress, meaningless. And the people who forced the confession, way out of line.

Seriously, I was ready to give up on the show after this episode, I was that pissed. However, I do like the other characters and would like to see how it pans out. I also figure it couldn’t have gone seven seasons and gotten a revival if one of the main characters were consistently and delightedly evil all of the time.

Tomorrow is the last episode of the season and then: Once more into the breech for Season Two.